Responsiveness to change in health status of the EQ-5D in patients treated for depression and anxiety.

Background: The EQ-5D is a commonly used generic measure of health but evidence on its responsiveness to change in mental health is limited. This study aimed to explore the responsiveness of the five-level version of the instrument, the EQ-5D-5 L, in patients receiving treatment for depression and anxiety.

Methods: Patient data (N = 416) were collected at baseline and at end of treatment in an observational study in a Norwegian outpatient clinic.

Healing the wounds of workplace bullying: Evaluating mental health and workplace participation among victims seeking treatment for common mental disorders.

Background: Victims of workplace bullying represent a group characterised by severe negative health complaints at risk of losing their foothold in working life. To date, very few studies have investigated the effect of psychological treatment of the health-related problems often facing victims of bullying.

Objective: The aim was to investigate if victims of workplace bullying suffering from common mental disorders (CMD) benefit from clinical treatment for their mental health problems at an outpatient clinic treating patients using Metacognitive or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with work-focus.

Changes in depression domains as predictors of return to work in common mental disorders.

Background: Depression highly impairs function and reduces quality of life. Therefore, both symptomatic and functional recovery are important treatment goals. Depression consists of several cognitive, somatic, and affective symptom factors that differently affect function.

Metacognitive therapy and work-focused interventions for patients on sick leave due to anxiety and depression: study protocol for a randomised controlled wait-list trial.

Background: Common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety are major contributors to the global burden of disease. Affected individuals suffer reduced quality of life, impaired functioning and reduced capacity to work. Maintaining employment is an important determinant for health and wellbeing, and the economic impact of depression and anxiety is a significant societal expense.

Self-Reported Health in Patients on or at Risk of Sick Leave Due to Depression and Anxiety: Validity of the EQ-5D.

The EQ-5D is a generic, self-report measure of health that is increasingly used in clinical settings, including mental health. The EQ-5D captures health using five dimensions: Mobility, Self-care, Usual activities, Pain/discomfort, and Anxiety/Depression. The validity of the EQ-5D is previously unexplored in patients on or at risk of sick leave due to depression and anxiety.

Sick leave and return to work for patients with anxiety and depression: a longitudinal study of trajectories before, during and after work-focused treatment.

Objectives: Sick leave due to anxiety and depression is a heterogeneous process constituting a pressing public health issue. This longitudinal study aimed to identify sick leave trajectories among patients before, during and after work-focused treatment, in all 29.5 months.

Occupational exposure to glass wool fibers: An update.

In the decade since the last published comprehensive report of occupational exposures in the glass wool insulation industry, many process and regulatory changes have occurred in the glass wool manufacturing sector. This paper assesses whether any significant changes in worker exposures to glass wool fibers have resulted from these process and regulatory changes. The analysis compares worker exposures to glass wool overall and across different product and job categories in the manufacturing sector prior to and after 2007, the data cutoff period for the last comprehensive update of occupational exposures in this industry.

The Return-to-Work Self-efficacy Questionnaire (RTW-SE): A Validation Study of Predictive Abilities and Cut-off Values for Patients on Sick Leave Due to Anxiety or Depression.

Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the validity of the Return-to-Work Self-efficacy Questionnaire (RTW-SE) in a Norwegian sample of patients with common mental disorders. The secondary aim was to provide validated cut-off scores for the RTW-SE. Methods Among patients receiving work-focused therapy (N = 626), the RTW-SE was measured pre-and post-treatment, and work status was assessed up to one-year post-treatment.

Clinical Characteristics of Patients Seeking Treatment for Common Mental Disorders Presenting With Workplace Bullying Experiences.

Background: Targets of workplace bullying tend to develop severe mental health complaints, having increased risk of sick leave and expulsion from the workplace. Hence, these individuals are likely to be overrepresented among patients seeking treatment for common mental disorders (CMD). This study investigated the prevalence of exposure to workplace bullying in a patient group seeking treatment for CMD.

Work-focused therapy for common mental disorders: A naturalistic study comparing an intervention group with a waitlist control group.

Background: Common mental disorders (CMD) are leading causes of sickness absence. Treatments for CMD that both reduce symptoms and support work participation urgently need to be developed.

Objective: Determine the potential effects of work-focused therapy combining work interventions with either meta cognitive therapy or cognitive behavioural therapy (W-MCT/CBT) for patients with CMD on sick leave.

Effect of budesonide/formoterol pressurized metered-dose inhaler on exacerbations versus formoterol in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: The 6-month, randomized RISE (Revealing the Impact of Symbicort in reducing Exacerbations in COPD) study.

Background: Prevention of exacerbations is a primary goal for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) therapy. This randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, parallel-group, multicenter study evaluated the effect of budesonide/formoterol pressurized metered-dose inhaler (pMDI) versus formoterol dry powder inhaler (DPI) on reducing COPD exacerbations.

Methods: 1219 patients aged ≥40 years with moderate-to-very-severe COPD (per lung function) and a history of ≥1 COPD exacerbation received budesonide/formoterol pMDI 320/9 μg twice daily (BID) during a 4-week run-in.

Efficacy and safety of budesonide/formoterol pMDI vs budesonide pMDI in asthmatic children (6-<12 years).

Background: The efficacy and safety of budesonide/formoterol pressurized metered-dose inhaler (pMDI) have been demonstrated in patients with asthma at least 12 years old.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of 2 formoterol doses added to budesonide as fixed combinations vs budesonide alone in children 6 to younger than 12 years with asthma.

Methods: This randomized, double-blinded, parallel-group, multicenter study (NCT02091986; CHASE 3) included children 6 to younger than 12 years with asthma previously receiving a medium-dose inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) or an ICS plus a long-acting β-agonist.

Simplified Citrate Anticoagulation for CRRT Without Calcium Replacement.

Since 2012, citrate anticoagulation is the recommended anticoagulation strategy for continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). The main drawback using citrate as anticoagulant compared with heparin is the need for calcium replacement and the rigorous control of calcium levels. This study investigated the possibility to achieve anticoagulation while eliminating the need for calcium replacement.

Nurse practitioners in medical rehabilitation settings: a description of practice roles and patterns.

Purpose: To describe nurse practitioner (NP) roles in medical rehabilitation settings.

Data Source: Description of practice by rehabilitation NPs and physicians.

Conclusions: NPs increasingly function in medical rehabilitation settings as independent or collaborative care providers.

Assessment and evaluation of primary prevention in spinal cord injury.

Although the incidence of spinal cord injury (SCI) is low, the consequences of this disabling condition are extremely significant for the individual, family, and the community. Sequelae occur in the physical, psychosocial, sexual, and financial arenas, making global prevention of SCI crucial. Understanding how to assess and evaluate primary prevention programs is an important competency for SCI professionals.

New approaches to neurorehabilitiation: the increasing evidence base.

Recent advances in neuroscience have led to newer, more scientific approaches to rehabilitation for patients who have had a stroke or sustained a brain or spinal cord injury. Specifically, the pendulum in rehabilitation has swung away from a focus on compensatory techniques and toward impairment-mitigating therapies. In addition, there is a new push to base therapies on scientific evidence.

RAND/UCLA Quality-of-Care Measures for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Tools for Assessing Quality of Care and Appropriateness of Surgery.

Claims relating to carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) are common in workers' compensation systems. Given that the human and economic costs related to CTS are considerable, healthcare organizations must be able to offer high-quality care to people affected by this condition. The study on which this article is based is a step toward improving care for CTS.

Quality measures for the diagnosis and non-operative management of carpal tunnel syndrome in occupational settings.

Introduction: Providing higher quality medical care to workers with occupationally associated carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) may reduce disability, facilitate return to work, and lower the associated costs. Although many workers' compensation systems have adopted treatment guidelines to reduce the overuse of unnecessary care, limited attention has been paid to ensuring that the care workers do receive is high quality. Further, guidelines are not designed to enable objective assessments of quality of care.

Clinical quality measures for electrodiagnosis in suspected carpal tunnel syndrome.

Extensive research has documented that medical care in the United States is not of optimal quality, meaning that well-established care processes are not consistently provided to the patients who would benefit from them. To assess and improve quality of care, specific measures are needed. The objective of this study was to develop quality measures for electrodiagnostic testing in suspected carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).

Formation of carbonated apatite particles from a supersaturated inorganic blood serum model.

Pathological calcification is common among for instance dialysis patients, and this causes an increase in mortality risk. An elevated serum phosphate concentration among those patients strongly correlates to this increase. In this work investigations of the conditions, composition, crystallinity and morphology of in vitro calcification are performed and related to results from in vivo studies.

The observation of nano-crystalline calcium phosphate precipitate in a simple supersaturated inorganic blood serum model - composition and morphology.

Aim. Calcium phosphate deposition in blood vessels is correlated to increased mortality risk. In this study, the formation of solid calcium phosphate in an in vitro solution mimicking the inorganic part of blood serum was studied.

A theoretical investigation of the supersaturation of basic calcium phosphate in serum of dialysis patients.

Extraosseous calcification in hemodialysis (HD) patients consists mainly of biological apatite, idealized as hydroxyapatite. Other suggested calcium phosphates are octacalcium phosphate (OCP) and brushite, both known to be hydroxyapatite precursors. Whatever the mechanisms of mineral deposition are, these mechanisms are always required to produce a supersaturated state, and that state can be calculated from the solubility product (SP) of the relevant mineral.

Transvaginal ultrasonography and endometrial histology in peri- and postmenopausal women on hormone replacement therapy.

Objective: To determine the association between endometrial thickness and endometrial histology in a large sample of women using HRT.

Design: Results from three multi-centre studies were combined.

Participants: Five hundred and sixty-four climacteric women were treated with either sequential, continuous combined or long-cycle therapy.