Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis & frontotemporal degeneration
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Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener · Nov 2017
Comparison of slow and forced vital capacities on ability to predict survival in ALS.
Slow (SVC) and forced (FVC) vital capacities are the most used pulmonary function tests in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). It is unknown if they equally predict survival in ALS. The aim of the present study was to compare both measures in predicting survival in this disease. ⋯ FVC and SVC are inter-changeable in predicting survival in ALS.
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Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener · Nov 2017
Exploring the diagnosis delay and ALS functional impairment at diagnosis as relevant criteria for clinical trial enrolment.
Objectives were: i) to describe the phenotypic heterogeneity of incident amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients diagnosed in 2012 in French ALS centres; ii) to look at the associations between ALSFRS-R score and ALSFRS-R slope (ΔFS) at time of diagnosis with diagnosis delay, ALS phenotypes and Airlie House diagnosis criteria (AHDC); iii) to describe the rate of progression on ΔFS, according to diagnosis delay.
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Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener · Aug 2017
Delivering tertiary centre specialty care to ALS patients via telemedicine: a retrospective cohort analysis.
This study was undertaken to determine if ALS patients evaluated via telemedicine received the same quality of care as patients evaluated by traditional face-to-face encounters. ⋯ Patients managed by telemedicine received the same quality of care and had similar outcomes to those patients seen via traditional face-to-face encounters. Telemedicine is an effective platform for delivering high quality tertiary ALS care.
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Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener · Aug 2017
Advance care planning for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
To determine whether an advance care planning (ACP) decision-aid could improve communication about end-of-life treatment wishes between patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and their clinicians. ⋯ A computer based ACP decision-aid can significantly improve clinicians' understanding of ALS patients' wishes with regard to end-of-life medical care.
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Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener · Aug 2017
Coping strategies and psychological distress in caregivers of patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) causes distress in caregivers. The present study aims to examine the association between coping strategies and psychological distress in caregivers of ALS patients. ⋯ The present study supported the mediating effects of coping strategies on intensity of burden, depression and anxiety experienced by ALS caregivers. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at reducing utilisation of maladaptive coping strategies may improve well-being in ALS caregivers, and, possibly, management of symptoms in ALS patients.