We compared the performance of 31 non-demented Parkinson's disease (PD) patients to 61 healthy controls in an action verbal fluency task. Semantic and phonemic fluencies, cognitive impairment and behavioural dysfunction were also assessed. The mean disease duration of PD was 9.8 years (standard deviation (SD) = 6.13). There were no age (U = 899.5, p = 0.616), gender(chi-square = 0.00, p = 1.00) or literacy (U = 956, p = 0.96) differences between the two groups. A significant difference was observed between the two groups in the action verbal fluency task (U = 406.5, p < 0.01) that was not found in the other fluency tasks. The education level was the only biographical variable that influenced the action (verb) fluency outcomes, irrespective of disease duration. Our findings suggest a correlation between the disease mechanisms in PD and a specific verb deficit, support the validity of the action (verb) fluency as an executive function measure and suggest that this task provides unique information not captured with traditional executive function tasks.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0004-282X20150056 | DOI Listing |
BMC Health Serv Res
January 2025
Department of Health Services Research, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia.
Background: The provision of healthcare is complex. When evidence-practice gaps are identified, interventions to improve practice across multi-level systems are required. These interventions often consist of multiple interacting components and behaviours.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Public Health
January 2025
Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran.
Background: Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is crucial for optimizing healthcare investments and improving system efficiency. In Iran, the rising costs of healthcare technologies and systemic inefficiencies have highlighted the need for a structured HTA framework. However, despite academic discussions, HTA has not yet been fully integrated into formal health policy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Public Health
January 2025
Nutrition and Health Department, Action Against Hunger, Madrid, Spain.
Background: Acute malnutrition treatment coverage remains low worldwide, causing significant morbidity and mortality. Decentralisation of treatment to Community Health Worker (CHW) sites has shown to be an effective strategy to improve access and increase coverage, but evidence on the cost and cost-effectiveness of this approach as well the use of simplified treatment protocols in conflict settings is lacking. The objective of this study was to determine cost per child treated as well as the cost-effectiveness of the hybrid model of treatment delivery (where treatment is provided at both health facilities and CHW sites) using either a standard protocol (Intervention 1) or simplified protocol (Intervention 2) compared to standard treatment at health facilities only (Control) in the conflict affected region of Gao in Northern Mali.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlob Health Action
December 2024
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Background: In contexts where certifying causes of death (COD) is inadequate - either in industrialized or non-industrialized countries - verbal autopsy (VA) serves as a practical method for determining probable COD, helping to address gaps in vital data.
Objective: This study aimed to validate the diagnostic accuracy of medical certifications at a population level by comparing COD obtained from medical records against those derived from VA in Saudi Arabia.
Method: Death records from 2018 to 2021 were collected from a type 2 diabetes mellitus register at a major specialist hospital in Makkah.
Psychol Res
January 2025
Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Rovereto, TN, Italy.
Each perceptual process is accompanied with an evaluation regarding the reliability of what we are perceiving. The close connection between confidence in perceptual judgments and planning of actions has been documented in studies investigating visual perception. Here, we extend this investigation to auditory perception by focusing on spatial hearing, in which the interpretation of auditory cues can often present uncertainties.
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