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Questionnaire Measuring (questionnaire + measuring)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Medical Sciences75%

Selected Abstracts

The Fear of Dental Pain questionnaire: construction and validity

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ORAL SCIENCES, Issue 1 2003
Arjen J. Van Wijk
Anxiety, fear and pain play an important role in the context of dental treatment and patients' well-being. The Fear of Pain Questionnaire (FPQ)-III is a recently developed self-report questionnaire measuring pain-related fear of a variety of painful stimuli. The present study was undertaken in order to develop a dental equivalent of the FPQ-III, called the Fear of Dental Pain questionnaire (FDP), to determine standard psychometric characteristics and to assess the instruments' validity. Four experienced dentists generated the initial pool of items and two methodologists constructed the initial questionnaire. Two studies were performed. In the study one, a sample of psychology freshmen (n = 309) was taken in order to analyse response patterns. In study two, a sample (n = 176) of patients, dental students and the general population was examined. Results from both studies were used to determine reliability and validity. High internal consistency (0.93) with satisfactory test,retest reliability (0.75) was obtained. Factor analysis revealed a strong one-dimensional factor underlying almost all items. Finally, the proposed FDP version was related to a measure of dental fear and a general measure of fear of pain. All a priori hypotheses were confirmed, thereby providing evidence for the validity of the FDP. The FPD may prove to be a clinically useful tool in the dental setting, and a potentially important covariate in dental pain perception research. [source]

Mental health in patients with systemic sclerosis: a controlled investigation

JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY & VENEREOLOGY, Issue 3 2008
A Mozzetta
Abstract Background Despite the undeniable impact of systemic sclerosis (SS) on quality of life, only a few studies so far have focused on its psychiatric or psychological aspects. We aimed at assessing psychiatric symptoms and self-image in inpatients with SS and comparing them with patients with either a very mild skin condition or a serious skin condition. Methods Three groups were recruited: (i) 38 consecutive female inpatients with SS; (ii) 38 age-matched female outpatients with melanocytic naevi; (iii) 35 age-matched female inpatients with melanoma. All participants completed the Zung Anxiety Scale, the Zung Depression Scale and a self-report questionnaire measuring self-perceived personal qualities. Patients with SS were also clinically interviewed by a psychologist. Results The clinical interview revealed the presence of a psychiatric disorder in most (81%) patients with SS. The Zung scales corroborated the presence of mild to moderate anxiety and depression among patients with SS, who scored significantly higher than patients with either naevi or melanoma on both scales. Scores on the questionnaire assessing self-perceived personal qualities were very similar in the three groups and indicated a fairly high level of self-esteem. Conclusions This study suggested that psychosocial issues are quite relevant in patients with SS and underscored the need for a biopsychosocial approach to the clinical management of these patients. Timely detection of psychosocial difficulties and appropriate psychological or psychiatric intervention may represent important steps toward better adherence to medical treatment and improved psychological well-being and quality of life. [source]

Psychometric performance and clinical meaningfulness of the Patient Assessment of Constipation , Quality of Life questionnaire in prucalopride (RESOLOR®) trials for chronic constipation

NEUROGASTROENTEROLOGY & MOTILITY, Issue 2 2010
D. Dubois
Abstract Background, The Patient Assessment of Constipation,Quality of Life (PAC-QOL) is a self-reported questionnaire measuring health-related quality of life (HRQL) of constipated patients and was used as secondary endpoint in three identical double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase III clinical trials. These 12-week trials in subjects with severe chronic constipation evaluated the effects of prucalopride, a selective 5-HT4 agonist given orally once daily. Methods, To consolidate the main treatment effect results observed in the prucalopride trial populations, analyses were undertaken on the pooled data of the three trials to confirm the psychometric properties of the PAC-QOL and to provide guidance for the interpretation of the clinical significance of its scores. Key Results, The evaluation of the psychometric properties confirmed the PAC-QOL reliability, validity and responsiveness to measure the impact of chronic constipation symptoms on HRQL in the prucalopride trials. The 1-point improvement in PAC-QOL scores used as target response level for the main treatment effect analyses was validated as a relevant definition of response for treatment group comparisons. Cumulative distribution curves, drawn for each treatment group to provide more complete information on treatment effects than single minimal important difference point estimates, demonstrated consistent superior effects of prucalopride over placebo on all PAC-QOL scores. Conclusions & Inferences, The PAC-QOL questionnaire is a useful measurement tool to assess, from a patient perspective, the potential therapeutic value of chronic constipation treatments in clinical trials and, by directly reflecting the patient's own perspective on constipation and its treatment, eventually also for informing daily medical practice. [source]

No effect of TETRA hand portable transmission signals on human cognitive function and symptoms

BIOELECTROMAGNETICS, Issue 5 2010
Ingunn S. Riddervold
Abstract Current radio frequency radiation exposure guidelines rest on well-established thermal effects. However, recent research into analogue and digital transmission fields at levels covered by the exposure guidelines has indicated possible detrimental effects on human cognitive performance. To investigate this, we conducted a controlled climate chamber study of possible changes in cognitive performance in healthy volunteers exposed to transmission signals from TETRA hand portables (TETRA handsets). The trial deployed a balanced, randomized, double-blinded cross-over design. Performance on different paper-and-pencil, auditory and computer-based cognitive tasks was monitored in 53 male volunteers (mean age 36.41 years, SD 8.35) during 45-min exposure to a TETRA handset and sham control signals remotely controlled from a laboratory more than 100,km away. The main cognitive outcome was the Trail Making B (TMB) test. In addition, the participants completed a computer-based questionnaire measuring self-reported psychological and physical symptoms. No statistically significant differences (P,<,0.05) between the TETRA and sham conditions were found for either TMB (estimated difference 3.8%, confidence interval (CI) ,1.6% to 9.2%) or any of the remaining cognitive tasks or symptoms. In conclusion, we found no evidence that brief exposure to hand-held TETRA transmitters' affects human cognitive function or subjective symptoms. Bioelectromagnetics 31:380,390, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]