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Biomedical subjects

N McLaughlin

Publications and source records attributed to N McLaughlin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Factor structure of neurologic examination abnormalities in unmedicated schizophrenia.

The heterogeneity and uncertain significance of neurologic exam abnormalities in schizophrenia prompted us to evaluate their factor structure. We administered a modified version of the Neurological Evaluation Scale (NES) to 103 unmedicated patients with schizophrenia. Data were distilled by combining right- and left-side scores, and by eliminating superfluous, rarely abnormal and unreliable items from the analysis. Exploratory principal components analysis yielded four factors: repetitive motor tasks (fist-ring, fist-edge-palm, alternating fist-palm, dysdiadochokinesis); cognitive-perceptual tasks (memory, audiovisual integration, right-left orientation, face-hand test, rhythm tapping reproduction); balancing tasks (Romberg, tandem gait); and the palmomental reflex. Evaluation of the relationship between these factors and clinical and demographic variables revealed a robust correlation between the cognitive-perceptual factor and full-scale IQ score. This analysis is a step toward developing empirical subscales of a modified NES, which may provide insights into the nature of neurologic impairment in schizophrenia and may prove clinically useful.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Possible role of Helicobacter pylori serology in reducing endoscopy workload.

We validated a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Helico-G, in diagnosing H. pylori in 129 patients (mean age 50 years, range 15-86). We analysed the results of endoscopy against serology to see whether there was a possibility of adopting the strategy of not endoscoping dyspeptic subjects under the age of 45. H. pylori infection was considered present if either histology and/or culture were positive. The ELISA had a sensitivity of 88%, specificity of 72%, positive predictive value of 85%, negative predictive value of 77% and accuracy of 82% in detecting H. pylori. In a subgroup of 52 subjects aged 45 or less (mean age 35 years, range 15-45), 17 out of 25 patients with positive endoscopic findings were H. pylori seropositive while 16 out of 27 patients had normal endoscopic findings. Eighteen out of the 52 patients (35%) were H. pylori seronegative and normal endoscopically except for five patients (10%) who had mild to moderate oesophagitis and two who had non-erosive gastritis (4%). All patients with duodenal ulcer disease (7) were seropositive giving predictive values of positive and negative serology for a diagnosis of duodenal ulcer disease as 28% and 100%, respectively. Therefore adopting a strategy of endoscoping subjects under the age of 45 only if they were H. pylori seropositive would have saved 35% of endoscopies in this age group but missed oesophagitis in 10%. Negative serology would tend to exclude duodenal ulcer disease while positive serology discriminates poorly for it. Serology may be a useful adjunct in screening to reduce endoscopy workload provided that patients with gastro-oesophageal reflux symptoms are excluded.

Aged↗