OBJECTIVES To assess the psychological impact of first episode of genital herpes, and to determine whether this changes over time. SETTING AND SUBJECTS The Departments of Genitourinary Medicine (GUM), and Dermatology, Middlesex Hospital London. The study group consisted of patients attending the department of GUM with a clinically proven first episode of genital herpes. Two control groups wer...

OBJECTIVE Psychological problems should be identified in breast cancer patients proactively if doctors and nurses are to help them cope with the challenges imposed by their illness. Screening is one possible way to identify emotional problems proactively. Self-report questionnaires can be useful alternatives to carrying out psychiatric interviews during screening, because interviewing a large n...

BACKGROUND Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a rare, inherited group of disorders characterized by blistering of the skin following friction or mechanical trauma. EB has a clinical and socioeconomic impact on patients and their families. OBJECTIVES To assess the quality of life (QoL) in patients with EB and to determine disease burden. METHODS The study was an observational, cross-sectional pos...

BACKGROUND Multiple imputation (MI) was developed as a method to enable valid inferences to be obtained in the presence of missing data rather than to re-create the missing values. Within the applied setting, it remains unclear how important it is that imputed values should be plausible for individual observations. One variable type for which MI may lead to implausible values is a limited-range...

BACKGROUND In the present article, we propose an alternative method for dealing with negative affectivity (NA) biases in research, while investigating the association between a deleterious psychosocial environment at work and poor mental health. First, we investigated how strong NA must be to cause an observed correlation between the independent and dependent variables. Second, we subjectively ...

OBJECTIVES The detection of patients with comorbid mental disorders is of high clinical importance. Screening instruments can be recommended for early recognition. This study investigates the discriminant validity of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and Patient Health Questionnaire (Brief-PHQ-D) in chronically ill patients. METHODS Two hu...

One hundred and twenty A&E Department daytime attenders were screened for psychiatric disorder in a two stage procedure. Thirty-three patients were identified as General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) 'cases' of whom 28 agreed to a psychiatric interview using the Clinical Interview Schedule. Twenty-eight GHQ 'non-cases' were also interviewed. A psychiatric diagnosis was made in 24 patients, 21 of w...

BACKGROUND Self-employed workers experience occupational stress and may suffer from various mental health disorders. AIMS To assess the mental health, substance use and risk factors for psychological distress in a sample of self-employed lawyers and pharmacists. METHODS A cross-sectional study, using self-completion postal questionnaires, of lawyers and pharmacists. The General Health Quest...