Assessing Beliefs about 'Environmental Illness/Multiple Chemical Sensitivity'

Abstract

Knowledge representation was used to characterize beliefs in patients with Environmental Illness/Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (EI/MCS). EI/MCS patients, allergy and asthma patients, doctors and controls made relatedness judgments on concepts relevant to EI/MCS. Associative networks showed that EI/MCS patients viewed these concepts differently from others. Multiple chemical exposure was central in EI/ MCS networks, with many links to every other concept, but was only peripherally connected in the other subject networks. Similarity comparisons to an EI/MCS prototype network discriminated EI/MCS patients from the other control populations, as did an index based on critical concept pairs. This approach shows promise for distinguishing patient groups using belief structure.

A Structural Representation of Migraine Diagnostic Criteria: The Experts' View

“…Thus, 11 survey responses (42%) served as the dataset for this study. This is considered an appropriate sample size for knowledge assessment studies utilizing experts 22,23,28,29 . Respondents were minimally compensated for their participation.…”

“…The algorithm has successfully represented knowledge structure in the domains of memory, 15,17 learning, 18 insight, 19 category judgment, 20 rhyme, 21 expertise, 22,23 and classroom learning 16,24 . More recently, Pathfinder has been employed in clinical domains to capture cognitive impairment in schizophrenia, 25 to predict the rate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer disease, 26,27 and to distinguish patients with environmental illness/multiple chemical sensitivity from other patient groups 28 …”

“…16,24 More recently, Pathfinder has been employed in clinical domains to capture cognitive impairment in schizophrenia, 25 to predict the rate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer disease, 26,27 and to distinguish patients with environmental illness/multiple chemical sensitivity from other patient groups. 28 Present Study.-In this study, we use the Pathfinder network scaling algorithm to determine whether an interpretable structural representation of migraine diagnostic criteria can be derived in a group of international headache experts. With an interpretable solution, we will be able to examine the validity of migraine diagnostic criteria.…”

Exploratory Investigation of a Brief Cognitive Behavioral Intervention and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Odor Sensitivity

“…The diagnosis of MCS remains a controversial topic, in large part due to its unknown etiology. While numerous biological (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24) and psychological (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32) contributing factors have been considered, more recent work describes MCS as a disorder of central sensitization (13), a state in which sensory input becomes amplified by the central nervous system. Wherein past exposure of certain odors were benign, repeated exposures lead to a myriad of adverse reactions.…”

Differences in Illness Representation among Pulmonary Patients and their Providers

“…The organization of these structures and how they shape self-management reflects the education and experience of the individual or group (Gomez, Hadfield, & Housner, 1996;Johnson, Goldsmith, & Teague, 1994;Schvaneveldt et al, 1985). Psychologists have documented differences in knowledge representation between students and instructors (Johnson et al, 1994), novice and expert computer programmers (Cooke & Schvaneveldt, 1988) and representations held by samples of individuals drawn from populations such as patients, doctors and students (Gomez, Schvaneveldt, & Staudenmayer, 1996). Gomez and her colleagues (1996) used pathfinder networks to examine beliefs about chemical sensitivity between patients with environmental illness/multiple chemical sensitivity (EI/MCS) and patients with allergy and asthma, doctors and asymptomatic controls.…”