Estimates of Outcomes Up to Ten Years after Stroke: Analysis from the Prospective South London Stroke Register

Charles Wolfe and colleagues collected data from the South London Stroke Register on 3,373 first strokes registered between 1995 and 2006 and showed that between 20% and 30% of survivors have poor outcomes up to 10 years after stroke

Portuguese validation of FACES-IV in adult children caregivers facing parental cancer

The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the FACES-IV in Portuguese caregivers of cancer patients. In this cross-sectional study, a sample of 214 adult children caregivers of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, completed FACES-IV, Family Communication Scale (FCS), Family Satisfaction Scale (FSS), and Satisfaction with Social Support Scale (SSSS). Internal consistencies above .70 were found for all FACES-IV scales, except for Enmeshed and Rigid scales, as well as for the FCS, FSS, and SSSS (except for Intimacy). Strong correlations between FACES-IV and the validation scales FCS and FSS were found except for the Enmeshed and Rigid scales. Confirmatory analysis yielded an acceptable model for the six theoretical subscales. The discriminant analysis between problematic and non-problematic family systems showed results similar to the original study. These findings suggest that FACES-IV is a valid measure of family functioning in oncological family caregiving’s contexts.Acknowledgments This study was funded by a grant from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (reference SFRH/BD/43275/2008)

Desempenho nas habilidades auditivas de atenção seletiva e memória auditiva em um grupo de idosos protetizados: influência de perda auditiva, idade e gênero Performance in the auditory abilities of selective attention and hearing memory in a group of elderly with hearing aids: Influence of hearing loss, age and gender

OBJETIVOS: verificar o desempenho nas habilidades auditivas de atenção seletiva e memória auditiva de idosos protetizados e relacioná-lo com o grau e configuração de perda auditiva, o gênero e a idade. MÉTODO: foram avaliados 29 idosos de 60 a 84 anos, sendo 17 (58,62%) do gênero feminino e 12 (41,38%) do gênero masculino. As avaliações realizadas incluíram meatoscopia, audiometria tonal liminar e aplicação do teste SSW em português. RESULTADOS: a análise dos dados permitiu verificar que, neste grupo de indivíduos, a idade e o grau de perda auditiva influenciaram significantemente nos escores obtidos na avaliação do processamento auditivo, diferentemente das demais variáveis. Os idosos que apresentaram perda auditiva de grau leve com configuração horizontal obtiveram escores significantemente superiores na avaliação do processamento auditivo comparados com os portadores de perda auditiva de grau moderado com configuração horizontal ou grau moderado com configuração descendente. Idosos pertencentes a faixa etária de 60-69 obtiveram desempenho superiormente significante comparado com idosos na faixa etária de 80-89 CONCLUSÃO: concluiu-se que o grau de perda auditiva e a idade influenciam nos resultados da avaliação do processamento auditivo. O gênero e a configuração de perda auditiva não foram fatores determinantes na avaliação do processamento auditivo.<br>PURPOSE: to verify the performance in the auditory abilities of selective attention and hearing memory of elderly with prosthesis and relate it to the degree and the configuration of hearing loss, the gender and the age. METHOD: 29 elderly people from 60 to 84 years old were evaluated, 17 of them (58,62%) females and 12 (41,38%) males. The evaluations carried out included meatoscopy, audiometry evaluation and the use of the SSW test in Portuguese. RESULTS: the analysis of the data showed that, in this group of individuals, the age and the degree of auditory loss influenced significantly in the scores obtained in the evaluation of the auditory process, unlike the other variables. The elderly that showed light degree with horizontal configuration obtained scores significantly higher than the ones who had auditory loss in moderate degree with horizontal configuration or moderate degree with descending configuration. Elderly belonging to the age range 60 to 69 years old obtained performance significantly superior when compared with the ones in the age range of 80 to 89 years old. CONCLUSION: it was concluded that the degree of hearing loss and the age influenced the evaluation of the auditory processing. The gender and the configuration of hearing loss were not significant determining factors in the evaluation of the auditory processing