Health and Quality of Life Outcomes - Latest articles

Body mass index and health related quality of life in elementary school children: a pilot study

2008-10-09

Background: We investigated the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) indicated by baseline health status in elementary school children. Methods: Data were obtained via parents whose children enrolled in an elementary school, kindergarten to fourth grade, in southern Mississippi in spring 2004. Parents completed the SF-10 for Children, a brief 10-item questionnaire designed to measure children's HRQOL on a voluntary basis. Results: A total of 279 parents completed the questionnaires for their children. On average, physical and psychosocial summary scores, major indicators for HRQOL, were significantly higher among the elementary school children in our study relative to those from U.S. children overall (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.0007, respectively). Males tended to have better physical functioning than their female classmates, whereas females had better psychosocial health. Overall, except for third graders, the physical summary scores increased as grade level increased. The means for psychosocial score fluctuated without a clear pattern over the five grade levels. High level of BMI was significantly associated with children's physical summary scores below 50, a norm used for U.S. children (p = 0.003). Gender and grade were not significant predictors of children's physical and psychosocial scores. DiscussionThis study can be used as baseline information to track changes over time, in BMI and health status among the elementary school children. In addition, this study can be used to investigate relationships between BMI, health status, intellectual ability, and performance in school. Conclusions: The findings suggest that programs designed to encourage children to lose weight in a healthy manner, thus reducing their BMI, could improve the physical and psychosocial health, and subsequently increase HRQOL.

Exploring disability from the perspective of adults living with HIV/AIDS: Development of a conceptual framework

Kelly K O'Brien, Ahmed M Bayoumi, Carol Strike, Nancy L Young and Aileen M Davis — 2008-10-04

Background: Since the advent of combination antiretroviral therapy, in developed countries HIV increasingly is perceived as a long-term illness. Individuals may experience health-related consequences of HIV and its associated treatments, a concept that may be termed disability. To date, a comprehensive framework for understanding the health-related consequences experienced by people living with HIV has not been developed. The purpose of this research was to develop a conceptual framework of disability from the perspective of adults living with HIV. MethodWe conducted four focus groups and 15 face-to-face interviews with 38 adults living with HIV. We asked participants to describe their health-related challenges, their physical, social and psychological areas of life affected, and impact on their overall health. We analyzed data using grounded theory techniques. We also conducted two validity check focus groups with seven returning participants. Results: Disability was conceptualized by participants as multi-dimensional and episodic characterized by unpredictable periods of wellness and illness. The Episodic Disability Framework consisted of three main components: a) dimensions of disability that included symptoms and impairments, difficulties carrying out day-to-day activities, challenges to social inclusion, and uncertainty that may fluctuate on a daily basis and over the course of living with HIV, b) contextual factors that included extrinsic factors (social support and stigma) and intrinsic factors (living strategies and personal attributes) that may exacerbate or alleviate disability, and c) triggers that initiate momentous or major episodes of disability such as receiving an HIV diagnosis, starting or changing medications, experiencing a serious illness, and suffering a loss of others. Conclusions: The Episodic Disability Framework considers the variable nature of disability, acknowledges uncertainty as a key component, describes contextual factors that influence experiences of disability, and considers life events that may initiate a major or momentous episode. This framework presents a new way to conceptualize disability based on the experience of living with HIV.

Adalimumab improves health-related quality of life in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis compared with the United States general population norms: Results from a randomized, controlled Phase III study

2008-10-02

ObjectiveTo evaluate the impact of adalimumab on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Background: Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory, immune-mediated disease that has a significant impact on patients' HRQOL. Adalimumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody that blocks tumor necrosis factor, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, and is effective and well-tolerated for patients with moderate to severe psoriasis. Methods: Data were obtained for a secondary analysis of patients in a randomized, controlled Phase III trial evaluating the effect of adalimumab in patients with psoriasis (N=1,205). Patients with moderate to severe psoriasis were randomized in a 2:1 ratio to adalimumab 80 mg (two 40 mg injections administered subcutaneously at baseline followed by one 40 mg injection every other week from Week 1 to Week 15) or placebo. Short Form-36 (SF-36) Health Survey scores of psoriasis patients were used to assess HRQOL and were compared with United States (US) population norms at baseline and Week 16. Results: Baseline Physical Component Summary (PCS) scores for the placebo and adalimumab groups were similar to the general US population. Baseline mean Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores were significantly lower for the adalimumab and placebo groups compared with the general population (47.4, 47.7, and 50.8 points, respectively; p<0.0001). PCS scores at Week 16 for patients receiving adalimumab had improved and were significantly greater than scores for the general US population (52.7 vs 48.9; p<0.001). Compared with the general US population, MCS scores at Week 16 were similar for patients receiving adalimumab (51.2 vs 50.8; p=1.000) and lower for patients receiving placebo (50.8 vs 48.7; p<0.0001). Conclusion: Psoriasis has a broad impact on patient functioning and well-being. Improvement in skin lesions and joint symptoms associated with adalimumab treatment was accompanied by improvements in HRQOL to levels that were similar to or greater than those of the general US population.

Patient satisfaction with primary care: an observational study comparing anthroposophic and conventional care

Barbara M Esch, Florica Marian, Andre Busato and Peter Heusser — 2008-09-30

Background: This study is part of a cross-sectional evaluation of complementary medicine providers in primary care in Switzerland. It compares patient satisfaction with anthroposophic medicine (AM) and conventional medicine (CON). Methods: We collected baseline data on structural characteristics of the physicians and their practices and health status and demographics of the patients. Four weeks later patients assessed their satisfaction with the received treatment (five items, four point rating scale) and evaluated the praxis care (validated 23-item questionnaire, five point rating scale). 1946 adult patients of 71 CON and 32 AM primary care physicians participated. Results: 1. Baseline characteristics: AM patients were more likely female (75.6% vs. 59.0%, p < 0.001) and had higher education (38.6% vs. 24.7%, p < 0.001). They suffered more often from chronic illnesses (52.8% vs. 46.2%, p = 0.015) and cancer (7.4 % vs. 1.1 %). AM consultations lasted on average 23,3 minutes (CON: 16,8 minutes, p< 0.001). 2. Satisfaction: More AM patients expressed a general treatment satisfaction (56.1% vs. 43.4%, p < 0.001) and saw their expectations completely fulfilled at follow-up (38.7% vs. 32.6%, p < 0.001). AM patients reported significantly fewer adverse side effects (9.3% vs. 15.4%, p=0.003), and more other positive effects from treatment (31.7% vs. 17.1%, p < 0.001). Europep: AM patients appreciated that their physicians listened to them (80.0% vs. 67.1%, p < 0.001), spent more time (76.5% vs. 61.7%, p < 0.001), had more interest in their personal situation (74.6% vs. 60.3%, p < 0.001), involved them more in decisions about their medical care (67.8% vs. 58.4%, p = 0.022), and made it easy to tell the physician about their problems (71.6% vs. 62.9%, p=0.023). AM patients gave significantly better rating as to information and support (in 3 of 4 items p [less than or equal to] 0.044) and for thoroughness (70.4% vs. 56.5%, p < 0.001). Conclusion: AM patients were significantly more satisfied and rated their physicians as valuable partners in the treatment. This suggests that subject to certain limitations, AM therapy may be beneficial in primary care. To confirm this, more detailed qualitative studies would be necessary.

Utility values for hypoglycaemia elicited from diabetic and non-diabetic respondents in Canada and the United Kingdom

Adrian R Levy, Torsten LU Christensen and Jeffrey A Johnson — 2008-09-29

ObjectiveTo elicit societal and patient utilities associated with diabetic symptomatic non-severe hypoglycaemia for three health states: 1) rare (quarterly), 2) intermittent (monthly), 3) and frequent (weekly) hypoglycaemia episodes. Methods: Using validated health states, time trade-off (TTO) utilities were elicited from 51 Canadian respondents with diabetes and 79 respondents in Canada and 75 respondents in the UK without diabetes. Results and discussionEach hypoglycaemic episode was associated with a reduction in utility and persons with diabetes consistently reported slightly higher utility values than respondents without diabetes. The utility for diabetes without hypoglycaemia ranged from 0.88 to 0.97, the mean utility for rare hypoglycaemic events (quarterly) ranged between 0.85 and 0.94. The utility for the intermittent state (monthly) ranged from 0.77 to 0.90 and from 0.66 to 0.0.83 for the frequent state (weekly). Differences were observed between respondents without diabetes in Canada and the UK. Using a multivariate linear OLS regression, the estimated utilities associated with a single hypoglycaemic event were -0.0033 and -0.0032 for respondents with diabetes and without diabetes, respectively. Conclusions: Among respondents with and without diabetes, there was a demonstrable utility loss associated with hypoglycaemia. Using a utility loss of 0.03 as a minimum clinically important difference for persons with diabetes, the evidence from this study indicates that as low as ten symptomatic non-severe hypoglycaemic episodes per year are of clinical importance and that the importance increases with frequency of episodes. Integrating directly elicited utility values such as those reported here will improve the quality and applicability of economic evaluations of new treatments for diabetes .

Improvement of quality of life, anxiety and depression after surgery in patients with stress urinary incontinence: results of a longitudinal short-term follow-up

2008-09-29

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to compare the effect of incontinence surgery and pelvic floor training on quality of life (QOL), anxiety and depression in patients with stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Methods: In a prospective longitudinal study, females with proven SUI were asked to complete a set of standardized questionnaires (sociodemographic data sheet, FACT-G, I-QOL, HADS) before and eight weeks after treatment. The comparison groups consisted of a surgical treatment group and a conservative group that underwent supervised pelvic floor training for eight weeks. Results: From the 67 female patients included in the study a number of 53 patients completed both assessment time points (mean age 57.4, mean years of SUI 7.6). The surgical treatment group consisted of 32 patients of which 21 patients received a modified Burch colposuspension and 11 patients a tension-free mid-urethral tape suspension. The 21 patients in the conservative group attended eight once-weekly supervised pelvic floor training sessions. After treatment the surgical intervention group showed a significantly higher improvement of QOL (FACT-G and I-QOL) and anxiety (HADS) than the pelvic floor training group.DiscussionFor female patients with SUI surgery yielded a better outcome than pelvic floor training with regard to quality of life and anxiety.

A comparison of EQ-5D index scores using the UK, US, and Japan preference weights in a Thai sample with type 2 diabetes

Phantipa Sakthong, Rungpetch Charoenvisuthiwongs and Rossamalin Shabunthom — 2008-09-23

Background: Data are scarce on the comparison of EQ-5D index scores using the UK, US, and Japan preference weights in other populations. This study was aimed to examine the differences and agreements between these three weights, psychometric properties including test-retest reliability, convergent and known-groups validity, and the impact of differences in the EQ-5D scores on the outcome of cost-utility analysis in Thai people. Methods: A convenience sample of 303 type 2 diabetic outpatients (18 years or older) from a cross-sectional study was examined. ANOVA and pos-hoc Bonferroni tests were used to determine the differences among the three EQ-5D scores. The agreements among the EQ-5D scores were assessed employing intraclass correlations coefficients (ICCs) and Bland-Altman plots. The ICCs were utilized to examine the test-retest reliability. Spearman's rho correlation coefficients were used to assess the convergent validity between the EQ-5D scores and sociodemographic & clinical data, and health status. Mann-Whitney U tests were used to test the differences in EQ-5D scores between the known groups including HbA1c level (cut point of 7%), and the presence of diabetic complications namely neuropathy, retinopathy, nephropathy and cardiovascular diseases. Seven hypothetical decision trees were created to evaluate the impact of differences in the EQ-5D scores on the incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR). Results: The US weights yielded higher scores than those of the UK and the Japan weights (p < 0.001, both), while the UK and the Japan weighted scores did not differ (p > 0.05). Both UK and US scores had more agreement with each other than with the Japan scores. Regarding psychometric properties, the Japan scheme provided better test-retest reliability, convergent and known-groups validity than both UK and US schemes. The variation in EQ-5D scores estimated from UK, US, and Japan preference weights had a marginal impact on ICUR (range: 1.23–6.32%). Conclusion: Since the Japan model showed more preferable psychometric properties than the UK and the US models and the differences in these EQ-5D scores had a small impact on ICUR, we recommended that for both clinical and policy purposes the Japan scheme should be used in Thai people. However, more research needs to be done.

Life satisfaction in patients with long-term non-malignant pain – relating LiSat-11 to the Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI)

2008-09-23

Background: The West-Haven Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI) can be used to describe behavioural and psychosocial consequences of long-term pain but little is known about how MPI items and MPI subgroups relate to goals that patients find important in rehabilitation. Life satisfaction measured by the LiSat-11 checklist can be defined as an individual's perception of the difference between his reality and his needs or wants. This difference can be considered a "goal achievement gap". This study investigates the relation of MPI to LiSat-11 with the aim to explore the possibility that LiSat-11 can be used to measure pain rehabilitation outcomes that are important from the patients' view. Methods: Participators were patients (n = 294) referred to the Pain and Rehabilitation Clinic in Uppsala, Sweden. Measures used were LiSat-11, MPI and its Swedish version MPI-S. LiSat-11 domains were correlated to MPI scales. Cluster analysis was used to demonstrate MPI-S subgroups. Analysis of variance followed by post-hoc analysis was used to investigate life satisfaction in the three MPI-S subgroups. Results: The strongest positive correlation were found for the LiSat-11 domains/MPI scales: psychological health/life control and contacts/social activities, and the strongest negative correlation for: psychological health/affective distress, partner relationship/punishing responses, somatic health/interference and leisure/interference. None or only little correlation was found between MPI scale pain severity and most LiSat-11 domains and satisfaction with life as a whole. Among the MPI-S subgroups, adaptive copers generally had better life satisfaction than the dysfunctional and the interpersonally distressed. Conclusion: Pain severity alone is a rather poor predictor of low life satisfaction. MPI and LiSat-11 partly supplement each other as tools to describe how functional impairments relate to life satisfaction domains, which may be relevant for identifying domains which the patients find important to improve. Furthermore, differences in life satisfaction between the MPI-S subgroups may help to identify functional domains that may be of particular importance in specialised rehabilitation programs.

Identification of symptom domains in ulcerative colitis that occur frequently during flares and are responsive to changes in disease activity

2008-09-20

Background: Ulcerative colitis disease activity is determined by measuring symptoms and signs. Our aim was to determine which symptom domains are frequent and responsive to change in the evaluation of disease activity, which are those defined by three criteria: 1) they occur frequently during flares; 2) they improve during effective therapy for ulcerative colitis; and 3) they resolve during remission. Methods: Twenty-eight symptom domains, 16 from standard indices and 12 novel domains identified by ulcerative colitis patient focus groups, were evaluated. Sixty subjects with ulcerative colitis were surveyed, rating each symptom on the three criteria with a 100 mm Visual Analogue Scale. Frequent and responsive symptoms were defined a priori as those whose median Visual Analogue Scale rating for all 3 criteria was significantly greater than 50. Results: Thirteen of the 28 symptom domains were identified as both frequent in ulcerative colitis flares and responsive to changes in disease activity. Seven of these 13 symptom domains were novel symptoms derived from ulcerative colitis patient focus groups including stool mucus, tenesmus, fatigue, rapid postprandial bowel movements, and inability to differentiate liquid or gas from solid stool when rectal urgency occurs. Ten of the 16 symptom domains from standard indices were either infrequent or unresponsive to changes in disease activity. Conclusion: Only some of the symptoms of ulcerative colitis that are important to patients are included in standard indices, and several symptoms currently measured are not frequent or responsive to change in ulcerative colitis patients. Development of survey measures of these symptom domains could significantly improve the assessment of disease activity in ulcerative colitis.

Child-OIDP index in Brazil: Cross-cultural adaptation and validation

2008-09-15

Background: Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) measures are being increasingly used to introduce dimensions excluded by normative measures. Consequently, there is a need for an index which evaluates children's OHRQoL validated for Brazilian population, useful for oral health needs assessments and for the evaluation of oral health programs, services and technologies. The aim of this study was to do a cross-cultural adaptation of the Child Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (Child-OIDP) index, and assess its reliability and validity for application among Brazilian children between the ages of eleven and fourteen. Methods: For cross-cultural adaptation, a translation/back-translation method integrated with expert panel reviews was applied. A total of 342 students from four public schools took part of the study. Results: Overall, 80.7% of the sample reported at least one oral impact in the last three months. Cronbach's alpha was 0.63, the weighted kappa 0.76, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) 0.79. The index had a significant association with self-reported health measurements (self-rated oral health, satisfaction with oral health, perceived dental treatment needs, self-rated general health; all p < 0.01). Conclusion: It was concluded that the Child-OIDP index is a measure of oral health-related quality of life that can be applied to Brazilian children.