Health Qual Life Out
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Health Qual Life Out · Jan 2010
Development of the ATAQ-IPF: a tool to assess quality of life in IPF.
There is no disease-specific instrument to assess health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). ⋯ Patient-centered and careful statistical methodologies were used to construct the ATAQ-IPF version 1, an IPF-specific HRQL instrument. Simple summation scoring is used to derive individual domain scores as well as a total score. Results support the validity of the ATAQ-IPF, and future studies will build on that validity.
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Health Qual Life Out · Jan 2010
ReviewMeasuring the psychosocial health of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors: a critical review.
Adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors require psychometrically rigorous measures to assess their psychosocial well-being. Without methodologically adequate scales the accuracy of information obtained on the prevalence of needs, predictors of risk, and the potential success of any interventions, can be questioned. This review assessed the psychometric properties of measures designed specifically to identify the psychosocial health of this unique population. ⋯ There is a need to further evaluate the psychometric properties of existing quality of life measures for AYA cancer survivors. Valid, reliable, and acceptable measures which can assess the psychosocial needs of this population should also be developed.
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Health Qual Life Out · Jan 2010
Personality and the physician-patient relationship as predictors of quality of life of cardiac patients after rehabilitation.
Numerous studies document the influence of psychosocial variables on the course of coronary heart disease. This study examines the influence of personality traits (trait anger, cynicism) and aspects of the physician-patient relationship (promoting patient participation by the physician, active communication behavior of the patient, trust in the physician) on the health related quality of life (HRQOL) of cardiac patients after rehabilitation. ⋯ Low income, a high level of trait anger, and low patient participation are significant risk factors, even if a number of potential confounders are adjusted. Research is needed that shows which causal pathway low income functions on and what therapies in rehabilitation can mitigate the disadvantage of persons with a high level of trait anger. The providers should implement measures to actively integrate rehabilitation patients in treatment (e.g. encourage them to ask questions).
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Health Qual Life Out · Jan 2010
Randomized Controlled TrialEffect of neck strength training on health-related quality of life in females with chronic neck pain: a randomized controlled 1-year follow-up study.
Chronic neck pain is a common condition associated not only with a decrease in neck muscle strength, but also with decrease in health-related quality of life (HRQoL). While neck strength training has been shown to be effective in improving neck muscle strength and reducing neck pain, HRQoL among patients with neck pain has been reported as an outcome in only two short-term exercise intervention studies. Thus, reports on the influence of a long-term neck strength training intervention on HRQoL among patients with chronic neck pain have been lacking. This study reports the effect of one-year neck strength training on HRQoL in females with chronic neck pain. ⋯ One year of either strength or endurance training seemed to moderately enhance the HRQoL. Neck and upper body training can be recommended to improve HRQoL of females with neck pain if they are motivated for long-term regular exercise.
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Health Qual Life Out · Jan 2010
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyComparison of numerical and verbal rating scales to measure pain exacerbations in patients with chronic cancer pain.
Numerical rating scales (NRS), and verbal rating scales (VRS) showed to be reliable and valid tools for subjective cancer pain measurement, but no one of them consistently proved to be superior to the other. Aim of the present study is to compare NRS and VRS performance in assessing breakthrough or episodic pain (BP-EP) exacerbations. ⋯ Our results suggest that, in the measurement of cancer pain exacerbations, patients use NRS more appropriately than VRS and as such NRS should be preferred to VRS in this patient's population.