Showing papers on "Psychiatric interview published in 1981"

On the Existence of Maximum Likelihood Estimators for the Binomial Response Models

Abstract: SUMMARY Necessary and sufficient conditions are given for the existence of maximum likelihood estimators of the linear regression parameter in binomial response (this includes Logit and Probit) models. THE question of existence of maximum likelihood estimators (mle) for Logit models arose in an analysis of the relationship of psychiatric "caseness" to scores on a psychiatric screening questionnaire. Tennant (1977) administered the GHQ (General Health Questionnaire, Goldberg, 1972) to 120 patients attending a General Practitioner's surgery, and also gave each one a standardized psychiatric interview. From the interview, patients were classified as Psychiatric Case/Non-case. In a secondary analysis of Tennant's data, Duncan-Jones and Henderson (1978) fitted a Logit regression of"caseness" on GHQ Score, and obtained a good fit with the model.

Clinical Effects of Amitriptyline in Adolescent Depression: A Pilot Study

Abstract: To determine the effects of antidepressant medication on adolescent depression, we compared the efficacy of amitriptyline (200 mg daily) with placebo in a double-blind experimental design. Diagnosis of adolescent depression (n = 20) was achieved using the psychiatric interview, psychiatric rating scales, and psychometric instruments. No significant differences were reported between the amitriptyline and placebo groups on the Psychiatric Rating Scale or the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. There were differences between groups at week 6 on the Depression Adjective Check List. Within group significance occurred from onset of treatment to conclusion on all instruments. The results suggest that prescription of amitriptyline for treatment of adolescent depression may be no more efficacious than the use of placebo.

Epidemiology of psychiatric disorders in Finland A five-year follow-up

Abstract: This study reports a five-year follow-up of a random population sample consisting of 1000 persons, who initially underwent a fairly thorough psychiatric examination. The method used at the follow-up consisted of a mail inquiry, the collection of recorded information and, for a certain proportion of the subjects, a psychiatric interview. The factors studied were the prevalence and incidence of psychiatric disorders, recovery and improvement, need for treatment and utilization of treatment services in the population. The total prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 294 per 1000, and the annual incidence 15.2 per 1000. The incidence was found to be associated with certain socio-demographic variables. A need for psychiatric treatment was found in a total of 11.4% of the subjects; in addition, 18.6% were assessed as needing supportive measures. Over the five-year period psychiatric treatment had been received by a total of 18% of the subjects. The most common provider of treatment had been the general practitioner. Psychiatric hospital care during the follow-up period had been received by 3.9% of the subjects.

The use of a structured diagnostic interview for routine psychiatric evaluations.

Abstract: The author reports the use of a structured psychiatric interview for the routine initial evaluation of all referrals to an inpatient psychiatric consultation service during a 1-year period. Acceptance of this procedure by physician examiners and by patients was high. There was evidence that the structured interview was a useful diagnostic tool and did not interfere with patient rapport. The advantages of structured interviews for routine clinical evaluations are discussed.

The short-term outcome of neurotic disorders in the community - demographic and clinical predictors of remission.

Abstract: A one month longitudinal study of neurotic disorders in a London community was carried out, using the Present State Examination, a structured psychiatric interview. Remission of disorder at the one month follow-up was not significantly associated with demographic variables, although remission was somewhat more common in young single males of higher social class. Remission was significantly related to recent onset of disorder and there was a tendency toward lower rates of both medical consultation and prescription of psychotropic medication in the follow-up period. Surprisingly, perhaps, initial severity of the disorder and syndrome type did not predict remission. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Psychiatric morbidity and the menopause.

Abstract: A sample consisting of Menopausal, pre menopausal and post menopausal women in the age range of 36 to 50 years was studied using a two stage screening procedure for identifying and assessing psychiatric morbidity. The screening device, General Health questionnaire (GHQ) identified 21 of the 105 women studied as 'possible cases'. On further interviews using standard psychiatric interview (SPI) a higher proportion of menopausal women were found to be psychiatrically ill. The predominant symptom in the Menopausal group was depression. Both menopausal women and women who had undergone hysterectomy (surgical menopause) received higher mean ratings on SPI. The inter-rater reliability of SPI was found to be high and was comparable to those reported by original authors.

Dreams, first memories, and brain atrophy in the elderly.

Abstract: A five-year longitudinal study of the healthy aged was begun utilizing several measures. These include a sociological instrument, the Older Americans Resources Scale (OARS), psychological tests, physical and laboratory examinations, Computerized Transaxial Tomography (CTT), and a psychiatric interview. In the first year of the study 215 individuals over the age of 65 (average age 73) were examined, and preliminary data are now emerging. Among these are fantasy material in the form of dreams and first memories that were obtained in the psychiatric interview. We analyzed these data vis-a-vis brain scan results. In addition, we divided manifest dream content into the following types: (1) lost resources; (2) regressive; (3) real life; and (4) aggressive, sexual, and miscellaneous, and again analyzed the data along with the brain scan results. Similarly, first memories were analyzed. These are discussed in terms of utilizing fantasy material in order to determine the individual's perception of loss of cognitive ability, as a measure of personality structure, and to determine its relationship to the function of memory.

[Inter-clinician reliability of the Mexican version of Goldberg's "Standardized Psychiatric Interview"].

Abstract: The Standardized Psychiatric Interview (SPI) was developed by Goldberg et al, for use in community surveys The authors made the translation and adaptation of this instrument to Spanish and in this paper they present the inter-rater reliability study of different clinicians using the SPI in a sample of 30 women psychiatric out-patients The raters were 4 psychiatrists and 2 clinical psychologists A one week training course was developed before the study in order to get acquainted with the instrument, discuss it and use the standard technique to elicit and record psychiatric symptoms on 5 audiotapes and 10 subjects with different degrees of pathology The inter-rater reliability was tested using the product-moment correlation, the statistic Kappa and a descriptive index of association in order to show the agreement between raters when the symptom was present or absent A two-way analysis of variance was also carried out in order to test if there were any differences among the raters The results show a mean product-moment correlation of 090 and a mean Kappa of 082 In 20 of the interviews a psychiatrist and a psychologist acted as raters and the results were almost the same The authors conclude that the SPI is an useful technique for further studies in general practice and community surveys in the hands of mental health personnel trained in the use of Standardized Psychiatric Interview