Factors associated with quality of life and mood in adults with strabismus

Background/Aims To explore the factors associated with the mood and quality of life (QoL) of patients with strabismus due to undergo realignment surgery. Methods A cross-sectional study was undertaken with adult patients. Along with demographic, clinical and psychosocial process variables, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and AS-20 QoL measures were administered. Regression models were used to identify the factors associated with QoL and mood. Results Of the 220 participants, 11% were experiencing clinical levels of depression, and 24% clinical anxiety. This is in line with other forms of facial disfigurement but higher than other chronic diseases. Although mood and QoL were associated with age and diplopia, it was beliefs and cognitions which were more consistently associated with well-being. This included feelings of social anxiety and avoidance, a belief that strabismus has negative consequences, poor understanding of strabismus, social support, fear of negative evaluation and the perceived visibility of their condition. Conclusions Psychosocial rather than clinical characteristics were identified as determinants of wellbeing in this population. It is important for clinicians planning surgery to be aware of these factors which could influence outcomes. Longitudinal studies need to be conducted to explore the direction of causality before interventions to improve well-being are developed and evaluated

The impact of strabismus on quality of life in adults with and without diplopia: a systematic review

Strabismus affects approximately 4% of the adult population and can cause substantial physical disturbance and changes to appearance. This article aims to examine the impact of strabismus in adults both with and without diplopia, focusing primarily on quality of life (QoL). We highlight the value of measuring QoL, assess the ways in which it can be measured, and the impact the disease, diplopia, and surgery have on the patient. QoL differs for strabismus patients based on their diplopia status. Patients with diplopia tend to have more concerns relating to functional QoL, whereas patients without diplopia have primarily psychosocial concerns. Two diplopia-specific questionnaires have been designed to assess QoL and the perceived severity of symptoms. Further research is needed to identify the variables which influence QoL so that appropriate support can be given to all patients with strabismus to improve their QoL

The Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) birth cohort study: Assessment of environmental exposures

The Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development birth cohort was designed to elucidate interactions between environment and genetics underlying development of asthma and allergy. Over 3600 pregnant mothers were recruited from the general population in four provinces with diverse environments. The child is followed to age 5 years, with prospective characterization of diverse exposures during this critical period. Key exposure domains include indoor and outdoor air pollutants, inhalation, ingestion and dermal uptake of chemicals, mold, dampness, biological allergens, pets and pests, housing structure, and living behavior, together with infections, nutrition, psychosocial environment, and medications. Assessments of early life exposures are focused on those linked to inflammatory responses driven by the acquired and innate immune systems. Mothers complete extensive environmental questionnaires including time-activity behavior at recruitment and when the child is 3, 6, 12, 24, 30, 36, 48, and 60 months old. House dust collected during a thorough home assessment at 3–4 months, and biological specimens obtained for multiple exposure-related measurements, are archived for analyses. Geo-locations of homes and daycares and land-use regression for estimating traffic-related air pollution complement time-activity-behavior data to provide comprehensive individual exposure profiles. Several analytical frameworks are proposed to address the many interacting exposure variables and potential issues of co-linearity in this complex data set

Health, education, and social care provision after diagnosis of childhood visual disability

Aim: To investigate the health, education, and social care provision for children newly diagnosed with visual disability.Method: This was a national prospective study, the British Childhood Visual Impairment and Blindness Study 2 (BCVIS2), ascertaining new diagnoses of visual impairment or severe visual impairment and blindness (SVIBL), or equivalent vi-sion. Data collection was performed by managing clinicians up to 1-year follow-up, and included health and developmental needs, and health, education, and social care provision.Results: BCVIS2 identified 784 children newly diagnosed with visual impairment/SVIBL (313 with visual impairment, 471 with SVIBL). Most children had associated systemic disorders (559 [71%], 167 [54%] with visual impairment, and 392 [84%] with SVIBL). Care from multidisciplinary teams was provided for 549 children (70%). Two-thirds (515) had not received an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP). Fewer children with visual impairment had seen a specialist teacher (SVIBL 35%, visual impairment 28%, χ2p < 0.001), or had an EHCP (11% vs 7%, χ2p < 0 . 01).Interpretation: Families need additional support from managing clinicians to access recommended complex interventions such as the use of multidisciplinary teams and educational support. This need is pressing, as the population of children with visual impairment/SVIBL is expected to grow in size and complexity.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Investigating dynamic protocol-dependence of hERG potassium channel inhibition at 37 degrees C: Cisapride versus dofetilide

INTRODUCTION Pharmacological inhibition of cardiac potassium channels encoded by hERG (human ether-à-go-go-related gene) is associated with QT interval prolongation and torsades de pointes arrhythmia. Electrophysiological assays of hERG channel inhibition are integral to the safety testing of novel drug candidates. This study was conducted to compare, for the high affinity hERG inhibitors dofetilide and cisapride, hERG blockade between action potential (AP) and conventional (step and step-ramp) screening waveforms. Furthermore, it evaluated dynamic (pulse-by-pulse) protocol-dependence of hERG channel inhibition by these drugs. METHODS Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were made at 37 degrees C from hERG-expressing HEK 293 cells. Half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC(50) values) for I(hERG) blockade were obtained using conventional voltage clamp and action potential clamp, using previously digitised ventricular and Purkinje fibre (PF) AP waveforms. RESULTS A more marked variation in IC(50) values with different command waveforms was observed for cisapride (ranging from 7 to 72 nM) than for dofetilide (ranging from 4 to 15 nM), with higher IC(50)s obtained with AP than step or step-ramp commands. The two drugs differed little from one another in effects on voltage-dependent activation; however, I(hERG) blockade by each drug was initially voltage-dependent, but at steady-state was only voltage-dependent for cisapride. There was comparatively little difference between the two drugs in effects on I(hERG) availability or time constants of development of inactivation. Features of time-dependence of blockade and the use of protocols employing varying rest periods in drug or commands of alternating duration highlighted a pronounced ability of cisapride, but not dofetilide, to dissociate and reassociate from hERG on a pulse-by-pulse basis. DISCUSSION Protocols described here that demonstrated dynamic variation (drug dissociation/reassociation) in hERG channel current blockade at 37 degrees C for cisapride may have future value for investigating drug interactions with the hERG channel. Downloadable digitised ventricular and PF AP waveforms that can be used in AP clamp experiments also accompany this articl

Evaluation of a Home-Printable Vision Screening Test for Telemedicine

Importance Many ophthalmology appointments have been converted to telemedicine assessments. The use of a printed vision chart for ophthalmology telemedicine appointments that can be used by people who are excluded from digital testing has yet to be validated. Objectives To evaluate the repeatability of visual acuity measured using the Home Acuity Test (HAT) and the agreement between the HAT and the last in-clinic visual acuity. Design, Setting, and Participants This diagnostic study was conducted from May 11 to 22, 2020, among 50 control participants and 100 adult ophthalmology outpatients who reported subjectively stable vision and were attending routine telemedicine clinics. Bland-Altman analysis of corrected visual acuity measured with the HAT was compared with the last measured in-clinic visual acuity on a conventional Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study logMAR chart. Main Outcomes and Measures For control participants, repeatability of the HAT and agreement with standard logMAR visual acuity measurement. For ophthalmology outpatients, agreement with the last recorded in-clinic visual acuity and with the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 11th Revision visual impairment category. Results A total of 50 control participants (33 [66%] women; mean [SD] age, 36.0 [10.8] years) and 100 ophthalmology patients with a wide range of diseases (65 [65%] women; mean [SD] age, 55.3 [22.2] years) were recruited. For control participants, mean (SD) test-retest difference in the HAT line score was −0.012 (0.06) logMAR, with limits of agreement (LOA) between −0.13 and 0.10 logMAR. The mean (SD) difference in visual acuity compared with conventional vision charts was −0.14 (0.14) logMAR (range, −0.4 to 0.18 log MAR) (−7 letters) in controls, with LOA of −0.41 to 0.12 logMAR (−20 to 6 letters). For ophthalmology outpatients, the mean (SD) difference in visual acuity was −0.10 (0.17) logMAR (range, −0.5 to 0.3 logMAR) (1 line on a conventional logMAR sight chart), with the HAT indicating poorer visual acuity than the previous in-clinic test, and LOA of −0.44 to 0.23 logMAR (−22 to 12 letters). There was good agreement in the visual impairment category for ophthalmology outpatients (Cohen κ = 0.77 [95% CI, 0.74-0.81]) and control participants (Cohen κ = 0.88 [95% CI, 0.88-0.88]). Conclusions and Relevance This study suggests that the HAT can be used to measure visual acuity by telephone for a wide range of ophthalmology outpatients with diverse conditions. Test-retest repeatability is relatively high, and agreement in the visual impairment category is good for this sample, supporting the use of printed charts in this context

Legislative Documents

Also, variously referred to as: Senate bills; Senate documents; Senate legislative documents; legislative documents; and General Court documents

Diagnoses of children admitted to NHS England hospitals for strabismus interventions.

<p>Esotropia = convergent strabismus; Exotropia = divergent strabismus; Concomitant = strabismus with equal misalignment in all directions of gaze, ie non-paralytic, non-constrictive, non-restrictive aetiology; Paralytic = associated with extraocular muscle palsy.</p

Outcomes following therapeutic chemodenervation, by diagnosis.

<p>Outcomes following therapeutic chemodenervation, by diagnosis.</p