A Prospective Psychological Study of Patients with Undiagnosed Episodes of Disturbed Consciousness
We have carried out a prospective psychological and clinical study of neurological out-patients with episodes of disturbed consciousness that were mostly unexplained after clinical assessments and prolonged follow up. When compared with matched healthy subjects, both the undiagnosed patients and a c...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
1992-01-01
|
| Series: | Behavioural Neurology |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/BEN-1992-5306 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832547048728035328 |
|---|---|
| author | L. D. Blumhardt D. Barnes S. J. Howell E. Ghadiali |
| author_facet | L. D. Blumhardt D. Barnes S. J. Howell E. Ghadiali |
| author_sort | L. D. Blumhardt |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We have carried out a prospective psychological and clinical study of neurological out-patients with episodes of disturbed consciousness that were mostly unexplained after clinical assessments and prolonged follow up. When compared with matched healthy subjects, both the undiagnosed patients and a control group with chronic epilepsy, had evidence of abnormal personality and psychological disturbance. However, in the undiagnosed patients there were significant differences between two subgroups defined by the results of clinical follow up. Patients whose symptoms resolved spontaneously were psychologically indistinguishable from healthy control subjects, whereas patients whose unexplained symptoms continued, with or without empirical treatment trials, had highly abnormal personality profiles. Although the basic psychological tests we used cannot reliably separate individual patients with epilepsy from those with non-epilepsy, they do have some predictive value with respect to the prognosis of unexplained symptoms. Further detailed prospective studies may help to establish the relationship between psychological disorder and unexplained symptoms and perhaps reduce the need for repeated, expensive investigations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e7d64f0d74fc4cbda32e1eb3f94e99e7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0953-4180 1875-8584 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 1992-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioural Neurology |
| spelling | doaj-art-e7d64f0d74fc4cbda32e1eb3f94e99e72025-02-03T06:46:13ZengWileyBehavioural Neurology0953-41801875-85841992-01-015317318210.3233/BEN-1992-5306A Prospective Psychological Study of Patients with Undiagnosed Episodes of Disturbed ConsciousnessL. D. Blumhardt0D. Barnes1S. J. Howell2E. Ghadiali3Department of Neurological Science, Faculty of Medicine, c/o Walton Hospital, Rice Lane, Liverpool L9 1AE, UKDepartment of Neurological Science, Faculty of Medicine, c/o Walton Hospital, Rice Lane, Liverpool L9 1AE, UKDepartment of Neurological Science, Faculty of Medicine, c/o Walton Hospital, Rice Lane, Liverpool L9 1AE, UKDepartment of Neurological Science, Faculty of Medicine, c/o Walton Hospital, Rice Lane, Liverpool L9 1AE, UKWe have carried out a prospective psychological and clinical study of neurological out-patients with episodes of disturbed consciousness that were mostly unexplained after clinical assessments and prolonged follow up. When compared with matched healthy subjects, both the undiagnosed patients and a control group with chronic epilepsy, had evidence of abnormal personality and psychological disturbance. However, in the undiagnosed patients there were significant differences between two subgroups defined by the results of clinical follow up. Patients whose symptoms resolved spontaneously were psychologically indistinguishable from healthy control subjects, whereas patients whose unexplained symptoms continued, with or without empirical treatment trials, had highly abnormal personality profiles. Although the basic psychological tests we used cannot reliably separate individual patients with epilepsy from those with non-epilepsy, they do have some predictive value with respect to the prognosis of unexplained symptoms. Further detailed prospective studies may help to establish the relationship between psychological disorder and unexplained symptoms and perhaps reduce the need for repeated, expensive investigations.http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/BEN-1992-5306 |
| spellingShingle | L. D. Blumhardt D. Barnes S. J. Howell E. Ghadiali A Prospective Psychological Study of Patients with Undiagnosed Episodes of Disturbed Consciousness Behavioural Neurology |
| title | A Prospective Psychological Study of Patients with Undiagnosed Episodes of Disturbed Consciousness |
| title_full | A Prospective Psychological Study of Patients with Undiagnosed Episodes of Disturbed Consciousness |
| title_fullStr | A Prospective Psychological Study of Patients with Undiagnosed Episodes of Disturbed Consciousness |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Prospective Psychological Study of Patients with Undiagnosed Episodes of Disturbed Consciousness |
| title_short | A Prospective Psychological Study of Patients with Undiagnosed Episodes of Disturbed Consciousness |
| title_sort | prospective psychological study of patients with undiagnosed episodes of disturbed consciousness |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/BEN-1992-5306 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ldblumhardt aprospectivepsychologicalstudyofpatientswithundiagnosedepisodesofdisturbedconsciousness AT dbarnes aprospectivepsychologicalstudyofpatientswithundiagnosedepisodesofdisturbedconsciousness AT sjhowell aprospectivepsychologicalstudyofpatientswithundiagnosedepisodesofdisturbedconsciousness AT eghadiali aprospectivepsychologicalstudyofpatientswithundiagnosedepisodesofdisturbedconsciousness AT ldblumhardt prospectivepsychologicalstudyofpatientswithundiagnosedepisodesofdisturbedconsciousness AT dbarnes prospectivepsychologicalstudyofpatientswithundiagnosedepisodesofdisturbedconsciousness AT sjhowell prospectivepsychologicalstudyofpatientswithundiagnosedepisodesofdisturbedconsciousness AT eghadiali prospectivepsychologicalstudyofpatientswithundiagnosedepisodesofdisturbedconsciousness |