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In a pilot study, the prevalence of metabolic bone disease was found to be low in male alcoholics attending an alcohol problems clinic, and did not appear to account for their high prevalence of fractures. The alcoholics with clinical signs suggestive of neuropathy or liver damage did not have a higher prevalence of metabolic bone disease and fractures than those without such signs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various books related to epidemiological psychiatry. "Psychiatric Illness in General Practice" describes a large-scale survey carried out in 12 general practices in Greater London between 1961 and 1962. "The Scope of Epidemiological Psychiatry" brought together theory, experiment and practical applications relating to the epidemiological approach to mental disorder. The novel "The Psychiatrist," by J.M. Machado de Assis cites that the number of persons suffering from insanity was far greater than commonly supposed.

Two-stage screening for minor psychiatric morbidity was carried out with a consecutive sample of 256 patients aged 15-69 consulting an experienced GP in a semirural setting over a seven-week period. Patients completed a short GHQ, and the GP made a standardised assessment of the reason for consultation and the degree of psychological disorder. A 40% random subsample were evaluated using PROQSY, a newly developed computerised psychiatric assessment based on the CIS. PROQSY is acceptable to patients in general practice, and yields an estimate of the prevalence of minor psychiatric morbidity (33%), and validity indices for the 12-item, 28-item, and 30-item GHQs, comparable with those found in similar studies, when the CIS has been administered by an interviewer. PROQSY may be recommended as a research tool, providing a criterion measure of minor psychiatric morbidity in general practice, where it may reduce time and manpower, and eliminate interviewer bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on referral of patients by GPs to psychiatrists and mental health specialists is examined. Referrals to psychiatrists account for 3% of all those made by GPs, but the individual rates vary widely. The proportion of patients referred to psychiatrists and paramedical mental health workers in general practice is unknown, but probably substantial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A straightforward test for detecting clustering in patterns of parasuicide in individual patients is described and applied to data from the Edinburgh Regional Poisoning Treatment Centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two-stage screening strategy was used to study psychiatric morbidity and social problems in a consecutive series of out-patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity was 18%, and consisted of depression, anxiety, and attendant symptoms. Patients reporting major social problems had significantly higher levels of psychiatric symptoms. Psychiatric morbidity was not associated with the presence of complications of diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used multiple regression analysis to modify and shorten two scales for measuring practitioners' attitudes to psychotherapy and drug therapy. The resulting scales have been combined in a 21-item questionnaire (Treatment Attitudes in Psychiatry Scales (TAPS] which is brief and easy to use, and should have wide application in psychiatry. The results of a concurrent validation of the scales, using two large groups of consultant psychiatrists who were members of either the Biological Psychiatry or Psychotherapy Section of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, show the extent to which their attitudes to psychotherapy or drug therapy tend to overlap. Polarisation of attitudes was more evident in the results from the Biological Psychiatry Section. A method is described by which scores obtained with the TAPS can readily be compared with those obtained by the criterion groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents several correspondence submitted to the editor of 'British Medical Journal'. Consideration of the AIDS test as misnomer; Assessment of standards in general practice; Occurrence of idiopathic hypopituitarism in the elderly.

The anniversary model for the annual repetition of parasuicide (attempted suicide) is described. In order to demonstrate the existence of such effects in individuals, the Range Test for circular data is applied to data collected over a 2-year period from a specific case from the Edinburgh Regional Poisoning Treatment Centre. The use of this model in predicting future clusters of parasuicide episodes is then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]