The comparative concurrent validities of the Shipley Institute of Living Scale and the Henmon-Nelson Tests of Mental Ability.

This study compared the abilities of the Shipley Institute of Living Scale and the Henmon-Nelson Tests of Mental Ability to predict Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) scores in psychiatric hospital patients. The Henmon-Nelson DIQs accounted for about 50% more WAIS-R Verbal and Full Scale IQ variance than did the Shipley IQs, apparently because of their higher correlations with the Information, Vocabulary, and, perhaps, Similarities subtests. Because Henmon-Nelson scores were more variable and generally higher than their WAIS-R counterparts, statistical adjustments were needed to optimize Wechsler IQ estimates. Therefore, regression formulae and a conversion table for the estimation of WAIS-R Full Scale IQs from Henmon-Nelson and Shipley intelligence scores also are presented.

[An epidemiological study on syphilis conducted at the laboratory of the Mauriziano Hospital (USL 37) of Lanzo Torinese in 1988]. / Indagine epidemiologica sulla sifilide condotta presso il laboratorio dell'Ospedale Mauriziano di Lanzo Torinese (USL 37) nell'anno 1988.

The study conducted in 1988 was designed to assess the value of blanket serum tests for syphilis on hospitalised and outpatients. The incidence of syphilis encountered was particularly low and primarily confined to patients over 50. Apart from specific requests, mass scanning for the disease does not therefore seem necessary though it does seem advisable to test hospitalised and pregnant women.

[Prevalence of HBsAG carriers in a population of Northern Italy in 1987]. / Prevalenza dei portatori di HBsAG in una popolazione del Nord Italia relativa all'anno 1987.

In view of the high incidence of hepatitis B in Italy, the prevalence of carriers of HBsAg in one area of Piedmont and comparison with data obtained in other areas of Northern and Southern Italy has been assessed. HBsAg was sought in the serum of 2242 patients of the Lanzo Torinese Hospital. Average prevalence observed (0.66%) was related to recent national statistics and shows a slightly lower percentage than mean values for Northern Italy and much below what is found in the South of Italy.

Program evaluation research in ongoing alcoholism treatment: a summary of the Tuscaloosa VA project.

Early in 1980 a Veterans Administration Medical Center initiated a comprehensive program evaluation project of its Alcohol Treatment Unit. The project has resulted in numerous publications detailing the major findings; however, many outcomes of interest have not been reported, and no report is extant which summarizes the outcome of the program evaluation. In this paper, many results are reported for the first time, and previously published results are briefly described. Additionally, the problems encountered in program evaluation are discussed, as are the implications of the results of the project.

The association of alcoholic subtype with treatment outcome: an 18-month follow-up.

The present paper reports upon the association between alcoholic subtype and treatment response. The subjects participated in an inpatient alcohol treatment program at the Tuscaloosa Veterans Administration Medical Center. Following discharge, the subjects were contacted at 1, 6, 12, and 18 months to evaluate current drinking status and psychosocial outcome. Results indicate that drinking outcome is only moderately associated with alcoholic subtype. However, psychosocial outcome is consistently related to the subtypes. Specifically, Type III (chronic-organic) and Type V (bright-unrealistic) alcoholics do poorly while Type II (impulsive) report few problems. The need to develop better "fits" of treatment and alcoholic is discussed, as are possible adjunctive treatments for the typology presented.

Considerations for survival in program evaluation projects.

Program evaluation research is presented as an increasingly necessary and valuable activity. Some "rules" are presented as a vehicle for the delineation of areas of concern that speak to the practical side of conducting this type of research.

The efficacy of AA attendance for aftercare of inpatient alcoholics: some follow-up data.

Inpatient alcoholics (N = 145) were followed at 6-month intervals for 18 months postdischarge. The drinking outcomes were compared based on overall degree of AA attendance. Results did indicate higher percentages of abstinence for AA attenders, but only at 18 months. AA attenders also indicated fewer days drinking during the first 6 months, with fewer days drunk for AA attenders at 18 months. Those subjects attending AA for the entire 18 months reported a total abstinence rate of 50%.

Cost/benefit estimates from ongoing alcoholism outcome research: a working paper.

There is an increasing emphasis on cost-effectiveness for all forms of treatment, occurring in parallel with constraints on research dollars. It would therefore seem useful for investigators to try to use ongoing research data as a basis for demonstrating a positive economic impact when outcome data are available. Some thoughts and figures are presented from a large alcoholism project, for which there were also some treatment outcomes. These data permitted dollar estimates, in terms of community impact, which are offered as a basis for further discussion. Although crude, these types of estimates are seen as vital in making the economic arguments, which parallel those for the human misery side of substance abuse.

An MMPI-based clinical typology for inpatient alcoholic males: derivation and interpretation.

A "customized" clinical typology of six types (for 10% to 30% of the sample each) was derived on 150 inpatient alcoholic veterans as part of a more comprehensive clinical research project. The types were derived on 18 variates, which included the 13 clinical and validity scales of the MMPI, 2 intellectual estimates, 2 perceptual estimates, and an employment rating, using Ward's procedure. The MMPI clinical profiles for the types matched closely known MMPI actuarial patterns, as well as those from prior alcoholism typing research. The non-MMPI variates seemed to add importantly to the clinical meaningfulness of the derived types. Type contrasts on a number of demographic and index variables were also significant and provided additional descriptive and validation data. The desirability and utility of combining several common measures as a basis for types that would be a central part of ongoing clinical programming and research are discussed.

Pretreatment MMPI profiles of A.A. members and nonmembers.

Historically, researchers in alcoholism have focused a large amount of energy on the search for "the alcoholic personality." From this effort to identify a particular type of personality prone to the development of alcoholism arose the idea that alcoholics are not a homogeneous group. Subsequently, a number of authors reported the existence of alcoholic subtypes. Recently, research has begun to examine the relationship of personality to treatment outcome. In particular, Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) has come under greater scrutiny since high success rates have been ascribed to A.A. attendance. Moreover, the personality characteristics of A.A. members have been compared to alcoholics not attending A.A. Improving on earlier studies, the present research compared the pretreatment Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) profiles of alcoholics who later elected to attend A.A. and those who did not attend. Additionally, alcoholics attending A.A. were sorted by drinking outcome and the MMPI profiles of sober and drinking A.A. members were contrasted. Although no personality differences emerged between A.A. attenders and nonmembers, there were several trends within the A.A. attending group, suggesting that successful A.A. members were less depressed, less anxious and less socially isolated than unsuccessfull A.A. members.

Development and validation of an automatic treatment referral system.

The alcoholism literature abounds with reports of the alcoholic personality and alcoholic subtypes. However, very minimal research on the relationship between the subtypes and treatment procedures is available. With the power of computer technology now accessible so readily, it is possible to apply sophisticated statistical methods to determine the extent of the association. The present paper describes the development of an automatic referral system (Autorf) on an inpatient alcohol and day unit (N = 150). More importantly, preliminary results with regard to the validity of the Autorf system are reported. Implications for treatment of alcoholics and program efficiency are discussed.

Stability of psychological test results in newly admitted alcoholics.

Previous research has demonstrated that psychological test results of newly admitted alcoholics are not stable due to lingering alcohol toxicity. The present study (N = 40) demonstrated that a 10-day delay in testing is sufficient to obtain stable results on some psychological tests.