Physicians' concordance with consultants' recommendations for psychotropic medication.

Physicians' concordance with the recommendations of psychiatric consultants regarding the use of psychotropic medications in a general hospital was retrospectively examined in an outcome study. Using medical records in a series of 200 consecutive consultations, the authors found 68% of all psychotropic recommendations resulted in physician responses rated concordant and 24% nonconcordant. Resultant concordance ratings are presented according to category of recommendation (that is, start, adjust, continue, or discontinue) and drug groupings. The data suggest that drug group is not a critical variable in physician concordance. Responses did differ by category of recommendation. Further study of physician concordance is desirable. The work suggests both the potential of and need for outcome studies in consultation work.

Consultation outcomes. The psychiatrist as consultee.

The frequent coexistence of psychiatric and medical illness supports the need for excellent medical care on inpatient psychiatric services. Effective use of consultation is an important element in ensuring this care. In our study of medical-surgical consultation to an inpatient psychiatric service during a two-year period, outcome variables, such as frequency of and concordance with drug and diagnostic action recommendations, were determined and compared with similar data for psychiatric consultations to medical-surgical services. Thirty-eight percent of cases received a consultation. Patients seen by a consultant had a longer hospital stay. Twenty-seven and forty-six percent of consultantions contained a drug or a diagnostic action recommendation, respectively. The concordance of psychiatric consultees was 79% for drugs and 75% for diagnostic action recommendations. Comparison with medical-surgical consultations done by psychiatric consultants revealed important important differences and similarities.

Psychiatric consultation to geriatric medically ill inpatients in a university hospital.

Using hospital admissions data, medical records, and the Consultation-Liaison Outcome Evaluation System, we studied psychiatric consultation to hospitalized medical-surgical patients who were aged 60 years or older. In comparison with younger patients, the geriatric population was less often referred for psychiatric consultation. Those referred had less prior psychiatric history than the group aged less than 60 years. They received a different distribution of psychiatric diagnoses. Consultants recommended psychotropic medication and diagnostic actions more often for the elderly; the former was related to the presence of organic mental disorder. Concordance with consultants' recommendations and diagnoses did not vary with patients' age. Certain aspects of the consultation process are thus modified when geriatric patients are involved, and specific features of "geriatric consultation" are unique.

The outcome of antidepressant use in the medically ill.

To examine the feasibility of using antidepressant medication to treat major depressive syndromes in the hospitalized medically ill, we reviewed a series of psychiatric consultations meeting the following criteria: the consultant diagnosed a major depressive syndrome, treatment with an antidepressant was advised, the consultee initiated the antidepressant, and hospitalization had been prompted by a major medical illness. The final sample of 50 consultations, representing less than 5% of the case reviewed, was assessed by retrospective study of entries in the medical record. Judgments regarding response were thus a function of routine clinical observation and care. Drugs were not randomly assigned; rather, the choices represented ongoing clinical usage patterns. Two major points emerge from the data of the study. First, 32% of the trials were terminated due to side effects judged to be unacceptable by the physicians or consultants. Delirium accounted for half of such side effects; cardiotoxicity, however, was not evident. Second, only 40% of patients with medical illnesses, including malignant neoplasm, insulin-dependent diabetes, and epilepsy, responded to treatment. The trials of antidepressants in medical-surgical inpatients did not achieve the pattern of therapeutic responses routinely characterizing comparable interventions in psychiatric patients with primary affective disorder.

Consultation-Liaison outcome evaluation system. I. Consultant-consultee interaction.

The Consultation-Liaison Outcome Evaluation System characterizes the effectiveness of consultative activities. The initial phase of the system identifies consultees' responses to psychiatric consultants' recommendations and diagnoses and the variables critical to concordance with the use of quantitative measures. The observed incidence and concordance rates of the consultant-consultee interaction were integrated (1) to establish a concordance hierarchy clarifying consultees' priorities in seeking psychiatric consultation, (2) to provide reference points to guide psychiatric consultants' clinical actions, (3) to establish tentative standards with which to evaluate the effectiveness of psychiatric consultation, and (4) to signal the need for further outcome studies and the development of data-based consultation practices.

The dose-response ratio in electroconvulsive therapy a preliminary study.

To investigate pretreatment patient variables that might correlate with dose-response characteristics of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and treatment outcomes, 14 patients were assessed on a daily basis, before and during treatment, using self-report affective scales, three simple paper-and-pencil tests of cognitive function,and finger-tapping speed. From these data, dose-response ratios and treatment outcome measures were derived. The dose-response ratio of ECT was found to correlate with age--the younger the patient, the more favorable the ratio. This finding is discussed in terms of the known relationships between brain monoamine oxidase levels and age, and the established relationship between seizure duration and treatment efficacy. The dose-response ratio over the first two electroconvulsive treatments as well as lesser degrees of initial congnitive and greater degrees of initial affective impairment correlated strongly with greater overall affective improvement. Some clinical and research implications of these findings are discussed.

An interdisciplinary comparison of consultation outcomes. Psychiatry vs cardiology.

Responses to cardiologists' and psychiatrists' recommendations for drugs and diagnostic actions were compared in a retrospective study of 788 consultations. Variables significantly related to outcome achieved by cardiologists and psychiatrists were identified; similarities among these variables were evident only for the drug recommendations. Cardiologists' recommendations achieved a higher rate of concordance than psychiatrists' for both drugs and diagnostic actions. For drug recommendations, the interservice discrepancy in concordance was directly related to differences in timing of the consultations and incidence of recommendations to start a drug. For diagnostic recommendations, however, the difference was directly related to the consultants' service. The following factors may explain the less favorable outcome for psychiatrists' diagnostic recommendations: (1) the reasons for seeking psychiatric consultation, (2) the consultees' expectations, and (3) the skill of the psychiatrists in offering these recommendations.

Consultees' concordance with consultants' psychotropic drug recommendations. Related variables.

In an attempt to identify variables critical to consultees' concordance with the recommendations of psychiatric consultants for the use of psychotropic medications in a general hospital, the medical records from 394 psychiatric consultations were reviewed. Using quantitative concordance criteria, consultee response was examined as a function of 29 variables. These characterized the patient, the consultee, the consultant, and the consultation. Seven variables were found to be significantly related to concordance. Among these were the patient's history of exposure to psychotropic medications, the presence of multiple recommendations, specification of starting dosage, the category of psychotropic drug recommendation, and the timing of the consultation. The latter two variables emerged as most noteworthy. This work extends the investigation of consultees' responses to consultants' recommendations and anticipates the development of specific consultation strategies derived from quantitative outcome studies.

Yield of psychiatric consultants' recommendations for diagnostic action.

The results of diagnostic measures proposed by psychiatric consultants were examined in a retrospective study of 793 medical records. Of 302 recommendations implemented by consultees, 137 yielded abnormal findings. Abnormalities were widely distributed among laboratory determinations, diagnostic procedures, and psychological tests. Highest yields were associated with EEGs, thyroid function studies, vitamin B12 and folate levels, and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Two thirds of cases with one or more implemented recommendation were found to have an abnormal result. These findings suggest that consultees may curtail medical examinations of patients with psychiatric symptomatology. The outcomes demonstrate the merits of the diagnostic recommendations offered by psychiatric consultants and underscore the advantages conferred on patient and consultee by a consultant with a firm base on medical knowledge.

The effects of alcohol consumption on laboratory-induced panic and state anxiety.

BACKGROUND: This study tested whether alcohol consumption reduces anxiety and panic associated with a panic-challenge procedure. METHODS: Subjects with panic disorder were randomly assigned to consume either a moderate dose of alcohol or a nonalcoholic placebo. All subjects were told that they were drinking alcohol to control beverage expectancies. Following the beverage administration, subjects underwent a panic challenge (35% carbon dioxide) and a series of anxiety symptom assessments. RESULTS: Subjects who consumed alcohol reported significantly less state anxiety both before and after the challenge. In response to the challenge, subjects who consumed alcohol experienced significantly fewer panic attacks when applying liberal panic criteria; however, this effect only approached significance when applying conservative panic criteria. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that alcohol acts acutely to reduce both panic and the anxiety surrounding panic, and they lend support to the view that drinking behavior among those with panic disorder is reinforced by this effect. We suggest that this process may contribute to the high rate at which alcohol-use disorders co-occur with panic disorder.

Effects of caffeine withdrawal on isoproterenol-stimulated cyclic adenosine monophosphate.

The effect of short-term caffeine withdrawal on lymphocyte beta-adrenoceptor sensitivity was studied in seven men who had been drinking coffee daily for at least 3 mo before the study. The ratio of cyclic adenosine monophosphate production after in vitro incubation with isoproterenol and a blank was used to assess receptor sensitivity. There was a reduction in sensitivity to isoproterenol but not to prostaglandin E1 3 days after caffeine withdrawal. The mechanism of this effect is not clear, but may represent a biochemical correlate of caffeine-withdrawal syndrome.

Stress response syndrome occurring after delirium.

Psychiatric treatment of delirium usually focuses on behavioral management during the period of cognitive disturbance. Psychological sequelae have received less attention. The authors suggest that delirium represents a stressful life event that must be assimilated after the cognitive impairment has resolved. Such assimilation may be uniquely impaired because the patient lacks clear and correct information about the event. The authors propose that the psychiatric care of delirium include facilitation of the patient's efforts to obtain and assimilate information about the delirium after its resolution.

Organic anxiety syndrome.

DSM-III defines and offers diagnostic criteria for organic affective, organic delusional, and organic personality syndromes but provides no organic personality syndromes but provides no organic equivalent for anxiety disorders. Nevertheless, symptoms of anxiety characterize such conditions as hyperthyroidism and pheochromocytoma. The authors define and formulate diagnostic criteria for an organic anxiety syndrome and discuss the theoretical and therapeutic implications.

Differences between patient and family assessments of depression in Alzheimer's disease.

A structured interview covering the DSM-III criteria for major depression was adapted for separate use with Alzheimer's disease patients and with their families. Data from 36 patients yielded a depression rate of 13.9%, whereas information from their families indicated that the rate was 50.0%. This disagreement reflected greater family endorsement of patients' loss of interest or pleasure, irritability, fatigue, and feelings of worthlessness. Use of DSM-III-R criteria narrowed but did not eliminate the discrepancy between patients' and families' assessments of the patients' depression. Uniform procedures for gathering and integrating data from the family that are relevant to diagnosis in this group are indicated.

Consultees' representations of consultants' psychiatric diagnoses.

In an attempt to characterize consultees' representations of consultants' psychiatric dagnoses, the authors reviewd the medical records from 190 psychiatric consultations in a general hopsital. Using specific outcome criteria, they rated 50% of representations as concordant and 39% as nonconcordant. Five variable,s icluding the primary medical diagnosis at discharge and the referring service, were significantly related to concordance. Surprisinlgy, concordance was independent of the psychiatric diagnosis, indicating theat consultees did not respond differentially to varying magnitudes and implications of the different disorders. This work raises the question of possible strategies to improve receptivity to psychiatric diagnoses in the consultation setting.

Characteristics of 60 adult chronic hair pullers.

OBJECTIVE: This study was constructed to detail the demographic and phenomenological features of chronic hair pullers as well as to assess psychiatric comorbidity in a sizable study group. METHOD: Subjects were drawn from an outpatient population of chronic hair pullers who had been referred to a trichotillomania clinic or had responded to a newspaper advertisement announcing a treatment study of adults who pull out their hair. Sixty adult chronic hair pullers completed a semistructured interview that focused on their hair-pulling behavior and demographic characteristics and that incorporated screening questions for DSM-III-R axis I disorders. The data were tabulated to derive a comprehensive picture of this group. RESULTS: The typical subject was a 34-year-old woman who had pulled hair from two or more sites for 21 years. All subjects described either tension before or relief/gratification after pulling hair from the primary site, but 17% (N = 10) failed to describe both of these characteristics and thus failed to fulfill the DMS-III-R criteria for trichotillomania. Forty-nine subjects (82%) qualified for past or current axis I diagnoses other than trichotillomania. Several characteristics of the study group suggested phenomenological differences between obsessive-compulsive disorder and trichotillomania. CONCLUSIONS: Adult trichotillomania is a chronic disorder, frequently involving multiple hair sites, and is associated with high rates of psychiatric comorbidity. Its relation to obsessive-compulsive disorder requires further clarification. The tension-reduction requirement in DSM-III-R for the diagnosis of trichotillomania may be overly restrictive.

A placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover study of fluoxetine in trichotillomania.

OBJECTIVE: It has been proposed by some investigators that trichotillomania, a disorder of chronic hair pulling, is a variant of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and some studies have suggested that the antiobessional agents clomipramine and fluoxetine are useful in treating this disorder. The authors investigated the efficacy of fluoxetine in the treatment of trichotillomania. METHOD: Twenty-one adult chronic hair pullers were recruited into an 18-week placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover study of fluoxetine, in doses up to 80 mg/day. The fluoxetine and placebo treatment phases consisted of 6-week trials of each agent separated by a 5-week washout period. Fifteen subjects (14 female and one male) completed the study; an additional female subject dropped out at 16 weeks after developing a drug reaction. RESULTS: No significant Drug by Period interactions were found in weekly subject ratings of hair pulling, weekly subject ratings of the urge to pull hair, weekly assessments of the number of hair-pulling episodes, or the estimated amount of hair pulled per week. CONCLUSIONS: The short-term efficacy of fluoxetine in the treatment of trichotillomania was not demonstrated in this study.

Cardiac effects of lithium therapy in man: a review.

The literature concerning possible cardiotoxic effects of lithium therapy in man is reviewed. Reports indicate a high frequency of electrocardiographic T wave morphology changes with lithium therapy. Therapeutic and toxic levels of lithium have infrequently been associated with serious cardiac dysfunction. Of particular concern are cases of sinus mode dysfunction or sinoatrial block and the appearance or aggravation of ventricular irritability. The incidence of cardiac complications may increase with age. The necessity or cardiac screening and monitoring of patients receiving lithium is discussed.

Lithium treatment of chronic hair pulling.

Ten patients with chronic hair pulling received trials of lithium carbonate of 2 to 14 months' duration. Eight patients demonstrated decreased hair pulling and mild to marked hair regrowth. Three responders experienced increased hair pulling subsequent to discontinuation of lithium treatment. Lithium's effect on hair pulling may be related to its observed benefits in treating aggressivity, impulsivity, and mood instability.

Compulsive buying: descriptive characteristics and psychiatric comorbidity.

BACKGROUND: Compulsive buying is infrequently described in the psychiatric literature despite suggestions that it may be prevalent. The authors investigated the demographics and phenomenology of this syndrome and assessed psychiatric comorbidity via interviews of both compulsive buyers and normal buyers. METHOD: Twenty-four compulsive buyers were compared with 24 age- and sex-matched normal buyers using (1) a semistructured interview for compulsive buying and impulse control disorders, (2) a modified version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R, and (3) scales measuring compulsiveness, depression, and anxiety. RESULTS: The typical compulsive buyer was a 36-year-old female who had developed compulsive buying at age 17 1/2 and whose buying had resulted in adverse psychosocial consequences. Purchases were usually of clothes, shoes, jewelry, or makeup, which frequently went unused. Compared with normal buyers, compulsive buyers had a higher lifetime prevalence of anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, and eating disorders and were more depressed, anxious, and compulsive. Among compulsive buyers, 16 (66.7%) described buying that resembled obsessive compulsive disorder, whereas 23 (95.8%) described buying that resembled an impulse control disorder. CONCLUSION: Compulsive buying is a definable clinical syndrome that can result in significant psychosocial impairment and which displays features of both obsessive compulsive disorder and the impulse control disorders.