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OBJECTIVE: To test the personal neglect hypothesis of anosognosia for hemiplegia (AHP) using selective anesthesia of the right hemisphere. BACKGROUND: Although AHP most commonly follows right-hemisphere injury, the mechanism responsible for this hemispheric asymmetry has not been entirely elucidated. Because denial of ownership of parts on the contralesional side of one's body (personal neglect) also more commonly follows right-hemisphere damage, personal neglect might account for AHP. DESIGN/METHODS: AHP and personal neglect were assessed in 20 patients during right intracarotid barbiturate infusion. With vision restricted to the central field, patients were randomly presented with either their own hands or those of examiners matched for size, gender, and race. Patients were asked to read numbers placed on the hands to establish that hemianopia did not confound hand recognition. RESULTS: All subjects correctly read the numbers on all trials. Only 4 of 20 subjects misidentified their hands and denied awareness of left hemiplegia. All errors occurred for the left hand, indicating personal neglect. However, the 16 subjects without personal neglect also demonstrated AHP. CONCLUSION: Because AHP and personal neglect are dissociable, personal neglect cannot completely account for AHP.
OBJECTIVES: We determined proportions of high-risk persons tested for HIV, the reasons for testing and not testing, and attitudes and perceptions regarding HIV testing, information that is critical for planning prevention programs. METHODS: Cross-sectional interview study of persons at high risk for HIV infection (men who have sex with men [MSM]; injection drug users [IDUs]; and heterosexual persons recruited from gay bars, street outreach, and sexually transmitted disease clinics) among six states participating in the HIV Testing Survey (HITS) in 1995 to 1996 (HITS-I) and 1998 to 1999 (HITS-II). RESULTS: Overall testing rates were lower in the HITS-I (1226/1599 [77%]) than in the HITS-II (1375/1711 [80%]) (p =.01). Persons <25 years old tested less frequently than those >or=25 years old (HITS-I: 71% vs. 78%, respectively, p=.007; HITS-II: 63% vs. 85%, respectively, p<.001). The main reasons for testing and not testing were the same in both surveys, but the proportions of reasons for not testing differed (e.g., "unlikely exposed to HIV" [HITS-I (17%) vs. HITS-II (30%), p<.0001], "afraid of finding out HIV-positive" [HITS-I (27%) vs. HITS-II (18%), p<.0001]). Attitudes regarding HIV testing differed among tested and untested respondents, especially among MSM. CONCLUSIONS: HIV testing rates were higher in the HITS-II, but testing rates decreased among the youngest respondents. Denial of HIV risk factors and fear of being HIV-positive were the principal reasons for not being tested. Availability of new HIV therapies may have contributed to decreased fear of finding out that one is HIV infected as a reason to avoid testing. The increased proportion of persons at risk who did not test because they believed they were unlikely to have been exposed highlights the need for prevention efforts to address risk perceptions.
In this study the relationship between temperament and development in preschool children was determined. Thirty-one children, age 3 and 4 years old, were selected from day-care centers. The child's temperament was measured with the Behavioral Style Questionnaire. Cognitive-verbal and motor development were assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, the Goodenough Draw-a-Person Test, and the developmental subtests of the Comprehensive Identification Process. Significant correlations (p less than .05) using the Pearson product moment were found between development and six categories of reactivity for temperament: activity, rhythmicity, approach, adaptability, mood, and persistence. All significant correlation coefficients showed an inverse relationship between temperament and developmental scores. This suggests that children who are mildly active, rhythmic, adaptable, persistent, approachable, and have a positive mood attain a more advanced developmental level during their preschool years.
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to identify the psychosocial problems and expectation of patients with severe microtia and to investigate possible changes in psychosocial profile of patients after surgical reconstruction of the pinna. METHODS: Interviews were performed with 65 patients before and 39 patients after auricular reconstruction. They consisted of a questionnaire involving open and closed questions relating to the reconstruction and a personality test. RESULTS: The most frequently mentioned reasons for surgery were: personal dissatisfaction with patients own appearance, lack of self-confidence, and for younger age groups, parental anxiety about the future psychosocial development of their children. More than 90% of the patients with surgically reconstructed auricles were satisfied with the postoperative results and showed a more open and fearless personality profile. CONCLUSIONS: Auricular reconstruction enhances the development of a stable personality.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between personality and characteristics in collage work. Seventy undergraduates filled the Yatabe-Guilford (YG) personality test and produced a piece of collage work. The YG personality types were not different in terms of collage work characteristics. However, emotional adaptation and introvert/extrovert scores were reflected in the number of cuttings used in the piece. General activity score was reflected in the number of vehicle pictures used. Those who used an eye picture had a tendency to be depressed and lacking in confidence. Those who used a "stone circle" picture tended to be more emotionally adapted and extroverted. The results suggested a possibility that personality traits were reflected in specific characteristics in collage work.
The relationship between personality types and the symptoms of emesis gravidarum in pregnant women was analyzed by means of the Cattel personality test (revised by Nishizono) performed in early and mid pregnancy. Personality types were classified into five from cyclothymia A to schizothymia E. As for emesis, the patients were also classified into three groups, severe (35), mild (41) and none (19), according to the severity and duration of the symptoms. As a result, there was no significant difference between the types and the symptoms, but significant differences were seen in interpersonal attitudes, especially in sociality and dominative propensity, which were constituents of the personality type. The results of the analysis suggested that the patients who revealed disunification tended to express strong emesis as a somatic language. These results therefore indicate the necessity for counseling about personality without simply explaining it as their predisposing constitution, when we encounter strongly emetic pregnant women.
The incidence and prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among injection drug users, prostitutes, and other women seeking confidential testing in the Orange County Women's Jail were assessed from 1985 to 1991. A total of 4616 voluntary tests were completed on 3051 women, and 865 women were tested repeatedly. Eighty-two women tested positively, a ratio of 1.8 positives per 100 tests or 2.7% of all persons tested. Cumulative HIV prevalence increased from 2.5% to 2.7% between 1985 and 1991, increased by age, and showed racial differences. Of women with multiple tests, 29 seroconverted. Incidence declined from 5.7 to 1.4 cases per 100 person-years of observation between 1985 and 1991. The overall rate of seroconversion was 1.6 per 100 person-years of observation.
A retrospective serological survey for dengue immunity was conducted in Nigeria to determine the prevalence of infection in man and non-human primates. Preliminary haemagglutination-inhibition (HI) tests revealed that 63% of persons tested had HI antibodies against one or more of the following flaviviruses: dengue type 1, yellow fever, West Nile and Wesselsbron. Parallel HI and neutralization (N) tests on 179 human sera showed that six of 20 sera (30%) negative for flavivirus HI antibody contained dengue N antibody. This finding emphasized the advantage of the N test over HI in screening for dengue virus immunity. Neutralization tests performed on 1,816 human sera from different geographical locations in Nigeria showed that 45% of Nigerians were immune to dengue type 2 virus. The percentage of immunity in adults aged 20 years and older (51%) was significantly higher than in children (37%) (P less than 0-01). In all four ecological zones sampled, the highest percentage of dengue N antibody was observed in the derived Savannah zone (63%) followed by the rain forest zone (42%). The Southern Guinea savannah and plateau zones had lower percentages of dengue-immune persons. There was a higher prevalence of antibodies in urban (48%) than in rural communities (37%). Tests on dengue-immune sera showed that 35% of such sera contained N antibodies to dengue only or to dengue and one other virus. Therefore, dengue immunity cannot be explained by heterologous cross reactions within the flavivirus group. In addition, evidence of dengue infection was found in monkeys and galagos. 48% of monkeys and 25% of galagos contained dengue N antibody. The presence of specific dengue N antibodies in a few sera suggests that the occurrence of a forest cycle of dengue is possible in Nigeria.
Obesity is a multifactorial syndrome involving both a genetic susceptibility and environmental factors such as early eating experiences in infancy. Interviews, drawings, and a personality test (Rorschach) were used to classify obese children according to their personality. Results suggest that the eating disorder is only one component of a more global alteration in psychological organization. These data support the need for psychological intervention.
Intelligence (IQ) tests and scales of adaptive behavior are typically used to evaluate adults with mental retardation. Personality tests and instruments designed to measure behavior problems and psychopathology are also used. Repeated IQ testing is common but not useful for adults. Adaptive behavior scales and measures of psychopathology do appear useful, although the latter are relatively new and not widely used in clinical practice. Tests requiring skilled language responses are not useful for people with severe and profound disabilities. The problem of administering the tests is addressed by interviewing people who are knowledgeable about the person being evaluated; this method is limited by the actual knowledge of the person interviewed. Neuroimaging, still in the research stage, may be especially relevant in the future.
Undergraduate volunteers from the Psychology participant pool (N=86, age M=22.7, SD=4.8 yr.; 72 of 86 were female) took two tests, a commercially available integrity test (the Personnel Selection Inventory) and the NEO-Five Factor Inventory. Later in the study, each participant was given an opportunity to report dishonestly the amount of time spent in the laboratory and thus to receive more extra-credit points than earned. An observer recorded participants' actual times in the laboratory to provide an accurate assessment of participants' honesty. Analysis indicated that the Personnel Selection Inventory did not predict whether the participant was honest or dishonest in reporting time spent. Conscientiousness as measured by the NEO-Five Factor Inventory, however, not only predicted behavior, but did so significantly better than did the Personnel Selection Inventory. The study provides new information about the value of integrity tests by comparing integrity and personality tests in the simultaneous prediction of a specific criterion.
BACKGROUND: In studies of both patients and high-risk subjects, particular patterns of personality have been found to be associated with affective disorders. Neuroticism and features of the melancholic type of personality seem to be risk factors for depression while premorbid features of the manic type of personality predominate in patients with more manic than depressive episodes. While neuroticism prevails in the majority of mental disorders, the 'affective' personality variants appear to be more specifically associated with affective disorders. METHODS: Personality features were investigated in 122 recovered patients with affective disorders, 58 first-degree relatives (high-risk subjects (HR)) and in the respective control groups (n=48; n=29). Patients were subdivided into: unipolar depression (melancholic subtype); bipolar II; bipolar I with more depressive episodes and bipolar I with more manic episodes. Personality measures were based on the Biographical Personality Interview (BPI) and the Munich Personality Test (MPT). RESULTS: The melancholic personality type (BPI) decreased from the unipolar depressives to the mainly manic group, while features of the manic type increased. MPT scores failed to discriminate between subgroups of patients. HR were significantly more introverted and had a stronger orientation towards social norms than controls according to the MPT, and showed a tendency towards the melancholic type according to the BPI. LIMITATIONS: The sizes of some groups or subgroups are relatively small. Therefore, they have to be enlarged in the continuation of the study so as to increase the power of the statistical tests and thus to ascertain the robustness of the results. CONCLUSION: Features of the typus melancholicus seem to be a risk factor for depression. The identification of highly predictive risk factors provides an opportunity for the development of prevention programs.
Biochemical and physiological tests were carried out on the skin surface of 20 patients with candidal intertrigo and 27 patients with tinea cruris. In all patients the test areas were free of efflorescences. The same tests were performed in 39 and 27 resectively healthy test persons of the same age and sex. The following striking findings came to light: 1. There was a significant decrease in the percentage amount of squalene in the skin surface lipids of the moniliasis group as compared with the control group. 2. There was a significant decrease in the reducing substances in the so called water solubles obtained with the phenol sulfuric acid method in the moniliasis group. The same results were obtained when only those moniliasis patients who were definitely not suffering from diabetes mellitus were taken into account. This is presumably a question of a reduction in the bound carbohydrates. 3. There were significantly more amino acids extractable from the skin surface of the tinea cruris patients than of the control persons. These results point to important predisposing factors for the susceptibility to candidal intertrigo and tinea cruris respectively.
Similarities between alexithymia and Type A behaviour in terms of psychoanalytic personality theory were studied in 164 non-acute surgical patients. The methods used were the Beth Israel Hospital Questionnaire, the Swedish version of the Jenkins Activity Survey and the Lazare-Klerman-Armor personality test. The results showed that alexithymia and Type A behaviour can be compared in terms of compulsive personality. The most evident difference was that certain hysterical features were related to Type A pattern but not to alexithymia.
Isoniazid therapy has been proved an effective means of preventing overt clinical tuberculosis in persons with positive tuberculin skin tests, persons who are close contacts of active cases, and persons with inactive tuberculosis that were never treated. The administration of isoniazid in standard dosage for one year in these situations will help greatly to reduce tuberculosis as a community health problem in the future. Studies in recent years, however, point to hepatic dysfunction as a complication of isoniazid therapy in up to 10% of patients. In a few patients, liver disease as a complication of this therapy has been fatal. The likelihood of this complication increases with age. Accordingly, isoniazid chemoprophylaxis should be undertaken with the understanding that the patient has to be followed up closely, especially for evidence of liver disease during the course of therapy. This potentially serious side effect suggests that isoniazid chemoprophylaxis should be used primarily with patients in high risk groups.