Validation of a Questionnaire for Clinical Seizure Diagnosis

A detailed questionnaire has been devised for diagnosis of seizure type. It is suitable for administration by trained interviewers, either directly or by telephone. A comparison of physician-based and questionnaire-based diagnoses showed almost perfect agreement in classification of patients into those with seizures of either generalized or focal origin. Substantial to almost-perfect agreement was reached in diagnosis of patients with most individual seizure types. Disagreement in differentiation between simple and complex partial seizures (CPS) probably reflects the limitations of the clinical method rather than of the questionnaire itself. The questionnaire should be of value in large-scaled clinical and epidemiologic studies.     

The National Hospital Seizure Severity Scale: A Further Development of the Chalfont Seizure Severity Scale

Summary: Seizure severity scales have recently been identified as an important additional outcome measure in trials of new antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). The National Hospital Seizure Severity Scale (NHS3) is presented as a refined version of the Chalfont Seizure Severity Scale. The principal advantages of the new version are that it is quicker and simpler to apply, the limits of reliability are now clearly defined, and construct validity for the scale is available. The scale is administered by a health professional during an interview with a patient and a witness to the seizures. It contains seven seizure-related factors and generates a score from 1 to 27. An intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.90 was obtained during interobserver and test-retest reliability assessment, suggesting that the scale is sufficiently reliable for group studies. Scores for an individual patient should be interpreted with caution in light of the limits of agreement obtained. Validation experiments indicate that NHS3 measures seizure severity in a manner compatible with the subjective impression of people with epilepsy. We suggest that the NHS3 is a valid, easily applicable measure of seizure severity that is acceptably reliable for use in trials of novel AEDs.     

The Compulsive Online Shopping Scale (COSS): Development and Validation Using Panel Data

The Internet is one of the most influential forms of mass media having revolutionized human behavior, with people spending more and more time online. However, excessive Internet use, which is also termed as “Internet Addiction”, can have negative consequences for an individual as well as the society in which they reside. This type of addiction is classified as behavioral addiction (DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association 2013). However, a group of American Psychiatric Association (APA) working members deemed insufficient research to consider additional behavioral addictions (e.g., compulsive buying) to be included in psychiatric nosology. Henceforth, one of the goals of this study is to shed light on what is considered “compulsive online shopping” to further support future DSM behavioral addiction classification modifications. The second goal of this study was to develop a compulsive online shopping scale (COSS) that is consistent with addiction criteria established in the DSM-5. And finally, we explored a few characteristic features related to compulsive online shoppers; both demographically and psychologically.     

Ontogenetic Studies of Seizure Patterns and Seizure Activities Induced by Cortical Focus

Ontogenetic studies of epileptogenic process were carried out in albino rats ranging in age from birth to 45 days. Experimental epilepsy was produced by two different procedures and the results were compared with each other. Tungstic acid gel was applied to the motor area of the left side of the cortex, and the following results were obtained. The latency of the seizure appearance was long during 10 days after birth, became progressively short thereafter and reached the minimum in about 20 days of age, and gradually returned to the adult level again by 45 days of age. No obvious seizure was exhibited until five days of age. Seizure patterns developed from tonic or twitch-like jerky convulsion (10 days old) to rhythmic or clonic type of seizure (13 days old), and the seizure patterns similar to those in the adult rat were observed in about 20 days of age. Cortical seizure activity was initially observed in about 10–day-old rats; single high amplitude slow wave appeared and small spikes became superimposed on it in the course of maturation. Atypical spike and wave complexes were observed after 20 days of age. Electrical stimulation was applied to the left cortical motor area by constant current stimulator, and the following seizure patterns were observed: No obvious seizure could be elicited in newborn rat, whereas from three days of age, tonic seizure of the whole body, and from seven days old twitch-like convulsion of extremities were observed. In ages from 10 to 20 days, seizure induced by electrical stimulation was mainly tonic in pattern; extension of forelimbs and flexion of hindlimbs in most cases were observed before 13 days old, but both fore- and hind-limbs were extended thereafter. Tonic-clonic seizure patterns were exhibited after 20 days of age. From these results, it was considered that tonic convulsions and high voltage slow cortical seizure activities were produced from the activities of the local cortical neuro-nal connections, and rhythmic and/or clonic seizure patterns and spike and wave seizure activities were elicited from the more complex, i.e. cortico-subcortical neuronal circuits. Possible contributing factors for the determination of seizure susceptibility in immature rats were also discussed.     

The Effects of Neonatal Hypoxia on Kindled Seizure Development and Electroconvulsive Shock Profiles

Summary: Purpose : Our previous research indicated that the exposure of rat pups to an hypoxic environment during a discrete developmental period (postnatal days 10- 15) produces short-term seizures and confers an enduring increase in susceptibility to pentylenetetrazol- and flurothyl- induced seizures. In this study, we evaluated the effects of hypoxic insult in this neonatal period on susceptibility to electrical kindling and corneal electroconvulsive shock.
Methods : Ten-day-old rat pups were exposed to a 3% O2 environment, as previously described, and were either kindled or exposed to corneal electroshock at adulthood (70 days old).
Results : Neither kindled seizure development from the septal nucleus or amygdala nor electroconvulsive shock profiles were significantly altered by hypoxic pretreatment.
Conclusions : Results indicate that hypoxia produces increases in seizure susceptibility that are observable in only some experimental seizure models but not in others. This outcome serves to target some anatomic systems more than others in the mechanisms involved in hypoxia-induced neural reorganization.     

Development and Validation of the Stroke Knowledge Test

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of stroke knowledge (the Stroke Knowledge Test [SKT]) using a systematic test construction process and to investigate the psychometric properties of this test. There are relatively few published measures of stroke knowledge, and, of those that exist, relatively little is documented about test construction or psychometric properties. Such tests are important for evaluation of stroke education programs. Method: Test construction involved systematic generation of pilot test items, expert review of pilot items, and calculation of pilot item properties. After final item selection, two experiments were conducted to determine if the SKT was sensitive to varying levels of stroke knowledge and to estimate the reliability of the test. Results: The final version of the test included 20 items with good content coverage, acceptable item properties, and positive expert review ratings. Results from psychometric investigations suggest that SKT has relatively good reliability (internal consistency and test-retest reliability) and construct validity (i.e., SKT scores significantly increased after stroke education [cf. nonstroke education], and community-dwelling older adults who had a relative with stroke [and more prior exposure to stroke information] scored higher on the SKT than those without a stroke relative). Conclusion: Findings provide preliminary support for the SKT as a valid and reliable tool for assessing stroke knowledge. The SKT may be used to identify individual information needs of stroke survivors and their caregivers or as a tool to evaluate group- or community-based stroke education programs.     

The Development and Standardization of a Spanish Version of the Washington Psychosocial Seizure Inventory

The Washington Psychosocial Seizure Inventory (WPSI) was translated from English into Spanish, reviewed by a bilingual panel, and then standardized on 107 Spanish-speakers and 45 bilinguals in Miami, Florida. The 152 subjects were active clients of the Epilepsy Foundation of South Florida. Subjects were assigned to one of three treatment groups: Monolingual (Spanish WPSI only), Bilingual (Spanish WPSI first), or Bilingual (English WPSI first). All three groups were given two administrations of the WPSI at least 30 days apart. Resulting data were submitted to measures of split-half reliability, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity. The psychosocial scales were found to be internally consistent and showed stability across administrations with a marked similarity between the Spanish and English forms. The concurrent validity of the Spanish scales was established at the 0.01 level of significance or better. It was concluded that the Spanish WPSI was statistically comparable to the original English language version, thus establishing a basis for its usage in the psychological assessment of Spanish-speaking epileptics throughout the world.     

卒中后癫痫发作与卒中后癫痫

卒中是引起癫痫的常见原因,本文就卒中后癫痫发作和卒中后癫痫的定义、发病机制、卒中后癫痫发作类型、癫痫发作的影响因素及治疗进展等做一综述。     

Development and Validation of the Theistic Spiritual Outcome Survey

Abstract

The authors developed the Theistic Spiritual Outcome Survey (TSOS) to measure the spiritual outcomes of psychotherapy from a theistic spiritual perspective. A 17-item version of the TSOS was found to have adequate reliability and validity in a sample of college students. Three factors emerged from the analyses that corresponded to the Love of God, Love of Others, and Love of Self subscales. Correlations with measures of psychological outcomes were statistically significant. In subsequent analyses, the TSOS was administered over an 8-week period to a sample of inpatient women with eating disorders and to two samples from inpatient psychological clinics in Germany. The analyses resulting from these studies were also supportive of the psychometric properties and clinical sensitivity of the TSOS.