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Biomedical subjects

K Rickels

Publications and source records attributed to K Rickels.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1976

Emotional symptomatology in obese patients treated with fenfluramine and dextroamphetamine.

Emotional sympomatology data on 78 obese females treated for 3 weeks with fenfluramine, dextroamphetamine, or placebo were evaluated. These obese females were shown to be considerably less emotionally disturbed than neurotic females, and similar in emotional symptomatology to other females seeing physicians for nonpsychiatric complaints. Even within these marginally sympatomatic patients, fenfluramine and dextroamphetamine were significantly more effective than placebo in reducing anxious, depressive, and anxious-depressive symptomatology. Fenfluramine was particularly effective in alleviating anxiety in patients who were initially higher in anxiety. Most important, fenfluramine produced significantly greater weight loss than dextroamphetamine in patients with higher levels of anxiety and depression, while dextroamphetamine was an especially effective anorexic in low anxious patients. Differences in initial anxiety and depression, even within relatively normal patients, may well affect results obtained with fenfluramine and dextroamphetamine in the short-term treatment of obesity.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Psychotropic drug use in family practice.

In an attempt to assess the precision of an illness-treatment "fit" between dispensing and actual need for psychotropic medications, the present study examined the dispensing patterns to consecutive attenders of private general practice. "Conservative" use of psychotropic drugs was indicated insofar as patients were seldom dispensed medication in the absence of emotional problems, and the presence of emotional problems frequently was not accompanied by the dispensing of medication. In addition, specific social and illness factors were located which could differentially predict either the presence of emotional problems, the use of psychotropic drugs, or both of these variables. The potential for constructing a more precise illness-treatment fit was considered.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Lorazepam and diazepam in anxious outpatients. A controlled study.

The response of 134 anxious neurotic outpatients to lorazepam, diazepam, and placebo was assessed in a 4-week double-blind trial. Both active drugs produced significantly more symptom reduction than placebo. Lorazepam, however, proved effective primarily in those patients who did not complain of sedation, and produced greatest improvement in initially sicker patients. Sedation was significantly more disturbing to lorazepam-treated patients than to diazepam-treated patients. Present findings suggested that 3 mg/day of lorazepam may be too high a dosage for mildly anxious patients, while 15 mg/day of diazepam seems an appropriate dosage for mildly anxious patients but may be too low a dosage for highly anxious patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

The SCL-90 and the MMPI: a step in the validation of a new self-report scale.

The present investigation was intended principally as a concurrent validation study for a new self-report symptom inventory: the SCL-90. A sample of 209 'symptomatic volunteers' served as subjects and were administered both the SCL-90 and the MMPI prior to participation in clinical therapeutic drug trials. The MMPI was scored for the Wiggins content scales and the Tryon cluster scales in addition to the standard clinical scales. Comparisons of the nine primary symptom dimensions of the SCL-90 with the set of MMPI scales reflected very high convergent validity for the SCL-90. Peak correlations were observed with like constructs on eight of the nine scales, with secondary patterns of correlations showing high interpretative consistency.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

A comparison of two psychiatric screening tests.

A comparison is made between the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Symptom Checklist (SCL) as psychiatric screening tests in community-based research projects. Both are shown to correlate equally well with independent clinical assessment, and the differences between them mainly reside in the form of their response scales. The GHQ works best as a screening test, since it has fewer false positives associated with its use, but it may miss those with long-standing disorders. The SCL tends not to miss long-standing disorders and furnishes diagnostic sub-scales if these are required. Both tests function better with men than with women and with whites than with blacks, but neither is affected by social class or age of the respondent. The study revealed high correlations between the symptoms of anxiety and depression, and indicated some possible differences between the symptom clusters seen in whites and in blacks.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1975

Triazolam in insomniac family practice patients.

Triazolam, 0.5 mg, a benzodiazepine with hypnotic properties, was compared to secobarbital, 100 mg, and placebo in a 1-wk study conducted with 100 insomniac family practice patients. Considerable sensitivity to differential treatment effects was demonstrated for these family practice patients as well as for a research methodology that combines a crossover design, permitting preference ratings, with a between-patient design. In almost all sleep parameters, assessed with a variety of subjective techniques, triazolam and secobarbital were shown to be significantly more effective than placebo. Triazolam was consistently and often significantly indicated to be a more effective hypnotic, particularly for reducing nocturnal awakening, than secobarbital. Analysis of self-report emotional distress data revealed that present insomniac patients were slightly more emotionally symptomatic than other nonpsychiatric populations. Triazolam was followed by the greatest and secobarbital the least relief of emotional symptoms and triazolam emerged as an especially effective hypnotic for initially more depressed insomniac patients. Present findings suggest that type and degree of emotional symptomatology may affect the response of insomniac patients to hypnotics.

Benzodiazepines↗
PubMed1975

Depression and anxiety in heroin addicts: a placebo-controlled study of doxepin in combination with methadone.

Narcotic addicts may manifest symptoms of depression that aggravate their addiction. In this double-blind study of 35 mildly depressed patients in a methadone maintenance program, subjects who received doxepin improved significantly more than control subjects. Even in this short-term study, the reduction in depression was associated with a trend toward better performance in other areas of rehabilitation.

Administration, Oral↗