Psychological Epidemiology

Question 1

Epidemiology Definition

Answer 1

• The study of the distribution and determinants of health problems in specified populations and the application of this study to control health problems
• Study patterns, causes, and effects of health conditions on a given population

Question 2

Soho Cholera Epidemic

Answer 2

• Dr. John Snow
• Higher death rates in areas w/ H2O supplied by Broad St. Water pump
• Used chlorine to clean the water and removed the handle, ending the outbreak
• Founding event of epidemiology

Question 3

1st Use of Epidemiological Methods in Psychiatry

Answer 3

• Zurich in 1895, young physician Jenny Koller early case-control study
• Mental Illness (MI) among schizophrenia (SZ) patients’ families vs. MI among surgical patients’ families

Question 4

3 Main Categories of PsychEpi Measures

Answer 4

• Self-report measures
• Fully structured instruments which require no clinical judgment in administration and scoring, 1 phase
• Semi-structured interview schedules, which use clinical judgment and elicit data to use other diagnostic systems (like the DSM or ICD-10), 2 phase

Question 5

General Health Questionnaire

Answer 5

• Most widely used self-report questionnaire to identify “minor” psychiatric disorders in the general population from adolescents through adults
• 60 item test w/ 4 pt scale (there are also shorter versions)
• Emphasizes 2 areas: inability to carry out normal functions & appearance of distress

Question 6

Center for Epidemiological Studies of Depression (CES-D) Scale

Answer 6

• Self-report measure of depressive symptomatology in the general population
• 20 item test w/ 4 pt scale (there are also shorter versions)

Question 7

Symptom Checklist-90-Revised

Answer 7

• Self-report screener for current psychopathology
• Assesses 9 symptom constructs including paranoid ideation and psychoticism
• 90 questions (there are shorter versions)

Question 8

Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS)

Answer 8

• Standardized interview originally developed for the ECA study
• Can be administered by trained lay interviewer, no clinical judgment
• Written to match the DSM-IIIR and & ICD-10 diagnostic criteria

Question 9

Composite International Diagnostic Review

Answer 9

• Structured interview
• Can be administered by trained lay interviewers, no clinical judgment
• Composite of DIS & Present State Examination (early version of the SCAN) w/ 11 modules
• Generates both DSM and ICD dxes & symptom profiles

Question 10

Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN

Answer 10

• Semi-structured interview schedule created by WHO to dx & measure mental illness in adults
• Cannot be administered by lay interviewers, requires clinical judgment
• 1,872 items, spread out over 28 sections (most pts won’t need to do the whole thing)