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Illness Scale (illness + scale)
Selected AbstractsValidity of Three Measures of Health-related Quality of Life in Children with Intractable EpilepsyEPILEPSIA, Issue 10 2002Elisabeth M. S. Sherman Summary: ,Purpose: Validity studies on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scales for pediatric epilepsy are few, and cross-validation with other samples has not been reported. This study was designed to assess the validity of three parent-rated measures of HRQOL in pediatric epilepsy: (a) the Impact of Childhood Illness Scale (ICI), (b) the Impact of Child Neurologic Handicap Scale (ICNH), and (c) the Hague Restrictions in Epilepsy Scale (HARCES). Methods: Retrospective data were examined for 44 children with intractable epilepsy. Validity was assessed by evaluating differences across epilepsy severity groups as well as correlations between HRQOL scales and neurologic variables (seizure severity, epilepsy duration, current/prior antiepileptic medications) and psychosocial measures (emotional functioning, IQ, social skills, adaptive behavior). Scale overlap with a global QOL rating also was assessed. Results: The HRQOL measures were moderately to highly intercorrelated. The scales differed in terms of their associations with criterion measures. The HARCES was related to the highest number of neurologic variables and the ICNH to the fewest. All three scales were related to psychosocial functioning and to global quality of life. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the three measures are likely adequate measures of HRQOL for use in intractable childhood epilepsy. The measures were highly intercorrelated, and they were all broadly related to criterion measures reflecting specific domains of HRQOL as well as global QOL. Some differences between scales emerged, however, that suggest care in choosing HRQOL instruments for children with epilepsy. [source] Quality of life in 244 recipients of allogeneic bone marrow transplantationBRITISH JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY, Issue 3 2000S. Chiodi The number of long-term survivors after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) has been increasing over the past years, and quality of life (QOL) has become an important end-point. We studied 244 patients undergoing an allogeneic BMT to identify factors and events influencing psychosocial outcome. Patients enrolled received the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS) questionnaire assessing psychological and social adjustment to chronic illness or its sequelae. Eighty-two per cent of patients had a haematological disease. The median age was 28 years at BMT, and the median follow-up was 61 months. The median overall PAIS score for all patients was 56 (range 22,76): 25% (n = 61) of patients were considered to have a good QOL (, 25 percentile score); 44% (n = 108) of patients had an intermediate QOL (26,75 percentile score) and 31% (n = 75) had a poor QOL (> 75 percentile score). Factors associated with a poor QOL in multivariate analysis were: patients' age at BMT (> 25 years, P < 0·01); presence of long-term sequelae (P < 0·01); chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) (P < 0·05); and a short interval from BMT (< 5 years; P < 0·05). The QOL improved with time: 12% of patients reported a good QOL within 5 years compared with 38% after this time point and, conversely, 38% reported a poor QOL within 5 years compared with 24% after this time point (P < 0·0001). Older patients had significantly poorer QOL compared with younger patients (, 25 years; P = 0·01). Females had significantly poorer scores when compared with males in the sexual (P < 0·0001) and psychological domains (P = 0·001). The data suggest that (i) one-third of patients undergoing allogeneic BMT report a poor QOL; (ii) factors associated with poor QOL are older age, presence of long-term sequelae, chronic GVHD and short follow-up; (iii) QOL is superior in long-term survivors; and (iv) BMT affects different aspects of life in males and females. A longitudinal study is ongoing to prove the effect of time on quality of life. [source] Quality of life among patients with Stage II and III breast carcinoma randomized to receive high-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow support or intermediate-dose chemotherapy,,CANCER, Issue 8 2005Leukemia Group B 906, Results from Cancer Abstract BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to compare the quality of life (QOL) after treatment among patients who had breast carcinoma with multiple positive lymph nodes. The patients were randomized to receive either high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell support (HDC) or intermediate-dose chemotherapy (IDC) in the adjuvant setting. METHODS Two hundred forty-six patients with AJCC Stage IIA, IIB, or IIIA breast carcinoma who had , 10 positive lymph nodes and who were participants in Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 9082 were enrolled in this companion study, CALGB 9066. Patients were randomized to receive either high-dose cyclophosphamide, carmustine, and cisplatin (CPA/cDDP/BCNU) and autologous bone marrow transplantation (the HDC arm) or intermediate-dose CPA/cDDP/BCNU as consolidation to adjuvant chemotherapy (the IDC arm). QOL was assessed at baseline and at 3 months, 12 months, 24 months, and 36 months using the Functional Living Index-Cancer (FLIC), the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS)-Self Report, and the McCorkle Symptom Distress Scale (SDS). RESULTS At the 3-month assessment, patients in the HDC arm demonstrated significant worsening of QOL compared with the IDC arm in terms of their physical well being (FLIC, P = 0.023), social functioning (FLIC, P = 0.026; PAIS, P < 0.0001), symptom distress (SDS, P = 0.0002), and total QOL scores (FLIC, P = 0.042). At 12 months, the differences in QOL scores between the HDC arm and the IDC arm had resolved. CONCLUSIONS Patients who received more intensive adjuvant therapy experienced transient declines in QOL. By 12 months after therapy, QOL was comparable between the 2 arms, regardless of therapy intensity, and many QOL areas were improved from baseline. Cancer 2005. © 2005 American Cancer Society. [source] Social comparison as a coping strategy among caregivers of eating disorder patientsJOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 9 2010I. JÁUREGUI LOBERA md phd Accessible summary ,,The paper describes social comparisons among caregivers of eating disorder patients as a coping strategy. ,,Different social comparison strategies were assessed in a sample of 96 caregivers as well as their self-esteem, characteristics of personality and perceived quality of life. ,,The use of unfavourable strategies was correlated to neuroticism and low self-esteem. ,,Women adopted worse strategies and the fact that having obtained different subgroups regarding the use of those strategies could have prognostic repercussions. Abstract The aim of the study was to determine any gender differences in the social comparisons made by caregivers of eating disorder patients and to analyse the relationship between social comparison and personality, age of caregivers, self-esteem, duration of illness, duration of treatment and perceived health and quality of life. We also explored the possibility of classifying caregivers according to these variables. Comparison strategies were analysed in a sample of 96 caregivers of eating disorder patients. The social comparison during illness scale, visual analogue scales of health and quality of life, self-esteem scale of Rosenberg and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire were used. In order to explore possible groupings a cluster analysis was performed. A significant correlation between the use of more unfavourable strategies, neuroticism and low self-esteem was found. Women adopted worse strategies and the cluster analysis revealed two sub-groups with respect to comparisons, personality, self-esteem, self-perceived health status and quality of life. The finding of subgroups associated with worse comparison strategies, higher neuroticism, lower self-esteem and a poorer self-perception of health and quality of life could have repercussions as regards the prognosis of eating disorders and, at all events, should be taken into account during therapeutic work with families. [source] Maxillary obturators: The relationship between patient satisfaction and speech outcomeHEAD & NECK: JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENCES & SPECIALTIES OF THE HEAD AND NECK, Issue 11 2003Jana M. Rieger PhD Abstract Background. Patient satisfaction with a maxillary obturator has been studied in relation to extent of surgical defect, sociodemographic characteristics, scores on mental health inventories, and psychosocial adjustment to illness scales. However, review of the literature reveals limited study of the relationship between patient satisfaction with an obturator and clinical speech outcome measures. The purpose of this study is to relate patient satisfaction scores obtained by questionnaire with those obtained by means of clinical speech measurements. Methods. Acoustical, aeromechanical, and perceptual measurements of speech were collected for 20 patients after receiving a definitive obturator. Patient satisfaction with their obturator was later measured with the Obturator Functioning Scale (OFS). Results. Results reveal that poorer aeromechanical speech results were associated with patient-reported avoidance of social events, whereas lower speech intelligibility outcomes were related to overall poorer perception of speech function on the OFS. Several background patient characteristics were significantly related to several responses on the OFS and to the aeromechanical assessment outcomes. Conclusions. Results from instrumental assessments of speech seem to be informative regarding not only speech outcome but also a patient's satisfaction with the obturator. Consideration of background patient characteristics is important when interpreting both clinically obtained and patient-perceived outcomes. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head and Neck 25: 000,000, 2003 [source] | ||||||||||