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Validated Instruments (validated + instruments)

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Medical Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

Severity of anxiety and work-related outcomes of patients with anxiety disorders

DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 12 2009
Steven R. Erickson PharmD.
Abstract Background: This study examined associations between anxiety and work-related outcomes in an anxiety disorders clinic population, examining both pretreatment links and the impact of anxiety change over 12 weeks of treatment on work outcomes. Four validated instruments were used to also allow examination of their psychometric properties, with the goal of improving measurement of work-related quality of life in this population. Methods: Newly enrolled adult patients seeking treatment in a university-based anxiety clinic were administered four work performance measures: Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ), Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI), Endicott Work Productivity Scale (EWPS), and Functional Status Questionnaire Work Performance Scale (WPS). Anxiety severity was determined using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). The Clinical Global Impressions, Global Improvement Scale (CGI-I) was completed by patients to evaluate symptom change at a 12-week follow-up. Two severity groups (minimal/mild vs. moderate/severe, based on baseline BAI score) were compared to each other on work measures. Results: Eighty-one patients provided complete baseline data. Anxiety severity groups did not differ in job type, time on job, job satisfaction, or job choice. Patients with greater anxiety generally showed lower work performance on all instruments. Job advancement was impaired for the moderate/severe group. The multi-item performance scales demonstrated better validity and internal consistency. The WLQ and the WPAI detected change with symptom improvement. Conclusion: Level of work performance was generally associated with severity of anxiety. Of the instruments tested, the WLQ and the WPAI questionnaire demonstrated acceptable validity and internal reliability. Depression and Anxiety, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Screening for mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 9 2009
Jane A. Lonie
Abstract Objective Patients with mild cognitive impairment account for a significant number of referrals to old age psychiatry services and specialist memory clinics. The cognitive evaluation of such patients is commonly restricted to brief dementia screens, with no consideration to their suitability for assessing MCI. Here, we review the utility of such cognitive screens for MCI and provide an overview of validated instruments. Methods We identified papers published after Petersen and colleagues 1999 MCI criteria (Petersen et al., 1999) and examining face-to-face cognitive screening for MCI from publication databases using combinations of the search terms ,mild cognitive impairment' and ,cognitive screening'. We also combined the former search with the names of 39 screening tests recently identified in a relevant review (Cullen et al., 2007). Results Fifteen cognitive screening instruments were identified, 11 cover a restricted range of cognitive domains. High sensitivity and specificity for MCI relative to healthy controls were reported for two comprehensive and two noncomprehensive screening instruments, adequate test-retest and inter-rater reliability for only one of these. With the exception of three studies, sample sizes were universally small (i.e. n,,,100), and prognostic values were reported for only two of the identified 15 screening measures. Sensitivities of the full domain measures were universally high, but information about their specificity against psychiatric and non-progressive neurological conditions and predictive validity is lacking. Conclusion Several cognitive screening instruments afford the clinician the ability to detect MCI, early AD, and in some cases non-AD dementia, but they cannot currently be used to make reliable inferences about the course and eventual outcome of MCI. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Chronic pain after cardiac surgery: a prospective study

ACTA ANAESTHESIOLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 1 2010
K. H. GJEILO
Background: Chronic pain is a complication of several surgical procedures. The prevalence of chronic pain reported after cardiac surgery varies from 18% to 61%. However, most studies are retrospective, do not use validated instruments for pain measurement or include only pain at the sternum site. The aim of the present study was to assess chronic pain and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after cardiac surgery. Methods: In a prospective, population-based study, we included 534 patients (413 males) and assessed chronic pain and HRQOL before, 6 months after, and 12 months after cardiac surgery. Pain was measured by the Brief Pain Inventory, while HRQOL was measured by the Short-Form 36 (SF-36). Results: Five hundred and twenty-one patients were alive 12 months after surgery; 462 (89%) and 465 (89%) responded after 6 and 12 months, respectively. Chronic pain was reported by 11% of the patients at both measurements. Younger age was associated with chronic pain [odds ratio 0.7 (95% confidence interval: 0.5,0.9)] at 12 months. Patients with chronic pain reported lower scores on seven of eight SF-36 subscales. Discussion: In conclusion, we observed a lower prevalence of chronic pain after cardiac surgery than in previous studies. Still, more than one out of 10 patients reported chronic pain after cardiac surgery. Chronic pain appears to affect HRQOL. Thus, given the large number of patients subjected to cardiac surgery, this study confirms that chronic pain after cardiac surgery is an important health care issue. [source]

Review article: Patient-level outcomes: the missing link

NEPHROLOGY, Issue 4 2009
DENISE V O'SHAUGHNESSY
SUMMARY Treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) may be life-saving, but can disrupt every aspect of a patient's life and the lives of family members. Many patients with CKD are elderly with significant comorbidities and sometimes therapies to improve survival may be less important than those that improve or maintain quality of life. In this setting, patient-level benefits become particularly important goals of therapy. Randomized controlled trials (RCT) are also essential to justify expensive therapies, such as medications used in the treatment of CKD mineral and bone disorders. Surprisingly, data to support the efficacy of these drugs for patient-level outcomes remains limited. In fact, fewer RCT are conducted in renal medicine than in any other medical specialty and reliance is often placed on association data and the assessment of intermediate and biochemical end-points. While some of these may prove to be valid surrogates for clinically important outcomes, some may not. Inclusion of patient-level outcomes in clinical research provides a missing link that can inform a more comprehensive approach to clinical practice and patient care. Incorporating measures of health-related quality of life into clinical trials can make outcomes more relevant and may be relatively simple. This paper provides examples of reliable, validated instruments to measure health-related quality of life domains and functional status, together with practical instructions for their use. Most could be incorporated into RCT of CKD mineral and bone disorder treatments. Inclusion of outcomes that are perceived by patients to be significant should become standard practice in renal medicine and in clinical renal research. [source]

ORIGINAL RESEARCH,WOMEN's SEXUAL DYSFUNCTIONS: The Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory,Female (SIDI-F): Item Response Analyses of Data from Women Diagnosed with Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder

THE JOURNAL OF SEXUAL MEDICINE, Issue 6 2005
Terrence Sills PhD
ABSTRACT Introduction Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) is the most common sexual complaint in women. Currently there are no validated instruments for specifically assessing HSDD severity, or change in HSDD severity in response to treatment, in premenopausal women. The Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory,Female (SIDI-F) is a clinician-administered instrument that was developed to measure severity and change in response to treatment of HSDD. Seventeen items were included in a preliminary version of the SIDI-F, including 10 items related to desire, and seven items related to possible comorbid factors (e.g., other kinds of sexual dysfunction, general relationship satisfaction, mood, and fatigue). Aim The aim of the study was to use the outcome of item response analyses of blinded data from two randomized, placebo-controlled trials, to assist in the revision of the scale. Methods A nonparametric item response (IRT) model was used to assess the relation between item functioning and HSDD severity on this preliminary version of the SIDI-F. Results Results show that the majority of SIDI-F items demonstrated good sensitivity to differences in overall HSDD severity. That is, there was an orderly relation between differences in option selection for an item and differences in overall HSDD severity. The IRT analyses further indicated that revisions were warranted for a number of these items. Five items were not sensitive to differences in HSDD severity and were removed from the scale. Conclusion The SIDI-F is a brief, clinician-administered rating scale designed to assess severity of HSDD symptoms in women. IRT analyses show that majority of the items of the SIDI-F function well in discriminating individual differences in HSDD severity. A revised 13-item version of the SIDI-F is currently undergoing further validation. Sills T, Wunderlich G, Pyke R, Segraves RT, Leiblum S, Clayton A, Cotton D, and Evans K. The Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory,Female (SIDI-F): item response analyses of data from women diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire disorder. J Sex Med 2005;2:801,818. [source]

Is screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm bad for your health and well-being?

ANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 12 2004
Carole A. Spencer
Background: The purpose of the present paper was to investigate whether screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) causes health-related quality of life to change in men or their partners. Methods: A cross-sectional case,control comparison was undertaken of men aged 65,83 years living in Perth, Western Australia, using questionnaires incorporating three validated instruments (Medical Outcomes Study Short Form,36, EuroQol EQ-5D and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) as well as several independent questions about quality of life. The 2009 men who attended for ultrasound scans of the abdominal aorta completed a short prescreening questionnaire about their perception of their general health. Four hundred and ninety-eight men (157 with an AAA and 341 with a normal aorta) were sent two questionnaires for completion 12 months after screening, one for themselves and one for their partner, each being about the quality of life of the respondent. Results: Men with an AAA were more limited in performing physical activities than those with a normal aorta (t -test of means P = 0.04). After screening, men with an AAA were significantly less likely to have current pain or discomfort than those with a normal aorta (multivariate odds ratio: 0.5; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.3,0.9) and reported fewer visits to their doctor. The mean level of self-perceived general health increased for all men from before to after screening (from 63.4 to 65.4). Conclusions: Apart from physical functioning, screening was not associated with decreases in health and well-being. A high proportion of men rated their health over the year after screening as being either the same or improved, regardless of whether or not they were found to have an AAA. [source]