Search results for " EVALUATION"
showing 10 items of 1458 documents
The affective response to health-related information and its relationship to health anxiety: An ambulatory approach
2014
Affective reactions to health-related information play a central role in health anxiety. Therefore, using ambulatory assessment, we analysed the time course of negative affect in a control group (CG, n = 60) which only rated their negative affect and an experimental group (EG, n = 97) which also rated the presence of somatic symptoms (e.g., back pain). By means of mixed regression models, we observed a decline of negative affect following the symptom self-ratings in the EG and a stable affect in the CG. The decline of negative affect was not moderated by the degree of health anxiety. Our findings might indicate that evaluating one's health status leads to a general reduction of negative aff…
Drug-induced pertubation of the aminothiol redox-status in patients with epilepsy: improvement by B-vitamins.
2008
Summary Objectives Patients with epilepsy have excess morbidity and mortality due to ischemic cardiovascular disease. Many of these patients have elevated concentrations of plasma total homocysteine (Hcy), which is an acknowledged risk factor for cardiovascular disease, venous thromboembolic disease, foetal malformations and dementia. Hyperhomocysteinemia may have negative effects through mechanisms involving oxidative damage. In the present study, we have investigated the aminothiol redox-status in patients on antiepileptic drugs. Thereafter, in a subset of patients with elevated total Hcy, we evaluated the effect of B-vitamin therapy. Methods In the first part of the study, 101 patients o…
Spectroscopic axonal damage of the right locus coeruleus relates to selective attention impairment in early stage relapsing-remitting multiple sclero…
2003
Summary Lower levels of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), a marker of axonal damage, have been found in the normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients with low physical disability. However, its relation to the clinical status of these patients remains unclear. We explored the association between NAA levels [normalized to creatine (Cr), NAA/Cr] and a cognitive feature that is not measured by the standard scales that address functional disability [e.g. Expanded Disability Scale Score (EDSS)] in early RRMS. Given that a considerable number of RRMS patients present attentional dysfunction early in the disease and assuming a functional-anatomical orient…
Clinical and magnetic resonance imaging predictors of disease progression in multiple sclerosis: a nine-year follow-up study.
2014
Objective: The objective of this paper is to identify clinical or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) predictors of long-term clinical progression in a large cohort of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Methods: A total of 241 relapsing–remitting (RR) MS patients were included in a nine-year follow-up (FU) study. The reference MRIs were acquired at baseline (BL) as part of a multicenter, cross-sectional, clinical-MRI study. Volumetric MRI metrics were measured by a fully automated, operator-independent, multi-parametric segmentation method. Clinical progression was evaluated as defined by: conversion from RR to secondary progressive (SP) disease course; progression of Expanded Disability Status…
Manometric Evaluation of Internal Anal Sphincter after Fissurectomy and Anoplasty for Chronic Anal Fissure: A Prospective Study
2012
Chronic anal fissure (CAF) is a common painful clinical disease and its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. After failure of pharmacological therapy, that is the first-line treatment, surgical sphincterotomy remains the treatment of choice although it is followed by a high rate of anal incontinence resulting from the sphincter damage; therefore, the research of a sphincter-saving surgical option has become an important goal. The aim of this study was to evaluate the manometric modifications and the incidence of anal incontinence after fissurectomy and anoplasty with advancement skin flap in patients affected by CAF with hypertonia of the internal anal sphincter (IAS). Fifteen patients …
Validity and reliability of the Migraine-Treatment Optimization Questionnaire.
2009
Our aim was to establish the validity and reliability of a patient-rated Migraine Treatment Optimization Questionnaire (M-TOQ in primary care. Patients who met International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd edn criteria for migraine completed a 19-item questionnaire containing candidate items for the M-TOQ and three questionnaires designed to test convergent/construct validity [Migraine Disability Assessment Scale (MIDAS), Headache Impact Test (HIT)-6 and Migraine-Specific Quality of Life Scale (MSSQoL)]. A 15-item (M-TOQ15) and a five-item (M-TOQ-5) questionnaire were derived. Two hundred and fifty-three adult patients were recruited. Five treatment optimization domains were iden…
Multiple sclerosis severity score: Using disability and disease duration to rate disease severity
2005
Background: There is no consensus method for determining progression of disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) when each patient has had only a single assessment in the course of the disease. Methods: Using data from two large longitudinal databases, the authors tested whether cross-sectional disability assessments are representative of disease severity as a whole. An algorithm, the Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS), which relates scores on the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) to the distribution of disability in patients with comparable disease durations, was devised and then applied to a collection of 9,892 patients from 11 countries to create the Global MSSS. I…
Post-marketing of disease modifying drugs in multiple sclerosis: an exploratory analysis of gender effect in interferon beta treatment.
2009
Background: There are a few and conflicting results from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) pertaining to the influence of gender in response to currently used disease modifying drugs in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Observational studies may be especially valuable for answering effectiveness questions in subgroups not studied in RCTs. Objective: To conduct a post-marketing analysis aimed to evaluate the gender effect on Interferon beta (IFN beta) treatment response in a cohort of relapsing (RR) MS patients. Methods: A cohort of 2570 IFN beta-treated RRMS was prospectively followed for Lip to 7 years in 15 Italian MS Centers. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess gender…
Correlation between fatigue and brain atrophy and lesion load in multiple sclerosis patients independent of disability.
2007
Abstract Background Fatigue is a major problem in multiple sclerosis (MS), and its association with MRI features is debated. Objective To study the correlation between fatigue and lesion load, white matter (WM), and grey matter (GM), in MS patients independent of disability. Methods We studied 222 relapsing remitting MS patients with low disability (scores ≤ 2 at the Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale). Lesion load, WM and GM were measured by fully automated, operator-independent, multi-parametric segmentation method. T1 and T2 lesion volume were also measured by a semi-automated method. Fatigue was assessed by the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), and patients divided in high-fatigue (FS…
Electromyographic and patient-reported outcomes of a computer-guided occlusal adjustment performed on patients suffering from chronic myofascial pain
2014
Objectives: Muscular hyperactivity is a potential source of symptoms in patients with temporal-mandibular disorders. An adequate occlusal adjustment may relieve such symptoms. This study aims to measure the effect of shortening the protrusive disclusion time (DT) and balancing the center of occlusal forces (COF) on the EMG recordings and assess the pain reported by chronic patients one month after the computer-guided occlusal adjustment. Study Design: The sample studied comprised 34 patients suffering from chronic facial pain in which the EMG activity of both masseters was recorded by electromyography. By selective grinding we alleviated all the occlusal interferences during the mandibular …