Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to W W Eaton.
The relationship of consumption of coffee or tea to self-reported symptoms of anxiety is examined with data from the detailed examination component of the National Center for Health Statistics Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Among this nationwide sample of 3,854 respondents, there was no significant association between consumption of coffee or tea and symptoms of anxiety.
The use of the National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) to elicit DSM-III-defined mental disorders among Hispanic respondents in the Los Angeles site of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area project required development of a Spanish translation of the instrument that would be understood readily by persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban origin. The translation was carried out using back translation, bilingual test respondents, a bilingual translation staff, an extensive committee of experienced bilingual clinicians as translation consultants, and revision following clinical evaluation. A study of its reliability and comparison with clinical diagnoses obtained with Spanish-speaking psychiatric outpatients indicated satisfactory equivalence of the Spanish DIS to the English version. Early international use of the Spanish DIS promises new data on the cross-cultural validity and prevalence rates of DSM-III-diagnosed disorders.
A search for previously undiagnosed congenital rubella (CR) was made on 672 children who had attended psychiatric day treatment, learning, and speech and language centres. This was done by observing the seroresponse of seronegative children to rubella vaccine, since 90% of patients with known CR who are seronegative fail to seroconvert to the vaccine. Of the 225 seronegative children 23 did not seroconvert after a single vaccination. Five of these failed to respond on revaccination. These five children had a high frequency of severe language and learning disability as well as frequent diagnoses of major CNS disorders. It is likely that a far greater number of children in the population studied had CR, since our methods identify only about 20% of those affected. Clinically, a specific diagnosis of CR is helpful in facilitating genetic counselling and in allowing the clinician to offer a more hopeful prognosis.
The authors compared the psychiatric status of 135 survivors of the Holocaust with that of control subjects. This study stands apart from most previous reports in that the two groups were generated by a random sample survey of all heads of households in a community (Montreal). Survivors were more likely to have mild psychiatric symptoms regardless of the age at which they experienced the Holocaust. The difference between survivors and controls in levels of mild psychiatric symptoms was greatly amplified in those respondents who perceived a recent increase in anti-Semitism in Montreal.
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This paper is an analysis of data on symptoms of depression in a nationwide sample of adults, collected during the National Center for Health Statistics' first Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The data are analyzed by a statistical adjustment procedure which assesses the impact of the major sociodemographic variables simultaneously, instead of one by one, which avoids a former major source of confusion. The measure of depression is the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale. With the exception of race, the study replicates earlier findings. The adjustment procedure facilitates generalization of the results to other populations which are not demographically comparable, such as to smaller locales in the United States, or to populations defined by some criterion variable. Comparison of results is made with earlier work that used the identical measure of depression in two separate locales.
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This paper considers the impact of a state medical insurance system on the structure of psychiatric services. The tendency of the upper socioeconomic classes to use private practitioners, and the lower classes to use public clinics, is examined before and after the imposition of the medical insurance system in Quebec in 1970. Data from one public clinic reveal a significant rise in the socioeconomic status of patients after Medicare. Alternative interpretations for the change in the clinic population are explored.
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The finding that married persons are more likely to be hospitalized schizophrenics is reviewed. Three interpretations of the finding are discussed: causation, selection, and differential utilization. A strategy to separate the three hypotheses is presented which uses data on rates of admission and duration of hospitalization and which concentrates on the widowed category. Data from the Maryland Psychiatric Case Register are used to test the hypotheses. Evidence of selection and differential utilization is found, but none in favor of the causation hypothesis. It is shown that selection operates less powerfully in rural areas.
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The object of this study is to assess the internal validity of DSM-III personality constructs and to explore whether the constituent elements are better explained by an alternate internally coherent classification. A two-stage stratified random sample of subjects identified at the Baltimore site of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) program were examined by psychiatrists for DSM-III personality attributes using a semistructured instrument. Dichotomous factor analysis was used in the confirmatory mode to test whether a single factor explained each of the 11 DSM-III personality disorders. This approach rejected a single explanatory factor for all but compulsive personality disorder. Exploratory factor analysis showed that these DSM-III personality features are parsimoniously described by a five-factor model. These factors are warmth, animation, timidity, trust, and scrupulousness.
In this study, we hypothesized that there would be an increased risk of greater alcohol consumption among depressed problem drinkers than those without depression in the prior year, and that the strength of this association would be stronger for women. As part of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) program, probability samples of area residents were selected and the baseline interview for the Baltimore site was completed in 1981. Between 1993 and 1996, 73% of the survivors (n = 2633) were reinterviewed. For the 334 problem drinkers identified, the occurrence of a depressive episode and level of alcohol consumption for each intervening year between the baseline and follow-up interviews were assessed. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used for logistic regression analyses to examine the association between the occurrence of depression in the prior year with transition to higher-level drinking in the subsequent year. The problem drinkers tended to have a bimodal association of transitioning to higher-level drinking; although the strength of the association was greater for men. Future research will need to assess the potential influences on this relationship of other sociodemographic and psychopathologic characteristics, including the effect of treatment for depression or substance use.
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The purpose of this research was to estimate the prevalence of substance abuse and depression among a population-based sample of registered nurses. In addition, to estimate the degree to which substance abuse and depression were associated with nurses, a comparison was made between nurses and other employed individuals. Respondents were obtained from a probability sample of households that were part of the National Institute of Mental Health Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program (ECA). Of the adults interviewed as part of the ECA, 143 were under age 65 and currently working as registered nurses. These nurses were matched by neighborhood of residence (census tract) and gender to a comparison group of non-nurses from the ECA who were also employed at the time of interview. Estimates of the odds of substance use and depression among the nurses (n = 143) and non-nurses (n = 1410) were calculated. Nurses were no more likely to have engaged in illicit drug use or to have experienced depression than non-nurses. Nurses were also less likely to have experienced problems with alcohol abuse than non-nurses.