The objective of the study was to examine the burden of coronary artery disease (CAD) and heart failure (HF) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and the HRQOL trajectory among participants in a disease management (DM) program characterized by personalized models of education, counseling, and supportive contact. In all, 2,590 CAD and 3,182 HF patients were assessed at baseline and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months post-enrollment. HRQOL was measured via a computerized dynamic test, whose core consisted of SF-8 items. HRQOL burden was assessed by comparing physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores to demographically adjusted US norms and to historical controls. Disease trajectories were assessed with change score analyses and by a categorization of participants as improving, stable, or deteriorating. Among the results, both groups showed between 1.7 to 2.6 times the likelihood of improving over worsening after a full year of DM participation in all measures. In contrast, historical controls experienced no significant HRQOL improvement or decline after 2 years of standard treatment. After 1 or 2 years they were more likely to decline than to improve in their PCS scores and were about as likely to improve as to worsen in their MCS scores. In conclusion, HF places a substantial burden on HRQOL, and the burden of CAD is also noticeable. While the study design does not allow causal interpretations, HRQOL significantly improved for both CAD and HF patients during DM program participation. This trend is in contrast to historic controls, where no significant HRQOL improvement occurred over time.

Test-based psychological assessment has been significantly affected by the health care revolution in the United States during the past two decades. Despite new limitations on psychological services across the board and psychological testing in particular, it continues to offer a rapid and efficient method of identifying problems, planning and monitoring a course of treatment, and assessing the outcomes of interventions.This thoroughly revised and greatly expanded third edition of a classic reference, now three volumes, constitutes an invaluable resource for practitioners who in a managed care era need to focus their testing not on the general goals of personality assessment, symptom identification, and diagnosis so often presented to them as students and trainees, but on specific questions: What course of treatment should this person receive? How is it going? Was it effective? New chapters describe new tests and models and new concerns such as ethical aspects of outcomes assessment. Volume I reviews general issues and recommendations concerning the use of psychological testing for screening for psychological disturbances, planning and monitoring appropriate interventions, and the assessing outcomes, and offers specific guidelines for selecting instruments. It also considers more specific issues such as the analysis of group and individual patient data, the selection and implementation of outcomes instrumentation, and the ethics of gathering and using outcomes data. Volume II discusses psychological measures developed for use with younger children and adolescents that can be used for the purposes outlined in Volume I; Volume III, those developed for use with adults.Drawing on the knowledge and experience of a diverse group of leading experts--test developers, researchers, clinicians and others, the third edition of The Use of Psychological Testing for Treatment Planning and Outcomes Assessment provides vital assistance to all clinicians, and to their trainees and graduate students.

Contents: M.J. Meier, The Establishment of Clinical Neuropsychology as a Psychological Specialty. J.E. Shuren, Interdisciplinary Relationships: Behavioral Neurology. F.J. Friedrich, S.D. Rader, Component Process Analysis in Experimental and Clinical Neuropsychology. D.A. Pritchard, Forensic Neuropsychology. L.I. Cripe, Personality Assessment of Brain-Impaired Patients. G.G. Kay, V.N. Starbuck, Computerized Neuropsychological Assessment. E.D. Bigler, S.S. Porter, C.M. Lowry, Neuroimaging: Interface With Clinical Neuropsychology. P. Klonoff, D.G. Lamb, D.A. Chiapelli, S. Kime, J. Shepherd, M. CunninghamCognitive Retraining in a Milieu-Oriented Outpatient Rehabilitation Program. B.K. Schefft, J.F. Malec, B.K. Lehr, F.H. Kanfer, The Role of Self-Regulation Therapy With the Brain-Injured Patient. G. Goldstein, The Etiology of Mental Illness. J.G. Csernanky, K.J. Black, W.O. Faustman, The Interface Between Standard Psychiatric and Neuropsychological Diagnosis. C.R. Reynolds, E.M. James, Development of Neuropsychological Measures. K.R. Krull, R.L. Adams, Problems in Neuropsychological Research Methodology.