Measuring Outcome after Wrist Injury: Translation and Validation of the Swedish Version of the Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE-Swe)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is a need for outcome measurement instruments for evaluation of disability after trauma. The Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) is a self-administered region-specific outcome measuring instrument developed for use in evaluating disability and pain of the wrist. The aim of this study is to translate and to cross-culturally adapt the PRWE for use in a Swedish patient population. Moreover, we aim at investigating the PRWE in terms of validity, reliability and responsiveness.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the PRWE to Swedish (PRWE-Swe), utilising the process recommended by the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons. A total of 124 patients with an injury to the wrist were included in the study. They filled in the PRWE and the DASH questionnaires at two separate occasions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Reliability of the PRWE in terms of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.97) and test-retest stability (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.93) were excellent. Face validity and content validity were judged as good. Criterion validity assessed as the correlation between the PRWE and the DASH was also good (Spearman's rho = 0.9). Responsiveness measured by the standardized response mean (SRM) was good with an SRM_PRWEof 1.29.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This Swedish version of the PRWE is a short and easily understood self-administered questionnaire with good validity, reliability, and responsiveness. Our results confirm that the PRWE is a valuable tool in evaluating the results after treatment of a wrist injury.</p

Chinese version of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey: cross-cultural instrument adaptation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tobacco smoking poses public health concerns because of its high risk for many chronic diseases. Most smokers begin using tobacco in their teens and recent reports indicate that smoking prevalence is climbing among youth. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) is a worldwide, school-based, tobacco-specific survey, but cross-cultural differences limit its effectiveness in international studies. Specifically, the GYTS assesses not only the prevalence of smoking, but also tobacco-related attitudes, school curricula, and advertisements, which are culturally influenced. Therefore, we conducted this study to develop a Chinese version of the GYTS for both national surveillance and international comparison.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The original English GYTS was translated and back translated using a cross-cultural adaptation process. The comprehensiveness and feasibility of using the Chinese-version GYTS were reviewed by a panel of 6 tobacco-control experts. The understandability and cultural relevance of the Chinese-version GYTS were discussed in a focus group of 5 schoolteachers and 8 students. The expert and focus group feedback was incorporated into a final Chinese version of the GYTS, which was administered to 382 students throughout Taiwan by multi-stage sampling from 10 randomly selected schools.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) for the GYTS subscales (smoking susceptibility, attitude toward smoking, and media messages about smoking) ranged from 0.70 to 0.94. The internal logical agreement of responses ranged from 85.3 to 99.2%.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Chinese version of the GYTS has good reliability and validity and can serve as the foundation for international comparison and tobacco control in Chinese-speaking communities.</p

Analyzing models of work addiction: single factor and bi-factor models of the Bergen Work Addiction Scale

Work addiction ('workaholism') has become an increasingly studied topic in the behavioral addictions literature and had led to the development of a number of instruments to assess it. One such instrument is the Bergen Work Addiction Scale (BWAS - Andreassen et al. 2012 Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 53, 265-272). However, the BWAS has never been investigated in Eastern-European countries. The goal of the present study was to examine the factor structure, the reliability and cut-off scores of the BWAS in a comprehensive Hungarian sample. This study is a direct extension of the original validation of BWAS by providing results on the basis of representative data and the development of appropriate cut-off scores The study utilized an online questionnaire with a Hungarian representative sample including 500 respondents (F = 251; M age = 35.05 years) who completed the BWAS. A series of confirmatory factor analyses were carried out leading to a short, 7-item first-order factor structure and a longer 14-item seven-factor nested structure. Despite the good validity of the longer version, its reliability was not as high as it could have been. One-fifth (20.6 %) of the Hungarians who used the internet at least weekly were categorized as work addicts using the BWAS. It is recommended that researchers use the original seven items from the Norwegian scale in order to facilitate and stimulate cross-national research on addiction to work

Psychometric testing of three Chinese online-related addictive behavior instruments among Hong Kong university students

Objective: To validate the Chinese version of the nine-item Internet Gaming Disorder Scales- Short Form (IGDS-SF9), Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), and Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale (SABAS) among Hong Kong university students. Participants and Methods: Participants aged between 17 and 30 years participated in the present study (n=307; 32.4% males; mean [SD] age=21.64 [8.11]). All the participants completed the IGDS-SF9, BSMAS, SABAS, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were used to examine the factorial structures and the unidimensionality for IGDS-SF9, BSMAS, and SABAS. Results: CFAs demonstrated that the three scales were all unidimensional with satisfactory fit indices: comparative fit index = 0.969 to 0.992. In addition, the IGDS-SF9 and BSMAS were slightly modified based on the modification index in CFA. Conclusions: The Chinese IGDS-SF9, BSMAS, and SABAS are valid instruments to assess the addiction levels of internet-related activities for Hong Kong university students

Rotational strength, range of motion, and function in people with unaffected shoulders from various stages of life

Background: Different measurements are used to assess shoulder function, including range of motion, strength, functional performance and self-report function. To understand disablement, it is necessary to understand the relationship between impairments and function in persons without shoulder problems. This study was conducted to enhance existing comparative data in subjects without upper extremity pathology, and to assess the relationships between impairments (range of motion, strength) and selfreported or measured function/disability. The impact of age, gender and dominance was determined. Methods: Two-hundred ninety-four subjects with unaffected shoulders were recruited. The subjects (mean age: 37 years old) were divided into three subgroups, 18–39, 40–59, and over 60 years of age. During a single session, at least two of the following variables were measured: self-reported function (shoulder disability scales), range of motion, isometric rotational strength, or upper limb functional performance (FIT-HaNSA). Two-way analysis of variance was used to determine, for each variable, the effects of age and gender. The relationship between the outcomes was established using Pearson product correlations. Results: Men were significantly stronger than women for all age categories. There was an age-related decline in strength in men in the over-60 age category. Significant negative correlations between strength and range of motion were demonstrated (-0.22 \u3c -0.32). Women had a significantly higher range of motion than men for external rotation in the 40–59 age category. Furthermore, the subjects in the over- 60 age category experienced a decrease of range of motion. There was minimal disability reported in all age groups on self-report scales. Only the Simple Shoulder Test demonstrated significant decreases in the over-60 age category and correlated with age (r = -0.202). Conclusion: Self-reported disability was low in individuals without upper extremity problems, although recruitment of such individuals was difficult in the older age groups due to the high prevalence of shoulder pathology. A low correlation between self-report disability and strength/range of motion in these unaffected subjects reflects the lack of disability reported by all subjects without pathology despite normal variations in strength and motion

Potential therapeutic effects of branched-chain amino acids supplementation on resistance exercise-based muscle damage in humans

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) supplementation has been considered an interesting nutritional strategy to improve skeletal muscle protein turnover in several conditions. In this context, there is evidence that resistance exercise (RE)-derived biochemical markers of muscle soreness (creatine kinase (CK), aldolase, myoglobin), soreness, and functional strength may be modulated by BCAA supplementation in order to favor of muscle adaptation. However, few studies have investigated such effects in well-controlled conditions in humans. Therefore, the aim of this short report is to describe the potential therapeutic effects of BCAA supplementation on RE-based muscle damage in humans. The main point is that BCAA supplementation may decrease some biochemical markers related with muscle soreness but this does not necessarily reflect on muscle functionality

The survey of serum retinol of the children aged 0~4 years in Zhejiang Province, China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Vitamin A can have a positive impact on growth and development of children, but vitamin A deficiency (VAD) was found to be a public health problem in Zhejiang Province, China in 1998. There have been no studies on this topic in Zhejiang Province recently. This study was designed to evaluate the serum retinol levels of children aged 0~4 years in Zhejiang Province, southeast China. This epidemiological data will help design supplementation strategies for vitamin A in high-risk groups and improve their vitamin A status.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Children were randomly recruited for this study using a stratified sampling method. A blood sample was collected from each child. Assessment included C-reactive protein (CRP), serum retinol measured with HPLC and a questionnaire completed providing for family information and nutritional status. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the risk factors for VAD in children.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A group of 357 subjects aged 1 day to 4 years were recruited. The mean plasma retinol concentration was 1.653 (sd 0.47) μmol/L. There were 3.08% (11/357) of children affected with VAD, and 7.28% (26/357) of children had low vitamin A status, but none of the children showed any clinical symptoms of VAD. There was no significant difference in the levels of plasma retinol and the incidence rate of VAD between male and female children. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that living in urban region, having parents with good education and taking vitamin A capsule regularly prevented children from VAD, whereas being young (less than 2 years old) was a risk factor.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Low vitamin A status remains a nutritional problem in Zhejiang Province. The high-risk group in this study were young, dwelled in rural regions, had parents with poor education and did not take a regular vitamin A containing supplement.</p

Eccentric Exercise Activates Novel Transcriptional Regulation of Hypertrophic Signaling Pathways Not Affected by Hormone Changes

Unaccustomed eccentric exercise damages skeletal muscle tissue, activating mechanisms of recovery and remodeling that may be influenced by the female sex hormone 17β-estradiol (E2). Using high density oligonucleotide based microarrays, we screened for differences in mRNA expression caused by E2 and eccentric exercise. After random assignment to 8 days of either placebo (CON) or E2 (EXP), eighteen men performed 150 single-leg eccentric contractions. Muscle biopsies were collected at baseline (BL), following supplementation (PS), +3 hours (3H) and +48 hours (48H) after exercise. Serum E2 concentrations increased significantly with supplementation (P<0.001) but did not affect microarray results. Exercise led to early transcriptional changes in striated muscle activator of Rho signaling (STARS), Rho family GTPase 3 (RND3), mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) regulation and the downstream transcription factor FOS. Targeted RT-PCR analysis identified concurrent induction of negative regulators of calcineurin signaling RCAN (P<0.001) and HMOX1 (P = 0.009). Protein contents were elevated for RND3 at 3H (P = 0.02) and FOS at 48H (P<0.05). These findings indicate that early RhoA and NFAT signaling and regulation are altered following exercise for muscle remodeling and repair, but are not affected by E2

Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases and Risk Factors, 1990–2019: Update From the GBD 2019 Study

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), principally ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke, are the leading cause of global mortality and a major contributor to disability. This paper reviews the magnitude of total CVD burden, including 13 underlying causes of cardiovascular death and 9 related risk factors, using estimates from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019. GBD, an ongoing multinational collaboration to provide comparable and consistent estimates of population health over time, used all available population-level data sources on incidence, prevalence, case fatality, mortality, and health risks to produce estimates for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. Prevalent cases of total CVD nearly doubled from 271 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 257 to 285 million) in 1990 to 523 million (95% UI: 497 to 550 million) in 2019, and the number of CVD deaths steadily increased from 12.1 million (95% UI:11.4 to 12.6 million) in 1990, reaching 18.6 million (95% UI: 17.1 to 19.7 million) in 2019. The global trends for disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and years of life lost also increased significantly, and years lived with disability doubled from 17.7 million (95% UI: 12.9 to 22.5 million) to 34.4 million (95% UI:24.9 to 43.6 million) over that period. The total number of DALYs due to IHD has risen steadily since 1990, reaching 182 million (95% UI: 170 to 194 million) DALYs, 9.14 million (95% UI: 8.40 to 9.74 million) deaths in the year 2019, and 197 million (95% UI: 178 to 220 million) prevalent cases of IHD in 2019. The total number of DALYs due to stroke has risen steadily since 1990, reaching 143 million (95% UI: 133 to 153 million) DALYs, 6.55 million (95% UI: 6.00 to 7.02 million) deaths in the year 2019, and 101 million (95% UI: 93.2 to 111 million) prevalent cases of stroke in 2019. Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of disease burden in the world. CVD burden continues its decades-long rise for almost all countries outside high-income countries, and alarmingly, the age-standardized rate of CVD has begun to rise in some locations where it was previously declining in high-income countries. There is an urgent need to focus on implementing existing cost-effective policies and interventions if the world is to meet the targets for Sustainable Development Goal 3 and achieve a 30% reduction in premature mortality due to noncommunicable diseases

Poor performance of the rapid test for human brucellosis in health facilities in Kenya

Human brucellosis is considered to be an important but typically under-diagnosed cause of febrile illness in many low and middle-income countries. In Kenya, and throughout East Africa, laboratory diagnosis for the disease is based primarily on the febrile antigen Brucella agglutination test (FBAT), yet few studies of the diagnostic accuracy of this test exist. Assessment of the performance of the FBAT is essential for its appropriate clinical use, as well as for evaluating surveillance data reported by public health systems. To assess FBAT performance, we collected sera from people with symptoms compatible with brucellosis attending two health facilities in Busia County, Kenya. Sera were tested using the FBAT and results compared with those from the Rose Bengal Test (RBT), an assay with well-known performance characteristics. Positives on either test were confirmed using the classical serum agglutination test (SAT)-Coombs test combination and a rapid IgM/IgG lateral flow immunochromatography assay (LFA). A questionnaire focussing on known risk factors for exposure to Brucella spp. was also conducted, and relationships with FBAT positivity examined using logistic regression. Out of 825 recruited individuals, 162 (19.6%) were classified as positive using the FBAT. In contrast, only eight (1.0%) were positive using the RBT. Of the 162 FBAT positives, one (0.62%) had an atypical agglutination in SAT and three (1.9%) showed low Coombs titres. Out of 148 FBAT positive individuals tested using the LFA, five (3.4%) were IgM positive and none were IgG positive. Poor or no correlation was observed between FBAT results and most established risk factors for Brucella infection. We observed substantial disagreement between the FBAT and a number of well-known serological tests, with the majority of reactive FBAT results appearing to be false positives. Poor FBAT specificity, combined with a lack of confirmatory testing, strongly suggests overdiagnosis of brucellosis is common in this low prevalence setting. This is expected to have important economic impacts on affected patients subjected to the long and likely unnecessary courses of multiple antibiotics required for treatment of the disease