Assessing Quality of Life in the Treatment of Patients With Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Clinical Research Findings and Recommendations for Clinical Practice.
Assessing quality of life in the treatment of patients with age-related macular degeneration: clinical research findings and recommendations for clinical practice.
Clin Ophthalmol. 2013; 7: 1325-32
Yuzawa M, Fujita K, Tanaka E, Wang EC
The importance of incorporating quality-of-life (QoL) assessments into medical practice is growing as health care practice shifts from a “disease-based” to a “patient-centered” model. The prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is increasing in today’s aging population. The purpose of this paper is: (1) to discuss, by reviewing the current literature, the impact of AMD on patients’ QoL and the utility of QoL assessments in evaluating the impact of AMD and its treatment; and (2) to make a recommendation for incorporating QoL into clinical practice.We conducted a PubMed and an open Internet search to identify publications on the measurement of QoL in AMD, as well as the impact of AMD and the effect of treatment on QoL. A total of 28 articles were selected.AMD has been found to cause a severity-dependent decrement in QoL that is comparable to systemic diseases such as cancer, ischemic heart disease, and stroke. QoL impairment manifests as greater social dependence, difficulty with daily living, higher rates of clinical depression, increased risk of falls, premature admission to nursing homes, and suicide. The National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) is the most widely used eye disease-specific QoL instrument in AMD. It has been shown to correlate significantly with visual acuity (VA). QoL reflects aspects of AMD including psychological well-being, functional capacity, and the ability to perform patients’ valued activities, which are not captured by a single, numerical VA score.The literature shows that the adverse impact of AMD on QoL is comparable to serious systemic disease. Eye disease-specific instruments for measuring QoL, such as the NEI VFQ-25, have shown a significant correlation of QoL decrement with measures of disease severity, as well as significant QoL improvement with treatment. The NEI VFQ-25 and other validated instruments provide a wide-ranging assessment of vision-related functioning that is important to patients and complementary to VA measurement. We strongly recommend the incorporation of QoL assessment into routine clinical practice. HubMed – depression
Cost-effectiveness of an adjustment group for people with multiple sclerosis and low mood: a randomized trial.
Clin Rehabil. 2013 Jul 8;
Humphreys I, Drummond AE, Phillips C, Lincoln NB
Objective:To evaluate the cost effectiveness of a psychological adjustment group shown to be clinically effective in comparison with usual care for people with multiple sclerosis.Design:Randomized controlled trial with comparison of costs and calculation of incremental cost effectiveness ratio.Setting:Community.Participants:People with multiple sclerosis were screened on the General Health Questionnaire 12 and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and those with low mood were recruited.Interventions:Participants randomly allocated to the adjustment group received six group treatment sessions. The control group received usual care, which did not include psychological interventions.Main measures:Outcomes were assessed four and eight months after randomization, blind to group allocation. The costs were assessed from a service use questionnaire and information provided on medication. Quality of life was assessed using the EQ-5D.Results:Of the 311 patients identified, 221 (71%) met the criteria for having low mood. Of these, 72 were randomly allocated to receive treatment and 79 to usual care. Over eight months follow-up there was a decrease in the combined average costs of £378 per intervention respondent and an increase in the costs of £297 per patient in the control group, which was a significant difference (p=0.03). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio indicated that the cost per point reduction on the Beck depression inventory-II was £118.Conclusion:In the short term, the adjustment group programme was cost effective when compared with usual care, for people with multiple sclerosis presenting with low mood. The longer-term costs need to be assessed. HubMed – depression
Weight bias internalization, core self-evaluation, and health in overweight and obese persons.
Obesity (Silver Spring). 2013 Jul 9;
Hilbert A, Braehler E, Haeuser W, Zenger M
Objective: Weight bias has strong associations with psychopathology in overweight and obese individuals. However, self-evaluative processes, as conceptualized in the process model of self-stigma, and implications for other health-related outcomes, remain to be clarified. Design and Methods: In a representative general population sample of N = 1158 overweight and obese individuals, the impact of core self-evaluation as a mediator between weight bias internalization and mental and global health outcomes as well as between weight bias internalization and health care utilization, was examined using structural equation modeling. Results: In overweight and obese individuals, greater weight bias internalization predicted lower core self-evaluation, which in turn predicted greater depression and anxiety, lower global health, and greater health care utilization. These mediational associations were largely stable in subsample analyses and after controlling for sociodemographic variables. Conclusions: The results show that overweight and obese individuals with internalized weight bias are at risk for impaired health, especially if they experience low core self-evaluation, making them a group with which to target for interventions to reduce self-stigma. Weight bias internalization did not represent a barrier to health care utilization, but predicted greater health care utilization in association with greater health impairments. HubMed – depression
Sleep duration and body mass index and waist circumference among US adults.
Obesity (Silver Spring). 2013 Jul 9;
Ford ES, Li C, Wheaton AG, Chapman DP, Perry GS, Croft JB
Objective: To examine the form of the relationship between sleep duration and anthropometric measures and possible differences in these relationships by gender and race or ethnicity. Design and Methods: We used data for 13742 participants aged ?20 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2010. Sleep duration was categorized as ?6 (short sleepers), 7-9, and ?10 hours (long sleepers). Results: Short sleepers were as much as 1.7 kg/m(2) (SE 0.4) heavier and had 3.4 cm (SE 1.0) more girth than long sleepers. Among participants without depression or a diagnosed sleep disorder, sleep duration was significantly associated with body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference in an inverse linear association in the entire sample, men, women, whites, African Americans, and participants aged 18-39 years. No evidence for statistical interaction by gender and race or ethnicity was observed. Regression coefficients were notably stronger among adults aged 20-39 years. Compared to participants who reported sleeping 7-9 hours per night, short sleepers were more likely to be obese and have abdominal obesity. Conclusions: In this nationally representative sample of U.S. adults, an inverse linear association most consistently characterized the association between sleep duration and BMI and waist circumference. HubMed – depression