Evaluating Disease Severity in Chronic Pain Patients with and without Fibromyalgia: A Comparison of the Symptom Impact Questionnaire and the Polysymptomatic Distress Scale

Objective.To compare the relative effectiveness of the Polysymptomatic Distress Scale (PSD) with the Symptom Impact Questionnaire (SIQR), the disease-neutral revision of the updated Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR), in their ability to assess disease activity in patients with rheumatic disorders both with and without fibromyalgia (FM).Methods.The study included 321 patients from 8 clinical practices with some 16 different chronic pain disorders. Disease severity was assessed by the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36). Univariate analyses were used to assess the magnitude of PSD and SIQR correlations with SF-36 subscales. Hierarchical stepwise regression was used to evaluate the unique contribution of the PSD and SIQR to the SF-36. Random forest regression probed the relative importance of the SIQR and PSD components as predictors of SF-36.Results.The correlations with the SF-36 subscales were significantly higher for the SIQR (0.48 to 0.78) than the PSD (0.29 to 0.56; p < 0.001). Stepwise regression revealed that the SIQR was contributing additional unique variance on SF-36 subscales, which was not the case for the PSD. Random forest regression showed SIQR Function, Symptoms, and Global Impact subscales were more important predictors of SF-36 than the PSD. The single SIQR pain item contributed 55% of SF-36 pain variance compared to 23% with the 19-point WPI (the Widespread Pain Index component of PSD).Conclusion.The SIQR, the disease-neutral revision of the updated FIQ, has several important advantages over the PSD in the evaluation of disease severity in chronic pain disorders.

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Evaluation of Evaporation from Water Reservoirs in Local Conditions at Czech Republic

Hydrology ◽

10.3390/hydrology8040153 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 153

Author(s):

Eva Melišová ◽

Adam Vizina ◽

Martin Hanel ◽

Petr Pavlík ◽

Petra Šuhájková

Keyword(s):

Czech Republic ◽

Random Forest ◽

Linear Regression ◽

Statistical Methods ◽

Stepwise Regression ◽

The Other ◽

Water Reservoirs ◽

Random Forest Regression ◽

Local Conditions ◽

The Difference

Evaporation is an important factor in the overall hydrological balance. It is usually derived as the difference between runoff, precipitation and the change in water storage in a catchment. The magnitude of actual evaporation is determined by the quantity of available water and heavily influenced by climatic and meteorological factors. Currently, there are statistical methods such as linear regression, random forest regression or machine learning methods to calculate evaporation. However, in order to derive these relationships, it is necessary to have observations of evaporation from evaporation stations. In the present study, the statistical methods of linear regression and random forest regression were used to calculate evaporation, with part of the models being designed manually and the other part using stepwise regression. Observed data from 24 evaporation stations and ERA5-Land climate reanalysis data were used to create the regression models. The proposed regression formulas were tested on 33 water reservoirs. The results show that manual regression is a more appropriate method for calculating evaporation than stepwise regression, with the caveat that it is more time consuming. The difference between linear and random forest regression is the variance of the data; random forest regression is better able to fit the observed data. On the other hand, the interpretation of the result for linear regression is simpler. The study introduced that the use of reanalyzed data, ERA5-Land products using the random forest regression method is suitable for the calculation of evaporation from water reservoirs in the conditions of the Czech Republic.

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Social network factors as mediators of mental health and psychological distress

International Journal of Social Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/0020764017695575 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 63 (3) ◽

pp. 235-243 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Andrew Levula ◽

Michael Harré ◽

Andrew Wilson

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Social Network ◽

Social Isolation ◽

Indirect Effect ◽

Social Connectedness ◽

Short Form ◽

Sf 36 ◽

Psychological Distress Scale ◽

Distress Scale

Background: Although mental health (MH) is overall strongly associated with psychological distress (PD), this association is very weak for the sample with high PD. This relationship remains understudied. Aim: This study examines the association between MH and PD and whether this association is mediated by social network (SN) factors for individuals with high PD. Method: Data were taken from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia study ( N = 756). MH was measured using the MH sub-scale of the general health survey (Short Form (SF)-36) and PD was measured using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). The SN measures were derived from the self-completion questionnaire. Using bootstrap mediation analysis, we tested whether the association between MH and PD is mediated by SN factors. Result: The correlation between MH and PD was r = −.410 ( p < .001). The mediational analysis results show that social isolation mediates the association between MH and PD with an indirect effect of β = −0.0070 (confidence interval (CI) = −0.0133 to −0.0023). Moreover, social connections also mediated the association between MH and PD with an indirect effect of β = −0.0073 (CI = −0.0141 to −0.0028). Conclusion: This study has practical implications for the design of social policies that attempt to reduce social isolation and enhance social connectedness to protect MH.

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Changes in skin score in early diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis are associated with changes in global disease severity

Rheumatology ◽

10.1093/rheumatology/kez299 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 59 (2) ◽

pp. 398-406 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Boyang Zheng ◽

Tatiana Nevskaya ◽

Carl A Baxter ◽

Dena R Ramey ◽

Janet E Pope ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Disease Severity ◽

Disease Duration ◽

Short Form ◽

Organ Damage ◽

Skin Score ◽

Sf 36 ◽

Modified Rodnan Skin Score ◽

End Stage

Abstract Objective To determine whether skin score changes are associated with changes in overall disease severity, function and quality of life in early dcSSc patients. Methods A total of 154 and 128 dcSSc patients from the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group database with 1 and 2 year follow-up and a disease duration ⩽5 years without end-stage organ damage and/or significant comorbidity at the initial visit were included. Skin was assessed using the modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) and disease severity by the summed Medsger disease severity score (DSS) (without skin domain), physician and patient global assessments, function [HAQ disability index (HAQ-DI)] and quality of life [36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) physical component summary (PCS)]. Analyses were repeated in patients with a disease duration ⩽3 years. Results At 2 years, 64 (50%) patients had improved skin (mRSS decrease of ⩾5 points and/or ⩾25%). Skin improvers had improved summed DSS (P = 0.002); better physician global assessments of disease activity, severity and damage (all P ⩽ 0.003); better HAQ-DI (P = 0.001) and SF-36 PCS (P = 0.005). Changes in the mRSS were positively correlated with changes in summed DSS (P = 0.006) and other disease outcomes. In the 26 (20.3%) patients with worsened skin (mRSS increase of ⩾5 points and/or ⩾25%), the summed DSS and physician global assessments were worse (P = 0.01 and P ⩽ 0.009, respectively). In the subgroup with a disease duration ⩽3 years, similar associations were found. Conclusion At 1 and 2 years, overall disease improvement parallels skin improvement in early dcSSc. This is important for prognosis and reflects the value of mRSS as an outcome measure in trials with these patients.

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Development of Predictive Model for Radon-222 Estimation in the Atmosphere using Stepwise Regression and Grid Search Based-Random Forest Regression

Journal of the Nigerian Society of Physical Sciences ◽

10.46481/jnsps.2021.177 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 132-139

Author(s):

Omodele Olubi ◽

Ebeneze Oniya ◽

Taoreed Owolabi

Keyword(s):

Random Forest ◽

Stepwise Regression ◽

Meteorological Parameters ◽

Activity Concentration ◽

Absolute Humidity ◽

Grid Search ◽

Random Forest Regression ◽

Significant Interest ◽

Polar Research Institute ◽

Field Measuring

This work develops predictive models for estimating radon (222Rn) activity concentration in the atmosphere using novel grid search based random forest regression (GS-RFR) and stepwise regression (SWR). The developed models employ meteorological parameters which include the temperature, pressure, relative and absolute humidity, wind speed and wind direction as descriptors. Experimental data of radon concentration and meteorological parameters from two observatories of the Korea Polar Research Institute in Antarctica (King Sejong and Jang Bogo) have been employed in this work. The performance of the developed models was assessed using three different performance measuring parameters. On the basis of root mean square error (RMSE), the GS-RFR shows better performance over the SWR. An improvement of 64.09 % and 15.19 % was obtained on the training and test datasets, respectively at King Sejong station. At the Jang Bogo station, an improvement of 75.04 % and 28.04 % was obtained on the training and test datasets, respectively. The precision and robustness of the developed models would be of significant interest in determining the concentration of radon (222Rn) activity concentration in the atmosphere for various physical applications especially in regions where field measuring equipment for radon is not available or measurements have been interrupted.

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Quality of Life in Operable Colon Cancer Patients Receiving Oral Compared With Intravenous Chemotherapy: Results From National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project Trial C-06

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2005.05.2597 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 424-430 ◽

Cited By ~ 50

Author(s):

Jacek A. Kopec ◽

Greg Yothers ◽

Patricia A. Ganz ◽

Stephanie R. Land ◽

Reena S. Cecchini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Short Form ◽

Functional Health ◽

Specific Symptom ◽

Carcinoma Of The Colon ◽

Sf 36 ◽

Distress Scale

Purpose We compared health-related quality of life (HRQL), symptoms, and convenience of care (COC) in patients with stage II/III carcinoma of the colon who received either oral uracil/ftorafur (UFT) plus leucovorin (LV) or standard intravenous (IV) fluorouracil (FU) plus LV as adjuvant chemotherapy. Patients and Methods We measured HRQL with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Colorectal (FACT-C) questionnaire, Short Form-36 Vitality Scale (SF-36), and a Quality of Life Rating Scale (QLRS) at baseline, once during chemotherapy, and at 1 year. We used the Symptom Distress Scale (SDS) and treatment-specific Symptom Checklist (SCL) to assess symptoms and a modified Burden of Care form to assess COC at baseline, on day 1 of each treatment cycle, and at 1 year. Repeated measures analyses controlling for demographic variables and baseline scores were used for statistical comparisons. Results The study accrued 1,608 patients, 803 to the FU arm and 805 to the UFT arm. There were no differences between the arms in overall FACT-C scores, FACT-C scores within the subscales of colon-specific, physical, emotional, social, and functional health, or QLRS scores. Patients taking UFT reported substantially higher COC. Statistically significant but small differences were observed for SF-36, favoring FU, and for SDS and SCL, both favoring UFT. Conclusion Patients perceive adjuvant treatment with UFT + LV as more convenient than standard IV treatment with FU + LV. Both regimens are well tolerated and do not differ in their impact on HRQL.

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Association between patient-reported outcomes and objective disease indices in people with NF2

Neurology Clinical Practice ◽

10.1212/cpj.0000000000000648 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 322-329 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Aishwarya Shukla ◽

Fang-Chi Hsu ◽

Bronwyn Slobogean ◽

Shannon Langmead ◽

Yao Lu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Disease Severity ◽

Patient Reported Outcomes ◽

Age Of Onset ◽

Short Form ◽

Symptom Burden ◽

Neurofibromatosis Type ◽

Single Item ◽

Spinal Ependymoma ◽

Sf 36 ◽

Patient Reported

ObjectiveThe association between patient-reported outcomes and currently used clinical trial endpoints, including total vestibular schwannoma (VS) volume and word recognition score (WRS) in neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), is not known.MethodsA prospective observational study enrolling adult patients with NF2 was conducted at a single specialty center. Measures included: NF2 impact on quality of life (NFTI-QOL), short form (SF)-36; total VS volume, WRS; provider- and patient-reported disease severity (ProvSev, PatSev) measured with an institutionally derived multi-item (e.g., symptom burden, age-of-onset, and fatality-risk) and single-item Likert (mild, moderate, severe) scale.ResultsFifty-one patients were enrolled between June 2014 and August 2017. Mean age was 42.1 ± 18.2 years and 37.3% patients were male. Mean WRS was 74.4 ± 37.3%; mean total VS volume was 4.2 ± 5.2 cc. Additional lesions were common including meningioma (79.2%) and spinal ependymoma (39.6%). Mean NFTI-QOL score was 7.6 ± 4.9 and correlated with responses on the SF-36. NFTI-QOL also correlated well with PatSev (r = 0.63, p < 0.001) and both multi- and single-item ProvSev (r = 0.62, p < 0.001; r = 0.52, p < 0.001, respectively). A weak correlation was observed between NFTI-QOL and WRS (r = −0.34, p = 0.0156). There was no correlation with VS volume (r = 0.23, p = 0.15).ConclusionsThe NFTI-QOL correlated well with multiple measures of disease severity but not commonly accepted endpoints for NF2 clinical trials including total VS volume in this US cohort of patients with NF2. This suggests that the NFTI-QOL captures components of the patient experience not sufficiently represented by objective measures of disease and underscores the important and complementary role of patient-focused measures in therapeutic outcome assessment in people with NF2.

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A German version of the Intermittent Claudication Questionnaire (ICQ): cultural adaptation and validation

VASA ◽

10.1024/0301-1526/a000218 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 41 (5) ◽

pp. 333-342 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Kirchberger ◽

Finger ◽

Müller-Bühl

Keyword(s):

Principal Component Analysis ◽

Intermittent Claudication ◽

Completion Time ◽

Short Form ◽

Principal Component ◽

Component Analysis ◽

German Version ◽

Average Completion Time ◽

Sf 36 ◽

Related Quality

Background: The Intermittent Claudication Questionnaire (ICQ) is a short questionnaire for the assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with intermittent claudication (IC). The objective of this study was to translate the ICQ into German and to investigate the psychometric properties of the German ICQ version in patients with IC. Patients and methods: The original English version was translated using a forward-backward method. The resulting German version was reviewed by the author of the original version and an experienced clinician. Finally, it was tested for clarity with 5 German patients with IC. A sample of 81 patients were administered the German ICQ. The sample consisted of 58.0 % male patients with a median age of 71 years and a median IC duration of 36 months. Test of feasibility included completeness of questionnaires, completion time, and ratings of clarity, length and relevance. Reliability was assessed through a retest in 13 patients at 14 days, and analysis of Cronbachs alpha for internal consistency. Construct validity was investigated using principal component analysis. Concurrent validity was assessed by correlating the ICQ scores with the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) as well as clinical measures. Results: The ICQ was completely filled in by 73 subjects (90.1 %) with an average completion time of 6.3 minutes. Cronbachs alpha coefficient reached 0.75. Intra-class correlation for test-retest reliability was r = 0.88. Principal component analysis resulted in a 3 factor solution. The first factor explained 51.5 of the total variation and all items had loadings of at least 0.65 on it. The ICQ was significantly associated with the SF-36 and treadmill-walking distances whereas no association was found for resting ABPI. Conclusions: The German version of the ICQ demonstrated good feasibility, satisfactory reliability and good validity. Responsiveness should be investigated in further validation studies.

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Auricular vagal nerve stimulation in peripheral arterial disease patients

VASA ◽

10.1024/0301-1526/a000660 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 46 (6) ◽

pp. 462-470 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Gerald Hackl ◽

Andreas Prenner ◽

Philipp Jud ◽

Franz Hafner ◽

Peter Rief ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Primary Endpoint ◽

Nerve Stimulation ◽

Short Form ◽

Therapeutic Option ◽

Arterial Disease ◽

Walking Distance ◽

Control Group ◽

Sf 36 ◽

Peripheral Arterial ◽

Double Blinded

Abstract. Background: Auricular nerve stimulation has been proven effective in different diseases. We investigated if a conservative therapeutic alternative for claudication in peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAD) via electroacupuncture of the outer ear can be established. Patients and methods: In this prospective, double-blinded trial an ear acupuncture using an electroacupuncture device was carried out in 40 PAD patients in Fontaine stage IIb. Twenty patients were randomized to the verum group using a fully functional electroacupuncture device, the other 20 patients received a sham device (control group). Per patient, eight cycles (1 cycle = 1 week) of electroacupuncture were performed. The primary endpoint was defined as a significantly more frequent doubling of the absolute walking distance after eight cycles in the verum group compared to controls in a standardized treadmill testing. Secondary endpoints were a significant improvement of the total score of the Walking Impairment Questionnaire (WIQ) as well as improvements in health related quality of life using the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36). Results: There were no differences in baseline characteristics between the two groups. The initial walking distance significantly increased in both groups (verum group [means]: 182 [95 % CI 128–236] meters to 345 [95 % CI 227–463] meters [+ 90 %], p < 0.01; control group [means]: 159 [95 % CI 109–210] meters to 268 [95 % CI 182–366] meters [+ 69 %], p = 0.01). Twelve patients (60 %) in the verum group and five patients (25 %) in controls reached the primary endpoint of doubling walking distance (p = 0.05). The total score of WIQ significantly improved in the verum group (+ 22 %, p = 0.01) but not in controls (+ 8 %, p = 0.56). SF-36 showed significantly improvements in six out of eight categories in the verum group and only in one of eight in controls. Conclusions: Electroacupuncture of the outer ear seems to be an easy-to-use therapeutic option in an age of increasingly invasive and mechanically complex treatments for PAD patients.

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Messung der gesundheitsbezogenen Lebensqualität mit dem SF-8

Diagnostica ◽

10.1026/0012-1924/a000068 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 58 (3) ◽

pp. 145-153 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Volker Beierlein ◽

Matthias Morfeld ◽

Corinna Bergelt ◽

Monika Bullinger ◽

Elmar Brähler

Keyword(s):

Health Survey ◽

Short Form ◽

Short Form Health Survey ◽

Form Health ◽

Sf 36 ◽

Deutsche Bevölkerung ◽

Short Form Health

Zusammenfassung. Der Short-Form Health Survey SF-8 ist ein Instrument zur Messung der gesundheitsbezogenen Lebensqualität, einem wichtigen Outcomekriterium klinischer Studien und in den Gesundheitswissenschaften. Das Instrument ist eine Kurzform des häufig verwendeten SF-36, mit dem acht Dimensionen der subjektiven Gesundheit gemessen sowie zwei Summenskalen Körperlicher und Psychischer Gesundheit berechnet werden können. Der SF-8 wurde im Jahr 2004 im Rahmen einer bundesweit durchgeführten Mehrthemenbefragung eingesetzt. Basierend auf diesen Daten können erstmalig repräsentative Normdaten zum SF-8 (N = 2552) aus einer schriftlichen Befragung für die deutsche Bevölkerung vorgelegt werden. Die Referenzdaten werden alters- sowie geschlechtsdifferenziert berichtet und auf Zusammenhänge mit soziodemografischen Merkmalen analysiert. Seltene fehlende Werte in den Antworten weisen auf eine gute Akzeptanz des Instruments hin. Auch wenn der SF-8 in verschiedenen Subskalen mit Deckeneffekten behaftet ist, kann sein Einsatz aufgrund seiner Ökonomie empfohlen werden.

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