Objectives: To describe the reliability and validity of the Postoperative Morbidity Survey (POMS). To describe the level and pattern of short-term postoperative morbidity after major elective surgery using the POMS. Study Design and Setting: This was a prospective cohort study of 439 adults undergoing major elective surgery in a UK teaching hospital. The POMS, an 18-item survey that address nin...

As a psychological and medical journal, GMS Psycho-Social-Medicine places a high premium on the study of the behavioural, medical and social mechanisms that determine health, well-being and illness across the life span. GMS Psycho-Social-Medicine maintains also a vivid interest in the development and refinement of psychometric instrumentation for measuring psychological constructs. This special...

Acute mood changes occur with various forms of physical activity. Increased levels of endogenous opioids (endorphins) in response to exercise may mediate activity-induced shifts in mood state. Thirteen female and six male aerobics class participants aged 20-46 years received the opiate receptor antagonist naltrexone and a placebo in randomized, double-blind crossover fashion on two separate occ...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of a change in water intake on mood and sensation in 22 habitual high-volume (HIGH; 2-4 L/d) and 30 low-volume (LOW; <1.2 L/d) drinkers who were asked to respectively decrease and increase their daily water intake. METHOD During baseline HIGH consumed 2.5 L and LOW 1 L of water/day. During 3 controlled intervention days HIGH's water intake was restricted to 1...

BACKGROUND Medical students confront significant academic, psychosocial, and existential stressors throughout their training. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an educational intervention designed to improve coping skills and reduce emotional distress. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the MBSR intervention in a prospective, nonrandomized, cohort...

INTRODUCTION Mood can be characterized as subjective, relatively long lasting emotional state. The impact of the mood on health can be considered in two aspects: mood as an intermediary factor/cause of disease or as its result. The aim of following paper was to define the mood of individuals with Graves-Basedow's disease Hashimoto's disease in comparison to each other and in comparison to healt...

The aim of this study was to determine if heightened stress had an adverse affect on the postural control of 14 young right‑handed females during quiet standing in either the presence or the absence of visual input. The level of stress was evaluated by measuring the free cortisol response to awakening (cortisol awakening response; CAR) and by employing the perceived stress scale (PSS). Overall ...

To investigate the effects of acupuncture on perceived pain, mood disturbances and medical expenses related to low back pain (LBP), an intervention study was performed among 72 employees of a steel company, 70 males and 2 females, aged 53.1+/-7.1 (mean+/-SD) yr, with LBP. They received acupuncture treatment once a week for 8 wk (from October to December 1998) by licensed acupuncturists, adoptin...