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Biomedical subjects

K Weihs

Publications and source records attributed to K Weihs.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Natural disaster and depression: a prospective investigation of reactions to the 1993 midwest floods.

A statewide sample of 1735 Iowa residents, approximately half of whom were victims of the 1993 Midwest Floods, participated in interviews 1 year prior to, and 30 to 90 days after, the disaster. Employing a rigorous methodology including both control-group comparisons and predisaster assessments, we performed a systematic evaluation of the disaster's impact. Overall, the disaster led to true but small rises in depressive symptoms and diagnoses 60-90 days postflood. The disaster-psychopathology effect was not moderated by predisaster depressive symptoms or diagnostically defined depression; rather, predisaster symptoms and diagnoses uniquely contributed to increases in postdisaster distress. However, increases in symptoms as a function of flood impact were slightly greater among respondents with the lowest incomes and among residents living in small rural communities, as opposed to on farms or in cities. Implications for individual- and community-level disaster response are discussed.

Adjustment Disorders↗
PubMed1998

Women's mental health in primary care. Depression, anxiety, somatization, eating disorders, and substance abuse.

Primary care physicians can improve the care of women patients by applying new concepts of women's physiology and psychosocial development. New developmental models that emphasize the importance of relationships in women's self-concept and well-being have led to effective psychotherapies for depression, eating disorders, anxiety and substance abuse. Many of these therapies can be offered in brief formats suitable to primary care settings. New biological treatments including the use of estrogen, thyroid hormone and bright light for depression and refeeding to increase metabolic rate in eating disorders also promise to expand the range of mental health problems that generalist physicians can treat successfully.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMed1997

Psychological distress and help seeking in rural America.

The implications of exposure to acute and chronic stressors, and seeking mental health care, for increased psychological distress are examined. Research on economic stress, psychological distress, and rural agrarian values each point to increasing variability within rural areas. Using data from a panel study of 1,487 adults, a model predicting changes in depressive symptoms was specified and tested. Results show effects by size of place for men but not for women. Men living in rural villages of under 2,500 or in small towns of 2,500 to 9,999 people had significantly greater increases in depressive symptoms than men living in the country or in larger towns or cities. Size of place was also related to level of stigma toward mental health care. Persons living in the most rural environments were more likely to hold stigmatized attitudes toward mental health care and these views were strongly predictive of willingness to seek care. The combination of increased risk and less willingness to seek assistance places men living in small towns and villages in particular jeopardy for continuing problems involving depressed mood.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Survival in hemodialysis patients: the role of depression.

Depression has been identified at the most prevalent psychologic problem in patients with ESRD treated with hemodialysis (HD). Depression has been associated with mortality in HD patients; however, the similarity of the symptoms of depressive disorders to those of uremia and the difficulties in measuring depression and dissociating psychologic from physical aspects of depression in such patients render these studies difficult to evaluate. Conflicting data regarding the effects of depression on survival in HD patients may be the result of using somatic symptoms in quantifying the extent of depression. In this review, studies regarding the diagnosis of depression in HD patients, the association of depression and survival in HD patients in light of recent work on factors related to the morbidity and mortality in the ESRD population, and aspects of therapy for depression in HD patients are considered. Specifically, depression may affect immunologic function, nutrition, and compliance factors that may affect the prescription and delivery of dialysis, which may, in turn, influence outcome. Alternatively, depression may be an independent factor in influencing survival. Cognitive depression measures may be more useful in predicting outcome in HD patients than standard measures used in nonmedically ill populations. Although there are few studies of the effect of treatment of depression on outcome in HD patients, it is reasonable to hypothesize that treatment of depressive disorders in HD patients might effect outcome. Further studies on the association of depression and its treatment and mortality in ESRD patients are warranted.

Depression↗
PubMed1986

Interviewing skills training--a study.

A randomized investigation was conducted to study the effect of a structural 10-week course on the development of interviewing skills of first year medical students. The experimental group (16 students) received interviewing skills training based on the Developmental Helping Model as described by Carkhuff in 1982. The comparison group (16 students) received traditionally focused training with emphasis on gathering information about the patient's presenting problem through the use of open-ended questions. The dependent measure was interviewing skills level. Each student was videotaped with a simulated patient during the initial (pre-test) and final (post-test) sessions of the course. Tapes were rated by blinded reviewers according to Carkhuff's five point scale of Developmental Helping. No pre-test differences were found between groups. At post-test, the experimental group showed significantly higher ratings. This data suggests that teaching specific interviewing skills is more effective than non-skill oriented training for development of medical students' ability to interview patients.

Clinical Competence↗