The serial intervals of seasonal and pandemic influenza viruses in households in Bangkok, Thailand.

The serial interval (SI) of human influenza virus infections is often described by a single distribution. Understanding sources of variation in the SI could provide valuable information for understanding influenza transmission dynamics. Using data from a randomized household study of nonpharmaceutical interventions to prevent influenza transmission in Bangkok, Thailand, over 34 months between 2008 and 2011, we estimated the influence of influenza virus type/subtype and other characteristics of 251 pediatric index cases and their 315 infected household contacts on estimates of household SI.

Live attenuated seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccine in school-age children: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The novel influenza A(H1N1pdm09) virus emerged in North America in early 2009 and rapidly spread worldwide. In this study we report the efficacy of the live attenuated monovalent H1N1pdm09 vaccine and 2009-10 seasonal influenza vaccine in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial.

Methods: We enrolled 703 children aged 7-11.

Optimal design of intervention studies to prevent influenza in healthy cohorts.

Background: Influenza cohort studies, in which participants are monitored for infection over an epidemic period, are invaluable in assessing the effectiveness of control measures such as vaccination, antiviral prophylaxis and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). Influenza infections and illnesses can be identified through a number of approaches with different costs and logistical requirements.

Methodology And Principal Findings: In the context of a randomized controlled trial of an NPI with a constrained budget, we used a simulation approach to examine which approaches to measuring outcomes could provide greater statistical power to identify an effective intervention against confirmed influenza.

Transmissibility of seasonal and pandemic influenza in a cohort of households in Hong Kong in 2009.

Background: The household secondary attack proportion (SAP) is commonly used to measure the transmissibility of an infectious disease.

Methods: We analyzed the final outbreak size distributions of pandemic A(H1N1), seasonal A(H1N1), and A(H3N2) infections identified in paired sera collected from members of 117 Hong Kong households in April and in August-October 2009.

Results: The estimated community probability of infection overall was higher for children than adults; the probability was similar for pandemic A(H1N1) and seasonal A(H3N2) influenza.

Formative experiences of emerging physicians: gauging the impact of events that occur during medical school.

Purpose: Emotional development, an important component of nascent professional competence, is likely to be shaped by specific formative experiences. This study sought to identify and gauge the impact of highly evocative experiences occurring during medical school.

Method: A 34-item list of candidate formative experiences was developed through focus group meetings of "colleges program"-affiliated student-advising faculty.

Naturalistic changes in insomnia symptoms and pain in temporomandibular joint disorder: a cross-lagged panel analysis.

An increasing number of prospective studies suggest a bi-directional association between the pain and sleep quality. Few of these investigations have controlled for synchronous correlations, an important source of extraneous variance in lagged associations, which may have confounded conclusions of prior investigations. Despite high rates of insomnia in temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD), no studies have examined temporal associations between naturalistic fluctuations in insomnia and pain in TMD.

Posttraumatic stress disorder and pain impact functioning and disability after major burn injury.

This study sought to clarify the prospective and concurrent associations of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and pain with functioning and disability after burn injury. The sample was composed of consecutive patients admitted to a regional burn center with major burn injuries (N = 171) who were followed at 1, 6, 12, and 24 months postdischarge. The predictor measures were the McGill Pain Questionnaire and Davidson Trauma Scale, and the outcome measures were Short Form-36 Health Survey subscales administered at 6, 12, and 24 months after discharge.

Pain catastrophizing and salivary cortisol responses to laboratory pain testing in temporomandibular disorder and healthy participants.

Unlabelled: Pain catastrophizing is an important variable in the context of acute and chronic pain. The neurophysiological correlates of pain catastrophizing, however, have not been rigorously evaluated. We examined the relationship between trait-pain catastrophizing and morning salivary cortisol levels before and following a 45-minute laboratory pain-testing session in healthy, pain-free (n = 22), and temporomandibular disorder (TMD) participants (n = 39).

Catastrophizing and depressive symptoms as prospective predictors of outcomes following total knee replacement.

Several recent reports suggest that pain-related catastrophizing is a risk factor for poor acute pain outcomes following surgical interventions. However, it has been less clear whether levels of catastrophizing influence longer-term postoperative outcomes. Data were analyzed from a relatively small number (n=43) of patients who underwent total knee replacement and were followed for 12 months after their surgery.

Sleep disorders and their association with laboratory pain sensitivity in temporomandibular joint disorder.

Study Objectives: We characterized sleep disorder rates in temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) and evaluated possible associations between sleep disorders and laboratory measures of pain sensitivity.

Design: Research diagnostic examinations were conducted, followed by two consecutive overnight polysomnographic studies with morning and evening assessments of pain threshold.

Setting: Orofacial pain clinic and inpatient sleep research facility.

Morphine versus mexiletine for treatment of postamputation pain: a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial.

Background: Stump and phantom pains are debilitating sequelae of amputations that are often resistant to treatment. The efficacy of pharmacologic therapies, including opioids and sodium channel blockers, for postamputation pain is uncertain.

Methods: The authors conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study in adult patients with postamputation pain of 6 months or longer and greater than 3 on a 0-10 numeric pain rating scale.

Duration of sleep contributes to next-day pain report in the general population.

Cross-sectional research in clinical samples, as well as experimental studies in healthy adults, suggests that the experiences of pain and sleep are bi-directionally connected. However, whether sleep and pain experiences are prospectively linked to one another on a day-to-day basis in the general population has not previously been reported. This study utilizes data from a naturalistic, micro-longitudinal, telephone study using a representative national sample of 971 adults.

Sleep onset insomnia symptoms during hospitalization for major burn injury predict chronic pain.

Both cross-sectional studies of chronic pain and sleep deprivation experiments suggest a bi-directional relationship between sleep and pain. Few longitudinal studies, however, have assessed whether acute insomnia following traumatic injury predicts the development of persistent pain. We sought to evaluate (1) whether in-hospital insomnia independently predicts long-term pain after burn injury and (2) whether in-hospital pain predicts future insomnia symptoms.

Symptoms of depression and anxiety as unique predictors of pain-related outcomes following burn injury.

Background: The adverse consequences of burn injuries include pain and psychological distress, which show bidirectional associations. However, much of the existing research has relied on global measures of distress that do not separate distinct symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Purpose: The purpose is to assess the prospective effects of anxiety and depression on pain and functional outcomes following burn injury.

Associations of patient health-related problem solving with disease control, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations in HIV and diabetes clinic samples.

Background: Patient problem solving and decision making are recognized as essential to effective self-management across multiple chronic diseases. However, a health-related problem-solving instrument that demonstrates sensitivity to disease control parameters in multiple diseases has not been established.

Objectives: To determine, in two disease samples, internal consistency and associations with disease control of the Health Problem-Solving Scale (HPSS), a 50-item measure with 7 subscales assessing effective and ineffective problem-solving approaches, learning from past experiences, and motivation/orientation.

Symptoms of distress as prospective predictors of pain-related sciatica treatment outcomes.

Prior studies evaluating predictors of pain-related outcomes following treatment for sciatica have been limited by methodological problems, including retrospective study design, use of unvalidated outcome measures, and short-term follow-up periods. Despite these limitations, some reports have suggested that symptoms of psychological distress may predict individual differences in pain treatment-related outcomes (e.g.