Influence of Cognition on Length of Stay and Rehospitalization in Older Veterans Admitted for Post-Acute Care.

Objectives: Evaluate the relative contribution of cognitive test performance to post-acute care (PAC) length of stay (LOS) and rehospitalization while controlling for key demographic, medical, and functional outcomes.

Methods: Retrospective medical record review of 160 older Veterans, including cognitive test performance (Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised [ACE-R]), on admission to a Veterans Administration Hospital Community Living Center (CLC) PAC.

Results: Individuals with impaired scores on the ACE-R had a longer LOS (10 median days longer; = 2,547.

Cross-validation of incidental learning tasks from the WAIS-IV as a measure of memory.

Although incidental learning (IL) routinely occurs in everyday life, it is infrequently assessed during neuropsychological evaluations. This study aimed to further examine the concurrent validity of IL measures based on the Vocabulary and Similarities subtests from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Test-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV). Participants included 43 Veterans referred for outpatient neuropsychological testing.

Grooved Pegboard Test as a measure of executive functioning.

The Grooved Pegboard Test (GPT) is used primarily as a measure of motor functioning, but some research indicates that performance on this test my also reflect cognitive factors, particularly attention and executive functioning. The aim of this study was to examine rule violations as a possible quantifiable measure of executive functioning, particularly inhibitory control. In a sample of 82 veterans undergoing neuropsychological evaluation at a Virginia (VA) outpatient clinic, we recorded instances of two types of rule violations: using the incorrect hand during insertion and placing pegs out of sequence.

Population Base Rates and Disease Course of Common Psychiatric and Neurodegenerative Disorders.

Knowledge of population base rates of neurological and psychiatric disorders is fundamental for diagnostic decision making. Consideration of relevant probabilistic information can improve diagnostic efficiency and accuracy. However, such data continue to be misused or underutilized, which can lead to misdiagnoses and negative patient outcomes.

Development of a scale of executive functioning for the RBANS.

The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) is a cognitive battery that contains scales of several cognitive abilities, but no scale in the instrument is exclusively dedicated to executive functioning. Although the subtests allow for observation of executive-type errors, each error is of fairly low base rate, and healthy and clinical normative data are lacking on the frequency of these types of errors, making their significance difficult to interpret in isolation. The aim of this project was to create an RBANS executive errors scale (RBANS EE) with items comprised of qualitatively dysexecutive errors committed throughout the test.

Self-Reported Health and Safety Awareness Improves Prediction of Level of Care Needs in Veterans Discharged From a Postacute Unit.

Objectives: To evaluate the differential value of a self-reported health and safety awareness measure relative to other medical, psychosocial, and cognitive factors in predicting level of care (LOC) needs after hospital discharge.

Design: Retrospective medical record review.

Setting: Community living center postacute care (CLC-PAC) unit at a Veterans Affairs hospital.

Incidental learning from the coding subtest of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status.

Incidental learning (IL) measures provide complementary assessment data reflecting subconscious encoding of information using methods that differ from the procedures of many traditional memory tests. We examined the concurrent validity of an IL measure based on the coding subtest of the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). Participants included veterans referred for outpatient neuropsychological testing.

Barriers and facilitators of obesity management in families of youth with emotional and behavioral disorders.

While youth with emotional and behavioral disorders experience increased rates of obesity, few obesity interventions exist that are tailored to their needs. Qualitative methods were employed to elucidate obesity management practices in this population. In all, 56 participants (i.

Oral health in adults with serious mental illness: needs for and perspectives on care.

This study used qualitative methods to investigate barriers to and facilitators of oral health care among 25 adult community mental health outpatients with serious mental illness (SMI). Participants completed 30- to 60-min, semi-structured interviews that were recorded and transcribed. Qualitative analysis was used to characterize common themes.

Depression, diabetic complications and disability among persons with comorbid schizophrenia and type 2 diabetes.

Background: People with schizophrenia are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes, its complications, depression, and disability. However, little is known about the interrelationships of these 3 factors in adults with schizophrenia and type 2 diabetes.

Objective: We sought to assess the number of diabetic complications and depressive symptom severity as predictors of disability and evaluate depressive symptom severity as a mediator of the relationship between diabetic complications and disability in a sample of 62 adults with schizophrenia and type 2 diabetes.

Genetic attributions and mental illness diagnosis: effects on perceptions of danger, social distance, and real helping decisions.

Unlabelled: Genetic essentialism suggests that beliefs in genetic causes of mental illness will inflate a desire for social distance from affected individuals, regardless of specific disorder. However, genetic contingency theory predicts that genetic attributions will lead to an increased desire for social distance only from persons with disorders who are perceived as dangerous.

Purpose: To assess the interactive effect of diagnosis and attribution on social distance and actual helping decisions across disorders.