Developing a measure of eating attitudes and behaviours in cystic fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: Eating disorders or disturbed eating attitudes and behaviours (EABs) may contribute to poor nutritional status in Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Existing measures of disturbed EABs can have different meanings in this population and do not assess CF-related EABs. A self-report measure of EABs in CF was developed to highlight areas of eating disturbance. METHODS: The content validity of a draft measure was evaluated via expert evaluation and literature review and an amended measure piloted with 8 CF patients using cognitive interviewing. A further amended measure was administered to 155 CF patients (11-62 years) attending CF clinics. RESULTS: Principal components analyses revealed a three-factor structure ('Desire for thinness and weight loss', 'Disturbed EABs', and 'Appetite') with good internal consistencies for subscales and the 21-item whole measure. CONCLUSIONS: The measure looks promising as a tool to highlight EAB disturbance in CF. Further work will establish its construct validity and clarify interpretation of subscales.

The variability of country map knowledge in normal and aphasic subjects: evidence from two new category-specific screening tests.

Two new category-specific screening tests are described, tapping naming to confrontation and word comprehension at two different levels of frequency. Level I consists of 10 very high-frequency items from each of the categories of animals, manmade artefacts, colours, body parts and countries. Level II probes knowledge of 10 marginally lower frequency items from the categories of animals, man-made artefacts, fruits and vegetables, body parts and countries. A standardization study of 120 healthy older adult subjects is reported. Performance at both levels of frequency in all categories except for countries was at or close to ceiling. A retrospective validation study in the form of a review of 20 cases published during the last 20 years demonstrates the utility of the Level I test for screening for category-specific deficits in severely aphasic patients who were not able to complete more demanding formal tests of naming and comprehension. The surprising variability of map knowledge observed in the standardization sample is considered in the light of one previous report and one newly presented case (IRQ) of apparent selective impairment of country map naming skills.