The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale: A Review With a Theoretical and Empirical Examination of Item Content and Factor Structure.
The center for epidemiologic studies depression scale: a review with a theoretical and empirical examination of item content and factor structure.
PLoS One. 2013; 8(3): e58067
Carleton RN, Thibodeau MA, Teale MJ, Welch PG, Abrams MP, Robinson T, Asmundson GJ
The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) is a commonly used freely available self-report measure of depressive symptoms. Despite its popularity, several recent investigations have called into question the robustness and suitability of the commonly used 4-factor 20-item CES-D model. The goal of the current study was to address these concerns by confirming the factorial validity of the CES-D.Differential item functioning estimates were used to examine sex biases in item responses, and confirmatory factor analyses were used to assess prior CES-D factor structures and new models heeding current theoretical and empirical considerations. Data used for the analyses included undergraduate (n?=?948; 74% women), community (n?=?254; 71% women), rehabilitation (n?=?522; 53% women), clinical (n?=?84; 77% women), and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES; n?=?2814; 56% women) samples. Differential item functioning identified an item as inflating CES-D scores in women. Comprehensive comparison of the several models supported a novel, psychometrically robust, and unbiased 3-factor 14-item solution, with factors (i.e., negative affect, anhedonia, and somatic symptoms) that are more in line with current diagnostic criteria for depression.Researchers and practitioners may benefit from using the novel factor structure of the CES-D and from being cautious in interpreting results from the originally proposed scale. Comprehensive results, implications, and future research directions are discussed. HubMed – rehab
Proprioceptive changes impair balance control in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
PLoS One. 2013; 8(3): e57949
Janssens L, Brumagne S, McConnell AK, Claeys K, Pijnenburg M, Burtin C, Janssens W, Decramer M, Troosters T
Balance deficits are identified as important risk factors for falling in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the specific use of proprioception, which is of primary importance during balance control, has not been studied in individuals with COPD. The objective was to determine the specific proprioceptive control strategy during postural balance in individuals with COPD and healthy controls, and to assess whether this was related to inspiratory muscle weakness.Center of pressure displacement was determined in 20 individuals with COPD and 20 age/gender-matched controls during upright stance on an unstable support surface without vision. Ankle and back muscle vibration were applied to evaluate the relative contribution of different proprioceptive signals used in postural control.Individuals with COPD showed an increased anterior-posterior body sway during upright stance (p?=?0.037). Compared to controls, individuals with COPD showed an increased posterior body sway during ankle muscle vibration (p?=?0.047), decreased anterior body sway during back muscle vibration (p?=?0.025), and increased posterior body sway during simultaneous ankle-muscle vibration (p?=?0.002). Individuals with COPD with the weakest inspiratory muscles showed the greatest reliance on ankle muscle input when compared to the stronger individuals with COPD (p?=?0.037).Individuals with COPD, especially those with inspiratory muscle weakness, increased their reliance on ankle muscle proprioceptive signals and decreased their reliance on back muscle proprioceptive signals during balance control, resulting in a decreased postural stability compared to healthy controls. These proprioceptive changes may be due to an impaired postural contribution of the inspiratory muscles to trunk stability. Further research is required to determine whether interventions such as proprioceptive training and inspiratory muscle training improve postural balance and reduce the fall risk in individuals with COPD. HubMed – rehab
Analysis and optimization of pulse dynamics for magnetic stimulation.
PLoS One. 2013; 8(3): e55771
Goetz SM, Truong CN, Gerhofer MG, Peterchev AV, Herzog HG, Weyh T
Magnetic stimulation is a standard tool in brain research and has found important clinical applications in neurology, psychiatry, and rehabilitation. Whereas coil designs and the spatial field properties have been intensively studied in the literature, the temporal dynamics of the field has received less attention. Typically, the magnetic field waveform is determined by available device circuit topologies rather than by consideration of what is optimal for neural stimulation. This paper analyzes and optimizes the waveform dynamics using a nonlinear model of a mammalian axon. The optimization objective was to minimize the pulse energy loss. The energy loss drives power consumption and heating, which are the dominating limitations of magnetic stimulation. The optimization approach is based on a hybrid global-local method. Different coordinate systems for describing the continuous waveforms in a limited parameter space are defined for numerical stability. The optimization results suggest that there are waveforms with substantially higher efficiency than that of traditional pulse shapes. One class of optimal pulses is analyzed further. Although the coil voltage profile of these waveforms is almost rectangular, the corresponding current shape presents distinctive characteristics, such as a slow low-amplitude first phase which precedes the main pulse and reduces the losses. Representatives of this class of waveforms corresponding to different maximum voltages are linked by a nonlinear transformation. The main phase, however, scales with time only. As with conventional magnetic stimulation pulses, briefer pulses result in lower energy loss but require higher coil voltage than longer pulses. HubMed – rehab