Search results for "assessment"
showing 10 items of 5125 documents
Increased risk of sensory neuropathy in workers with chloracne after exposure to 2,3,7,8-polychlorinated dioxins and furans
1999
Objective - The existence of a peripheral neuropathy after exposure to polychlorinated dioxins (PCDD) is still discussed, as studies concerning dioxin effects on the peripheral nervous system are rare and contradictory. Material and methods - Clinical and neurophysiological examinations (motor conduction velocity of the peroneal nerve, sensory conduction velocities of the sural and ulnar nerves) were made in 156 dioxin exposed workers (42 with, 114 without cloracne) from one pesticide producing plant. Because of known risk factors for peripheral neuropathy, 7 workers with and 28 without cloracne were excluded from further analysis. Results - Workers with chloracne had a significantly higher…
Testosterone-Lowering Medication and Its Association With Recidivism Risk in Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses
2020
For a particular subgroup of individuals with severe paraphilic disorders and a high risk of sexual recidivism, the combination of sex drive–reducing medications and psychotherapy is a promising treatment approach. The present quasi-experimental study aims at comparing differences in clinical characteristics and dynamic risk factors between persons receiving (+TLM, n = 38) versus not receiving (−TLM, n = 22) testosterone-lowering medications (TLMs). Individuals receiving TLM were more frequently diagnosed with paraphilic disorders. Neither the criminal history nor average risk scores differed between the two groups. In the +TLM, Stable-2007 scores showed a stronger decrease after TLM treat…
Improvement in altitude performance test after further acclimatization in pre-acclimatized soldiers.
2013
The Altitude Performance Test is a measure designed to assess an individual's degree of acclimatization to reduce the risk of acute mountain sickness during high-altitude activities. The aim of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that test results will improve in pre-acclimatized soldiers after several days of further acclimatization. The Altitude Performance Test consists of an uphill run at high altitude. The event is timed and performed with continuous oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring. The individual's time and lowest SpO2 measurement are recorded. This test was performed on the first day of arriving at 11,060 ft, and after 9 days at the same location. The 37 male soldiers we…
Addition of a second opioid may improve opioid response in cancer pain: preliminary data
2004
Recent experimental data suggest a possible use of an opioid combination to improve analgesia. In cancer patients, a rapid opioid escalation due to either worsening of the pain condition or the development of tolerance is a critical phase, as this condition is associated with a negative prognosis. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of adding a second opioid at low doses in patients with a poor analgesic benefit after dose escalation. Fourteen patients receiving strong opioids who had increased their dosage more than 100% in the last week unsuccessfully were randomly chosen to add a second opioid to the first using an initial equivalent dosage of 20% of the previous therapy. The…
Psychometric Properties of the Diener Satisfaction With Life Scale With Five Response Options Applied to the Colombian Population
2022
Introduction: The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), developed by Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffin in 1985, comprises five items with seven response options in terms of agreement–disagreement. Recently, there has been a suggestion to reduce the response options of the SWLS to optimize its applicability in different cultural contexts.Objective: The study aims to assess the psychometric properties of the SWLS with five response options in the Colombian population. Specifically, we studied the dimensionality, invariance by gender and age (among a group of adolescents and emerging adults under 25 years and a group of adults of intermediate age and established adulthood under 59 years), con…
Prospective risk stratification of sudden cardiac death in Marfan's syndrome.
2013
Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a variable, autosomal-dominant disorder of the connective tissue. In MFS serious ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death (SCD) can occur. The aim of this prospective study was to reveal underlying risk factors and to prospectively investigate the association between MFS and SCD in a long-term follow-up.77 patients with MFS were included. At baseline serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), transthoracic echocardiogram, 12-lead resting ECG, signal-averaged ECG (SAECG) and a 24-h Holter ECG with time- and frequency domain analyses were performed. The primary composite endpoint was defined as SCD, ventricular tachycardia (VT), ventricular fi…
Objective analysis of contact lens fit.
2015
Purpose: To assess the validity and repeatability of objective compared to subjective contact lens fit analysis. Methods: Thirty-five subjects (aged 22.0. ±. 3.0 years) wore two different soft contact lens designs. Four lens fit variables: centration, horizontal lag, post-blink movement in up-gaze and push-up recovery speed were assessed subjectively (four observers) and objectively from slit-lamp biomicroscopy captured images and video. The analysis was repeated a week later. Results: The average of the four experienced observers was compared to objective measures, but centration, movement on blink, lag and push-up recovery speed all varied significantly between them (p 0.05). The 95% conf…
Ethical assessment of hepatitis C virus treatment: The lesson from first generation protease inhibitors
2015
Abstract Since chronic hepatitis C has mostly become curable, issues concerning choice and allocation of treatment are of major concern. We assessed the foremost ethical issues in hepatitis C virus therapy with 1st generation protease inhibitors using the personalist ethical framework within the health technology assessment methodology. Our aim was to identify values at stake/in conflict and to support both the physicians’ choices in hepatitis C therapy and social (macro-) allocation decision-making. The ethical assessment indicates that: (1) safety/effectiveness profile of treatment is guaranteed if its use is restricted to the patients subgroups who may benefit from it; (2) patients shoul…
Picture naming yields highly consistent cortical activation patterns: Test–retest reliability of magnetoencephalography recordings
2020
Reliable paradigms and imaging measures of individual-level brain activity are paramount when reaching from group-level research studies to clinical assessment of individual patients. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) provides a direct, non-invasive measure of cortical processing with high spatiotemporal accuracy, and is thus well suited for assessment of functional brain damage in patients with language difficulties. This MEG study aimed to identify, in a delayed picture naming paradigm, source-localized evoked activity and modulations of cortical oscillations that show high test–retest reliability across measurement days in healthy individuals, demonstrating their applicability in clinical set…
Long term hemodialysis aggravates lipolytic activity reduction and very low density, low density lipoproteins composition in chronic renal failure pa…
2009
Abstract Background Dyslipidemia, particularly hypertriglyceridemia is common in uremia, and represents an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis. Methods To investigate the effects of hemodialysis (HD) duration on very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) compositions and lipopolytic activities, 20 patients on 5 to 7 years hemodialysis were followed-up during 9 years. Blood samples were drawn at T0 (beginning of the study), T1 (3 years after initiating study), T2 (6 years after initiating study) and T3 (9 years after initiating study). T0 was taken as reference. Results Triacylglycerols (TG) values were correlated with HD duration (r = 0.70, P Conclusion De…