Development and Validation of a Quantitative Measure of Adaptive Behaviors in Women With Pelvic Floor Disorders.

Purpose: To establish validity for the Pelvic Floor Disorders Network (PFDN) self-administered Adaptive Behavior Index (ABI) and to assess whether ABI assesses known discordance between severity of pelvic floor symptoms and self-reported bother.

Methods: In addition to the ABI questionnaire, participants in 1 of 6 Pelvic Floor Disorders Network trials completed condition-specific measures of pretreatment symptom severity (including Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory; PFDI) and health-related quality of life (Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire; PFIQ). The final survey was developed from an iterative process using subject and expert endorsement, factor analyses, and response distributions.

Patient compliance and suboptimal bowel preparation with split-dose bowel regimen in average-risk screening colonoscopy.

Background: Although split-dose bowel regimen is recommended in colon cancer screening and surveillance guidelines, implementation in clinical practice has seemingly lagged because of concerns of patient compliance.

Objectives: To assess patient compliance with the split-dose bowel regimen and assess patient- and preparation process-related factors associated with compliance and bowel preparation adequacy.

Design: Prospective survey cohort.

Barriers to and mediators of brain-computer interface user acceptance: focus group findings.

Unlabelled: Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) are designed to enable individuals with severe motor impairments such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to communicate and control their environment. A focus group was conducted with individuals with ALS (n=8) and their caregivers (n=9) to determine the barriers to and mediators of BCI acceptance in this population. Two key categories emerged: personal factors and relational factors.

What would brain-computer interface users want? Opinions and priorities of potential users with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Universal design principles advocate inclusion of end users in every design stage, including research and development. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have long been described as potential tools to enable people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to operate technology without moving. Therefore the objective of the current study is to determine the opinions and priorities of people with ALS regarding BCI design.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients' self-reported satisfaction with assistive technology.

Introduction: Assistive devices are prescribed for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients with motor deficits, but little is known about their perceived benefit. Therefore, we assessed ALS patients' satisfaction with commonly prescribed devices.

Methods: A telephone survey of 63 ALS patients from a single multidisciplinary clinic was conducted to assess the frequency of use, perceived usefulness, and satisfaction with 33 assistive devices.

Lessons learned from a peri-urban needle exchange.

Background: Injection drug users continue to be at high risk of HIV and HCV. Research has shown that needle exchange programs (NEP) decrease injection frequency, reduce syringe reuse, and reduce needle sharing, though some results have been mixed.

Methods: This evaluation of a small, peri-urban, legal NEP near Ypsilanti, Michigan describes the operation of the NEP and its clients.

Contrasting the use of 2 vision-specific quality of life questionnaires in subjects with open-angle glaucoma.

Purpose: To compare 2 vision-specific functional status measures to each other and to clinical parameters in the Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study (CIGTS).

Methods: CIGTS participants completed the Visual Activities Questionnaire (VAQ) and the National Eye Institute-Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ) and were tested for visual field (VF) and visual acuity (VA). In all, 426 subjects contributed the VAQ and NEI-VFQ scores at 54 months.

Patient reported symptoms during an ulcerative colitis flare: a Qualitative Focus Group Study.

Background: It has been assumed that the symptoms measured in disease activity indices for ulcerative colitis reflect those symptoms that patients find useful in evaluating the severity of a disease flare.

Objective: We aimed to identify which symptoms are important to patients and to compare these symptoms with a comprehensive list of commonly measured symptoms to evaluate whether the patient-reported important symptoms are represented in current disease activity indices for ulcerative colitis.

Methods: Qualitative focus group study.

Evaluating clinical change and visual function concerns in drivers and nondrivers with glaucoma.

Purpose: To compare drivers and nondrivers, and to describe the specific concerns of drivers, among individuals with glaucoma.

Methods: Six hundred seven patients with newly diagnosed glaucoma treated at 14 clinical centers of the Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study were randomly assigned to initial medicine or surgery and were followed up every 6 months. Driving status (drivers versus nondrivers) and patient-reported visual function were determined by the Visual Activities Questionnaire and the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire.

Risk of sleep apnea in orchestra members.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common condition with substantial health consequences. A recent randomized trial found that playing the didgeridoo improved both subjective and objective sleep measures. We undertook a cross-sectional survey of professional orchestra players to test the hypothesis that playing a wind instrument would be associated with a lower risk of OSA.

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

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.

Enhancing participation of older women in surgical trials.

Background: Older participants are often excluded from clinical trials, precluding a representative sample.

Study Design: Using qualitative and quantitative methods, we examined recruitment and retention of older women with pelvic organ prolapse in two surgical trials: the randomized Colpopexy And Urinary Reduction Efforts (CARE) study and the Longitudinal Pelvic Symptoms and Patient Satisfaction After Colpocleisis cohort study. Using focus groups, we developed a questionnaire addressing factors facilitating and impeding the recruitment and retention of older study participants and administered it to research staff.

Optimism in women undergoing abdominal sacrocolpopexy for pelvic organ prolapse.

Background: Although studies suggest that optimism can predict health outcomes, the relationship has not been tested in women with pelvic organ prolapse (POP). This study sought to explore the relationship between optimism, prolapse severity, and symptoms before operation; and examine whether optimism predicts postsurgical functional status, treatment satisfaction, and treatment success.

Study Design: Data from the randomized Colpopexy and Urinary Reduction Efforts (CARE) study, in which stress continent women undergoing sacrocolpopexy to repair stage II to IV POP completed a baseline assessment of optimism and validated symptom and quality-of-life measures at baseline and 24 months.

Bowel symptoms in women 1 year after sacrocolpopexy.

Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate changes in bowel symptoms after sacrocolpopexy.

Study Design: This was a prospectively planned, ancillary analysis of the Colpopexy and Urinary Reduction Efforts study, a randomized trial of sacrocolpopexy with or without Burch colposuspension in stress continent women with stages II-IV prolapse. In addition to sacrocolpopexy (+/- Burch), subjects underwent posterior vaginal or perineal procedures (PR) at each surgeon's discretion.

Sexual function before and after sacrocolpopexy for pelvic organ prolapse.

Objective: The objective of the study was to describe sexual function before and after sacrocolpopexy.

Study Design: In the Colpopexy and Urinary Reduction Efforts trial, sexual function was assessed in 224 women with sexual partners before and 1 year after surgery using validated questionnaires.

Results: After surgery, significantly fewer women reported sexual interference from "pelvic or vaginal symptoms" (32.

Lower urinary tract symptoms, quality of life and pelvic organ prolapse: irritative bladder and obstructive voiding symptoms in women planning to undergo abdominal sacrocolpopexy for advanced pelvic organ prolapse.

Purpose: We compared lower urinary tract and voiding symptoms in women with and without symptoms of stress urinary incontinence who were planning to undergo abdominal sacrocolpopexy for pelvic organ prolapse.

Materials And Methods: Subjects without stress urinary incontinence included 293 women in the Colpopexy and Urinary Reduction Efforts Trial. Subjects with stress urinary incontinence included 82 women who met trial inclusion criteria except for having stress urinary incontinence symptoms.

Spanish language translation of pelvic floor disorders instruments.

The purpose of the study is to translate existing measures of pelvic symptoms and quality of life from English into Spanish, facilitating research participation of Hispanic/Latina women. The forward-backward translation protocol was applied then adjudicated by a concordance committee. The measures included the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory (PFDI), Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire (PFIQ), Medical, Epidemiological, and Social Aspects of Aging (MESA) Questionnaire, Hunskaar Severity Measure, Fecal Incontinence Severity Index and modified Manchester Questionnaire, Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Functioning Questionnaire (PISQ), and the Life Orientation Test (LOT).

Depression and mood indicators in newly diagnosed glaucoma patients.

Purpose: To assess depression and mood indicators in subjects newly diagnosed with chronic open-angle glaucoma.

Design: Cross-sectional study of data from a randomized clinical trial.

Methods: Newly-diagnosed glaucoma patients enrolled in the Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study (CIGTS) responded at baseline to quality-of-life (QOL) telephone interviews.

Fear of blindness in the Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study: patterns and correlates over time.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of fear of blindness (FOB) and the factors associated with FOB during 5 years of follow-up in the Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study.

Design: Randomized controlled clinical trial.

Participants: A total of 607 newly diagnosed patients with open-angle glaucoma were recruited from 14 clinical centers in the United States.

Cataract extraction in the collaborative initial glaucoma treatment study: incidence, risk factors, and the effect of cataract progression and extraction on clinical and quality-of-life outcomes.

Objectives: To study the incidence of and predictors for cataract extraction (CE) in patients with newly diagnosed glaucoma, the impact of CE on visual function, and changes in the time around CE.

Methods: Patients were randomized to medical or surgical treatments for glaucoma at 14 centers and followed up for a median of 7.7 years.

Impact of an educational video on patient decision making in early breast cancer treatment.

Previous research suggests that patient education programs promoting shared decision making (SDM) may improve patient satisfaction and outcomes, yet controlled clinical trials are lacking. The authors evaluate the impact of an early breast cancer treatment educational video on patients' decisional preferences and behavior. Newly diagnosed stage I/stage II breast cancer patients were assigned to SDM video program or control groups in alternating months.

Bowel symptoms in women planning surgery for pelvic organ prolapse.

Objective: The objective of the study was to measure associations between bowel symptoms and prolapse.

Study Design: Baseline data were analyzed from 322 women in the Colpopexy And Urinary Reduction Efforts trial of sacrocolpopexy with or without Burch colposuspension. Women completed the Colorectal-Anal Distress Inventory and Colorectal-Anal Impact Questionnaire and underwent Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification.