[A prehabilitation program for patients undergoing elective resection of a colorectal carcinoma: effects on the postoperative hospital stay and complication burden].

Objective: To investigate the effect of a prehabilitation program on the postoperative hospital stay and complication burden in patients undergoing elective resection of a colorectal carcinoma.

Design: Comparative retrospective cohort study.

Method: The study population consisted of patients who had undergone elective resection of a colorectal carcinoma between 2017 and 2020 at the Elkerliek hospital in Helmond.

[Quality of life of nursing home residents with dementia before, during and after playing with a magic table].

The 'Active Cues Magic Table' is a new game concept within nursing home care. It consists of light animations projected on a dining table and responding to movements of the players. The aim of this exploratory, quasi-experimental study was to examine the quality of life of nursing home residents with moderately severe or severe dementia before, during and after playing with this magic table.

Early predictors of study success in a Dutch advanced nurse practitioner education program: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Study delay and attrition are major concerns in higher education. They cost time and effort, and threaten the availability of higher qualified professionals. Knowing early what factors contribute to delay and attrition may help prevent this.

Psychological profiles in patients with Sjögren's syndrome related to fatigue: a cluster analysis.

Objective: Fatigue is a highly prevalent and debilitating symptom in the autoimmune disease SS. Although the disease process plays a role in fatigue, psychological factors may influence fatigue and the ability to deal with its consequences. Profiles of co-occurring psychological factors may suggest potential targets for the treatment of fatigue.

An inventory of reasons for sperm donation in formal versus informal settings.

The shortage of sperm donors in formal settings (i.e., assisted reproduction clinics) and the availability of sperm donors in informal settings (such as through contacts on the internet) motivated us to investigate why men may prefer either a formal or an informal setting for sperm donation.

Change of psychological distress and physical disability in patients with rheumatoid arthritis over the last two decades.

Objective: During the past decades, a more cautious approach with respect to prescribing medication and physical exercise progressed toward evidence-based guidelines regarding the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Currently, physical activity and other means to improve well-being and functioning are encouraged, and the disease is targeted earlier with more intensive and aggressive pharmacologic treatment. The current study examined whether psychological distress and physical disability in patients with RA reduced over the last 2 decades and whether this is explained by a reduction of disease activity.

Influence of weather on daily symptoms of pain and fatigue in female patients with fibromyalgia: a multilevel regression analysis.

Objective: Although patients with fibromyalgia often report that specific weather conditions aggravate their symptoms, empirical studies have not conclusively demonstrated such a relationship. Our aim was to examine the association between weather conditions and daily symptoms of pain and fatigue in fibromyalgia, and to identify patient characteristics explaining individual differences in weather sensitivity.

Methods: Female patients with fibromyalgia (n = 333, mean age 47.

A taxonomy of possible reasons for and against sperm donation.

Objective: Various reasons may guide the decision of men to become a sperm donor. Our aim was to identify a comprehensive set of possible reasons for and against sperm donation.

Design: Concept mapping.

Psychological interventions for patients with rheumatic diseases and anxiety or depression.

The prevalence of clinical anxiety and clinical depression in rheumatic diseases is about twice the prevalence seen in the general population. At a milder level, the occurrence of psychological distress that does not fulfil diagnostic criteria of anxiety and depression is even higher. Evidence indicates that this high prevalence is multifactorial.

Increase of body mass index in a tight controlled methotrexate-based strategy with prednisone in early rheumatoid arthritis: side effect of the prednisone or better control of disease activity?

Objective: To clarify whether increase of body weight in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) upon administration of prednisone is a side effect of prednisone or a result of better control of disease activity, we examined the association of prednisone and disease activity with a subsequent change in body mass index (BMI).

Methods: In the Computer Assisted Management in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Trial-II, patients ages ≥18 years with early RA (disease duration <1 year and no prior use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs) had been randomized to a methotrexate (MTX)-based tight control strategy with either 10 mg of prednisone (MTX + prednisone) or placebo (MTX + placebo). The MTX + prednisone group had lower disease activity, but gained more weight than the MTX + placebo group (mean ± SD 2.

Dealing with emotions when the ability to cry is hampered: emotion processing and regulation in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Objectives: The hampered ability to cry in patients with Sjögren's syndrome may affect their ways of dealing with emotions. The aim of this study was to examine differences in emotion processing and regulation between people with and without Sjögren's syndrome and correlations of emotion processing and regulation with mental well-being.

Methods: In 300 patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome and 100 demographically matched control participants (mean age 56.

Psychoeducation for patients with a psychotic disorder: effects on knowledge and coping.

Objective: Psychoeducation is an essential and promising element in the nonpharmacologic treatment of patients with a psychotic disorder. This study examined the effects of patient-directed psychoeducation on knowledge and coping.

Method: This study included 99 primary care patients with a psychotic disorder according to DSM-IV-TR criteria who completed a knowledge questionnaire before and a knowledge and coping questionnaire halfway through, immediately after, and 6 months after a 20-session group psychoeducation program.

Physical activity and physical activity cognitions are potential factors maintaining fatigue in patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome.

Background: Fatigue is a prevalent and debilitating problem in Sjögren's syndrome. It has been suggested that physical activity and cognitions about physical activity can influence fatigue.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine fatigue and physical activity levels in patients with Sjögren's syndrome and the associations of physical activity and physical activity cognitions with fatigue.

Characteristics of suitable work from the perspective of patients with fibromyalgia.

Objectives: The evaluation of work ability of patients with FM is difficult. Our aim was to investigate the characteristics of suitable work from the perspective of patients with FM.

Methods: Interviews with patients yielded statements about characteristics of suitable work.

The prospective association between psychological distress and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis: a multilevel regression analysis.

Background: Cross-sectional associations suggest a mutual impact of disease activity and psychological distress in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but a prospective association has not been established.

Objective: To examine concurrent and prospective associations between psychological distress and disease activity.

Methods: Patients with RA (N=545, disease duration ≤1 year, age 18-83 years, 69% female, 64% rheumatoid factor (RF) positive) were monitored for 5 years.

Cortisol during the day in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus or primary Sjogren's syndrome.

Objective: To compare the level and change of cortisol during the day of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) with low and high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR).

Methods: Saliva was collected in the real-life environment of 21 women with SLE, 16 women with pSS, and 30 age-matched healthy women at 9 fixed timepoints during 2 consecutive days. Repeated measures ANOVA was performed to examine whether cortisol levels during the day were different for the patients with low ESR (≤ 20 mm/h) versus those with high ESR (> 20 mm/h).

The relation between illness cognitions and quality of life in people with and without a stoma following rectal cancer treatment.

Objectives: To compare health-related quality of life, emotional functioning and illness cognitions between people with and without a stoma after rectal cancer treatment about 8 years ago and to examine the relation between illness cognitions and health-related quality of life and emotional functioning.

Methods: Sixty-two people who had undergone abdominoperineal resection with a permanent stoma and 60 people who had undergone low anterior resection without a permanent stoma participated. Questionnaires included the European Organization of Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Illness Cognition Questionnaire.

Reliable change and practice effects: outcomes of various indices compared.

In this article the outcomes of three indices for the assessment of reliable change (RCIs) are compared: the null hypothesis method of Chelune, Naugle, Luders, Sedlak, and Awad (1993), the regression-based method of McSweeny, Naugle, Chelune, and Luders (1993), and a recently proposed adjustment to the latter procedure (Maassen, 2003). Simulated data demonstrated the importance of using large control samples. The regression-based method proved to be the most lenient in designating individuals as reliably changed, resulting in the most correct and the most incorrect designations.

Evaluation of the treatment tradeoff method in rectal cancer patients: is surgery preference related to outcome utilities?

Background: The treatment tradeoff method (TTM) has been developed specifically for decision making at the level of the individual patient. The task is tailored to the clinical decision problem at hand and may therefore be more relevant to patients than methods of outcome valuation. Despite its wide use in oncology research, few methodological studies regarding validity have been conducted.

Testing the laterality hypothesis after left or right carotid endarterectomy: no ipsilateral effects on neuropsychological functioning.

Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) is performed to prevent stroke, but the possible restorative function of CEA on neuropsychological functioning has frequently been considered. Restorative effects might be clearer in functions mediated by the hemisphere ipsilateral to the operated side than in those of the contralateral hemisphere. The present study examined this hypothesis, both at group level and at individual level, in 45 right-handed male patients with CEA of either the right or the left carotid artery.

Cognitive functions in carotid artery disease before endarterectomy.

Restorative effects of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) on cognitive functioning in patients with severe atherosclerotic disease presuppose the existence of cognitive deficits prior to the intervention. Thorough examination of this premise received only minor attention. The present study assessed symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with severe unilateral or bilateral stenosis of the carotid arteries one day before CEA.

Effect of carotid endarterectomy on patient evaluations of cognitive functioning and mental and physical health.

The prophylactic effect of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) against stroke has been well established. As a consequence of the restoration of cerebral blood supply and reduced risk of stroke, cognitive functioning and perceived health may improve. Fifty-one patients with severe atherosclerotic disease of the carotid artery but without history of major stroke completed the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire and the Short Form 36 Health Survey before CEA and 3 and 12 months thereafter.

Does carotid endarterectomy improve cognitive functioning?

Background: Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) might improve cognitive functioning, but studies thus far have produced mixed results. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of CEA on cognitive functions in a methodologically more strict design, first by testing the presumption of preoperative cognitive impairment and second through a better control for the possible influence of the nonspecific effects of practice and surgery.

Methods: Preoperative performance on a neuropsychologic test battery of 56 patients with severe occlusive disease of the carotid artery but without history of major stroke was compared with the performance of 46 healthy control subjects and 23 patients before endarterectomy of the superficial femoral artery (remote endarterectomy).