The Portuguese S3-Non-invasive Ventilation (S3-NIV) questionnaire for home mechanically ventilated patients

Short, valid and easy to use tools are needed to monitor home mechanical ventilation (HMV) in clinical practice and for organization of HMV services. The S3NIV is a self-administered questionnaire containing 11 items that includes a Respiratory Symptoms and Sleep & Side Effects subscores, ranging from 0 (highest impact of disease and treatment) to 10 (lowest impact of disease and treatment). The Portuguese version of the questionnaire was obtained using translation-back translation process with two professional translators and it was then validated on 234 stable patients (128 male patients, 53.8%) with a mean age of 69.3 (SD 11.0) years under long-term home non-invasive ventilation. Data on total score and subscales according to disease category are reported on the table. Internal consistency for the total score was good (Cronbach’s α coefficient of 0.76) as well as for the Respiratory Symptoms and the Sleep & Side effects domains (Cronbach’s α coefficient=0.68 and Cronbach’s α coefficient=0.72, respectively). The Portuguese version of the S3-NIV questionnaire is a simple and valid tool for the routine clinical assessment of patients receiving HMV. Although they have advanced diseases, it appears patients recognize treatment benefits and have controlled side effects

Thermodynamically Stable One-Component Metallic Quasicrystals

Classical density-functional theory is employed to study finite-temperature trends in the relative stabilities of one-component quasicrystals interacting via effective metallic pair potentials derived from pseudopotential theory. Comparing the free energies of several periodic crystals and rational approximant models of quasicrystals over a range of pseudopotential parameters, thermodynamically stable quasicrystals are predicted for parameters approaching the limits of mechanical stability of the crystalline structures. The results support and significantly extend conclusions of previous ground-state lattice-sum studies.Comment: REVTeX, 13 pages + 2 figures, to appear, Europhys. Let

Patients' perspective and lung function correlation:the importance of questionnaires in home mechanical ventilation

Classical physiological variables used to monitor respiratory function in patients under non-invasive ventilation (NIV), such as FEV1 or FVC, correlate poorly with reported impairment of physical function or overall health status and hence provide an incomplete picture of impaired health. Aim: to investigate the association between the Portuguese S3-non-invasive ventilation (S3-NIV) questionnaire score and objective measures of lung function. Consecutive adult patients with chronic respiratory failure, established on home NIV for at least 30 days were recruited in one outpatient clinic. Correlations between physiological variables and S3-NIV score were computed with Spearman rank coefficient. We studied 230 stable patients (126 male, 54.8%) with a mean age of 69.2 (± 11,0) years. Demographic and spirometry characteristics, and S3-NIV respiratory and total scores are presented on the table, according to disease groups. Spearman coefficient values are also presented. Neither the S3-NIV total score nor the respiratory symptoms subscore correlate with lung function impairment in any of the disease groups. This reinforces the notion that symptoms questionnaires and patient reported outcome measures must always be obtained directly from the patient and should be included in regular treatment monitoring