Quality of Life with Macular Degeneration Is Not as Dark as It May Seem: Patients' Perceptions of the MacDQoL Questionnaire.

To determine the perceived relevance and value of an individualized measure of the impact of macular degeneration on quality of life (QoL) for elderly people with Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) in the USA, through the assessment of the suitability of the measure's domains and by gaining a deeper insight into the impact of AMD on patients' QoL vis-á-vis these domains, community-dwelling older adults in the metropolitan Salt Lake City, Utah area were interviewed using the macular degeneration on quality of life (MacDQoL) instrument. Participants felt that the MacDQoL was a relevant instrument for use in this US study population, though it could be improved by adding items pertaining to transportation, and independent driving, in particular, as an important QoL indicator. The emerging theme from analysis of the respondent's commentary was that, in spite of AMD, these respondents were committed to engage in, and enjoy life.

Early signs and symptoms of psychosis among Palauan adolescents.

Aim: This study was designed to identify early symptoms associated with the occurrence of psychosis during adolescence.

Method: Participants were recruited in the Republic of Palau, an isolated island nation in Micronesia with a prevalence rate for schizophrenia of 1.99%.

Preventive intervention for early psychosis in adolescents--the Palau Youth at Risk Project.

We have studied a total of 393 adolescents 14 to 19 years from Palau, where the lifetime morbid risk for broadly defined schizophrenia is 2.67% and cases cluster in large extended families. These Palauan adolescents included 52 offspring of a schizophrenic parent designated as "Genetically Highest Risk" or GHR+ and 61 nieces/nephews of affected sib-pairs/trios, designated "Genetically High Risk" or GHR.

The Palau Early Psychosis Study: distribution of cases by level of genetic risk.

The Palau Early Psychosis Study (PEPS) was designed to examine the pathogenesis of early psychosis in a high-risk population isolate. This paper describes the characteristics of our community-based, non-help seeking sample of 404 Palauan adolescents and quantifies the presence of early psychosis by level of genetic risk. The sample included 53 offspring of a schizophrenic parent designated as "Genetically Highest Risk" (GHR+) and 68 nieces/nephews of sib-pairs/trios, designated as "Genetically High Risk" (GHR).

The Palau Early Psychosis Study: neurocognitive functioning in high-risk adolescents.

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate both the independent and joint effects of genetic risk and clinical status on neurocognitive functioning in adolescents from a population isolate with an elevated risk for schizophrenia and strong familial aggregation of cases.

Method: The subjects were 310 non-help seeking, drug-naïve adolescents 14-19 years of age from the Republic of Palau. The sample comprised 98 Genetically High Risk (GHR) adolescents, 54 of whom were symptomatic, and 212 Genetically Low Risk (GLR) adolescents, including 113 Clinically High Risk (CHR) subjects who were symptomatic and 99 normal controls who were non-symptomatic.