Those attitudes and emotional reactions of patients which interfere with medical treatment, for instance, patients who suddenly leave the hospital against medical advice, obstinate patients who refuse to accept the diagnosis of TB and refuse medication, could be lessened considerably if the patients' attitudes are recognized and dealt with early in hospitalization. To this end, an attitude form which could be incorporated readily in routine hospital procedures was developed at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, USA and administered to more than 200 TB patients.

The form aided in evaluating the attitudes and emotional reactions of TB patients in nine significant areas of adjustment. Patients expressed their attitudes and feelings to: (1) Bed rest, (2) Hospitalization, (3) TB, (4) Ward life, (5) The medical staff, (6) Irregular discharge, (7) Family and friends, (8) Medical treatment, (9) Attitudes of a general nature, by completing a series of 80 incomplete sentences.

A preliminary survey of the results indicated that the form promised to be a highly effective means of obtaining the patients' attitudes and thus, assist in dealing with the patients' adjustment to his/ her disease and hospitalization.

The results of this exploratory study suggest that TB patients who show a more rapid rate of recovery during the early stages of hospital treatment can be distinguished from the slower recoverers on the basis of age, acuteness of illness, stage of treatment, and body type. Slow recoverers are more depressed, hypochondriacal, self-preoccupied, and socially withdrawn. Spread of recovery was generally not related in a significant way with psychiatric diagnosis although schizoid individuals were prone to be slow recoverers, whereas aggressive personalities improved more rapidly.