Respondent and informant accounts of psychiatric symptoms in a sample of patients with learning disability

This paper investigates differences in the nature and frequency of psychiatric symptoms reported by patients with learning disability and by key informants. The study involved psychiatric assessment of 100 patients with learning disabilities and key informants using the Psychiatric Assessment Schedule for Adults with a Developmental Disability (PAS-ADD), a semi-structured psychiatric interview developed specifically for people who have a learning disability. There was considerable disagreement between respondent and informant interviews; only 40.7% of cases were detected by both interviews. Respondents were more likely to report on autonomic symptoms and certain psychotic phenomena. Other anxiety and depression symptoms were more frequently reported by infcrnnants. The results indicate that it is crucial for sensitive case detection to complete both interviews where possible. If the respondent cannot be interviewed, panic disorder or phobias may be particularly difficult to detect.     

Digital movement analysis,a new objective method of measuring tardive dyskinesia and drug-induced parkinsonian tremor: acceptability,reliability and validity

Digital movment analysis (DMA) is a new instrumental approach to assessing oral tardive dyskinesia (TD) by means of digital image processing of a video signal, tracking five paper dots placed around the patient's mouth. A total of 40 schizophrenic patients, 30 with and 10 without TD, were examined twice (with a 3-month interval) with this new device. The patients were further examined with two TD rating scales: the St. Hans Rating Scale for extrapyramidal syndromes (SHRS) and the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS).The schizophrenic patients accepted the instrumental assessment without any anxiety or resistance. The internal relibility of the apparatus was high, with correlation coefficients of 0.80–0.99. The DMA TD values correlated with the SHRS and AIMS scores with correlation coefficients of 0.48–0.73 indicating an acceptable, although not strong, concurrent validity. Fluctuations occurred from the first to the second examination independent of medication. For these fluctuations no correlation was found between DMA values and rating scores. Finally, the DMA device was able to detect perioral tremor as a sign of parkinsonism.It has been concluded that DMA is a useful supplement to classical TD rating, although further validity evaluation is warranted.     

Adverse drug reactions: physicians' opinions versus a causality assessment method

Since spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions depends on the physician's opinion of the relationship between the drug and the adverse event, we compared physicians' opinions with the scores obtained by the causality assessment method used in France. During a 2 month period, all physicians who reported adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to our pharmacovigilance centre expressed their opinions on the causal link by means of visual analogue scales. ADR reports were then assessed with the French causality assessment method by a clinical pharmacologist who was blind to physicians' opinions.The assessment by both physicians and the standardized method was performed for 75 ADR cases involving 120 drugs. Physicians used a wide range of assessments, with a preponderance of extreme scores, resulting in a U-shaped distribution, while the standardized method gave generally low scores. Scores given by physicians were very high (causality considered very likely or likely) in 60% of cases and very low (causality considered unlikely or dubious/possible) in 32% of cases. Scores obtained using the causality assessment method were low (causality dubious/possible) in 89% of cases and causality considered likely in only 11 cases, essentially in cases with positive rechallenge. Complete agreement occurred in only 6% of cases. Adding complete agreement and minor discrepancies raised the percentage to 49%.     

Needs and needs assessment: their components and definitions with reference to dementia

The concept of need and the practice of needs assessment are both subject to a wide range of interpretations, to the likely detriment of individual assessments and to multidisciplinary working. Clear definition is important for individual assessment, for the development of multidisciplinary tools and in gathering planning information. The concept of need is clarified, firstly by distinguishing between need and the difficulties that engender it, and secondly through a taxonomy of need. These assist clear definitions of both need and needs assessment when linked with a consideration of the current help a person receives and a specification of the type of help required by a person to meet their needs. Such definitions have implications for the role of needs assessment in individual assessment, service evaluation, service management and planning and in the development of multidisciplinary needs assessment tools.     

Grip and pinch strength among selected adult occupational groups

A survey of 402 normal subjects (203 men, 199 women) was conducted to assist in distinguishing potential differences in norms of hand strength. Norm data had previously been collected from mixed occupational groups, but in the present study it was hypothesised that people involved in heavy manual work on a daily basis might possess greater hand strength than others. The volunteers were adults working in industry and agriculture; they were subdivided into occupational categories. Measurements of grip, key and palmar pinch using the Jamar dynamometer and B and L pinch gauge were collected, using the protocol described by Mathiowetz. Volunteers also rated their individual hand strength job requirements subjectively. Mean values were established with regard to age, sex, dominance, occupational group and subjective rating. Significant differences were found with regard to age and sex but not to dominance; there was no evidence of differences between occupational groups or between subjective rating and individual scoring, i.e. volunteers who perceived their job as requiring a high degree of strength did not achieve higher test measurements than others. A high interrater reliability was demonstrated when comparing these follow-up measurements with the original data. It was concluded that, for clinical and rehabilitative purposes, therapists can interpret assessment of outcome most accurately by comparing patients' results with the existing norm data.     

Oral sensorimotor therapy: Assessment,efficacy and future directions

This review addresses the current state of knowledge in oral sensorimotor therapy for children with neurological impairments and ingestive problems. Comprehensive assessment of the child with dysphagia looks at the interaction of oral performance and growth. These domains include eating efficiency, oral-motor skills, oral sensory evaluation, classification of the severity of an eating problem, interaction of respiration and ingestion, aspiration, positioning for feeding, social skills assessment, careload and assessment technologies. Oral sensorimotor therapy improves eating but not drinking skills in children 3–12 years of age. Weight gain is sufficient so that children maintain their growth channel but they do not show catchup growth. Many factors thought to contribute to better ingestive performance need further study, such as jaw and lip control in association with drinking. The earliest possible identification of infants at risk for eating impairments needs to be rigorously pursued. Such an approach offers hope that the later growth deterioration now seen in children with eating impairments may be prevented. Finally, the effect of positioning and the use of eating equipment to promote self-feeding need further study.     

The use of experimental studies to reveal suspected neurotoxic chemicals as occupational hazards: acute and chronic exposures to organic solvents.

The nervous system differs from many other body organs by its central control of vital functions and its low regeneration capacity. Organic solvents have, as a group, been suspected to have neurotoxic effects. Because of their similar physical properties and the fact that in industrial uses, they are often present in various mixtures, organic solvents have also been regarded, unfortunately, to induce common neurotoxic effects. However, it is evident from experimental studies using specified exposure conditions that different organic solvents have very diverse neurotoxic effects and also that the toxic mechanism may differ between acute and chronic exposure. No specific method used to describe a neurotoxic effect or single toxic response can be used for the overall occupational risk assessment of all organic solvents. Each solvent has to be considered as having its own unique toxic effects.     

A simple method for screening assessment of acute toxicity of chemicals

We proposed a simple method for screening assessment of acute oral and dermal toxicity using only three rats and mice of each sex at each dose level. Animals were first treated with chemicals at a dose of 2000 mg/kg and were carefully observed for compound-related morbidity and mortality. If none of the animals died, the following toxicity tests were suspended. If some of the animals died, toxicity tests at doses of 200 and 20 mg/kg were performed. The approximate LD₅₀ values calculated by this method showed little difference between two separate laboratories and were in good agreement with LD₅₀ values reported in the literature. Our toxicological data also showed that LD₅₀ values were about 2–2.5 times the MNLD (maximum non lethal dose) in acute oral and dermal toxicity. This meant that a chemical could be regarded as having an LD₅₀ of about 4000 mg/kg or higher when there was no mortality at the dose of 2000 mg/kg. A chemical with such low toxicity would not require further testing for lethal effects. Therefore, this simple method combining the fixed-dose procedure with the limit test is suitable for determination of approximate LD₅₀ values of chemicals and for screening for necessity for classical full LD₅₀ test using many animals.This work was supported by a grant from Ministry of Health and Welfare in Japan (No. 467 and 511)     

Comparison of near heterophoria tests under varying conditions on an adult sample

PURPOSE: This study compared the near phoria measurement using the Bernell muscle balance card with and without prism neutralization, using both trial frame and phoropter correction, and compared with the conventional Maddox rod method. METHODS: Forty young normal Chinese adults had their near phoria measured with trial frame correction using the conventional muscle balance card method (method 1). Any deviation was compensated with a prism bar as an alternative approach (method 2). The conventional Maddox rod method (method 3) was also carried out for comparison. These three methods were repeated with phoropter correction and considered as methods 4, 5 and 6. RESULTS: The phorias obtained from these six methods were not significantly different from each other (repeated measures anova, p > 0.05). More than half of the subjects were exophoric. Although the difference in phoria was not significant, phoria measurement using phoropter correction yielded a greater coefficient of variation. CONCLUSIONS: Near phoria measurement using the muscle balance card conducted with trial frame correction was less variable, and was also more natural and similar to a real reading situation. The use of prism for compensation did not affect the phoria results. Exophoria seems to be more common than esophoria in young Chinese adults.