Relation of anxiety and other psychometric measures, balance deficits, impaired quality of life, and perceived state of health to dizziness handicap inventory scores for patients with dizziness.

BACKGROUND: An important question influencing therapy for dizziness is whether the strengths of the relationships of emotional and functional aspects of dizziness to 1) anxiety and other mental states, 2) perceived state of health (SoH) and quality of life (QoL) are different in patients with and without normal balance control. We attempted to answer this question by examining these dimensions' regression strengths with Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) scores. METHODS: We divided 40 patients receiving group cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and vestibular rehabilitation for dizziness, into 2 groups: dizziness only (DO) and normal balance control; dizziness and a quantified balance deficit (QBD). Group-wise, we first performed stepwise multivariate regression analysis relating total DHI scores with Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) sub-scores obtained pre- and post-therapy. Then, regression analysis was expanded to include SoH, QoL, and balance scores. Finally, we performed regressions with DHI sub-scores. RESULTS: In both groups, the BSI phobic anxiety state score was selected first in the multivariate regression analysis. In the DO group, obsessiveness/compulsiveness was also selected. The correlation coefficient, R, was 0.74 and 0.55 for the DO and QBD groups, respectively. When QoL and SoH scores were included, R values increased to 0.86 and 0.74, explaining in total 74, and 55% of the DHI variance for DO and QBD groups, respectively. Correlations with balance scores were not significant (R ≤ 0.21). The psychometric scores selected showed the strongest correlations with emotional DHI sub-scores, and perceived QoL and SoH scores with functional DHI sub-scores. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that reducing phobic anxiety and obsessiveness/compulsiveness during CBT may improve emotional aspects of dizziness and targeting perceived SoH and QoL may improve functional aspects of dizziness for those with and without normal balance control.

Health care provider communication training in rural Tanzania empowers HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy to discuss adherence problems.

OBJECTIVES: Self-reported adherence assessment in HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) is challenging and may overestimate adherence. The aim of this study was to improve the ability of health care providers to elicit patients' reports of nonadherence using a "patient-centred" approach in a rural sub-Saharan African setting. METHODS: A prospective interventional cohort study of HIV-infected patients on ART for ≥ 6 months attending an HIV clinic in rural Tanzania was carried out. The intervention consisted of a 2-day workshop for health care providers on patient-centred communication and the provision of an adherence assessment checklist for use in the consultations. Patients' self-reports of nonadherence (≥ 1 missed ART dose/4 weeks), subtherapeutic plasma ART concentrations (< 2.5th percentile of published population-based pharmacokinetic models), and virological and immunological failure according to the World Health Organization definition were assessed before and after (1-3 and 6-9 months after) the intervention. RESULTS: Before the intervention, only 3.3% of 299 patients included in the study reported nonadherence. Subtherapeutic plasma ART drug concentrations and virological and immunological failure were recorded in 6.5%, 7.7% and 14.5% of the patients, respectively. Two months after the intervention, health care providers detected significantly more patients reporting nonadherence compared with baseline (10.7 vs. 3.3%, respectively; P < 0.001), decreasing to 5.7% after 6-9 months. A time trend towards higher drug concentrations was observed for efavirenz but not for other drugs. The virological failure rate remained unchanged whereas the immunological failure rate decreased from 14.4 to 8.7% at the last visit (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Patient-centred communication can successfully be implemented with a simple intervention in rural Africa. It increases the likelihood of HIV-infected patients reporting problems with adherence to ART; however, sustainability remains a challenge.

[Physician-patient communication in medical education: can it be learned?]. / Zur Erlernbarkeit der Arzt-Patienten-Kommunikation in der Medizinischen Ausbildung.

Based on a review of recent key articles, this paper demonstrates that many elements of physician-patient communication can be learned successfully during medical education. Methods of assessment and definition of success depend largely on the definition of teaching goals, which are usually based on the principles of a more egalitarian and non-paternalistic physician-patient communication. In this article another approach is suggested. Teaching objectives in patient-physician communication can also be deduced from the needs of clinical medicine, resulting in the following goals: students are able to gather relevant data from patients' history, they explicitly structure the consultation and the way they give information, they know how to respond to patients' emotions. The Objective Standardised Clinical Examination (OSCE) is discussed with its strengths and weaknesses. The inclusion of video-based feedback is presented as a teaching tool to improve students' self-reflection. Workplace-based assessment and Mini-CEX are promising educational tools that require a well-trained faculty, not only in the teaching and practice of communication but also in the art of giving constructive and yet honest feedback.

Effects of a program of cognitive-behavioural group therapy, vestibular rehabilitation, and psychoeducational explanations on patients with dizziness and no quantified balance deficit, compared to patients with dizziness and a quantified balance deficit.

BACKGROUND: We examined whether a program combining cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), vestibular rehabilitation (VR) and psychoeducation is equally effective in improving psychometric measures in patients with dizziness independent of a balance deficit. Measures of patients with dizziness only (DO) were compared to those of patients also having a quantified balance deficit (QBD). METHODS: 32 patients (23 female, 9 male) with persistent dizziness were analysed as 2 groups based on stance and gait balance control: those with QBD (pathological balance) or DO (normal balance). Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) questionnaires were used pre- and post-therapy to assess psychometric measures. Patients then received the same combination therapy in a group setting. RESULTS: The QBD group mean age was 60.6, SD 8.3, and DO group mean age 44.8, SD 12.1, years. Pre-therapy, questionnaire scores were pathological but not different between groups. Balance improved significantly for the QBD group (p=0.003) but not for the DO group. DHI and BSI scores improved significantly in the DO group (0.001

Beyond content analysis and non-verbal behaviour - what about atmosphere? A phenomenological approach.

OBJECTIVE: Basic research and careful observation of clinical practice have yielded a vast amount of empirical data on communication in health care. This research has been guided by the assumption that good communication will be better understood and easier to teach when its single constituents are identified. This paper points to the limitation of this approach. METHODS: Based upon the terminology of phenomenological thinking grounded in neo-phenomenology (Hermann Schmitz) contradictory findings from the literature on patient-centred communication in Internal Medicine and Oncology are used as a starting point to elucidate different paradigms in conducting research in clinical communication. RESULTS: The phenomenological approach of the German philosopher Hermann Schmitz (*1928) is briefly presented. It is based upon experiences that 'on the average everybody can vividly access or retrieve from his memory'. Empirical research does not provide unequivocal advice how to communicate with an individual patient. Likewise, researchers note unexpected reactions from real patients-they do not behave as the expert would assume. The inclusion of the phenomenon of a certain atmosphere is proposed referring to the impression of 'something in the air' that sometimes can be identified during communication or upon entering a room. Even though it can be sensed with high evidence, it cannot be deduced from particular observations. Instead, the atmosphere is part of a situation in which meaning is dissolved in chaotic manifoldness. Sensing an atmosphere is a function of the lived body (Leib) as opposed to phenomena that are mediated by the senses. CONCLUSION: Current research and teaching models cover only part of the phenomenology of professional communication. How research and education might profit from the addition of Schmitz' philosophical approach will be outlined in this article. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Including perceptions of the lived body (Leib) should improve research in clinical communication and teaching courses.

Communication during ward rounds in internal medicine. An analysis of patient-nurse-physician interactions using RIAS.

OBJECTIVE: Describe the content and of mode of patient-physician-nurse interactions during ward-rounds in Internal Medicine. METHODS: In 267/448 patients, 13 nurses, and 8 physicians from two wards in General Internal Medicine 448 interactions on ward rounds were tape recorded by observers. After exclusion of interactions with more than three participants (N=150), a random sample of 90 interactions was drawn. Data were analysed with a modified RIAS version that allowed for the registration of a third contributor and for the assessment of the direction of a communicative action (e.g.: nurse-->patient, etc.). Furthermore, time spent per individual patient was registered with a stop-watch. RESULTS: A total of 12,078 utterances (144 per ward round) were recorded. Due to problems with the comprehensibility of some interactions the final data set contains 71 ward round interactions with 10,713 utterances (151 per ward round interaction). The average time allotted to an individual patient during ward-rounds was 7.5 min (range: 3-16 min). The exchange of medical information is the main topic in physicians (39%) and nurses (25%), second common topic in patients (28%), in whom communicative actions like agreement or checking are more common (30% patients/25% physicians/22% nurses). Physicians and patients use a substantial number of communicative actions (1397/5531 physicians; 1119/3733 patients). Patients receive about 20 bits of medical or therapeutic information per contact during ward-rounds. CONCLUSIONS: If ward rounds serve as the central marketplace of information nurses' knowledge is under-represented. Further research should try to determine whether the quality of patient care is related to a well balanced exchange of information, to which nurses, physicians, and patients contribute their specific knowledge. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Given the fact that in-patients in Interna Medicine usually present complex problems, the exchange of factual information, expectations, and concepts is of paramount importance. We hope that this paper is going to direct the attention of the scientific community to the characteristics of ward-rounds because they will remain the central marketplace of communication in hospital.

[Psychotherapy in a patient with lupus erythematodes--a disease with an uncertain course]. / Zum therapeutischen Umgang mit Patienten, die an einer chronischen Krankheit mit unklarem Verlauf leiden--das Beispiel eines Patienten mit Lupus erythematodes.

The autoimmune disease Systemic LE (SLE) poses major adjustment problems because the course of the illness is unpredictable. Informing patients thus, does not provide clarity but include information about the fallibility of medical information or prognosis. Even though effective manual based psychological treatment programs exist, an individualised approach seems to be more appropriate. However, reports on individual psychotherapeutic interventions have not been reported sufficiently. The paper describes the short-term treatment of a patient with SLE. In his case cognitive deficits could be attributed to a CNS participation of SLE; central was an identity problem related to the disease. Within a few hours a substantial improvement of his condition could be achieved.

Mental body transformation deficits in patients with chronic balance disorders.

BACKGROUND: Movements may be generated consistent with imagining one's own body transformed or "disembodied" to a new position. Based on this concept we hypothesized that patients with objective balance deficits (obj-BD) would have altered neural transformation processes executing own body transformation (OBT) with functional consequences on balance control. Also we examined whether feeling unstable due to dizziness only (DO), without an obj-BD, also lead to an impaired OBT. METHODS: 32 patients with chronic dizziness were tested: 16 patients with obj-BD as determined by balance control during a sequence of stance and gait tasks, 16 patients with dizziness only (DO). Patients and 9 healthy controls (HCs) were asked to replicate roll trunk movements of an instructor in a life size video: first, with spontaneously copied (SPO) or "embodied" egocentric movements (lean when the instructor leans); second, with "disembodied" or "transformed" movements (OBT) with exact replication - lean left when the instructor leans left. Onset latency of trunk roll, rise time to peak roll angle (interval), roll velocity, and amplitude were measured. RESULTS: SPO movements were always mirror-imaged. OBT task latencies were significantly longer and intervals shorter than for SPO tasks (p < 0.03) for all groups. Obj-BD but not DO patients had more errors for the OBT task and, compared to HCs, had longer onset latencies (p < 0.05) and smaller velocities (p < 0.003) and amplitudes (p < 0.001) in both the SPO and OBT tasks. Measures of DO patients were not significantly different from those of HCs. CONCLUSIONS: Mental transformation (OBT) and SPO copying abilities are impaired in subjects with obj-BD and dizziness, but not with dizziness only. We conclude that processing the neuropsychological representation of the human body (body schema) slows when balance control is deficient.

Validation of TONOPORT V blood-pressure measuring monitor in adults.

A new automatic blood-pressure (BP) measuring device TONOPORT V was evaluated according to the International Protocol for Validation of Blood Pressure Measuring Devices in adults by the European Society of Hypertension. BP values measured by the TONOPORT V were compared to BP readings from two independent observers. A total of 33 patients (20 males, 13 females) provided systolic and diastolic BP readings in the normotensive, borderline hypertensive, and hypertensive range. Their age varied between 30 and 83 years, and their arm circumference between 23 and 36 cm. The device showed a mean (+/-s.d.) deviation from observer measurements of -0.7 (4.6) mmHg for systolic and -0.8 (4.4) mmHg for diastolic BP. The accuracy of the device did not vary according to BP values or other patient characteristics. The device passed all phases of the protocol and can be recommended following the regulation rules of the European Society of Hypertension.

Assessment of baroreceptor reflex sensitivity by means of spectral analysis.

A method of determining baroreceptor reflex sensitivity is proposed that is based on spectral analysis of systolic pressure values and RR interval times, namely, the modulus (or gain) in the mid frequency band (0.07-0.14 Hz) between these two signals. Results using this method were highly correlated (0.94; n = 8) with results of the phenylephrine method. In addition, compared with the values for the preceding rest period, the modulus decreased during mental challenge, as might be expected from the literature.

Efficacy of four antihypertensive drugs (clonidine, enalapril, nitrendipine, oxprenolol) on stress blood pressure.

The impact of 4 antihypertensive drug regimens on blood pressure (BP) during everyday life stress and on BP during experimental stress in the laboratory was examined in an open clinical study. Sixty middle-aged men with mild-to-moderate essential hypertension never previously treated were treated either with low-dose clonidine (n = 10), oxprenolol (n = 20), nitrendipine (n = 20) or enalapril (n = 10). Before therapy, all 4 groups did not differ in age, weight, degree of obesity, BP at work site and casual BP measured in the outpatient clinic. After 6 months of effective therapy (casual BP within the normotensive range), casual diastolic BP was identical among the 4 groups, whereas systolic BP was lower in patients treated with clonidine or oxprenolol than in those who received enalapril. A disparate pattern of antihypertensive efficacy among the 4 groups emerged when stress BP was compared, with average ambulatory BP higher in patients receiving clonidine or enalapril than in those who had oxprenolol or nitrendipine. During ambulatory BP monitoring, patients treated with oxprenolol had the lowest level at each level of physical activity and self-reported emotional arousal. During bicycle exercise, patients receiving clonidine had the highest increase in systolic BP and those administered oxprenolol the lowest, whereas the BP response during mental stress was similar among all 4 therapeutic groups. The analysis of the hemodynamic response pattern during mental stress unmasked further disparities. Oxprenolol provoked an abnormal hemodynamic response during mental stress tests (increase in total peripheral resistance), whereas nitrendipine and enalapril preserved the physiological hemodynamic profile (decrease of total peripheral resistance).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of clomethiazole after oral and rectal administration in healthy subjects.

Clomethiazole, a sedative-hypnotic and anticonvulsant drug, has been successfully administered orally and intravenously, but in cases where either of these methods presents complications, rectal administration may represent a practical alternative. We sought to compare the single-dose pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of clomethiazole after oral and rectal administration. Ten healthy adult volunteers were given 600 mg clomethiazole edisylate (corresponding to 390 mg clomethiazole base) in 2 capsules as a single oral or rectal dose in a double-masked, double-dummy, crossover fashion. Serum concentrations were measured up to 10 hours after administration using a specific high-performance liquid chromatography method. Computerized reaction-time measurement and visual analogue scales (VAS) were used to assess drug effects. Peak serum concentrations were significantly higher after oral administration (mean +/- SEM, oral 1.76 +/- 0.47 microg/mL vs rectal 0.48 +/- 0.14 microg/mL; P = 0.03) and appeared earlier (55 +/- 12 vs 89 +/- 11 min; P = 0.04). Area under the concentration-time curve values were similar after administration by both routes (oral 116 +/- 20.6 vs rectal 105 +/- 36.0 microg x min/mL), with a relative rectal bioavailability of 90% compared with oral administration. The objective pharmacodynamic effects on reaction time (increase of 104 +/- 26 vs 66 +/- 22 ms, oral vs rectal) and working speed (decrease of 132 +/- 38 vs 97 +/- 32 ms, oral vs rectal) were not significantly different. Subjective pharmacodynamic effects, as measured on the VAS, were comparable with both routes of administration. Clomethiazole was well tolerated, with a similar adverse effect profile for both routes of administration. The effects of rectal dosing of clomethiazole were similar to those of oral dosing but appeared to occur later. Our results suggest that rectal administration of a single 600-mg clomethiazole edisylate dose bears no safety risk. Therefore, rectal administration could be considered when neither oral nor parenteral administration is possible and a later onset of effect is not critical.

Impact of antihypertensive therapy on blood pressure reactivity during mental stress.

The effects of baseline antihypertensive drugs or sympatholytic agents on the characteristic hemodynamic response pattern (i.e. increase in blood pressure and heart rate, decrease in total peripheral resistance) during emotional stress were examined. Middle aged male caucasian patients with hitherto untreated mild essential hypertension were given nitrendipine 10-20 mg per day, oxprenolol 160 mg per day or clonidine 75-300 micrograms per day until casual blood pressure was below 140/90 mmHg for at least three months. Blood pressure, heart rate and stroke volume was assessed, at rest and during emotional stress, before and during effective antihypertensive therapy. The increase in systolic pressure during stress was not attenuated by any of the drugs. Heart rate reactivity was lowest when patients received oxprenolol, but peripheral resistance during emotional stress was significantly increased. Clonidine had no unfavorable effects on the hemodynamic pattern during emotional stress but nitrendipine decreased peripheral resistance even more than the decrease in resistance observed during stress before initiation of therapy. If one accepts that antihypertensive therapy should not alter a physiological hemodynamic pattern to an unphysiological response, psychophysiological examinations seem to be valid in selecting suitable patients for the different alternatives in antihypertensive therapy.

Psychophysiologic aspects in essential hypertension.

Epidemiologic and experimental studies disclosed that the sympathetic nervous system might play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension. Although systolic pressure exhibits a weak endogenous rhythm, diurnal fluctuations of arterial pressure are provoked primarily by physical or emotional stress factors. The magnitude of the cardiovascular response, however, varies widely from individual to individual. Subjects at high risk of future hypertension,--such as those with a positive history of familial hypertension, high resting heart rate, or transient increase in arterial hypertension--revealed blood pressure hyperresponsiveness to stress stimuli mediated by an overreactivity of the sympathetic nervous system. Furthermore, cardiovascular reactivity to mental arithmetic tasks and to traffic noise put a patient at high risk of developing arterial hypertension. In women, exaggerated cardiovascular response to stress stimuli appeared to be mitigated by estrogens, whereas oral contraceptives overrode this 'protective' effect of estrogens. At a certain point, repeated episodes of high stress blood pressure could produce structural vascular changes finally inducing sustained hypertension.

Psychological and metabolic improvement after an outpatient teaching program for functional intensified insulin therapy (FIT).

To be the master of their disease and not its slave is the ultimate goal of many patients with diabetes. Intensified functional insulin therapy (FIT) helps to establish this goal by an intensive patient education: each patient learns in five small-group sessions how s/he reacts to standardized challenges of glucose homeostasis (e.g. 24 h fasting; physical exercise; various carbohydrate loads). We investigated in 43 patients with long-standing diabetes type 1 (mean age: 33 +/- 10 years; mean duration of diabetes: 15 +/- 10 years) whether FIT improves quality of life, influences metabolic control and doctor-patient relationship. The following instruments were used: diabetes specific quality of life questionnaire (DQOL), hierarchical distance and cohesion between doctor and patient (FAST), anxiety and depression (HAD). Pre and post intervention values were compared with paired t-tests. HbA1c and number of hypoglycaemic episodes were also assessed 1 year after FIT and 1 year prior to FIT. Metabolic control was improved: HbA1c in the year before FIT: 6.72 +/- 1.35; 4 months before FIT: 6.61 +/- 1.46; 4 months after FIT: 6.29 +/- 1.09 (P < 0.05 compared to 4 months before FIT); 1 year after FIT: 6.46 +/- 1.12 (n.s. compared to 1 year before FIT). Dissatisfaction with life decreases from 33.3 +/- 8.0 to 28.5 +/- 7.7 (P < 0.001). Moments free of disease-specific strain increase from 74.3 +/- 13.9 to 78.1 +/- 16.1 (P = 0.07). Hierarchical distance between doctor and patient decreases from 1.1 +/- to 0.6 +/- 0.8 (P < 0.001), cohesion increases from 9.3 +/- 1.5 to 9.9 +/- 1.1 (P < 0.001). Anxiety and depression both decreases significantly: anxiety, 6.5 +/- 3.3-->4.6 +/- 3.2 (P < 0.001); depression, 2.7 +/- 2.5-->1.5 +/- 1.6 (P < 0.001). The number of patients with severe hypoglycaemic episodes (level 4) decreases from five (11.6%) to one (2.3%) after intervention (P < 0.05). In conclusion, FIT enhances quality of life in diabetic individuals. It helps to establish a less hierarchical and closer relationship between patient and doctor as revealed by the FAST data. It should be emphasized that the psychological improvements are not achieved at the expense of less strict metabolic control.

The integration of alternative treatment modalities in HIV infection--the patient's perspective.

The relationship between professionals representing conventional treatment (CT) and professionals representing non-conventional therapies (alternative therapy (AT) and/or psychotherapy (PT)) is usually characterized by mutual scepticism and mistrust, the overriding fear being that either side will evoke unjustified hopes or will provide false treatment. We investigated whether patients with HIV infection had unrealistic hopes in non-conventional treatment (non-CT), to what extent they use non-CT, and whether perceived benefit and harm differ between the two modes of treatment. We examined a sample of 100 patients with documented HIV-infection in the out-patient department using a self-developed questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) and data concerning the HIV status. Fifty-six patients used AT and/or PT. Severity of HIV disease did not differ between users and non-users of non-CT. The most important reasons for the use of AT were 'strengthening the body and resistance; supplementing conventional therapy'. Users of non-CT rated the competence of CT lower than non-users in solving medical problems (VAS-scores 0-100: 65.5 +/- 17.6 vs 76.3 +/- 17.7; p = 0.003) and in solving emotional problems (VAS scores 0-100: 35.8 +/- 21.2 vs 48.2 +/- 28.9; p = 0.02). Users of non-CT were significantly more anxious 8.4 +/- 4.8 vs 5.5 +/- 4.6; p = 0.004) and more depressive (5.7 +/- 4.5 vs 3.7 +/- 4.5; p = 0.03) than non-users. Expectations and hopes did not differ between users of AT and non-users: main hopes were a delay of disease progression (76% vs 71%) and an alleviation of symptoms (78% vs 66%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Post-vasectomy erectile dysfunction.

We investigated two groups of men with regard to vasectomy acceptance, and subsequent erectile dysfunction. Group I was a group of 45 men chosen at random from 254 vasectomized patients. Group II was a group of 18 men who, out of 180 patients treated for erectile dysfunction, attributed their dysfunction to previous vasectomy. We analysed the social background, motivation for vasectomy and postoperative changes of sexual life or behaviour of the partners. The partnership constellation, particularly the role of a predominant female partner seems to be an important feature for vasectomy acceptance. Low acceptance might cause erectile dysfunction.

PIP: Of 180 patients treated for erectile dysfunction in 1989-91 in Basel, Switzerland, 25 had previously undergone vasectomy. 18 of these latter individuals volunteered to be interviewed about their social background, motivation for vasectomy, and postoperative changes of sex life or partner behavior. All of these men attributed their sexual dysfunction to previous vasectomy. Somatic erectile dysfunction was, however, clinically excluded, thereby making the dysfunction of these men psychological in origin. For comparison, a group of 45 randomly chosen vasectomized men underwent the same psychosexual evaluation in the attempt to find a possible relationship between vasectomy and subsequent erectile dysfunction. The men were chosen from 254 vasectomized patients over the period 1986-90. The 45 controls comprise group one, while the 18 men who attribute their erectile dysfunction to previous vasectomy comprise group two. The mean age at time of vasectomy in group one was 39.1 years in the range of 23-59 years, while the mean age in group two at the time of vasectomy was 56.4 years in the range of 42-71 years. Vasectomy dated back on average 18.8 years. 98% of all patients interviewed were married or living in a steady partnership. 18% of patients in group one and 11% of patients in group two found the operation to be traumatic, while 13% of patients in group one and 17% of patients in group two reported fears of demascularization; these differences were not significant. It was significant, however, that 22% of patients in group two had the decision to undergo vasectomy imposed upon them by their partner. 4% of patients in group one and 22% of patients in group two reported a reduced libido within the first two postoperative years. Less frequent or weaker erections were reported by 2% of patients in group one and 27% of patients in group two. Decreased frequency of orgasm was reported by none of the patients in group one, but by 28% of the patients in group two. Ejaculation quality and orgasm by masturbation remained unchanged in all cases. Decreased sexual activity in the partner was reported by 7% of patients in group one and 33% of patients in group two. 4% of patients in group one and 28% of group two believed there was a connection between previous vasectomy and their own erectile dysfunction. In all patients with erectile dysfunction this occurred within two years of the vasectomy. 4% of patients in group one and 39% of patients in group two had changed their partners within the follow-up time. Generally, a patient's psychosocial environment is most important for the acceptance of vasectomy. A good acceptance of vasectomy is usually found among men living in traditional partnerships with a predominating male. Men in partnerships where the female predominates and where the female may have demanded that the male undergo vasectomy, however, may have difficulty later accepting and coping with such imposed decisions on reproduction. Patients requesting vasectomy should always be asked systematically about their motivation and the manner in which the decision was reached. A prospective study is underway to determine the characteristics of men who are predisposed to become sexually dysfunctional.

A between-subjects comparison of respiratory sinus arrhythmia and baroreceptor cardiac reflex sensitivity as non-invasive measures of tonic parasympathetic cardiac control.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) has been used as an index of parasympathetic cardiac control. However, recent psychophysiological research casts serious doubts upon the usefulness of RSA as an index of vagal influences upon the heart in psychophysiological as well as in clinical studies. It suggests the need to look for another measure. In this exploratory study we investigated whether the baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) could serve as an alternative tool to investigate between-subject tonic parasympathetic influences on the heart. In nine healthy subjects we examined the effects of intravenous atropine (0.03 mg/kg i.v.), intravenous metoprolol (10-15 mg i.v.), and of saline as a placebo condition upon RSA, BRS, and related cardiovascular and respiratory variables, both under resting and under mental task conditions. After parasympathetic blockade, RSA and BRS display values near zero, showing their vagal origin. After beta-adrenergic blockade, when heart period is predominantly under vagal control, RSA fails to predict heart period variability. Using BRS, however, it is possible to predict more than 97% of heart period variance during beta-blockade. Finally, both the vagal and beta-adrenergic blockade show that BRS is a better predictor of parasympathetic cardiac control during blood pressure increases than during blood pressure decreases.

[Psychosocial risk factors and coronary heart disease]. / Psychosoziale Risikofaktoren und koronare Herzkrankheit.

A literature review shows that besides the classical risk factors smoking, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension and age psychosocial risk factors have been identified in the development and progress of coronary heart disease. They can be divided into four categories: inadvertent socio-economic conditions, insufficient physical exercise, type-A personality and emotional problems and lack of social support.

[Somatoform disorders and their therapy]. / Somatoforme Störungen und ihre Therapie.

Somatoform disorders are frequent manifestations of psychosocial stress and present themselves in form of unexplained somatic symptoms. Diagnostics and treatment of somatoform disorders is mainly performed in order to uncover organic pathology. However, organic pathology could not be found, which leads to repeated investigations finally contributing to increase of health costs. Authors highlight pathogenesis of somatoform disorders, summarise the syndromes of this group of disorders and give recommendations as to management and treatment.