Predictors of Persistent or Recurrent Disease After Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure.

OBJECTIVE: Follow-up recommendations after an excisional procedure vary depending on whether or not there is a positive ectocervical or endocervical margin or endocervical curettage (ECC). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the importance of these findings in predicting recurrent/persistent (r/p) disease in a sample of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-seropositive and -negative patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Loop electrosurgical excision procedures with a concurrent ECC performed at the Cook County ambulatory clinic between September 29, 2008, and April 15, 2014 were included in this study. Chart review was performed to collect demographic data, pathology results, and all subsequent cytology or histology. We examined the association of these factors with r/p disease using χ and Fisher exact tests as well as log-binomial regression. RESULTS: There were 242 women included for analysis. Of these, 9 LEEP specimens showed invasive cancer or adenocarcinoma in situ, and 15.7% were HIV positive. Mean follow-up was 16.4 months. On bivariate analysis, HIV serostatus, LEEP histology, ectocervical margin, endocervical margin, and ECC were all associated with r/p disease. On multivariate regression, only HIV serostatus and ECC were associated with r/p disease. Among women with either a positive endocervical or ectocervical margin or ECC, the prevalence of r/p disease is 29% if they are HIV negative, and 75% if they are positive. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, ECC seems more predictive of r/p disease than margin status. Most HIV-positive women with positive margins or ECC have r/p disease, whereas most HIV-negative women do not. One should consider HIV serostatus when deciding whether or not to perform repeat excision.

Assessing the discriminant ability, reliability, and comparability of multiple short forms of the Boston Naming Test in an Alzheimer's disease center cohort.

BACKGROUND: The Boston Naming Test (BNT) is a commonly used neuropsychological test of confrontation naming that aids in determining the presence and severity of dysnomia. Many short versions of the original 60-item test have been developed and are routinely administered in clinical/research settings. Because of the common need to translate similar measures within and across studies, it is important to evaluate the operating characteristics and agreement of different BNT versions. METHODS: We analyzed longitudinal data of research volunteers (n = 681) from the University of Kentucky Alzheimer's Disease Center longitudinal cohort. CONCLUSIONS: With the notable exception of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) 15-item BNT, short forms were internally consistent and highly correlated with the full version; these measures varied by diagnosis and generally improved from normal to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia. All short forms retained the ability to discriminate between normal subjects and those with dementia. The ability to discriminate between normal and MCI subjects was less strong for the short forms than the full BNT, but they exhibited similar patterns. These results have important implications for researchers designing longitudinal studies, who must consider that the statistical properties of even closely related test forms may be quite different.

Diagnostic accuracy and practice effects in the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set neuropsychological battery.

INTRODUCTION: The Uniform Data Set (UDS) neuropsychological battery is frequently used in clinical studies. However, practice effects, effectiveness as a measure of global cognitive functioning, and detection of mild cognitive impairment have not been examined. METHODS: A normative total score for the UDS has been developed. Linear discriminant analysis determined classification accuracy in identifying cognitively normal and impaired groups. Practice effects were examined in cognitively normal and cognitively impaired groups. RESULTS: The total score differentiates between cognitively normal participants and those with dementia, but does not accurately identify individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Mean total scores for test-exposed participants were significantly higher than test-naive participants in both the normal and MCI groups and were higher, but not significantly so, in the dementia group. CONCLUSION: The total score's classification accuracy discriminates between cognitively normal versus participants who have dementia. The total score appears subject to practice effects.

CERAD practice effects and attrition bias in a dementia prevention trial.

BACKGROUND: The Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) set of tests is frequently used for tracking cognition longitudinally in both clinical and research settings. Repeated cognitive assessments are an important component in measuring such changes; however, practice effects and attrition bias may obscure significant clinical change over time. The current study sought to examine the presence and magnitude of practice effects and the role of attrition bias in a sample of cognitively normal older men enrolled in a prevention trial. METHOD: Participants were grouped according to whether they completed five years of follow-up (n = 182) or less (n = 126). Practice effects were examined in these participants as a whole (n = 308) and by group. RESULTS: Findings indicate that moderate practice effects exist in both groups on the CERAD T-score and that attrition bias likely does not play a contributing role in improved scores over time. CONCLUSION: The current study provides additional evidence and support for previous findings that repeated cognitive assessment results in rising test scores in longitudinally collected data and demonstrates that these findings are unlikely to be due to attrition.

Patient and caregiver quality of life in Huntington's disease.

Little is known about subjective perceptions of quality of life (QOL) in Huntington's disease (HD). The current study determined correlates of patient and caregiver QOL and assessed change over time. Participants were 22 patient-caregiver dyads, who rated QOL at baseline and 6 months later. Overall, patients' functional and cognitive impairment were significantly correlated with patient and caregiver QOL. Neuropsychiatric symptoms had differential impact on patient and caregiver QOL. Furthermore, when patients recalled their QOL about a previous time, their recall may have been negatively biased. Clinical implications of results are discussed. Future work is needed because subjective QOL is an important outcome measure in therapeutic trials.

Neuropsychiatric symptom assessments in toxic exposure.

The goal of this review is to provide guidelines for evaluating psychiatric and mood changes that result from neurotoxicity. Mood changes that are often seen to varying degrees in neurotoxicity include increased anxiety, depression, irritability, impulsiveness, and psychosis. Some common agents that induce neurotoxicity include drugs, heavy metals, and organophosphates with presentations varying somewhat depending upon the mechanism of toxicity. The authors discuss in detail psychiatric assessment for patients with suspected of having neurotoxicologic syndrome.

Quality of education and memory test performance in older men: the New York University Paragraph Recall Test normative data.

OBJECTIVES: Memory evaluation is a key component in the accurate diagnosis of cognitive disorders.One memory procedure that has shown promise in discriminating disease-related cognitive decline from normal cognitive aging is the New York University Paragraph Recall Test; however, the effects of education have been unexamined as they pertain to one's literacy level. The current study provides normative data stratified by estimated quality of education as indexed by irregular word reading skill. METHOD: Conventional norms were derived from a sample (N = 385) of cognitively intact elderly men who were initially recruited for participation in the PREADViSE clinical trial. A series of multiple linear regression models were constructed to assess the influence of demographic variables on mean NYU Paragraph Immediate and Delayed Recall scores. RESULTS: Test version, assessment site, and estimated quality of education were significant predictors of performance on the NYU Paragraph Recall Test. Findings indicate that estimated quality of education is a better predictor of memory performance than ethnicity and years of total education. Normative data stratified according to estimated quality of education are presented. DISCUSSION: The current study provides evidence and support for normativedata stratified by quality of education as opposed to years of education.

Practice effects in a longitudinal, multi-center Alzheimer's disease prevention clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Practice effects are a known threat to reliability and validity in clinical trials. Few studies have investigated the potential influence of practice on repeated screening measures in longitudinal clinical trials with a focus on dementia prevention. The current study investigates whether practice effects exist on a screening measure commonly used in aging research, the Memory Impairment Screen (MIS). METHODS: The PREADViSE trial is a clinical intervention study evaluating the efficacy of vitamin E and selenium for Alzheimer's disease prevention. Participants are screened annually for incident dementia with the MIS. Participants with baseline and three consecutive follow-ups who made less than a perfect score at one or more assessments were included in the current analyses (N=1,803). An additional subset of participants with four consecutive assessments but who received the same version of the MIS at baseline and first follow-up (N=301) was also assessed to determine the effects of alternate forms on mitigating practice. We hypothesized that despite efforts to mitigate practice effects with alternate versions, MIS scores would improve with repeated screening. Linear mixed models were used to estimate mean MIS scores over time. RESULTS: Among men with four visits and alternating MIS versions, although there is little evidence of a significant practice effect at the first follow-up, mean scores clearly improve at the second and third follow-ups for all but the oldest participants. Unlike those who received alternate versions, men given the same version at first follow-up show significant practice effects. CONCLUSION: While increases in the overall means were small, they represent a significant number of men whose scores improved with repeated testing. Such improvements could bias case ascertainment if not taken into account.

Group therapy as treatment for depressed Latino women: a review of the literature.

Group therapy has been recommended as a treatment for depression among Latino women. Thus, the literature published between 1980 and 2004 was systematically reviewed to explore cultural and therapeutic factors relevant to group therapy for depressed Latino women. The specific aims were to: (1) determine the type of studies on this topic, (2) identify successful forms of group therapy for this population, (3) identify therapeutic factors to consider while dealing with this population in group therapy, and (4) explore guidelines for conducting culturally sensitive groups for this population. Cognitive behavioral group therapy is recommended, yet few experimental studies have explored culturally relevant variations of this treatment. Culturally relevant therapeutic factors were mentioned in all studies.