Journal of psychosomatic research
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Psychological stress and work-related burnout in staff working with AIDS and with cancer patients were compared using a self-report method of assessment. Measures included the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and the Social Adjustment Scale (SAS-M). More than 80% of those staff who were approached responded to the questionnaire, including 70 doctors and nurses working with people with AIDS and 41 doctors and nurses working in oncology. ⋯ Staff described the work situations with which they had difficulty dealing and some of the coping strategies they used. The findings confirm that staff working with people with cancer or AIDS experience psychological difficulties of the kind likely to respond to interventions aimed at improving their ability to cope with work-related stresses. The mental health services could play an important role in carrying out research in this field and in providing practical help to deal with staff's difficulties.
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In order to determine the occurrence of psychological disturbances the authors studied 47 women who fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology Criteria for the classification of fibromyalgia and 25 random selected control patients without chronic muscle pain, all of whom live in Sorocaba, SP, Brazil. Personality disturbances were observable in 63.8% of the patients and 8.0% of the control group (p < 0.05); depression in 80.0% of the fibromyalgia group and 12.0% of the controls (p < 0.05) and anxiety in 63.8% of the patients and 16.0% of the controls (p < 0.05). The Hamilton test mean scores showed higher values for depression and anxiety among the fibromyalgia patients when compared to the control group. A significant association between fibromyalgia and depression, anxiety and personality disturbances was studied and recorded.
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One hundred and five consecutive patients attending an ENT out-patients' clinic with a diagnosis of globus pharyngis completed a 10-item questionnaire concerning common throat symptoms. Principal components analysis of the questionnaire revealed a general throat pathology factor, and three orthogonal rotated factors which were related to dysphagia, globus sensation, and pain/swelling in the throat. ⋯ The clear factor structure and the satisfactory internal consistency of the Glasgow-Edinburgh Throat Scale (GETS) suggest that it offers a clinically useful instrument for assessing and monitoring the severity of some common throat ailments. The degree of distress caused by throat symptoms was predicted independently by the intensity of the globus sensation and by anxiety level.
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Adolescent cigarette smoking is an increasing health risk behaviour in many societies. The reasons why adolescents commence smoking are patently complex, though it has been suggested that young people take up this behaviour as a means of stress reduction during the difficult and challenging time of adolescence. ⋯ Moreover, though the personality attribute of neuroticism is independently associated with this decision, it does not mediate the association between stress and smoking onset. The implications of these data for adolescent smoking prevention programs are discussed.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Post-operative fatigue following coronary artery bypass surgery: relationship to emotional state and to the catecholamine response to surgery.
Post-operative fatigue is an important subjective problem for surgical patients, but its basis is unknown, and the possibility of a psychological component has been neglected. To investigate its putative physiological and psychological bases, 74 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery were studied. Circulating catecholamine levels were measured at intervals perioperatively and questionnaires were used to measure fatigue, depression and anxiety up to 30 days post-operatively. ⋯ Fatigue at 30 days was greatest in patients whose noradrenaline levels were greatest perioperatively. Independently of this relationship, fatigue at 30 days correlated with concurrent levels of depression and anxiety. Post-operative fatigue has both physiological and psychological correlates.