Outcomes of single versus multiple trauma exposure in a screening sample.

Most studies ignore prior trauma exposure when evaluating outcomes of target events. This study explored symptom severity associated with different types of traumatic experiences occurring alone and with multiple exposure. The Stressful Life Events Screening Questionnaire categorized 1,909 sophomore women into groups including no trauma exposure, exposure to a serious non-Criterion A event only, exposure to several unique noninterpersonal and interpersonal events, and exposure to multiple interpersonal events. Women with noninterpersonal trauma did not differ from those without trauma on the Trauma Symptom Inventory. Only interpersonal trauma and non-Criterion A events were associated with elevated symptoms; multiple-exposure participants had significantly higher symptoms than all other groups. Complex trauma histories should be accounted for, even in studies of one target event.

Prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder in women with breast cancer.

This study investigated whether diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer produced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adult women. One hundred sixty women with early stage node-negative breast cancer completed self-report questionnaires and underwent a full diagnostic assessment (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R). PTSD symptoms were common; however, only 3% of the women interviewed met stringent criteria for cancer-related PTSD in the 4-12 months following the completion of their medical treatment. Thus, breast cancer produced considerable distress, but low rates of PTSD, and may not fit well as a Criterion A stressor event for PTSD. Caution is urged for an assumption of a PTSD diagnosis based on self-reported symptoms.

Facial nerve neuroma.

Facial nerve neuromas are an unusual cause of facial nerve dysfunction and hearing loss. As clinical manifestations do not accurately reflect tumor extent, imaging techniques can greatly assist the clinician in appropriate diagnostic evaluation and management.

Effect of airway resistance on perceived odor intensity.

Because of the wide range of human nasal anatomic configurations, some people sniff odorants against comparatively high resistances. To assess the relationship between sniff resistance and olfaction, ten subjects without nasal pathology or complaint were asked to estimate the perceived magnitude of the odorant, ethyl butyrate, at each of four concentrations and against each of four different resistances. In addition, the airflow profile of the subjects' sniffs was monitored during the performance of the odor task. As expected, perceived intensity increased with concentration, but more noteworthy was the finding that perceived intensity decreased with increasing resistance. Initially, this latter finding, together with the lack of interaction between concentration and resistance, suggested an olfactory analogue to conductive hearing losses. However, the sniffing data suggested that under the conditions of the experiment, the subjects attempted to maintain consistent sniffing behavior across the 16 different treatment combinations of concentration and resistance. These observations, taken together with the finding that subjects could estimate the perceived effort of sniffing, give support to the concept of a perceptual constancy model in olfaction. That is, olfactory magnitude may depend not only on the odorant itself, but also on the perceived effort associated with the sniff.