scholarly journals The nuts and bolts of writing papers

1990 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 254-254
Author(s):  
Ralph Footring

Some jargon is useful. Though I invariably place inverted commas around ‘caseness’, just so that everybody knows that I know that it is jargon, I would be a lost man if I diligently replaced it with a statement to the effect that this particular patient has achieved an index of definition of 5 or over on the Present State Examination.

1982 ◽  
Vol 140 (6) ◽  
pp. 558-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Berner ◽  
Bernd Küfferle

For a foreign observer who has been trained in German and French psychopathology, British psychiatry is very attractive at first glance for a number of reasons. Its eclectic and principally non-theoretical approach (Cooper, 1975), characterized by an open acceptance of foreign concepts and by the tendency to question traditional structures and hypotheses and to test them by means of statistical methods, appears most impressive. The substantial contribution British authors have made toward the development of structured tools in psychopathology, like for instance the Present State Examination or the Hamilton Rating Scale in order to facilitate such a statistical evaluation, which reflects clearly the inheritance of Sir Francis Galton, is also a cause of sincere admiration. The European observer realizes furthermore that the British approach is rooted mainly in continental, especially in German, clinical psychiatry, and is not as heavily influenced by psychodynamic theories as, for instance, the American schools were, at least until recently. This provides him with a comfortable feeling of familiarity and he is not inclined to question certain British tenets until his involvement progresses and he becomes aware of the comparative lack of attention paid by British schools to some of the fundamentals of continental psychopathology.


2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela C. Smith ◽  
Aaron D. Crabtree

Tax-exempt classification of nonprofit hospitals has been increasingly subject to federal and state examination. Considering the benefits tax-exempt entities receive, it should not be surprising that these organizations face heavy regulatory scrutiny. The problem for tax-exempt hospitals is the lack of a clear and concise definition of charity care in order to maintain exempt status. State and local regulations aside, the IRS has not presented a consistent position regarding standards for nonprofit hospitals. This paper examines the evolution of hospital tax-exempt status and its relationship to charity care. Given the IRS's evolving and conflicting definitions of charity care, we can expect this issue to be debated for a long time to come.


1991 ◽  
Vol 159 (4) ◽  
pp. 472-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alec Buchanan

Delusional memories have an established place in psychiatric phenomenology and use of the term extends to its inclusion in the Present State Examination (Winget al,1974). Not all writers have used the term, however, and present definitions are inconsistent. This paper attempts to clarify the significance of delusional memories for a diagnosis of schizophrenia according to Schneiderian criteria.


1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. K. Wing ◽  
S. A. Mann ◽  
J. P. Leff ◽  
J. M. Nixon

SYNOPSISA series of in-patients, a series of out-patients and a series of women from a general population sample, all aged under 65, and all living in the same area of south-east London, were examined using the ninth edition of the Present State Examination (PSE). An ‘index of definition’ (ID), based on number, type and severity of PSE symptoms, was constructed in order to define a threshold point above which sufficient information was available to allow classification into one of the functional psychoses or neuroses. The index specified 8 levels of definition of disorder; the threshold point for a ‘case’ lying between levels 4 and 5. The identification of ‘cases’ by this means in the general population series was highly concordant with global clinical judgement.When the 3 series were compared, the in-patient series contained the most definite cases, the out-patient series was intermediate, and the general population series was characterized mainly by below-threshold conditions.Disorders above the threshold point were classified using the CATEGO program. The clinical severity of the depressive disorders and anxiety states identified in this way in the 3 series was compared on the basis of symptom and syndrome profiles and PSE scores. As expected, the inpatients had the most severe, and the general population ‘cases’ the least severe disorders.It is suggested that the PSE-ID-CATEGO techniques can be used to help standardize certain aspects of case-finding and case-description in both referred and non-referred populations and thereby make the results of surveys more comparable.


1982 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
pp. 335-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Gath ◽  
Peter Cooper ◽  
Ann Day

SummaryOne hundred and fifty-six women with menorrhagia of benign origin were interviewed before hysterectomy, and re-interviewed six months post-operatively (n = 147), and again 18 months post-operatively (n = 148). Levels of psychiatric morbidity were significantly higher before the operation than after. On the Present State Examination, 58 per cent of patients were psychiatric cases before surgery, as against 29 per cent at the 18-month follow-up. Similar post-operative improvements were found on measures of mood (POMS), and of psychosexual and social functioning. Most of these improvements had occurred within three to six months after the operation. Both before and after hysterectomy, levels of psychiatric morbidity were high by comparison with women in the general population, but lower than in psychiatric patients. The pre-operative psychiatric morbidity had been mainly of long duration.


1979 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Urwin ◽  
J. L. Gibbons

SynopsisThe Present State Examination was administered to 539 patients who attended a casualty department after an act of self-poisoning during the course of a year. Computer analysis by means of the Catego program showed that 30% of the patients had insufficient symptoms to be considered as psychiatric ‘cases’. Fewer than 4% had symptoms of functional psychosis. About 60% of the patients were classed as depressed: on several indices this group was less severely ill than a group of depressives receiving psychiatric treatment. It is suggested that psychiatric treatment is essential for only a small proportion of self-poisoning patients. The effectiveness of psychiatric treatment for the large group of patients with depressive disorders of minor severity and probably short duration has still to be evaluated.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document