The impact of anonymity on psychiatric patients' ratings of satisfaction with the initial evaluation.

Background: Preserving anonymity is believed to yield more honest appraisals of patient satisfaction, although the data addressing this issue are sparse. The goal of this study from the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Services project was to determine the impact of anonymity on patient satisfaction ratings after the initial evaluation.

Methods: The Clinically Useful Patient Satisfaction Scale (CUPSS) is a brief, self-administered questionnaire assessing patients' satisfaction with the initial evaluation.

A clinically useful self-report measure of psychiatric patients' satisfaction with the initial evaluation.

Patient satisfaction is one component of the quality of care. Studies of satisfaction in samples of established patients are biased because dissatisfied patients are more likely to have dropped out of treatment. We, therefore, sought to develop a new instrument assessing patients' satisfaction with the initial psychiatric evaluation.

An acetylated polysaccharide-PTFE membrane-covered stent for the delivery of gemcitabine for treatment of gastrointestinal cancer and related stenosis.

Gemcitabine (Gem) eluting metal stents were prepared for potential application as drug delivery systems for localized treatment of malignant tumors. Pullulan, a natural polysaccharide, was chemically acetylated (pullulan acetate; PA) by different degrees (1.18, 1.

Bone morphogenic protein-2 (BMP-2) loaded nanoparticles mixed with human mesenchymal stem cell in fibrin hydrogel for bone tissue engineering.

Recent tissue engineering efforts have been focused on the use of natural or synthetic matrices which combine the characteristics of biodegradable properties with those of protein delivery vehicles, allowing for implanted cell actions and enhanced tissue regeneration. The principal objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of ectopic bone formation in a three-dimensional fibrin construct mixed with bone morphogenic protein-2 (BMP-2) loaded in nano-carriers for the osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). The results of our evaluation showed that the osteogenic differentiation of hMSCs embedded in the fibrin construct was affected significantly by the stimulation of growth factors loaded in nanoparticles.