Reliability of the Dominic-R: A Young Child Mental Health Questionnaire Combining Visual and Auditory Stimuli

Reliability of the Dominic-R, a. questionnaire combining visual and auditory stimuli, was tested in 340 community children aged 6 to 11 years. Test-retest reliability of symptoms of, and of symptom scores of, DSM-III-R disorders including simple phobias, separation anxiety disorder, overanxious disorder, depression/dysthymia, attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder was assessed. Most symptoms yielded kappas greater than .40, and ICCs ranged from .74 to .81. In conclusion, reliability of the Dominic-R compares favourably with that of other child assessment questionnaires.     

On Developing Self-concepts: A Controlled Study of Children and Adolescents with Autism

This study employed the self-understanding interview of Damon and Hart (1988) to assess the self-concepts of two groups of children and adolescents: a group of individuals with autism and a group of nonautistic mentally retarded individuals who were matched for age and for verbal ability. On the basis of an hypothesis concerning the interpersonal origins of social and psychological self-concepts (Hobson, 1990; Neisser, 1988), it was predicted that the participants with autism would show a relative dearth of such concepts in their talk about themselves. In accordance with our predictions, there was a significant group difference in the number and quality of statements that fell into the social category of self-concept; contrary to our predictions, however, there was no group difference in the number of statements that fell into the psychological category. In addition, although there were not significant group differences in the overall production of verbally expressed concepts concerning self-attributes of a physical, active, or psychological kind, even within these categories individuals with autism made fewer references to social interactions or qualities. These results are discussed with regard to theories of self-concept development in typically developing as well as autistic and mentally retarded individuals, and with reference to the limitations of interpersonal understanding ("theory of mind") in people with autism.     

Risk management and system failure analysis in mental health investigations

This editorial explores the way in which mental health investigations are developing in England and in particular those involving a homicide. A move away from traditional panel inquiries and towards investigations using root cause analysis (RCA) is aimed at shifting the focus from individual blame to identifying system failure. Thus it is envisaged by policy makers that the RCA approach will offer greater learning opportunities for mental health services. The key difficulties associated with panel inquiries are highlighted before describing the intended benefits of the RCA approach. Finally, five key areas where systematic research can support the development of this approach are suggested.     

Life Satisfaction in a Sample of Outpatients with Severe Mental Disorders: A Survey in Northern Italy

This paper presents a cross-sectional survey of subjective quality of life in a sample of 40 Italian patients with disabling mental disorders living in the community. The patients self-rated their quality of life by the Satisfaction with Life Domains Scale. They were satisfied in relation to basic needs, such as housing, food or clothing and appreciated to some extent the services received, but were very unhappy about their income and their intimate sexual relationships. This Italian sample appeared less satisfied than most samples of people with severe mental disorders investigated by the same instrument in other countries. This may be related to the high level of psychopathology and disability shown by patients for whom survival in the community is in itself an achievement. However, lack of money and poor sexual life are common concerns of long-term mentally ill. How to address such problems is a major challenge for community psychiatric services.     

干休所代谢综合征流行病学调查及生活方式强化干预

目的:调查北京136个军队老年集聚社区居民代谢综合征(m etabolic syndrom e,MS)的患病率及危险因素;探讨生活方式强化干预对MS患者早期治疗及降低危险因素的效果。方法:于2004年5~6月对北京136个以离退休干部为主体的军队社区、2 335名医疗体系属于我院的常住居民通过健康体检后进行MS的筛查和评价;对明确诊断MS患者实施健康教育、饮食和运动等生活方式强化干预。结果:在被调查的2 335人中MS患病率为28.7%,具有4个危险因素者占6.9%。饮食、运动干预后饮食结构趋于合理,中、老年组平均体重指数下降2~4 kg。结论:对MS高危人群进行常规筛查和评价,可促进MS的早期临床诊断;生活方式强化干预可增强老年人维护健康的意识,积极的防治有利于MS的转归及防止并发症的发生及发展。     

The Effects of Social Interactive Training on Early Social Communicative Skills of Children with Autism

Growing attention has been directed at the relation between early social communicative skills of children with autism and subsequent development of these children's social and communicative functioning. We reviewed 16 empirical studies that investigated the effects of social interactive interventions designed to increase early social communicative skills of young children with autism by increasing their role as initiator of social interactions. To identify factors relating to treatment effectiveness, we analyzed studies in relation to participant characteristics, settings, target behaviors, training methods, and results. To determine durability of treatment, we analyzed generalization effects across persons, settings, stimuli, and time. Increases were found for social and affective behaviors, nonverbal and verbal communication, eye contact, joint attention, and imitative play. Limited generalization or maintenance of target behaviors was reported. Findings are discussed in relation to critical variables that may relate to treatment effectiveness in future research and practice efforts.     

Outcomes of using Firebird rapamycin eluting stents in routine coronary intervention practice: one-year results from the pilot study of Firebird in China registry

Recent clinical trials with rapamycin-eluting stents have shown very low restenosis rates.1-4 However, the higher penetration of drug eluting stent (DES) in China is being limited by the high costs of these imported devices, especially when considering multiple stenting.     

Use of brief psychiatric screening measures in a primary care sample

Patients seen in primary medical clinics report higher rates of major depression [Pérez-Stable et al., 1990: Arch Intern Med 15:1083-1088], and panic disorder [Sherbourne et al., 1996b: Von Korff et al., 1987: Arch Gen Psychiatry 44:152-156] than the general population. Primary care staff therefore need efficient methods of identifying patients with psychiatric disorders. The current study evaluates the use of several brief psychiatric screening measures for identifying patients with major depression and/or anxiety disorders. Participants were 213 primary care patients who received the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and two new instruments, the Autonomic Nervous System Questionnaire (ANS) for assessing panic disorder and the Social Phobia Questionnaire (SPQ) for assessing social phobia. Participants received both the screening instruments and a structured diagnostic interview. Results suggest that the CES-D is a useful measure for detecting psychopathology, but it is not particularly specific to depression, the ANS was a highly sensitive and reasonably specific measure for panic disorder, and the SPQ was reasonably sensitive and specific for social phobia. The BAI was a relatively poor screening measure that added no significant information beyond the other measures.     

金匮肾气丸结合心理疏导治疗缩阳症临床分析

运用金匮肾气丸加味结合心理疏导治愈缩阳症9例。