Asymptotic Confidence Interval, Sample Size Formulas and Comparison Test for the Agreement Intra-Class Correlation Coefficient in Inter-Rater Reliability Studies.

The agreement intra-class correlation coefficient (ICCa) is a suitable statistical index for inter-rater reliability studies. With balanced Gaussian data, we prove the explicit form of ICCa asymptotic normality (ASN), valid both with analysis of variance (ANOVA), maximum likelihood (ML), or restricted ML (REML) estimates. An asymptotic confidence interval is then derived and its performances are examined by simulation compared to the most commonly used methods, under small, moderate and large sample size designs.

Health-related quality of life, remission and low lupus disease activity state in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objectives: To measure the association between SLE remission and scores of patients-reported outcome (PRO) measures.

Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study of SLE patients with a 2-year follow-up, using Lupus Patient-Reported Outcome (LupusPRO), Lupus Quality of Life (LupusQoL), Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Quality of Life (SLEQOL) and 36-item Short Form (SF-36) questionnaires. Remission was defined as remission off treatment (ROFT) and remission on treatment (RONT) according to the definitions of remission in SLE consensus.

The mediating effect of fatigue in impaired quality of life in systemic lupus erythematosus: mediation analysis of the French EQUAL cohort.

Objectives: Mediation analyses were conducted to measure the extent to which musculoskeletal (MSK) flares and depression affected physical health through excessive fatigue.

Methods: Mediation analyses were performed in a large multicentre cohort of SLE patients. Domains of the LupusQoL and SLEQOL questionnaires were selected as outcomes, MSK flares according to the SELENA-SLEDAI flare index (SFI-R) score and depression defined by Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) scale as exposures and different fatigue domains from MFI-20 and LupusQoL questionnaires as mediators.

The flexion relaxation phenomenon in nonspecific chronic low back pain: prevalence, reproducibility and flexion-extension ratios. A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: The flexion relaxation phenomenon (FRP) is characterized by the reduction of paraspinal muscle activity at maximum trunk flexion. The FRP is reported to be altered (persistence of spinal muscle activity) in nonspecific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP) and is considered a promising biomarker. The aim of this systematic review was to synthetize current knowledge on FRP in the NSCLBP population regarding prevalence, the reliability of FRP measurement using surface electromyography (sEMG), the average value, and variation of the relaxation ratios (RR).

Botulinum Toxin A for Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome: A Retrospective Study of 16 Upper- and Lower-Limb Cases.

Objective: To assess initial and mid-term efficacy of botulinum toxin A (BoNT-A) injections in patients with chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) in the lower and upper limbs.

Design: Retrospective monocentric study.

Setting: A University Hospital Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Hindi LupusPRO: cross cultural validation of disease specific patient reported outcome measure of lupus.

Background: LupusPRO is a SLE specific patient reported outcomes measure developed and validated in the USA. This study aimed to validate the Hindi version of LupusPRO in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients in India.

Methods: Disease activity and damage were assessed using SELENA-SLEDAI and SLICC/ACR damage Index respectively.

Disease-specific quality of life following a flare in systemic lupus erythematosus: an item response theory analysis of the French EQUAL cohort.

Objective: To explore, at an item-level, the effect of disease activity (DA) on specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in SLE patients using an item response theory longitudinal model.

Methods: This prospective longitudinal multicentre French cohort EQUAL followed SLE patients over 2 years. Specific HRQoL according to LupusQoL and SLEQOL was collected every 3 months.

Impairment of the Ability of HDL From Patients With Metabolic Syndrome but Without Diabetes Mellitus to Activate eNOS: Correction by S1P Enrichment.

Objective: High-density lipoprotein (HDL) from nondiabetic patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS) displays abnormalities in their lipidome, such as triglyceride enrichment and sphingosine-1-phosphate depletion. We hypothesized that these abnormalities could impair the ability of HDL to stimulate endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS).

Approach And Results: Compared with HDL from control subjects, HDL from normoglycemic patients with MetS was 39% richer in triglycerides (<0.

Assessment of Folate Status in Obese Patients: Should We Measure Folate in Serum or in Red Blood Cells?

Background: Recent studies revealed that obesity is associated with decreased serum but at the same time increased red blood cell (RBC) folate concentrations compared with lean subjects, thus casting doubt upon the agreement between serum and RBC folate measurements for assessing folate status. This work aimed to determine whether these two metrics lead to the same classification of folate status in obese patients.

Methods: RBC and serum folate concentrations were measured with a chemiluminescent immunoassay in 263 adults with body mass index ≥30 kg/m and without previous bariatric surgery.