The Brief Multidimensional Assessment Scale (BMAS): A Broad Measure of Patient Well-Being.

Objective: This article discusses the development and initial clinimetric and psychometric properties of the Brief Multidimensional Assessment Scale (BMAS). The BMAS is an ultrabrief multidimensional measure of global patient well-being that can be used at every clinic visit to assess several facets of patients' perception of themselves, regardless of their diagnosis, at a moment in time and over the course of treatment.

Methods: Data were collected from 499 adults in the community as well as from psychiatric and medical inpatient and outpatient settings.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for psychogenic nonepileptic seizures.

Treatment trials for psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) are few, despite the high prevalence and disabling nature of the disorder. We evaluated the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) on reduction of PNES. Secondary measures included psychiatric symptom scales and psychosocial variables.

Preventing recurrence of bipolar I mood episodes and hospitalizations: family psychotherapy plus pharmacotherapy versus pharmacotherapy alone.

Objectives: This study compared the efficacy of three treatment conditions in preventing recurrence of bipolar I mood episodes and hospitalization for such episodes: individual family therapy plus pharmacotherapy, multifamily group therapy plus pharmacotherapy, and pharmacotherapy alone.

Methods: Patients with bipolar I disorder were enrolled if they met criteria for an active mood episode and were living with or in regular contact with relatives or significant others. Subjects were randomly assigned to individual family therapy plus pharmacotherapy, multifamily group therapy plus pharmacotherapy, or pharmacotherapy alone, which were provided on an outpatient basis.

Patient misidentification in a pediatric emergency department: patient safety and legal perspectives.

Emergency departments across the nation are faced with ever-increasing high volumes, overcrowding, and patient acuity. Along with these growing trends, the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is instituting new patient safety initiatives to reduce patient medical errors in the hospital setting. The emergency department is one area under great scrutiny with patient identification as primary concern.