0000000000615188

AUTHOR

L. Compte

Assessment of the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of a Spanish Asthma Quality of Life questionnaire.

A Spanish-language questionnaire designed for measuring the impact of asthma on quality of life in adults was developed. It was derived, by the application of a rigorous translation protocol, from a previously validated, English-language Asthma Quality of Life (AQL) questionnaire which had been developed in Australia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish AQL questionnaire using a cross-sectional and longitudinal design. Two hundred ninety-four clinically stable subjects with asthma (168 women, mean baseline forced expiratory volume in 1 sec [FEV1] = 85% predicted), aged 17-70, attended for the initial baseline assessment. All subjects completed th…

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Effect of serotonin and calcium in normal and sensitized guinea pig isolated trachea

Tracheal strips from normal and actively sensitized guinea pigs were studied to determine the responses to serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT ; 1 nM - 0.1 mM) and ouabain (0.1 μM - 0.1 mM), and the effects of increasing the extracellular calcium (Ca o ) concentration on tonic contractions elicited by 5-HT. Sensitized trachea exhibited an increased responsiveness and sensitivity to 5-HT and ouabain. Increases in Ca o to achieve final concentrations of 5, 10 and 20 mM caused concentration-related relaxations of normal and sensitized tissues contracted to a similar plateau level with 5-HT. Inhibition of the Na + /K + -ATPase by ouabain (10 μM) reversed the effects of Ca o from relaxation to …

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Bronchial asthma and personality dimensions: a multifaceted association.

Personality dimensions seem to play an important role in chronic diseases by maintaining or increasing the patient's physical complaints. This study examines in bronchial asthma: (a) the relationships among clinical data, baseline lung function, and personality traits; and (b) the patient's characteristics related to the physician's judgement about his or her asthma severity. Five questionnaires measuring anxiety, depression, self-consciousness, and subjective symptoms were completed by 51 asthmatic patients. Responses to questionnaires and clinical and demographic data were factor-analyzed. Factor analysis revealed that the physician's severity judgement is based on elderly age, high score…

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Calidad de vida en el asma: validación del cuestionario AQLQ para su utilización en población española

The study of morbidity in asthma requires consideration not only of standard physiopathologic and function parameters, but also of the impact the disease has on the patient's life-style as he or she perceives it and evaluates it. The quantification of this factor, known as health-related quality of life (HRQL), is achieved by administering questionnaires specially designed for the purpose. We analyzed the reliability, content validity and construct validity (convergence and divergence) of one instrument, the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ) designed by Marks and colleagues. This questionnaire covers 4 dimensions (breathlessness, mood, social limitation and worrying) and gives a t…

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