A study of house officers' performance of a complete medical history assessed interview content, questioning technique, and interview style. Frequent deficiencies included inadequate social, psychiatric, and drug reaction histories and an overly direct style. Use of detailed checklist for student evaluation is recommended to provide feedback and…

Clinical trials and access to therapeutic drugs pose dilemmas for researchers, physicians, and AIDS patients. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recognizing the need for greater access to drugs by a broader spectrum of the infected population, is establishing the Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS. (Author/MLW)

Reviews literature that describes information need studies of medical communities. Surveyed health-care professionals in a rural community to identify the information needs of health- care professionals, their primary sources of information, their attitudes toward the public library, and information needs of patients. An appendix contains…

This article reviews issues and circumstances surrounding the death of a University of Louisville (Kentucky) dental school faculty member found to be positive for the human immunodeficiency virus. it addresses administrative aspects including public relations, patient relations, epidemiological review, and staff counseling. (MSE)

A computer-administered version of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale was administered to 31 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, 16 with other anxiety disorders, and 23 nonpatient controls. The computer version correlated highly with the clinician-administered version and was well understood and liked by subjects. (SLD)

Inappropriate communicative strategies and their effects are assessed using information collected in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) from counselor-patient interaction in pre- and posttest AIDS counseling. Inappropriateness was assessed by the disruption in conversational turn-taking sequences shown by overlap and shifts in communication format.…

Scale-level factor analyses are reported for 2 self-report measures of psychopathology, the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90) and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI), using 130 psychiatric inpatients and outpatients. Used separately, the measures offer limited interpretability of scale profiles. Their combined use permits differentiation…

Carolinas Medical Center (North Carolina) initiated a behavioral training program for general practice dental residents to develop skills in handling patient anxiety/stress, obesity, and depression. The program includes monthly seminars, a clinical rotation in behavioral medicine with additional related seminars, and a month-long clinical rotation…

By incorporating the use of standardized patients to teach basic physical examination skills, Tulane University School of Medicine reduced faculty teaching hours substantially and saved money. Student performance on objective structured clinical examinations did not change, and students' course evaluations improved. (Author/MSE)

The Quality of Life Inventory, a measure of life satisfaction for psychological assessment and treatment planning, was evaluated with 54 inpatients, 54 recovering alcoholics, 18 private alcohol- and drug-treatment patients, 127 college counseling recipients, 272 undergraduates, and 19 criminal offenders. Results support the measures' psychometric…

Whether methadone maintenance treatment demonstrates cumulative (rehabilitative) or stabilizing effects on behavior of narcotics addicts over multiple treatment episodes was studied involving 993 addicts in a quasi-experimental design. Observed behavioral changes and longitudinal self-reports indicate stabilizing, but not cumulative, effects. (SLD)

The Temple University (Pennsylvania) advanced general dentistry program includes seminars and clinical rotations in social work, to help students gain an appreciation and working knowledge of social workers' function in health care provision, to improve interpersonal skills, to interact with social workers, to address diversity issues, and to…

A survey of 423 medical students assessed (1) authoritarianism, self-esteem, locus of control, self-blame, belief in efficacy of high-tech medicine, and depression; and (2) attributional styles toward patients with psychological or emotional problems. A variety of findings and directions for research are discussed. (MSE)

A study found that trained standardized patients could provide a reliable assessment of English proficiency of foreign medical graduates by comparison with a standardized language test, but further research is needed to determine whether it is necessary to provide a clinical context for language assessment. (MSE)

Exercise-induced asthma (EIA) affects 12-15% of the population. This comprehensive guide suggests that nearly all individuals with EIA can be active, highlighting both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic management of asthma and stressing the importance of rigorous patient education in controlling underlying asthma and EIA. (SM)