[Words and language used by patients when describing consultation with general practitioners].

Increased knowledge of how patients express their experiences may help physicians to capture their patients' perceptions and agenda. The aim of the present study was to examine words and language used by patients when describing specific primary care consultation experiences. Six focus group sessions with a total of 31 patients were conducted shortly after a general practice consultation.

[What is the most important for the patient in the meeting with a general practitioner?].

Efficient medical communication depends on an understanding of the patient perspective. The purpose of this study was to characterise the most important consultation elements as perceived by primary care patients. The experience of 31 patients regarding their most recent medical encounter were recorded in six focus groups.

Social network size of female patients with rheumatoid arthritis compared to healthy controls.

Unlabelled: To estimate how rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the disease duration, and level of physical disability, influence the total size of patients' social network and the size of different subsets. Two hundred sixty four female patients (mean age 57 yrs) with RA of more than 6 yrs duration (mean 20 yrs) were compared to 61 healthy controls matched for sex, age, and residential area. Network size was measured by Social Network Delineation Questionnaire (SNDQ), physical disability by Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ).

Trait anxiety and reactions to patient-centered and doctor-centered styles of communication: an experimental study.

Objective: A patient-centered model of communication has often been advocated in preference to a doctor-centered model. The aim of the present study was to assess in an experimental setting how subjects' general level of anxiety affects their reactions to these two communication styles as measured by emotional reactions and satisfaction immediately after consultation.

Methods: Twenty students with low trait anxiety and 21 students with high trait anxiety each had a single consultation with a physician who performed the consultation using either a patient-centered or doctor-centered style of communication.

Cognitive performance in multiple trauma patients 3 years after injury.

Objectives: Patients with sequelae from multiple trauma commonly display cognitive disturbances, specifically in the areas of attention and memory. This study was designed to assess cognitive functioning 3 years after severe multiple trauma and to investigate how cognitive performance is related to head injury severity and psychological distress respectively.

Methods: Sixty-eight multiple trauma patients were tested with a screening battery consisting of six neuropsychological tasks 3 years after injury.

Emotional activation during therapeutic interaction in traumatic brain injury: effect of apathy, self-awareness and implications for rehabilitation.

Apathy and reduced self-awareness are frequent occurring neurobehavioural sequelae following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Apathy, in terms of reduced goal directed activity and lowered motivation, and reduced self-awareness have a negative impact on the rehabilitation process. In this study, 30 patients suffering severe TBI were clinically rated for apathy and monitored for cardiovascular and electrodermal reactivity during baseline, neutral speech and therapeutic interaction.

Apathy and depressed mood in acquired brain damage: relationship to lesion localization and psychophysiological reactivity.

Background: Apathy is a frequent neurobehavioural sequel in patients with acquired brain damage and it may seriously affect outcome of rehabilitation.

Methods: Patients with traumatic brain injury, cerebrovascular insults and hypoxic brain injury, categorized into four lesion localization groups: left hemisphere damage (LHD); right hemisphere damage (RHD); bilateral hemispheric damage (BHD); and subcortical damage (SCD) were assessed with the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES) and Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Heart rate and electrodermal activity were recorded in an experimental situation that exposed the patients to mental stressors in order to measure psychophysiological reactivity.

Heart rate and skin conductance reactivity to brief psychological stress in brain-injured patients.

Autonomic reactivity in response to two mentally challenging tasks was studied in 74 patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI; n=33), cerebrovascular insults (CVA; n=27), and hypoxic brain damage (n = 14). Heart rate, skin conductance level, and number of spontaneous skin conductance responses were recorded during baseline and two problem-solving stress conditions consisting of Raven progressive matrices and mental arithmetic. CVA and TBI patients with focal right hemisphere injury showed significantly reduced stress reactivity compared to patients with focal left hemisphere injury.

Complex health problems in general practice: do we need an instrument for consultation improvement and patient involvement? Theoretical foundation, development and user evaluation of the Patient Perspective Survey (PPS).

Background And Objectives: Many patients in general practice present with complex health problems. It is argued that the GP who is in a prime position to counsel patients with such problems, will, however, often perceive a lack of tools to manage them. The aim of the present study was to develop a novel instrument in terms of a patient-administered questionnaire, the Patient Perspective Survey (PPS), designed to enhance the quality of clinical communication in the consultation.

[The emotions of physicians. Significance of physicians' emotional reactions to the patients].

During the last thirty years there has been a growing interest in research into physician-patient interaction. This article highlights the research which concerns the physician's countertransference feelings. The concept of countertransference is described and a classification with relevance for physicians in general is explained.

Physician-patient interaction and coping with cancer: the doctor as informer or supporter?

Background: The physician-patient relationship may be important in helping cancer patients to cope with their disease, but little research has focused on the role of the physician in the process of coping with cancer. The objective of this study was to investigate the patients' experience of the informational and emotional aspects of physician-patient interactions, and the relevance of these two aspects of such interactions for the coping process.

Methods: In three focus group sessions, patients were interviewed about their relationships with their physicians.

Long-term prevalence of impairments and disabilities after multiple trauma.

The prevalence of impairments and disabilities in activities of daily living (ADL), nonwork activities, and work were registered in a consecutive series (n = 69) of subjects with severe injuries. At follow-up 3 years after trauma, residual impairments prevailed in 80%. Only a few (6%) were ADL-dependent.

A new measure of patient satisfaction with mammography. Validation by factor analytic technique.

Background And Objectives: The success of national breast screening programmes hinges on women's adherence. By monitoring patients' perceptions, potential barriers to attendance may be detected, measured and possibly alleviated. Consequently a new questionnaire MGQ, measuring patients' experience of and satisfaction with mammography, has been developed.

[Does social support have an impact on the prognosis in cancer?].

Social support is a compound concept. It is being used about different aspects of social integration and about the support provided by people in a social network. Increasing research has been done on the effect of social support on malignant diseases.

Team development and memory training in traumatic brain injury rehabilitation: two birds with one stone.

The need for developing team cooperation procedures when treating patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) is stated. One approach in promoting team cooperation is to combine team development with a specific training programme. A memory training programme used in a subacute TBI rehabilitation unit is described.

Self-reported social networks and interpersonal support 2 years after severe traumatic brain injury.

Fifty-four patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) consecutively admitted to a rehabilitation hospital were examined 2 years post-injury. Social interaction and support, subjective complaints, and functional status were assessed. A large variability in social interaction and support patterns was found.

[Regaining of function following severe head injury. From primary rehabilitation to 2 years after the injury].

72 patients with sequelae after severe traumatic brain injury were studied during primary rehabilitation and two years post-injury. The patients were grouped into two main categories, one dependent as regards activities of daily living (ADL) and one mainly independent group. Most of the dependent patients, except seven low level patients close to a vegetative state, showed marked functional recovery.

[A new teaching program in behavioral sciences in Oslo].

The Department of Behavioural Sciences in Medicine at the University of Oslo was established in 1977. The teaching programme followed the same main principles until 1992, and took place in the third and fourth terms. Since 1992, however, several changes have taken place.

[Amantadine in cognitive failure in patients with traumatic head injuries].

In patients with severe cerebral injuries, attentional dysfunction may cause greater difficulties for rehabilitation than neurological deficits. These functions seem to be controlled by catecholaminergic neural systems in the central nervous system. Dopamine agonists have therefore been recently introduced in the treatment of these patients.

Subacute brain injury rehabilitation: a program description and a study of staff program evaluation.

The concept of continuity of care is introduced and briefly discussed. Three aspects of subacute rehabilitation of patients with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) are discussed: the need for differentiated treatment programs, for team integration and emphasis on environmental or milieu factors to accomplish treatment success. The so called Wing Team Model at the TBI Unit at Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital is described.

Depressed mood and intra-hemispheric location of lesion in right hemisphere stroke patients.

42 stroke patients with verified right hemisphere lesions were studied. Depressed mood was measured by means of a global rating scale, and an inventory administered as a structured interview. As measured by the global ratings and one of the inventory subscales, patients with deep, retrorolandic lesions showed significantly more depressed mood than other patients.

Neuropsychological predictors in stroke rehabilitation.

A mailed questionnaire, sent routinely to discharged stroke patients, divided left-hemisphere (n = 68) and right-hemisphere (n = 77) patients into three groups of general help dependency in basic activities-of-daily-life skills. A subsample of 29 patients was visited at home and asked to reanswer the questionnaire under guidance of a trained occupational therapist. The reliability of the questionnaire was considered satisfactory.