Factors involved in the formation of attitudes towards those who are mentally ill.

BACKGROUND: This research was conducted to examine the prediction that accuracy of particular kinds of knowledge of mental illness would be related to particular attitudes towards people with mental illness. METHODS: An exploratory study examining attitudes to people suffering from mental illness is presented. A total of 169 participants, with a range of attitudes and knowledge, completed two questionnaires: attitudes were assessed using the Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill scale (Taylor and Dear 1981) which yields four attitude factors; knowledge was assessed using a questionnaire devised by Nunnally (1961), which yields ten knowledge factors. RESULTS: Multiple regression analyses provided some support for the hypothesis that some areas of knowledge (particularly knowledge concerning guidance and support, and knowledge concerning the role of avoidance of morbid thoughts in mental health) are predictive of specific attitudes, but much of the variance remained unexplained by the predictive knowledge variables. Post hoc analyses revealed that those people who had had personal experience of people with mental illness were generally more positive in their attitudes towards them. CONCLUSIONS: Selected knowledge factors only accounted for a modest amount of the variance in attitude factor scores. Affective (e. g. fear, revulsion, anxiety) information may explain a greater percentage of variance in attitude factor score. It is suggested that this should be considered in future research and the limitations of the present study are discussed.

Samarium-153-EDTMP biodistribution and dosimetry estimation.

Fifty-two patients were treated with single doses of 153Sm-EDTMP in a Phase I escalating dose protocol for palliation of bone pain from metastatic prostate carcinoma. Samarium-153 (T1/2 46.3 hr), maximum beta-particle energies 810 keV (20%), 710 keV (30%), 640 keV (50%), gamma photon 103 keV (28%), was complexed to the tetraphosphonate chelate, EDTMP. Five groups of patients were treated at doses of 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 mCi/kg to evaluate toxicity from treatment. Patients were screened prior to treatment and followed after treatment with 99mTc-MDP bone scans. Biodistribution data on this group of patients were acquired and showed rapid uptake of 153Sm-EDTMP into bone with complete clearance of nonskeletal radiotoxicity by 6-8 hr. Also included are complete sets of dosimetry estimations on an additional seven patients who received 0.5 mCi/kg 153Sm-EDTMP Ca++ as part of a multiple dose therapy trial. Estimated radiation absorbed doses to bone surfaces averaged 25,000 mrad/mCi (6686 Gy/MBq), and urinary bladder doses averaged 3600 mrad/mCi (964 Gy/MBq).

Imaging and treatment of B-cell lymphoma.

Ten patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma have been evaluated as candidates for experimental radioimmunotherapy and five of those patients have been treated with a single high dose of iodine-131-(131I) labeled anti-pan B-cell antibodies. The evaluation protocol involved collecting biodistribution data by quantitation of gamma camera images and by tumor biopsy from trace labeled doses of antibody, to estimate the relative radiation dose delivered to normal organs and tumor sites. Each patient received up to three escalating mass doses (0.5 mg/kg, 2.5 mg/kg, and 10.0 mg/kg) of radioiodinated antibody for determination of the antibody amount that yielded the most favorable biodistribution for treatment. The millicuries of 131I-labeled to the optimal antibody dose for therapy was selected to deliver 1,000 rads (three patients) or 1,500 rads (two patients) to normal uninvolved organs. Because severe bone marrow toxicity was expected, all patients had their bone marrow cryopreserved prior to entry into the study. This report details the methods and results of quantitative imaging, biodistribution data collection, and absorbed radiation dose estimation in patients with lymphoma receiving high level radioimmunotherapy with 131I-labeled antibodies.