Reduced influenza antiviral treatment among children and adults hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza infection in the year after the 2009 pandemic

Influenza antiviral treatment is recommended for all persons hospitalized with influenza virus infection. During the 2010-2011 influenza season, antiviral treatment of children and adults hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza declined significantly compared with treatment during the 2009 pandemic (children, 56% vs 77%; adults, 77% vs 82%; both P < .01).     

Psychological and family-related facts of suffering in patients with chronic diseases

Illnesses that limit life or functioning have the potential to cause significant distress and lead to suffering. Suffering is a subjective and multidimensional experience that results from the person's appraisal of threat and exhaustion of coping resources. Detection and management of suffering in patients who are chronically ill have become of great interest in the last few years as relief from suffering was established as one of palliative care main goals. Psychological, sociocultural, and family issues that contribute to suffering are discussed. Also, assessment strategies and instruments, as well as interventions toward relief from suffering, are described. Therapeutic approaches should be individualized and include issues in the physical, psychological, sociocultural, and spiritual domains to plan for comprehensive interventions suited to the patient's needs and to attain better symptom control. Regarding family suffering, interventions that reinforce the perceived social support, facilitate communication and emotional disclosure, effect on the family's level of cohesion and flexibility, and enable role distribution, resilience, and meaning of the illness as a learning experience will reinforce adaptation and alleviate suffering.     

Predictors of trait dissociation and peritraumatic dissociation induced via cold pressor

Understanding which factors predict individual dissociative response during stressful situations is important to clarify the nature of dissociation and the mechanisms associated to its use as a coping strategy. The present study examined (1) whether experiential avoidance (EA), anxiety sensitivity (AS), depressive symptoms, and state anxiety concurrently predicted trait dissociation (TD)—absorption, amnesia, depersonalization, and total TD scores—and laboratory induced dissociation (LID); and (2) whether TD and catastrophizing predicted LID. We also examined whether catastrophizing mediated the relationships between both AS and depressive symptoms and LID. A total of 101 female undergraduate students participated in a cold pressor task, which significantly induced dissociation. Results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that AS at Time 1 (9 months before the experimental session), as well as depressive symptoms and catastrophizing at the time of the experiment (Time 2), predicted LID at Time 2. Depressive symptoms at Time 2 predicted total TD, absorption, and amnesia scores. AS at Time 1 and depressive symptoms at Time 2 predicted depersonalization. AS, depressive symptoms, and catastrophizing seem to facilitate the use of dissociative strategies by healthy individuals, even in response to non-traumatic but discomforting stress.     

Differences in attention and impulsivity between borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder

This study aims at investigating attention and impulsivity differences between borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder, as both diseases may share neuropsychological deficits. Differential cognitive outcomes on the Continuous Performance Test-II were observed between disorders, and also when compared to healthy controls.     

Epileptic disorders in Becker and Duchenne muscular dystrophies: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Journal of Neurology - Dystrophin alterations in the brain have been associated with an increased risk of epilepsy in Becker and Duchenne muscular dystrophies (BMD and DMD). Moreover, an...     

Diagnosis of amblyaudia in children referred for auditory processing assessment

Children (n?=?141) referred to 5 clinical sites for auditory processing disorder assessment were tested with two dichotic listening tests, one with word pairs and the other with pairs of digits, as part of a comprehensive diagnostic battery. Scores from the Randomized Dichotic Digits Test and the Dichotic Words Test were compared to age-appropriate norms and used to place children into one of four diagnostic categories (normal, dichotic dysaudia, amblyaudia, or amblyaudia plus) or to identify them as undiagnosed. Results from the two dichotic tests led to diagnosis of 56% of the children tested, leaving 44% undiagnosed. When results from a third dichotic listening test were used as a tie-breaker among originally undiagnosed children, a total of 79% of the children’s scores were placed into diagnostic categories (13% normal, 19% dichotic dysaudia, 35% amblyaudia, 12% amblyaudia plus). Amblyaudia, a binaural integration deficit evident only from dichotic listening test results, was most prevalent (35%?+?12%?=?47%) in this population of children suspected of auditory processing weaknesses. Since amblyaudia responds to treatment with Auditory Rehabilitation for Interaural Asymmetry (ARIA), clinicians are guided through the protocol for identifying diagnostic categories so that they can make appropriate referrals for rehabilitation.