Quantitative and qualitative analyses in patients with environmentally related disorders

Diagnostics and therapy of environmentally related disorders are hampered by one-sided assumptions and by discrepancies between therapists' and patients' assessments of the disease cause. Discrepancies between patient and expert opinions are examined as to (1) whether the sample can be cla...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zeitschrift für Psychosomatische Medizin und Psychotherapie 2004, Vol.50 (3), p.288
Main Authors: Küchenhoff, Joachim, Heller, Pia, Brand, Serge, Huss, Anke, Bircher, Andreas, Niederer, Markus, Schwarzenbach, Simone, Waeber, Roger, Wegmann, Lukas, Braun-Fahrländer, Charlotte
Format: Article
Language:ger
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Comorbidity
Environmental Exposure - adverse effects
Environmental Illness - diagnosis
Environmental Illness - psychology
Environmental Illness - therapy
Female
Humans
Male
Mental Disorders - diagnosis
Mental Disorders - psychology
Mental Disorders - therapy
Middle Aged
Patient Care Team
Personality Assessment
Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data
Psychometrics - statistics & numerical data
Psychotherapy
Self-Assessment
Sensitivity and Specificity
Social Adjustment
Stress, Psychological - complications
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Summary:Diagnostics and therapy of environmentally related disorders are hampered by one-sided assumptions and by discrepancies between therapists' and patients' assessments of the disease cause. Discrepancies between patient and expert opinions are examined as to (1) whether the sample can be classified in subgroups according to the convergence or divergence between self and expert rating, (2) which features and (3) which disorder-related behaviour and concepts characterize these groups. Medical, psychopathological and environmental symptoms were assessed and their relative influence evaluated. Four subgroups were defined by differentiating between high and low psychological stress according to self and expert judgment, and then compared using statistical and qualitative methods. 61 patients were assessed and assigned to four different subgroups according to the number of psychiatric diagnoses, psychological conflicts, personality structure, environmental exposure and psychosocial integration. Diagnostics of environmentally related disorders must be based on interdisciplinary tools. Treatment should incorporate the individual patient's conception of his or her disorder.
ISSN:1438-3608