[Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire]. / Goldbergs General Health Questionnaire.

This paper reviews the different applications of the General Health Questionnaire in clinical work and research. Based on extensive experience of different versions of the GHQ, the authors recommend the 20- or 30-item versions, and not the 28-item version, as most suitable for the longitudinal and state assessments of distress, psychopathology and quality of life in medical and psychiatric populations.

A prospective study of patients with uncharacteristic abdominal disorders.

A prospective study was carried out in 51 patients admitted for abdominal complaints of at least 1 year's duration. Despite previous hospitalization for the same complaints, no certain diagnosis had been established. After systematic diagnostic procedures in the Medical Dept., Rikshospitalet, 33 patients were given a psychosomatic and 18 patients an organic primary diagnosis. The organic diseases were three cases of Crohn's disease, two of cancer, two of duodenal ulcers, one of gastric ulcer, two of gastroduodenitis, five of postresection syndrome, one of lactose intolerance, one of hyperthyroidism, and one of degeneration of the columna. The patients' condition was registered after 1 year of individual treatment. There was a significant decrease in the number of symptoms, in the psychosomatic score of anxiety, depression, and stress, and in days on sick leave and consultation with physicians in connection with the second compared with the first hospitalization for the whole group, for the psychosomatic group, and for the patients with upper gastrointestinal disease. Increased vitality based on muscular testing was also indicated in the same groups of patients. The study suggests that patients with uncharacteristic abdominal disorders may need a thorough examination at least once in the course of their illness; on the one hand, this may help patients with psychosomatic disease to cope better with their problems, and, on the other hand, primary organic lesions may be difficult to diagnose on the grounds of simple screening procedures.

Communicability in consultation/liaison psychiatry: patient treatment and patient care.

Effective communication seems to necessitate a very conscious (supra-) professional attitude at the hand of the liaison person, so that she or he continuously keeps in mind the possibilities and limitations in terms of communicability-no matter rank or level of consumers. From the point of view of communicability in general, one will need: (a) a body of knowledge and techniques relevant to the needs and purposes of the consumers; (b) a varied set of understandable languages in terms of frames of reference and definitions of concepts, adjusted to the various levels of complexity needed, (c) liaison person attitudes coherent to the chosen frames of reference, (d) a realistic view of the possibilities in different liaison set-ups, and (e) a conscious didactic strategy based on considerations of the aims of one's function. Among the above listed factors we shall especially focus on our 'erroneous zones' and failures in our endeavors to forward psychosomatic ideas and attitudes, and some implications of patient care and nursing concretely in connection with some cases submitted to minor surgical treatment, demonstrating the importance of practical psychosomatic impact at the level of patient nursing and care.

Whiplash: chronic organic brain syndrome without hydrocephalus ex vacuo.

Eleven patients who had sustained whiplash injuries to the neck were studied by pneumo-encephalography, by a variety of psychological tests, and by psychiatric evaluation with a view to assessing whether organic CNS changes might, in some cases, be a consequence of such injuries. Patients with traumatic encephalopathy, and age- and sex-matched groups of patients served as control groups. Pneumoencephalography showed normal findings in the whiplash group as a whole, the width of the ventricular system being significantly smaller than that of patients with traumatic encephalopathy. Psychological tests and psychiatric evaluation indicated that organic brain pathology was present in the whiplash patients, although to a lesser extent than in patients with traumatic encephalopathy.