Psychometric Evaluation of the Cancer Dependent Quality of Life (CancerDQoL) Questionnaire: An Individualised Measure of the Impact of Cancer and Its Treatment on Quality of Life.

Objective: The Cancer Dependent Quality of Life (CancerDQoL) questionnaire asks about the impact of cancer and its treatment on individuals' quality of life (QoL). This study evaluates the psychometric properties of the CancerDQoL in a UK sample.

Methods: Patients (n = 159) with a range of cancers, recruited from Barts Health NHS Trust and Barts Maggie's Centre, completed self-administered questionnaires: CancerDQoL, EQ-5D-VAS (health status), EORTC-QLQ-C30 (predominantly health symptoms/functioning) and W-BQ16 (well-being).

Experiences and perspectives of peer support among young adults with epilepsy.

Young adulthood is a critical developmental period which having epilepsy tends to complicate, suggesting support could be useful. This study aimed to examine the experiences and perspectives of peer support among young adults with epilepsy (YAWE). An online survey was completed by 144 YAWE.

Design of an individualised questionnaire to measure the impact of cancer on quality of life: The cancer dependent quality of life (CancerDQoL) questionnaire.

Aim: To design an individualised questionnaire to measure the impact of cancer and its treatments on quality of life (QoL). MATERIALS & METHODS: Design of the Cancer-Dependent Quality of Life (CancerDQoL) questionnaire was based on the Audit of Diabetes Dependent QoL (ADDQoL) questionnaire and related -DQoLs for other conditions. Item selection, face validity and content validity were established through clinician and patient ratings of the importance and relevance of 60 domains from the -DQoL Item Library, and semi-structured interviews with 25 English-speaking participants with a range of cancers attending a cancer centre in Zimbabwe (age range: 25-78 years; 16 women, 9 men).

Design and development of the Hypoglycaemia Symptom Rating Questionnaire (HypoSRQ).

Aims: To evaluate the Hypoglycaemia Symptom Rating Questionnaire (HypoSRQ©) and relationships between self-reported hypoglycaemia and hypoglycaemia measured using blinded continuous glucose monitoring (CGM).

Methods: Diabetes outpatients (n = 113) recruited from Ashford and St. Peter's Hospital completed the HypoSRQ (recent weeks version) and provided clinical information.

Cross-modal personality attributions in synaesthetes and non-synaesthetes.

Those variants of synaesthesia that trigger colour are well studied, although comparatively less is known about variants that involve cognitive constructs such as personality types. Here we investigate sequence-personality synaesthesia (also known as ordinal linguistic personification, OLP) in which sequenced units (e.g.

Five Factor Model personality traits and all-cause mortality in the Edinburgh Artery Study cohort.

Objective: To examine whether personality traits are related to all-cause mortality in a general adult population in Scotland.

Methods: The Edinburgh Artery Study began in 1987 to 1988 by recruiting 1592 men and women aged 55 to 74 years to be followed-up for atherosclerotic diseases. The NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) was completed by 1035 surviving participants in 1995 to 1996.

Apolipoprotein E is not related to memory abilities at 70 years of age.

APOE e4-related memory deficits were reported in a normal population aged between 50 and 60 when controlling for general cognitive ability in early adulthood. This extended findings of APOE e4 effects on cognitive ability in 60-80-year-olds to a younger group and confirmed that this effect relates to changes in memory ability with age. The present study tests the association of APOE e4 variation with verbal and spatial memory in a sample of 70-year-olds both adjusted and non-adjusted for childhood and adult general cognitive ability.

An observational study of surgery-related activities between nurses and surgeons during laparoscopic surgery.

Background: In the operating room (OR), nurse-surgeon coordination is essential to the success of a surgery.

Methods: This observational field study was conducted in the OR for selected laparoscopic surgeries to record surgery-related activities (SRAs) performed by the scrub nurses with different levels of OR experience. Those SRAs performed without instruction were defined as anticipatory movements.

Cognition and mortality from the major causes of death: the Health and Lifestyle Survey.

Objective: To investigate the influence of reaction time and cognition on the risk of death from cause-specific mortality and to examine whether any association found remains after adjustment for available socioeconomic, lifestyle, and health factors.

Methods: Participants were from the UK Health and Lifestyle Survey. The sample consisted of 6424 community dwelling individuals aged between 18 and 97 years at baseline (1984/1985).

The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936: a study to examine influences on cognitive ageing from age 11 to age 70 and beyond.

Background: Cognitive ageing is a major burden for society and a major influence in lowering people's independence and quality of life. It is the most feared aspect of ageing. There are large individual differences in age-related cognitive changes.

Neuroticism, extraversion, and mortality in the UK Health and Lifestyle Survey: a 21-year prospective cohort study.

Objective: To examine the influence of neuroticism and extraversion on all-cause and cause-specific mortality over 21 years after controlling for risk factors.

Methods: Participants were members of the Health and Lifestyle Survey, a British nationwide sample survey of 9003 adults. At baseline (1984 to 1985), individuals completed a sociodemographic and health questionnaire, underwent physical health examination, and completed the Eysenck Personality Inventory.

Association between mortality and cognitive change over 7 years in a large representative sample of UK residents.

Objective: To examine the association between change in reaction time and cognitive performance over 7 years and the risk of death from all causes and some specific causes after controlling for known risk factors.

Methods: The sample comprised members of the Health and Lifestyle Survey (HALS) of community-dwelling adults in England, Scotland, and Wales. Baseline testing (HALS1), involving 9003 people, took place in 1985 and 1986.

Laparoscopic management of ventriculoperitoneal and lumboperitoneal shunt complications.

Background And Objectives: Minimally invasive approaches for the initial placement of ventriculoperitoneal (VP) and lumboperitoneal (LP) shunts have been well described. A laparoscopic approach has multiple advantages over open techniques, including decreased morbidity, more rapid recovery, and ability to visually assess catheter function. However, few series have addressed the role of laparoscopy in the management of VP and LP shunt complications.

Cognition and all-cause mortality across the entire adult age range: health and lifestyle survey.

Objective: To investigate the association of reaction time and brief measures of memory and spatial ability with all-cause mortality.

Methods: Participants were from the UK Health and Lifestyle Survey (HALS), a national sample survey of adults in England, Scotland, and Wales. In 1984/1985, data on lifestyle factors, socioeconomic status, and health were collected for 9,003 people.

Childhood IQ and social factors on smoking behaviour, lung function and smoking-related outcomes in adulthood: linking the Scottish Mental Survey 1932 and the Midspan studies.

Objective: To investigate the associations of childhood IQ and adult social factors, and smoking behaviour, lung function (forced expiratory volume in one second; FEV(1)), and smoking-related outcomes in adulthood.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Method: Participants were from the Midspan prospective studies conducted on Scottish adults in the 1970s.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in vascular surgery: increasing prevalence.

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a virulent organism that causes substantial infection-related morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. For example, MRSA infection of prosthetic vascular grafts can be limb- and life-threatening in surgical patients. We investigated the incidence of MRSA infection in vascular surgical patients who developed postoperative infectious complications.

Childhood mental ability and blood pressure at midlife: linking the Scottish Mental Survey 1932 and the Midspan studies.

Objectives: To establish the relationship between childhood mental ability and adult hypertension.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Community.

Childhood IQ, social class, deprivation, and their relationships with mortality and morbidity risk in later life: prospective observational study linking the Scottish Mental Survey 1932 and the Midspan studies.

Objective: To investigate how childhood mental ability (IQ) is related to mortality and morbidity risk, when socioeconomic factors are also considered.

Methods: Participants were from the Midspan studies conducted on adults in the 1970s; 938 Midspan participants were successfully matched with the Scottish Mental Survey 1932 in which children born in 1921 and attending Scottish schools on June 1, 1932, took a cognitive ability test. Mortality, hospital admissions, and cancer incidence in the 25 years after the Midspan screening were investigated in relation to childhood IQ, social class, and deprivation.

Trauma in the elderly: intensive care unit resource use and outcome.

Background: As the population ages, the elderly will constitute a prominent proportion of trauma patients. The elderly suffer more severe consequences from traumatic injuries compared with the young, presumably resulting in increased resource use. In this study, we sought to examine ICU resource use in trauma on the basis of age and injury severity.

Preoperative anemia in colon cancer: assessment of risk factors.

Anemia is common in cancer patients and is associated with reduced survival. Recent studies document that treatment of anemia with blood transfusion in cancer patients is associated with increased infection risk, tumor recurrence, and mortality. We therefore investigated the incidence of preoperative anemia in colorectal cancer and assessed risk factors for anemia.