Money Matters Rohling, Martin L; Binder, Laurence M; Langhinrichsen-Rohling, Jennifer
Health psychology
14, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Meta-analytic procedures were used to determine the relation between disability compensation and pain. Of the 157 relevant identified studies, only 32 contained quantifiable data from treatment and ...control groups. The majority of these exclusively examined chronic low back pain patients (72%). Overall, 136 comparisons were obtained, on the basis of 3,802 pain patients and 3,849 controls. Liberal procedures for estimating effect sizes (ESs) yielded an ES of .60 (
p
< .0002). Conservative procedures yielded an ES of .48 (
p
< .0005). Both ESs differed from zero, indicating that compensation is related to increased reports of pain and decreased treatment efficacy. These results are interpreted in light of current models of pain. Health policy implications are also discussed.
Dikmen, Machamer,Winn, and Temkin (1995) administered the Halstead-Reitan Battery (HRB) to a sample of TBI patients. Similar patients were obtained from the second author (JEM) for two main purposes. ...First, we wished to determine if there is a dose-response relationship between TBI severity and residual cognitive deficit. Second, are Dikmen et al. results generalizable to other TBI samples? Analyses of the Meyers sample replicated the analyses of Dikmen sample. A significant dose-response relationship between loss of consciousness (LOC) and cognitive impairment was found using effect sizes for the Dikmen sample, as well as using regression-based normative T scores for the Meyers sample. The two methods were highly correlated with one another. Using mean scores for the six LOC-severity groups and the two samples resulted in a correlation coefficient r = .97, p < .0001. Results are presented for clinicians to use when assessing individual patients.
Background:
Chronic sciatica is a common pathology with a lifetime prevalence of 84%. Current therapy options are inadequate or not long-lasting.
Objectives:
Evaluation of short-term application of ...High-Tone Electrical Muscle Stimulation (HTEMS) compared to Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) with chronic sciatica.
Methods:
Patients (n=100, (mean±SD) age=57±14 years, sex=42% male) with chronic sciatica were randomly assigned into two groups treated with either HTEMS or TENS. Each treatment was administered for a period of 45 min per day, 5 times within 7 days, with a 7-day wash-out period before crossover. A 5-day average of sciatic pain was assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS) before and after intervention. Drug administration was stable during the study.
Results:
Before crossover, pain intensity was significantly reduced by the HTEMS treatment (56±21 (60 50-70) to 45±21 (50 30-60) mm VAS; p<0.001), while no improvement occurred with TENS (59±19 (60 50-70) to 56±19 (60 45-79) mm VAS). After crossover, significant pain reduction was observed in both groups (both p <0.01) and did not differ between both groups after the whole intervention.
Conclusion:
HTEMS showed a higher potential for short-term reduction of pain than TENS and might offer new a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of chronic sciatica.
The relation between mood and executive functioning in children and adolescents has not been previously reported. This study examined the association between self-reported depressive symptoms in both ...clinical outpatient and psychiatric inpatient samples to the following measures of executive functioning: the Controlled Oral Word Association Test, Animal Naming, Trail Making Test, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Records from children and adolescents aged 7–17 years old with an IQ > 70 were examined. Data were gathered at either an outpatient neuropsychology clinic (
n
= 89) or an inpatient psychiatric hospital setting (
n
= 81). Mood was measured with the Children’s Depression Inventory. Generally, statistical associations between self-reported depressive symptoms and executive functioning were small and non-significant. The variance predicted by mood on measures of executive functioning was minimal (generally less than 2 %) for the total sample, the outpatient group, inpatient group, and a subgroup who endorsed elevated mood symptoms. These results suggest that impaired performance on measures of executive functioning in children and adolescents is minimally related to self-reported depressive symptoms.
The Meyers Neuropsychological Battery (MNB) is a neuropsychological assessment battery used to detect cognitive impairment caused by acquired brain injury. Results obtained by examinees given the MNB ...have been submitted as evidence in a judicial proceeding in cases involving traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other neurocognitive disorders. We provide an examination of the MNB when used with the Rohling Interpretive Method (RIM) through the lens of
Daubert v. Merrell Dow
(
1993
).
Daubert
established criteria to be applied by judges to determine who can provide expert opinions and what these experts are allowed to present to the triers of fact.
Daubert
has five criteria judges consider in their role as gatekeepers of an expert’s testimony. These standards are utilized to ascertain if the expert’s testimony is scientific, with particular focus on its reliability, validity, and relevancy. We report on the MNB-RIM’s ability to withstand the rigors of a
Daubert
analysis, with each criterion addressed in sequence. To accomplish this task, we review the peer-reviewed literature that has tested each of the MNB components, as well as the utility of the battery in its entirety. The literature extends over the 20-year history that the MNB and the RIM have been in use in clinical and forensic assessments. Statistics regarding the MNB-RIM’s error rate have been empirically derived in numerous publications. These factors have led to a “general acceptance” of the battery and the material. Our review is intended to provide users of the MNB-RIM with the information they will need to successfully defend against a
Daubert
challenge.
The accurate interpretation of large numbers of neuropsychological tests within a flexible battery approach is a difficult and sometimes controversial process. We present a statistically based method ...of interpretation (Rohling's Interpretive Method or RIM) and evaluation of neuropsychological data that allows for varying numbers of tests along a varying number of cognitive domains, yet remains psychometrically based. This method requires informed clinical judgment in that the level of confidence for tests, cognitive domains, and global indices are used as the backdrop for interpretive decisions. Specific procedures for use are presented in a systematic, detailed fashion to allow the interested reader to replicate the method. Two case examples are presented: a straightforward case of cerebrovascular insult and a more complicated case of mixed etiology. Examples include a variety of different neuropsychological tests commonly used in a flexible battery approach. A discussion of the practicality, ease of use, and potential limitations of this method are further presented.
This manuscript reports the results of two studies focusing on patients with mild Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The first assesses the validity of the Meyers Short Battery (MSB) of neuropsychological ...tests. The second study reports on the reliability of the MSB. The groups consisted of normal controls, depressed, chronic pain patients, and patients with mild TBI. Validity was assessed using a discriminant function analysis comparing the non-TBI participants with the TBI participants, which showed a 96.1% correct classification rate. When patients were assessed at least 6 months post-injury and re-assessment 12–14 months later, an overall reliability of
r=.86 was obtained. This indicates that the MSB has adequate psychometric properties for clinical use. The results are consistent with previous published research indicating that the MSB is sensitive not only to the presence of mild TBI but also to the degree of cognitive impairment based on loss of consciousness.
This paper reports a meta-analysis of 36 peer-reviewed published studies of the neuropsychological effects of occupational exposure to mercury, which yielded 43 independent samples. These studies ...included 2,512 exposed participants and 1,846 controls, for a total sample size of 4,358. Because the independent variables defining mercury exposure varied across studies, effect sizes were calculated for exposed versus non-exposed workers. Dose-response relations were considered for measures of mercury levels in urine (81% of studies reported), blood (42% of studies reported), and air samples (33% of studies reported). Level of exposure was also estimated by reported years of exposure (M = 11.3, SD = 5.6). Cohen's d statistic yielded a statistically significant weighted study-mean effect size of −.23, p < .0001 for occupational mercury exposure. However, an effect this small is typically undetectable when evaluating individuals because it is smaller than the typical 95% confidence interval used for most neuropsychological measures. None of the exposure variables analyzed reached statistical significance. The magnitude of self-reported symptoms (−.30) was slightly larger than that obtained from objective test scores (−.22), though the difference was not statistically significant. Also, the weighted mean effect size for psychomotor skills (−.34) was the largest in magnitude, whereas the weighted mean effect size for verbal comprehension measures had the smallest (−.06). However, an analysis of the differential effects of mercury exposure across cognitive domains found significant differences between verbal comprehension measures and all other domains. None of the other domains were significantly different from one another. The weighted study-mean effect size suggests that the prevalence of neuropsychological deficits due to occupational exposure to mercury is small and difficult to detect on an individual case-by-case basis.
The goals of the present study were to describe the psychometric properties of the Life Attitudes Schedule–Short Form (LAS–SF) in adolescents and provide criterion and construct validity data, ...including bivariate and multivariate associations with related risk behaviors. Anonymous questionnaires containing the LAS–SF and related measures were administered to 1, 742 high school students in three states. Psychometric properties for LAS–SF items and total score were very good, and the LAS–SF was correlated with almost all of the examined risk behaviors, illustrating the broad range of problems measured by the instrument. LAS–SF total scores were associated with past suicide attempt, even after controlling for the impact of current depression. Clinical and research uses for the LAS–SF are discussed.
This article reports a meta-analysis of 25 samples in 20 peer-reviewed published neuropsychological studies of the cognitive, psychological, motor, and sensory/perceptual effects of exposure to ...manganese. These studies included 1,410 exposed participants and 1,322 controls, for a total N = 2,732. Studies were excluded from this analysis if they were unpublished, had uncodeable data, were based on fewer than four participants, failed to have a comparison group, or reported on manganese effects other than cognitive or sensory/motor (e.g., liver functioning). Because the independent variables defining manganese exposure varied across studies, effect sizes were calculated for exposed versus non-exposed workers. Dose-response relations were considered for measures of manganese levels in air/dust (84% of studies reported), blood (MnB; 76% reported), urine (MnU; 52% reported), and hair samples (4% reported). Level of exposure was also estimated by reported years of exposure (M = 13.1 years). Cohen's d statistic yielded a statistically significant weighted mean effect size of − .17, p < .0001 for manganese exposure. However, an effect this small is typically undetectable when evaluating individuals because it is smaller (about 1/6 SD) than the confidence intervals of most neuropsychological measures. Because the effect is so slight and the overlap so great between exposed and unexposed participants (87%), the error rate would exceed the hit rate if causal conclusions were rendered for occupational exposure to manganese as the source of an individual's cognitive, sensory, or motor impairments based on neuropsychological testing or symptom reports.
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