ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) affects all dimensions of the patient's and the caregiver's daily life. There are two questionnaires in German, Bela-A-k (for caregivers) and Bela-P-k (for PD patients), that can be used to assess the PD-related psychosocial burden in a dyad. The patient's and the caregiver's perspective of living with PD can be crosschecked. Four dimensions are explored: physical performance, emotional load, social relationships, and couple/family life. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to translate these questionnaires into French and to test them among patients and caregivers. METHODS: The questionnaires were translated from German into French by forward and backward translation, followed by a cultural crosscheck. Participants were invited to test the consensual French version in its online administered version created via Lime Survey® software. Participants filled out the questionnaires twice (five-day interval) according to the test-retest method. Data analysis was performed with SPSS software. RESULTS: Thirty dyads were recruited and eighteen completed the study. Bela-A-K showed strong temporal stability, though it was weak for the social relationships dimension. Bela-P-k showed strong internal consistency, but significant test-retest differences for ten items due to day-by-day changes in patient status. CONCLUSIONS: The questionnaires are useful and reliable for dyad-centered follow-up in case of PD. Some items of the Bela-P-k were simplified to improve its temporal stability, considering the patient's changing status through the day. The items concerning social relationships were adjusted for the Bela-A-k.
Subject(s)
Parkinson Disease , Humans , Parkinson Disease/therapy , Parkinson Disease/psychology , Spouses , Surveys and Questionnaires , Caregivers/psychology , Quality of Life/psychologyABSTRACT
A double blind study has been carried out on patients scheduled for appendicectomy. They were divided into two groups who were given diazepam as premedication either orally or intramuscularly. The clinical effects were measured with regard to anxiolysis, gastric contents volume and acidity. Orally premedicated patients were not significantly less anxious. No significant differences between both groups concerning gastric contents (volume and pH) were found. Therefore, oral premedication did not increase the risk of inhalation. Taking into account the previous findings in the literature, the pharmacological advantages of the oral route and the lack of complications, a wider use of oral premedication for elective operations in adults is recommended.
