Search results for "Function"
showing 10 items of 14432 documents
Determinants of urinary albumin excretion reduction in essential hypertension: A long-term follow-up study.
2006
The objective of the present study was to assess factors related to long-term changes in urinary albumin excretion (UAE) of nondiabetic microalbuminuric (n = 252) or proteinuric hypertensive individuals (n = 58) in a prospective follow-up.After enrollment, patients were placed on usual care including nonpharmacological treatment and/or treatment with an antihypertensive drug regime to achieve blood pressure135/85 mmHg. Periodic UAE measurements were performed until regression or significant reduction (defined when UAE dropped50% from the initial values, plus reduction of UAE to30 mg/24 h for microalbuminuric patients and300 mg/24 h for proteinuric patients).Among the microalbuminuric patien…
Prospective Randomized Trial of Electrolysis for Chronic Plantar Heel Pain
2018
Background: Chronic plantar heel pain (CPHP) is a common condition with high prevalence rates and a projected cost of treatment of US$192 to US$376 million. There are several therapeutic approaches and there is increased interest in treatments aimed at the regeneration of tissues with poor healing potential. Our purpose was to investigate the effectiveness of ultrasound-guided percutaneous needle electrolysis in chronic plantar heel pain. Methods: A total of 73 patients with a clinical and ultrasonographic diagnosis of plantar heel pain unrelated to systemic inflammatory disease who had not received any other treatment in the previous 6 months on the affected foot were randomly allocated to…
Clinical and Functional Outcome After Abdominal Wall Incisional Hernia Repair: Evaluation of Quality-of-Life Improvement and Comparison of Assessment…
2019
Background Hernias severely impact patient quality of life (QoL), and 80% of patients need surgical operation. The primary outcome of the study is to assess improvements in balance, posture and deambulation after abdominal hernia repair. Moreover, the study investigated the improvement in the postoperative QoL. Methods Patients operated at the Policlinico “Paolo Giaccone” at Palermo University Hospital between June 2015 and June 2017 were identified in a prospective database. The functional outcome measures and QoL assessment scales used were numeric rating scale for pain, performance-oriented mobility assessment (POMA) scale, Quebec back pain disability scale, center of gravity (barycenter…
Relationships between psychomotor retardation and EEG power spectrum in major depression.
1992
In 63 depressed patients, the associations between severity of depression, psychomotor retardation, assessed by the Bech-Rafaelsen Melancholia Scale, and EEG spectral analysis were examined. Slow EEG activity (theta 2/alpha 1 bands) was positively and fast activity (alpha 3/beta bands) negatively correlated with the observed retardation. Out of the four retardation subitems (motor, verbal, intellectual and emotional), motor retardation was closest correlated with slow EEG activity.
Neurocognitive Impairment in Bipolar Patients With and Without History of Psychosis
2008
Objective: Little is known regarding the impact of psychotic symptoms on the cognitive functioning of bipolar patients. Findings from previous reports are controversial and mainly focused on current psychotic symptoms. The main aim of this study was to ascertain whether the history of psychotic symptoms was associated with greater cognitive impairment in euthymic bipolar patients. Method: Sixty-five euthymic bipolar disorder patients (DSM-IV criteria; 35 with a history of psychotic symptoms and 30 without such a history) were assessed through a neuropsychological battery targeting attention, psychomotor speed, verbal memory, and executive functions. Thirty-five healthy controls were also in…
Brief cognitive assessment instruments in schizophrenia and bipolar patients, and healthy control subjects: A comparison study between the Brief Cogn…
2011
Cognitive impairment in schizophrenia and psychosis is ubiquitous and acknowledged as a core feature of clinical expression, pathophysiology, and prediction of functioning. However, assessment of cognitive functioning is excessively time-consuming in routine practice, and brief cognitive instruments specific to psychosis would be of value. Two screening tools have recently been created to address this issue, i.e., the Brief Cognitive Assessment Tool for Schizophrenia (B-CATS) and the Screen for Cognitive Impairment in Psychiatry (SCIP). The aim of this research was to examine the comparative validity of these two brief instruments in relation to a global cognitive score. 161 patients with p…
Bipolar I patients with and without a history of psychotic symptoms: do they differ in their cognitive functioning?
2007
Abstract Recently, many reports have consistently demonstrated cognitive deficits in patients with bipolar disorder (BD), but their relationship with symptomatology, specifically psychotic symptoms, remains unclear. Our main hypothesis was that a history of hallucinations and/or delusions in the course of BD-I is associated with severe cognitive deficits. We investigated several cognitive functions (memory, attention, verbal fluency and executive functions) in 18 BD-I patients with a history of psychotic symptoms (HPS+), 17 BD-I patients without a history of psychotic symptoms (HPS−), 33 schizophrenic patients and 26 healthy control subjects. Both groups of BD-I patients were more impaired …
Differential associations of cognitive insight components with pretreatment characteristics in first-episode psychosis
2014
An increasing number of studies have focused on cognitive insight (i.e. awareness of one's own thinking) in psychotic disorders. However, little is known about the premorbid and pretreatment correlates of cognitive insight in the early course of psychosis. One hundred and three patients experiencing first-episode psychosis (FEP) were assessed shortly after treatment initiation for cognitive insight. Pretreatment and baseline clinical, functional and neurocognitive characteristics were examined. The self-reflectiveness dimension of cognitive insight was independently associated with clinical insight and executive functioning, whereas self-certainty was associated with premorbid IQ, premorbid…
Dimensionality of depression in acute schizophrenia: a methodological study using the Bech-Rafaelsen Melancholia Scale (BRMES).
1998
Abstract Despite the great clinical importance of depressive symptoms in schizophrenia there is a lack of studies on the assessment and evaluation of depression in acutely psychotic patients. For the Bech-Rafaelsen Melancholia Scale (BRMES), among other advantages, the concept of unidimensionality was confirmed in patients with major depression by different methodological approaches including Rasch analysis. The present evaluation was designed to investigate the scale properties of the BRMES in acutely schizophrenic patients with particular emphasis on the dimensionality of the scale. Three different statistical approaches were used: principal component analysis in combination with computer…
Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy: When and Why the Cervical Corpectomy?
2020
Background: Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is a degenerative disease that represents the most common spinal cord disorder in adults. The best treatment option has remained controversial. We performed a prospective study to evaluate the clinical, radiographic, and neurophysiologic outcomes for anterior cervical corpectomy in the treatment of CSM. Methods: From January 2011 to January 2017, 60 patients with CSM were prospectively enrolled in the present study. The patients were divided according to the modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association scale (mJOA) score into 2 groups: group A, patients with mild to moderate CSM (mJOA score ≥13); and group B, patients with severe myelopathy (mJ…