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Clinical Scales (clinical + scale)
Selected AbstractsDysautonomia rating scales in Parkinson's disease: Sialorrhea, dysphagia, and constipation,Critique and recommendations by movement disorders task force on rating scales for Parkinson's disease,MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 5 2009Marian L. Evatt MD Abstract Upper and lower gastrointestinal dysautonomia symptoms (GIDS),sialorrhea, dysphagia, and constipation are common in Parkinson's disease (PD) and often socially as well as physically disabling for patients. Available invasive quantitative measures for assessing these symptoms and their response to therapy are time-consuming, require specialized equipment, can cause patient discomfort and present patients with risk. The Movement Disorders Society commissioned a task force to assess available clinical rating scales, critique their clinimetric properties, and make recommendations regarding their clinical utility. Six clinical researchers and a biostatistician systematically searched the literature for scales of sialorrhea, dysphagia, and constipation, evaluated the scales' previous use, performance parameters, and quality of validation data (if available). A scale was designated "Recommended" if the scale was used in clinical studies beyond the group that developed it, has been specifically used in PD reports, and clinimetric studies have established that it is a valid, reliable, and sensitive. "Suggested" scales met at least part of the above criteria, but fell short of meeting all. Based on the systematic review, scales for individual symptoms of sialorrhea, dysphagia, and constipation were identified along with three global scales that include these symptoms in the context of assessing dysautonomia or nonmotor symptoms. Three sialorrhea scales met criteria for Suggested: Drooling Severity and Frequency Scale (DSFS), Drooling Rating Scale, and Sialorrhea Clinical Scale for PD (SCS-PD). Two dysphagia scales, the Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire (SDQ) and Dysphagia-Specific Quality of Life (SWAL-QOL), met criteria for Suggested. Although Rome III constipation module is widely accepted in the gastroenterology community, and the earlier version from the Rome II criteria has been used in a single study of PD patients, neither met criteria for Suggested or Recommended. Among the global scales, the Scales for Outcomes in PD-Autonomic (SCOPA-AUT) and Nonmotor Symptoms Questionnaire for PD (NMSQuest) both met criteria for Recommended, and the Nonmotor Symptoms Scale (NMSS) met criteria for Suggested; however, none specifically focuses on the target gastrointestinal symptoms (sialorrhea, dysphagia, and constipation) of this report. A very small number of rating scales have been applied to studies of gastrointestinal-related dysautonomia in PD. Only two scales met "Recommended" criteria and neither focuses specifically on the symptoms of sialorrhea, dysphagia, and constipation. Further scale testing in PD among the scales that focus on these symptoms is warranted, and no new scales are needed until the available scales are fully tested clinimetrically. © 2009 Movement Disorder Society [source] Personality Assessment with the MMPI-2: Historical Roots, International Adaptations, and Current ChallengesAPPLIED PSYCHOLOGY: HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, Issue 1 2009James N. Butcher The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) is the most widely used personality test in psychological practice. Although originally developed during the middle of the last century in the United States, its use today extends around the world. The MMPI-2 is a robust measure given its strong empirical tradition and many innovations. Recent years have seen controversial changes to this standard of psychological assessment. New scales were added in 2003 (i.e. the Restructured Clinical or RC Scales) and the Fake Bad Scale (FBS) was included in the MMPI-2 in 2007. A new instrument called the MMPI-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) was released in 2008 with the RC Scales replacing the well-validated MMPI-2 Clinical Scales; 40 per cent of its items eliminated; a shortened FBS included; and most of its 50 scales introduced for the first time. This article traces the history of the evolving MMPI-2 with special attention to its international applications, and offers a perspective on the radical departure from past MMPI-2 research represented by the RC Scales, FBS, the MMPI-2-RF, and other recent changes to this standard in the field. [source] Monitoring sedation in the critically ill childANAESTHESIA, Issue 5 2010A. Lamas Summary Sedation is an essential part of the management of the critically ill child, and its monitoring must be individualised and continuous in order to adjust drug doses according to the clinical state. There is no ideal method for evaluating sedation in the critically ill child. Haemodynamic variables have not been found to be useful. Clinical scales are useful when sedation is moderate, but are limited by their subjective nature, the use of stimuli, and the impossibility of evaluating profoundly sedated patients or those receiving neuromuscular blocking drugs; in addition, many of these scales have not been evaluated in children. The COMFORT scale is the most appropriate, as it was designed and validated for critically ill children requiring mechanical ventilation. Electroencephalography-derived methods permit continuous monitoring, provide an early indication of changes in the level of sedation, and facilitate a rapid adjustment of medication. However, these methods were designed and validated for patients under anaesthesia and their results cannot be fully extrapolated to the critically ill patient; in addition, some of them have not been validated in small children and there is still little experience in critically ill children. The main indications for the use of these methods are in patients with deep sedation and/or neuromuscular blockade. The bispectral index is the most widely used method at the present time. Analysis and comparison of the efficacy of the different methods for evaluating sedation in the critically ill child is required. [source] Personality and psychopathology in an impulsive aggressive college sampleAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 1 2006Laura E. Helfritz Abstract Certain personality traits have been associated with impulsive aggression in both college and community samples, primarily irritability, anger/hostility, and impulsivity. The literature regarding the psychopathology associated with impulsive aggression is relatively sparse and strongly emphasizes DSM-IV-TR [APA, 2000] Axis II personality disorders, although some comorbidity with Axis I clinical disorders has been reported. The current study compares impulsive aggressive (IA) college students with their non-aggressive peers on several self-report measures of personality and psychopathology. Personality results were as predicted, with IAs scoring higher than controls on measures of impulsivity and aggression. Additionally, the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), which was given for exploratory purposes, revealed a unique pattern of psychopathic traits in impulsive aggression that contained key differences from the callous-unemotional profile seen in premeditated aggression. Contrary to our hypothesis that a specific pattern of psychopathology (personality disorders, bipolar disorder, and adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) would emerge for impulsive aggression, IAs scored significantly higher than controls on nearly every clinical scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Somatic Complaints, Anxiety, Anxiety-Related Disorders, Depression, Mania, Schizophrenia, Borderline Features, Antisocial Features, Alcohol Problems, and Drug Problems), indicating a global elevation of psychopathology. In conclusion, while the personality traits and behaviors that characterize impulsive aggression are relatively consistent across individuals, its associated psychopathology is unexpectedly variable. Aggr. Behav. 00:1,10, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Measurement properties of the Villalta scale to define and classify the severity of the post-thrombotic syndromeJOURNAL OF THROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS, Issue 5 2009S. R. KAHN Summary., The post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) is a frequent and important complication of deep venous thrombosis (DVT). The diagnosis of PTS is based primarily on the presence of typical symptoms and clinical signs. In the 1990s, a clinical scale known as the Villalta scale was proposed as a measure that could be used to diagnose and classify the severity of PTS. The objective of the present paper was to review the published evidence on the measurement properties of the Villalta scale. Results of the review demonstrate that the Villalta scale is a reliable and valid measure of PTS in patients with previous, objectively confirmed DVT. The scale is acceptable to research subjects and research personnel, and shows responsiveness to clinical change in PTS. Aspects of the Villalta scale that merit further evaluation include test,retest reliability, more detailed assessment of ulcer severity and assessment of responsiveness across the full range of PTS severity. Research aimed at improving the measurement of PTS will also help to improve the overall validity of findings generated by clinical studies of PTS. [source] Co-administration of salbutamol and fluticasone for emergency treatment of children with moderate acute asthma,PEDIATRIC ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 7 2005Elizabeth Estrada-Reyes This study aimed to compare the efficacy of nebulized therapy with salbutamol alone or in combination with fluticasone. In a randomized, double-blind clinical trial, 150 children with moderate acute asthma were randomly assigned to receive by nebulizations either (i) three doses of salbutamol 30 ,l/kg per dose, each dose administered every 15 min, (ii) three doses of salbutamol plus two doses of fluticasone 500 ,g/dose at 15 and 30 min after first dose of salbutamol, or (iii) three doses of salbutamol/fluticasone 500 ,g/dose, each combined dose administered every 15 min. Pulse oxymetry (SaO2), peak expiratory flow (PEF) and Wood et al. (Am J Dis Child, 123, 1972, 123) clinical scale were evaluated at baseline, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 min after the first nebulization. Patients in the three groups significantly improved since 15 min after the first nebulization. We did not observe differences in the recovery of SaO2 and PEF among the three groups of treatment (p > 0.10). In group 3, children showed better clinical response at 120 min than the other two groups (p < 0.05). No significant adverse effects were observed with any treatment. To summarize, in children with acute moderate asthma, nebulized salbutamol at an accumulated dose of 90 ,l/kg plus fluticasone at an accumulated dose of 1500 ,g produced better clinical relief after 2 h. However, similar PEF and SaO2 responses were observed with salbutamol alone or in combination with different doses of fluticasone. [source] Clinical scale ex vivo manufacture of neutrophils from hematopoietic progenitor cellsBIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOENGINEERING, Issue 4 2009Nicholas E. Timmins Abstract Dose-intensive chemotherapy results in an obligatory period of severe neutropenia during which patients are at high risk of infection. While patient support with donor neutrophils is possible, this option is restricted due to donor availability and logistic complications. To overcome these problems, we explored the possibility of large scale ex vivo manufacture of neutrophils from hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC). CD34+ HPC isolated from umbilical cord blood (UCB) and mobilized peripheral blood (mPB) were expanded in serum-free medium supplemented with stem cell factor, granulocyte colony stimulating factor, and a thrombopoietin peptide mimetic. After 15 days of cultivation a 5,800-fold expansion in cell number was achieved for UCB, and up to 4,000-fold for mPB, comprising 40% and 60% mature neutrophils respectively. Ex vivo expanded neutrophils exhibited respiratory burst activity similar to that for donor neutrophils, and were capable of killing Candida albicans in vitro. These yields correspond to a more than 10-fold improvement over current methods, and are sufficient for the production of multiple neutrophil transfusion doses per HPC donation. To enable clinical scale manufacture, we adapted our protocol for use in a wave-type bioreactor at a volume of 10,L. This is the first demonstration of a large scale bioprocess suitable for routine manufacture of a mature blood cell product from HPC, and could enable prophylactic neutrophil support for chemotherapy patients. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009; 104: 832,840 © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Exploring the feasibility of selective depletion of T lymphocyte subsets by whole blood immunoadsorption cytapheresisCLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 3 2007M. Belak Summary Normal turnover of T lymphocytes is slow relative to other blood cells. Consequently, the physical removal of circulating leucocytes by thoracic duct drainage, repeated leukapheresis or blood filtration results in T cell depletion and immunosuppression. However, clinical use of such procedures is impractical compared with immunosuppressive drugs or radiation. None the less, immunosuppression by physical depletion of T cells, avoiding the systemic toxicities of drugs and radiation, might have clinical advantages if immunophenotypically distinct T cell subsets could be depleted selectively. Recent advances in targeted plasma protein apheresis using adsorbent macrobead columns prompted us to determine whether analogous techniques might permit CD4+ T lymphocytes to be removed selectively from whole blood. To explore this possibility, we linked murine anti-human-CD4 and isotype-identical control monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to agarose, polyacrylamide and polystyrene macrobeads (150,350 ,m) and then evaluated the selectivity, specificity and efficiency of macrobead columns to remove CD4+ T cells from anti-coagulated whole blood at varying mAb densities and flow rates. We also examined saturation kinetics and Fc-oriention versus random coupling of mAbs to macrobeads. Sepharose 6MB macrobead (250,350 ,m) columns proved to be most effective, selectively removing up to 98% of CD4+ T cells from whole blood. Moreover, depletion efficiency and selectivity were retained when these columns were reused after elution of adherent CD4+ cells. These studies indicate that selective depletion of T lymphocyte subsets by whole blood immunoadsorption apheresis using mAb-linked macrobead columns may be feasible on a clinical scale. It is possible that such apheresis techniques could achieve targeted forms of immunosuppression not possible with drugs or radiation. [source] A novel scale for measuring mixed states in bipolar disorderCLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 6 2009Jonathan Cavanagh Abstract Objectives: Conventional descriptions of bipolar disorder tend to treat the mixed state as something of an afterthought. There is no scale that specifically measures the phenomena of the mixed state. This study aimed to test a novel scale for mixed state in a clinical and community population of bipolar patients. Methods: The scale included clinically relevant symptoms of both mania and depression in a bivariate scale. Recovered respondents were asked to recall their last manic episode. The scale allowed endorsement of one or more of the manic and depressive symptoms. Internal consistency analyses were carried out using Cronbach alpha. Factor analysis was carried out using a standard Principal Components Analysis followed by Varimax Rotation. A confirmatory factor analytic method was used to validate the scale structure in a representative clinical sample. Results: The reliability analysis gave a Cronbach alpha value of 0.950, with a range of corrected-item-total-scale correlations from 0.546 (weight change) to 0.830 (mood). The factor analysis revealed a two-factor solution for the manic and depressed items which accounted for 61.2% of the variance in the data. Factor 1 represented physical activity, verbal activity, thought processes and mood. Factor 2 represented eating habits, weight change, passage of time and pain sensitivity. Conclusions: This novel scale appears to capture the key features of mixed states. The two-factor solution fits well with previous models of bipolar disorder and concurs with the view that mixed states may be more than the sum of their parts. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message: There is no clinical scale that specifically measures the phenomena of the bipolar mixed state. This new scale includes clinically relevant symptoms of both mania and depression in a bivariate scale. The scale appears to capture key features of the mixed state and endorses the view that mixed states may be more than the sum of their parts. [source] Structured assessment of current mental state in clinical practice: an international study of the reliability and validity of the Current Psychiatric State interview, CPS-50ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 1 2005I. R. H. Falloon Objective:, To develop a reliable standardized assessment of psychiatric symptoms for use in clinical practice. Method:, A 50-item interview, the Current Psychiatric State 50 (CPS-50), was used to assess 237 patients with a range of psychiatric diagnoses. Ratings were made by interviewers after a 2-day training. Comparisons of inter-rater reliability on each item and on eight clinical subscales were made across four international centres and between psychiatrists and non-psychiatrists. A principal components analysis was used to validate these clinical scales. Results:, Acceptable inter-rater reliability (intra-class coefficient > 0.80) was found for 46 of the 50 items, and for all eight subscales. There was no difference between centres or between psychiatrists and non-psychiatrists. The principal components analysis factors were similar to the clinical scales. Conclusion:, The CPS-50 is a reliable standardized assessment of current mental status that can be used in clinical practice by all mental health professionals after brief training. [source] Mental health improvements of substance-dependent clients after 4 months in a Therapeutic CommunityDRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, Issue 5 2010ANNE-MAREE POLIMENI Abstract Introduction and Aims. Odyssey House Victoria's Therapeutic Community (TC) accepts substance-dependent clients, including those with co-occurring mental health issues. American data suggest that TCs are effective in rehabilitating such clients; however, Australian research is limited. The aim of the study was to examine Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) profiles of Odyssey House TC residents early in their residency and again after 4 months, to chart changes in MMPI-2 profiles and compare them with norms for psychological health. Design and Methods. The sample comprised 351 clients who were part of the residential program between 1997 and 2007, and who remained in treatment at the TC for at least 4 months. They were administered the MMPI-2 after 5 weeks in treatment and again after 4 months. Results. At the first assessment, the validity scales of the MMPI-2 plus the clinical scales Depression, Psychopathic Deviate, Paranoia, Psychasthenia and Schizophrenia were in the clinical range. At the second assessment, mean scores on all clinical scales except Mania were significantly or near significantly lower and, except for Psychopathic Deviate, within the normal range. The validity scales also demonstrated improvement, although two of the three remained in the clinical range. Discussion and Conclusions. Results indicated that treatment within the TC over this time span was associated with improved mental health. The present study suggests that residential rehabilitation's holistic approach provides a suitable treatment model for clients with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.[Polimeni A-M, Moore SM, Gruenert S. Mental health improvements of substance-dependent clients after 4 months in a Therapeutic Community. Drug Alcohol Rev 2010] [source] Assessment of drug-induced liver injury in clinical practiceFUNDAMENTAL & CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 2 2008Ma Isabel Lucena Abstract Currently, pharmaceutical preparations are serious contributors to liver disease, with hepatotoxicity ranking as the most frequent cause for acute liver failure and post-marketing regulatory decisions. The diagnostic approach of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is still rudimentary and inaccurate because of the lack of reliable markers for use in general clinical practice. To incriminate any given drug in an episode of liver dysfunction is a step-by-step process that requires a high degree of suspicion, compatible chronology, awareness of the drug's hepatotoxic potential, the exclusion of alternative causes of liver damage, and the ability to detect the presence of subtle data that favour a toxic aetiology. Clinical and laboratory data may also be assessed with algorithms or clinical scales, which may add consistency to the clinical judgment by translating the suspicion into a quantitative score. The CIOMS/RUCAM instrument is considered at present the best method for assessing causality in DILI, although it could be improved through the use of large database of bona fide DILI cases for validation criteria. [source] Clinical application of measurement of hippocampal atrophy in degenerative dementiasHIPPOCAMPUS, Issue 6 2009Josephine Barnes Abstract Hippocampal atrophy is a characteristic and early feature of Alzheimer's disease. Volumetry of the hippocampus using T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used not only to assess hippocampal involvement in different neurodegenerative diseases as a potential diagnostic biomarker, but also to understand the natural history of diseases, and to track changes in volume over time. Assessing change in structure circumvents issues surrounding interindividual variability and allows assessment of disease progression. Disease-modifying effects of putative therapies are important to assess in clinical trials and are difficult using clinical scales. As a result, there is increasing use of serial MRI in trials to detect potential slowing of atrophy rates as an outcome measure. Automated and yet reliable methods of quantifying such change in the hippocampus would therefore be very valuable. Algorithms capable of measuring such changes automatically have been developed and may be applicable to predict decline to a diagnosis of dementia in the future. This article details the progress in using MRI to understand hippocampal changes in the degenerative dementias and also describes attempts to automate hippocampal segmentation in these diseases. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Psychological profile in oral lichen planusJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PERIODONTOLOGY, Issue 10 2005Kiro Ivanovski Abstract Aim: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is an oral lesion with an enigmatic etiology. To explore the possibility of psycho-somatization, we evaluated the psychological personality profiles of OLP patients. Methods: Twenty patients with reticular; 20 with erosive form of OLP, and 25 controls were tested with the psychological Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)-202 test. Eight clinical scales (hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria, psychopathic deviate, paranoia, psychasthenia, schizophrenia, and hypomania) as well as cortisol level, CD3, CD4, CD8, and CD16 markers by group were compared. Psychosomatization was evaluated by the use of internalization ratio (IR) Index. Results: A characteristic MMPI profile was noted in the OLP groups with high IR index value. Significant differences among the groups were detected for cortisol, CD4, CD8, and CD16 counts. Mean values for hypochondriasis, depression, and hysteria were all significantly different with significantly higher mean scores for both reticular and erosive OLP subjects compared with controls. Conclusions: Prolonged emotive stress in many OLP patients may lead to psychosomatization and may contribute to the initiation and clinical expression of this oral disorder. Clinical significance: If additional research involving a larger and more diverse sample of patients confirms these findings, clinical trials will be needed to determine whether adjunctive psychological intervention provides a benefit in treating patients with OLP. [source] Development and validation of brief content scales for the psychological screening inventory-2,JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2010Richard I. Lanyon Abstract This article describes the development of 21 brief content (BC) scales to supplement the existing scales of the Psychological Screening Inventory-2 (PSI-2), and three validity studies to support their use for both the PSI-2 and the original PSI. The BC scales comprise groups of four or more items that are statistically homogeneous in content and are replicated across three data sets: PSI and PSI-2 normative data and a PSI-based group of forensic respondents. Concurrent validity was shown in correlations with the following: (a) the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) basic clinical scales, Content scales, PSY-5 scales, and Restructured Clinical (RC) scales; (b) family/friend observer ratings; and (c) therapist ratings in an outpatient substance abuse treatment program. Consistent with the purpose of the PSI/PSI-2, the BC scales are intended to provide additional screening information and not a comprehensive representation of psychopathology. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol: 66:1,13, 2010. [source] Double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of botulinum toxin type A in the treatment of drooling in parkinsonismMOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 6 2003Francesca Mancini MD Abstract Drooling is a frequent symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD), occurring in almost 75% of all patients. Although it is now well known that drooling in PD is the result of swallowing difficulties rather than excessive saliva production, few treatments have been developed to reduce it. Clinical studies suggest that botulinum toxin A (BTX) injections into salivary glands are effective in decreasing drooling in PD patients. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 20 patients with parkinsonism (idiopathic PD or multiple system atrophy), were randomly assigned to receive 450 U of BTX (Dysport; Ipsen, Berkshire, UK) or 2 ml of placebo, injected into the parotids and submandibular glands under ultrasonographic guidance. Treatment efficacy and safety were assessed at baseline, 1 week and 3 months after BTX injections using clinical scales (Drooling Severity and Drooling Frequency scales) and side effects surveillance. After treatment, the average secretion of saliva in the BTX group was significantly lower than in the placebo group, as appraised by clinical measurements. No side effects were observed in either group. BTX injection into parotids and submandibular glands, under ultrasonographic guidance, is an effective and safe treatment for drooling in parkinsonism. © 2003 Movement Disorder Society [source] Discriminative validity of the behavior assessment system for children-parent rating scales in children with recurrent abdominal pain and matched controlsPSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 2 2003PAUL M. ROBINS Examined discriminative validity of the Parent Rating Scale (PRS) of the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992, Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Services). Two groups were compared: a cohort with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) (n= 49) and children from the BASC-PRS standardization sample (n = 49) matched on the background characteristics of age, race/ethnicity, and gender. A multivariate, two-group discriminant function analysis was used to compare groups across standard scores from the nine clinical scales of the PRS. Results demonstrated that children with RAP could be differentiated (Wilks , = .642, F = 6.45, df (9, 88), p < .001), and demonstrated higher scores on the Somatization, Depression, Anxiety, Attention Problems, and Withdrawal scales. Subsequent jackknifed classification analysis, diagnostic efficiency statistics, and an odds ratio for the classification analysis added to the overall validity of results. The practical utility of the BASC-PRS is further supported in light of expanding roles for school psychologists in the assessment and treatment of children with health problems. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 145,154, 2003. [source] Standardization of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory: The prototype standardization method and its rationaleASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2000Yiu-Fai Yung Methods and techniques for the standardization of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI) are reviewed and discussed. Based on the idea of the UT transformation (Tellegen & Ben-Porath, 1992), a general method called prototype standardization is applied to the clinical scales as well as the personality scales of the CPAI. The rationale of the prototype standardization method is explained. Some variations of the basic methodology are suggested and applied to the CPAI. It is demonstrated that the prototype standardization of the CPAI yields desirable psychometric properties such as percentile comparability across scales and preservation of the correlation structures of the scales, even for the personality scales of the CPAI that do not have a homogeneous distributional shape. We conclude that prototype standardization is a useful method for standardizing all kinds of personality inventories consisting of a large number of scales. [source] A double-blind randomized clinical trial in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis using lamotrigine: effects on CSF glutamate, aspartate, branched-chain amino acid levels and clinical parametersACTA NEUROLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 1 2003H. Ryberg Objectives , A study was conducted to examine the effect of lamotrigine (LTG) in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Material and methods , Patients were entered in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. None of the patients were treated with riluzole, which was not approved for treatment of ALS in Sweden when the study started. After randomization, each patient was treated with placebo or LTG 300 mg daily, followed by a washout period and a second treatment period. Results , Thirty patients completed the study and were included in the analysis of the primary outcome, which was measured with clinical scales. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of glutamate, aspartate, branched-chain amino acids and LTG were also measured. Changes for glutamate, valine and LTG were found during the progression of the disease. The clinical parameters and the levels of CSF amino acids were similar for the two treatment groups. Conclusion , No clinical effect of LTG on ALS progression could be found. [source] | ||||||||||||||||