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Biomedical subjects

K Tardiff

Publications and source records attributed to K Tardiff.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Assaultive behavior among psychiatric outpatients.

Of 2,916 patients evaluated by psychiatric residents in the outpatient clinics of two large private psychiatric hospitals, 3% had manifested recent assaultive behavior toward other persons. In over half the cases the target of assault was a family member other than a child. Patients more likely to be assaultive were young and male and had a diagnosis of childhood or adolescent disorder or personality disorder. The authors compare these results with those from studies of assault among inpatients and recommend that physicians in outpatient as well as inpatient settings be familiar with the management of assaultive patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Patterns and major determinants of homicide in the United States.

Criminal homicide has increased steadily during the past two decades to account today for more than 1 percent of deaths in the United States. After providing background information on the rates and patterns of homicide in the U.S., the author uses the literature to present a twofold discussion of factors affecting the incidence of homicide: those that act as a deterrence to crime, such as punishment, and environmental and biological factors that can interact in a complex way to produce violence and murder. Examples of these latter factors include firearms, drug and alcohol abuse, genetics, race, psychiatric disorders, metabolic states, the economy, geographic region, the media, and political instability.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1984

The quality of deans' letters from medical schools.

Residency training directors have noted considerable variability in the quality of deans' letters sent by medical schools on behalf of graduating students. A total of 212 deans' letters from 103 U.S. medical schools received by a large psychiatric residency program were rated by two of the authors. Of these, 26.9 percent were judged excellent, 49.5 percent average, and 23.6 percent poor. Excellent letters were characterized by detailed personal and academic comments; verbatim statements for each clinical clerkship; tactful , yet explicit, remarks about problems; and internal consistency. Poor letters were generally short regardless of content, offered global impressions about clerkship performance by fusing remarks from several different clerkships without identifying sources, or omitted important information that was quickly evident to the discriminating interviewer. Recommendations are offered for authors and readers of deans' letters and to medical students.

Administrative Personnel↗
PubMed1984

Characteristics of assaultive patients in private hospitals.

A study of two large private psychiatric hospitals showed rates and patterns of assaultive behavior by patients comparable to those found earlier in a study of public hospitals; this was especially true in the hospital that admitted involuntary patients. The targets of assault were predominantly family members other than spouses or children and persons outside the family. Seclusion was commonly used to manage assaultive patients in the private hospitals and the seclusion rates were higher than those found for public hospitals, probably reflecting a staff preference for seclusion over heavy medication. The need for staff education and support in the management of assaultive patients exists in private hospitals as well as public hospitals.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

A videotape technique for measuring clinical skills: three years of experience.

This paper presents three years of positive experience in using audiovisual technique to evaluate the ability of medical students to observe psychopathology after a psychobiology system course in the second year. The validity of this technique was reported in an earlier article. The technique has students complete the Lorr Inpatient Multidimensional Psychiatric Scale (IMPS) after they see a videotape of an interview with a psychiatric patient. A consensus of psychiatric preceptors is used as a standard of accuracy. Performance on this audiovisual examination is not related to other measures in the course, namely the multiple choice examination, essay, or preceptor evaluation of the individual students during clinical days, nor to other performance in the first two years of medical school. The author recommends the use of standardized objective audiovisual techniques to measure performance in those portions of medical education that include clinical teaching.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1981

Emergency control measures for psychiatric inpatients.

This survey of a large number of patients in psychiatric hospitals found that emergency medication, seclusion or restraint, and one-to-one supervision were used infrequently. However, certain types of patients, namely the young and those in hospital for less than 2 years, were more likely to have received these control measures, Furthermore, psychiatric diagnosis was related to the use of these measures probably as a reflection of the effectiveness of treatment for these disorders. It appeared that these measures were justified based on the fact that patients receiving these controls were more likely than those not receiving controls to manifest active psychosis as well as dangerous behaviors such as physical and sexual assault, fire-setting, and deliberate self injury.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

The risk of assaultive behavior in suicidal patients.

This study assessed the occurrence of assaultive behavior in a group of suicidal patients who were in psychiatric hospitals, many for long periods of time. Of the 94 suicidal patients, 42 (45%) patients physically assaulted other persons at least once in the 3 months preceding the survey. Although many patients manifested active psychotic psychopathology at the time of the survey, there were no significant differences between assaultive and non-assaultive suicidal patients in terms of the presence of psychosis. The sex, race, primary psychiatric diagnosis, and length of stay of patients also were not related to the occurrence of assaultive behavior in suicidal patients. Only youth and the presence of seizure disorders were related to increased risk of assaultive behavior in hospitalized suicidal patients. The author compares the findings of this study to his previous study of concurrent assault and suicide just before or at the time of admission to psychiatric hospitals.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Assault, suicide, and mental illness.

The characteristics of 9,365 patients admitted to public hospitals in a one-year period were analyzed in relation to the presence of assaultive or suicidal problems prior to admission. There were definite differences in the occurrence of assaultive or suicidal problems in relation to sex, age, primary diagnosis, education, race, marital status, prior private care, and source of referral to the hospital. There were no significant differences in regard to the history of previous psychiatric admissions, veteran status, or history of seizures. These findings demonstrate the usefulness of a large, routinely collected data base in the study of specific psychiatric problems and offer directions for intervention and future research in the field of life-threatening behavior.

Adolescent↗