Objective: This study's aim was to determine how patients' and providers' characteristics affect hospital providers' decisions to screen pregnant and postpartum women for illicit substances. Methods: A retrospective design was used. Participants included all low-income women (N=1,100) who delivered at an urban teaching hospital over a 12-month…

The Wada test is at present the method of choice for preoperative assessment of patients who require surgery close to cortical language areas. It is, however, an invasive test with an attached morbidity risk. By now, an alternative to the Wada test is to combine a lexical word generation paradigm with non-invasive imaging techniques. However,…

The objective of this study is to assess whether children's needs are taken into consideration in female patients who are admitted to an adult psychiatric hospital. A retrospective case note audit of 100 female inpatients aged between 18 and 55 years over a 6-month period were randomly selected. The medical and nursing case notes of patients with…

Objective: The author examines one aspect of the psychopharmacology curriculum: the psychology of psychopharmacology. Method: Drawing from his experience teaching this subject to trainees at many different levels and from an emerging evidence base suggesting that psychosocial factors in the doctor-patient relationship may be crucial for medication…

Many studies of ADHD have shown that the problems associated with the disorder continue into adolescence and beyond for 10% to 60% of patients. The present study assesses several aspects of college adjustment, social skills, and self-esteem in a nonreferred sample of college students meeting criteria for a "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of…

A video game called "Re-Mission" has recently been investigated with adolescent and young adult cancer patients enrolled in a multi-site randomized controlled evaluation of the game as a psycho-educational intervention. The main focus of the trial was to determine effects of the game on self-care and other health-related outcomes. It was…

Purpose: This study explored the psychosocial dynamics of short hospice stays (less than 2 weeks) of cancer patients age 65 and older. Design and Methods: In-depth interviews with 59 caregivers of 50 patients were audiotaped, transcribed, and coded by using Atlas ti software. Results: A descriptive typology is presented. A late diagnosis (n = 22…

Purpose: We assess the effects of racial or ethnic concordance between caregivers and interventionists on caregiver attrition, change in depression, and change in burden in a multisite randomized clinical trial. Design and Methods: Family caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease were randomized to intervention or control groups at six sites…

Context: Patients in rural areas may use less medical care than those living in urban areas. This could be due to differences in travel distance and time and a utilization of a different mix of generalists and specialists for their care. Purpose: To compare the travel times, distances, and physician specialty mix of all Medicare patients living in…

The potential role of social support for the adolescent offspring of psychiatric patients has hitherto not been examined. We examined whether the adolescent's level of psychiatric symptoms is dependent on the content and the function of social support (whether direct or moderating), controlling for perceived stress. In a cross-sectional design, 40…

Objective: The authors analyze the occurrence of grade repetition and inattention in children diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Method: The participant group consisted of 310 patients with NF1 and a control group of 242 individuals. The number of grade repetitions for each participant during his or her time in elementary, middle, and…

This study sought to identify from the literature the type of preparation nurse practitioners receive and the practices they use in the care of terminally ill patients as well as to determine from a study of five practitioners in rural health clinics in Mississippi their perception of their training, their philosophy, and the strategies they use…

This journal supplement developed by the Migrant Clinicans Network (MCN) contains three articles related to domestic violence in the migrant population. "Domestic Violence Tips for Clinicians" suggests what to include in the patient's medical record, recommends routine screening, and offers guidelines for interviewing. It also lists what to look…

A prototype revised form of the Test of Spoken English (TSE) was compared with the current version of the same test, comparing interrater reliability, frequency of rater discrepancy at all score levels, component task adequacy, scoring efficacy, and other concurrent and construct validity evidence, including the oral proficiency interview…

Among the repertoire of clinical skills necessary for the professional development of medical students is the ability to create a positive doctor-patient relationship through effective communication skills. The purpose of this study was to create an instrument that reliably measures the relationship between physician and patient. The Relationship…