The Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) and the Taiwan Geriatric Depression Scale (TGDS) are self-report scales used for assessing depression in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and geriatric ...people. The minimal detectable change (MDC) represents the least amount of change that indicates real difference (i.e., beyond random measurement error) for a single subject. Our aim was to investigate the test-retest reliability and MDC of the BDI-II and the TGDS in people with PD.
Seventy patients were recruited from special clinics for movement disorders at a medical center. The patients' mean age was 67.7 years, and 63.0% of the patients were male. All patients were assessed with the BDI-II and the TGDS twice, 2 weeks apart. We used the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to determine the reliability between test and retest. We calculated the MDC based on standard error of measurement. The MDC% was calculated (i.e., by dividing the MDC by the possible maximal score of the measure).
The test-retest reliabilities of the BDI-II/TGDS were high (ICC = 0.86/0.89). The MDCs (MDC%s) of the BDI-II and TGDS were 8.7 (13.8%) and 5.4 points (18.0%), respectively. Both measures had acceptable to nearly excellent random measurement errors.
The test-retest reliabilities of the BDI-II and the TGDS are high. The MDCs of both measures are acceptable to nearly excellent in people with PD. These findings imply that the BDI-II and the TGDS are suitable for use in a research context and in clinical settings to detect real change in a single subject.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The minimal detectable change (MDC) is the smallest amount of difference in individual scores that represents true change (beyond random measurement error). The MDCs of the Timed "Up & Go" Test (TUG) ...and the Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) in people with Parkinson disease (PD) are largely unknown, limiting the interpretability of the change scores of both measures.
The purpose of this study was to estimate the MDCs of the TUG and the DGI in people with PD.
This investigation was a prospective cohort study.
Seventy-two participants were recruited from special clinics for movement disorders at a university hospital. Their mean age was 67.5 years, and 61% were men. All participants completed the TUG and the DGI assessments twice, about 14 days apart. The MDC was calculated from the standard error of measurement. The percentage MDC (MDC%) was calculated as the MDC divided by the mean of all scores for the sample. Furthermore, the intraclass correlation coefficient was used to examine the reproducibility between testing sessions (test-retest reliability).
The respective MDC and MDC% of the TUG were 3.5 seconds and 29.8, and those of the DGI were 2.9 points and 13.3. The test-retest reliability values for the TUG and the DGI were high; the intraclass correlation coefficients were .80 and .84, respectively.
The study sample was a convenience sample, and the participants had mild to moderately severe PD.
The results showed that the TUG and the DGI have generally acceptable random measurement error and test-retest reliability. These findings should help clinicians and researchers determine whether a change in an individual patient with PD is a true change.
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DOBA, FSPLJ, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
To compare the test-retest reliability and random measurement errors of the Barthel Index (BI) and modified Barthel Index (MBI) in patients with chronic stroke.
The intraclass correlation coefficient ...(ICC) and the minimal detectable change (MDC) were applied respectively to examine the test-retest reliability (about 2 weeks apart) and the random measurement errors. The MDC% was used to adjust the cut-off score for determining whether a real change had been achieved, if heteroscedasticity existed.
A total of 60 patients participated. The BI and MBI both had high ICCs (0.94 and 0.94, respectively) with small MDCs (16.2 and 15.4, respectively) and MDC%s (21.2% and 19.0%, respectively), indicating that both measures have comparable reliability in repeated assessments. However, moderate associations (r = −0.47 for the BI and −0.59 for the MBI) were found between the means of tests and retests and the absolute values of change scores, indicating heteroscedasticity. These findings suggest that a fixed MDC value is not appropriate for determining the real change in both measures because the amount of random measurement error varies with the patients' ADL function.
The MBI, which showed excellent test-retest reliability and relatively lower random measurement error than the BI, appears to be a better ADL measure. The MDC% adjusted value is recommended to determine whether the change scores are beyond random measurement error.
IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION
The MBI is recommended for clinical and research applications because it has better test-retest reliability and relatively lower random measurement error than those of the original BI.
The MDC% adjusted value is recommended to determine whether the change scores are beyond random measurement error when the MBI or the BI is used.
•An error-based detectability index was proposed for unbiased error patterns.•Four error patterns were found in patients with schizophrenia.•Corresponding interventions may be provided based on the ...four error patterns.•The newly proposed detectability may be an indicator of treatment outcome.•Cross-validations are warranted for the suitability as an outcome measurement.
Error patterns of facial emotion recognition (FER) indicate how individuals misinterpret others’ facial expressions, which helps clinicians to manage related deficits. However, previous investigations are limited and may have been biased due to methodological issues (e.g., no consideration of response bias). This study aimed to propose a detectability index (d’) for adjusting response bias and examine the error patterns of FER in patients with schizophrenia.
Responses to 168 photos showing seven basic emotions, obtained from 351 patients with schizophrenia and 101 healthy adults, were extracted from a previous study. The differences in the d’s between the two groups (Δd’) were calculated to examine the error patterns of FER among the seven emotions.
The findings were generally overlapped with those identified by the traditional confusion matrix. Four error patterns were found. First, the patients were insensitive to some negative emotions (i.e., sadness Δd’ = 0.83 and fear Δd’ = 0.72). Second, they misrecognized happy faces as showing negative emotions (e.g., disgust Δd’ = 0.43 and sadness Δd’ = 0.37). Third, they misinterpreted surprised faces as all the other emotions (Δd’ = 0.41–0.87), except neutral. Fourth, they confused some negative emotions (e.g., misrecognizing fear as anger Δd’ = 0.87).
Our findings suggest that patients with schizophrenia show four error patterns of FER compared to healthy adults. Accordingly, interventions could be selected to improve their sensitivity to faces with negative emotions, differentiation of faces among positive and negative emotions, understanding of surprised faces, and discrimination of faces with negative emotions.
High dosage and longer duration of antiviral treatment has been suggested to treat cryoglobulinemia patients. We aimed to investigate the efficacy of antiviral treatment in cryoglobulinemia patients ...and analyze the associated factors of persistent cryoglobulinemia.
Totally 148 patients after completion of anti-HCV treatment were enrolled in our study. Serum cryoglobulinemia precipitation was assessed and analyzed for the associated factors after antiviral therapy.
Fifty-one (34.5%) out of 148 patients were positive for serum cryoglobulinemia after completion of antiviral therapy. In multivariate analysis, advanced fibrosis (Odds Ratio OR- 4.13, 95% Confidence Interval 95% CI- 1.53-11.17, p = 0.005) and platelet counts (OR-0.98, 95% CI- 0.97-0.99, p = 0.010) were independently and significantly associated with persistent cryoglobulinemia. The factors associated with the persistent cryoglobulinemia in SVR patients were advanced fibrosis (OR-1.93, 95% CI- 1.02-3.65, p = 0.041) and platelet count (OR-0.98, 95% CI- 0.96-0.99, p = 0.041) by multivariate analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed persistent (OR-4.83, 95% CI- 1.75-13.36, p = 0.002) was significantly associated with advanced fibrosis in patients with cryoglobulinemia follow up after antiviral therapy.
The prevalence of the persistent cryoglobulinemia is 34.5% after completing antiviral therapy and it is associated with advanced fibrosis, also HCV clearance.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This work presents a fall detection system that is worn on the head, where the acceleration and posture are stable such that everyday movement can be identified without disturbing the wearer. Falling ...movements are recognized by comparing the acceleration and orientation of a wearer's head using prespecified thresholds. The proposed system consists of a triaxial accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer; as such, a Madgwick's filter is adopted to improve the accuracy of the estimation of orientation. Moreover, with its integrated Wi-Fi module, the proposed system can notify an emergency contact in a timely manner to provide help for the falling person. Based on experimental results concerning falling movements and activities of daily living, the proposed system achieved a sensitivity of 96.67% in fall detection, with a specificity of 98.27%, and, therefore, is suitable for detecting falling movements in daily life.
Antigen design guided by high-resolution viral glycoprotein structures has successfully generated diverse vaccine candidates for COVID-19. Using conjugation systems to combine antigen design with ...computationally optimized nanoparticles, researchers have been able to display multivalent antigens with beneficial substitutions that elicited robust humoral immunity with enhanced neutralization potency and breadth. Here, we discuss strategies that have been used for structure-based design and nanoparticle display to develop COVID-19 vaccine candidates as well as potential next-generation vaccine candidates to protect against SARS-CoV-2 variants and other coronaviruses that emerge into the human population.
•Diverse structure-guided strategies for the design of SARS-CoV-2 spike antigens.•Structure-based designs that favor the prefusion conformation or control the RBD state.•Engineered nanoparticles allow multivalent display of RBD and spike antigens.
To assess the associations of the Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society Health Index (ASAS HI) with gender and other factors in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). From ...November 2017 to October 2018, we measured the Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS), the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), the modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spinal Score (mSASSS) and the ASAS HI score for AS patients at the Taichung Veterans General Hospital. After adjusting for disease activity (ASDAS-erythrocyte sedimentation rate ESR, ASDAS- C-reactive protein CRP, BASDAI+ESR or BASDAI+CRP), mSASSS and other potential confounders including medications, comorbidities, and laboratory data, any associations between gender and the sum score of ASDAS HI were assessed using multiple linear regression analysis, as well as any associations between gender and an ASAS HI score >5 using multivariable logistic regression analysis. A total of 307 AS patients (62 20.2% females, mean age 46.4 years S.D. 13.3, mean symptom duration 20.6 years S.D. 12.1) were included. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the male gender was significantly associated with a lower ASAS HI (B = -1. 91, 95% confidence interval CI, -2.82--1.00, p 5 than females (odds ratio = 0.15, 95% CI, 0.07-0.36, p <0.001). Disease activity measures, including ASDAS-ESR, ASDAS-CRP and BASDAI, had positive correlations with ASAS HI. This single-center, cross-sectional study revealed that a higher ASAS HI score was significantly associated with female gender and higher disease activity measures.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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