Contextualizing the lived experience of quality of life for persons with spinal cord injury: A mixed-methods application of the response shift model

Objective: The objective of this study was to gain greater insight into individuals’ quality of life (QOL) definitions, appraisals, and adaptations following spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: A mixed-methods design, applying the Schwartz and Sprangers response shift (RS) model. RS is a cognitive process wherein, in response to a change in health status, individuals change internal standards, values, or conceptualization of QOL

Setting: Community-dwelling participants who receive medical treatment at a major Midwestern medical system and nearby Veterans’ Affairs hospital.

Participants: A purposive sample of participants with SCI (N?=?40) completed semi-structured interviews and accompanying quantitative measures.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Outcome Measures: Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis to identify themes. Analysis of variance were performed to detect differences based on themes and QOL, well-being, and demographic and injury characteristics.

Results: Four RS themes were identified, capturing the range of participant perceptions of QOL. The themes ranged from complete RS, indicating active engagement in maintaining QOL, to awareness and comparisons redefining QOL, to a relative lack of RS. Average QOL ratings differed as a function of response shift themes. PROMIS Global Health, Anxiety, and Depression also differed as a function of RS themes.

Conclusion: The RS model contextualizes differences in QOL definitions, appraisals, and adaptations in a way standardized QOL measures alone do not.     

The association of circulating endotoxin with the development of the adult respiratory distress syndrome

Despite extensive investigation, the pathogenesis of the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains uncertain. As yet, there is no clear explanation of why some patients at risk for ARDS develop the syndrome, whereas others do not. Neutrophils and complement fragments have been implicated in the acute lung injury, but it is clear from published data that evidence of complement activation alone predicts neither the development nor the severity of ARDS. We investigated whether the combination of endotoxin, a leukocyte-priming agent, and complement fragments, leukocyte-stimulating agents, was associated with the development of ARDS. Ninety-eight patients were identified as being either at risk for the development of ARDS or having ARDS, and serial blood samples were obtained. There was no correlation between C5 fragments and the development of ARDS. C3 fragment levels were increased in 89% of the patients with ARDS, but they were also increased in 62% of patients at risk. Endotoxin was detected in 74% of the plasma samples obtained from patients at risk who subsequent developed ARDS and in 64% of the plasma samples obtained from the patients with ARDS. In contrast, only 22% of the plasma samples obtained from the patients at risk who did not develop ARDS had measurable endotoxin. We suggest that the combination of endotoxin and complement fragments may be one mechanism involved in the development of ARDS.     

Monoclonal origin of vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia and some vulvar hyperplasias.

Squamous neoplasms of the female genital tract, including vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia, presumably are derived from a single cell. This study addressed this hypothesis and determined the clonal status of other squamous epithelial alterations associated with vulvar carcinoma, including hyperplasia and lichen sclerosis. X chromosome inactivation patterns of 22 epithelial lesions and matched normal epithelium were determined using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay targeting the X-linked human androgen receptor gene (HUMARA). Clonality was inferred by comparing matched lesional and control tissues as follows: 1) monoclonal, if intensity of either PCR product was skewed relative to normal reference epithelium (control), 2) polyclonal, if both lesional and control were unskewed, and 3) unknown, if both lesion and control tissues were skewed toward the same allele. Two cases were excluded because of noninformative homozygous HUMARA alleles. Of 8 vulvar intraepithelial neoplasias analyzed, 7 were scored monoclonal and 1 polyclonal. Of 12 hyperplasias, 6 were monoclonal, including one with lichen sclerosis, 2 were polyclonal, and in 4, the clonal status could not be determined. The PCR-based clonal assay supports a monoclonal derivation for vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia and, in some cases, vulvar hyperplasia, and lichen sclerosis. The finding of monoclonal hyperplasia and lichen sclerosis suggests that clonal expansion may evolve before the development of morphological atypia in these epithelia.     

Variations in physicians' hospitalization practices: a population-based study in Manitoba, Canada.

This paper uses claims data from a universal health care system to describe physicians' hospitalization styles after adjusting for case-mix characteristics of their primary patients. Patients were uniquely assigned to that physician (general or family practitioners, internist, general surgeon, or obstetrician/gynecologist) seen most frequently over each two two-year periods (1972-74 and 1974-76). Four indices were developed including: 1) percentage of primary patients hospitalized; 2) mean number of readmissions for such patients; 3) mean length of stay; and 4) total days of hospitalization per primary care patient (a summary measure combining the first three). Rates of admission, not length of stay, were shown to be strongly related to this summary measure. Marked variations in the hospitalization indices were observed across physicians; these variations cannot be explained by the health or sociodemographic characteristics of a physician's patients. Rural physicians practicing in areas with high bed-to-population ratios and low occupancy rates were particularly high users of hospitals. The economic implications of different practice styles are shown to be large; physicians who were high users of hospitals serve 27 per cent of the patients but their patients consume 42 per cent of the hospital days.     

Metallothionein in human retinal pigment epithelial cells: expression, induction and zinc uptake.

The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) plays several important roles in the continual support and renewal of photoreceptor outer segments. In the present study, we have demonstrated that RPE cells contain a low molecular weight protein with a high capacity for zinc binding that is dependent on available sulfhydryl groups. This protein is inducible by a 24 hour incubation of cultured RPE in medium supplemented with zinc, cadmium, or dexamethasone. The induction of this protein is correlated with an increased capacity for zinc-65 uptake into cultured RPE. Analysis with a cDNA probe specific for the human metallothionein II gene corroborated the existence and induction of metallothionein gene products in RPE cells. Based on these properties, we have identified this protein as metallothionein. The induction of metallothionein likely has a critical influence on the zinc economy of the RPE.     

The relationship of the transcutaneous oxygen tension, pulse waves and systolic pressures to the risk for limb amputation in patients with peripheral arterial disease and skin ulcers or gangrene.

AIM: Our aim was to determine how the risk associated with presence of low transcutaneous oxygen tension (tcPO2) for subsequent major amputation in patients with skin ulcers or gangrene and peripheral arterial disease, compares with the risks associated with low peripheral pressures and low amplitude of pulse waves. Secondly, we determined whether combination of measurements of oxygen tension with that of the pressures or pulse wave amplitude predicts amputation better than pressure, wave or oxygen tension measurements alone. METHODS: Measurements were carried out to obtain foot tcPO2, ankle and toe pressures, pressure indices, and toe pulse wave amplitude in 75 limbs with skin lesions and arterial disease of 66 patients referred to the vascular laboratory. These variables were related to the risk of a subsequent major amputation during a median time of 4.2 years, using Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: Low oxygen tension was associated with increased risk of amputation (relative risks 2.16 and 2.55 for tcPO2 < or = 10 mmHg and < or = 20 mmHg, respectively, P<0.05; relative risk 2.22 for tcPO2 < or = 30 mmHg, P=0.07). The relative risks associated with cutoff values of ankle and toe pressures and pressure indices varied from 2.53 (toe < or = 20 mmHg, P<0.05) to 5.83 (ankle < or = 50 mmHg, P<0.001) and the relative risk associated with low wave amplitude (< or = 4 mm) was 3.41, P<0.01. The cutoff values of tcPO2 became insignificant when included in the models together with each pressure variable or pulse amplitude separately. In contrast, wave amplitude remained significantly associated with increased risk of amputation after controlling for each pressure variable (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: TcPO2 < or = 10 mmHg and < or = 20 mmHg are related significantly to increased risk of amputation in patients with skin lesions and arterial disease, but these relative risks are similar in magnitude or smaller than those associated with low cutoff values of pressures, pressure indices or pulse wave amplitude. Low wave amplitude does provide significant information in addition to peripheral pressures with respect to the risk of amputation. On the other hand, low tcPO2 does not provide significant information in addition to peripheral pressures or pulse wave amplitude.     

Thrombin activity by intrinsic activation of plasma in-vitro accelerates with increasing age of the donor.

Thrombotic diseases increase in incidence with advancing years and this might be partly due to an increased propensity for fibrin formation in older individuals. Accordingly we decided to investigate whether the time taken to generate 50% thrombin activity in vitro varied with the age of the plasma donor. Coagulation was initiated in defibrinated, diluted plasma by contact activation and thrombin activity measured using the chromogenic substrate, S2238. The rate of thrombin generation was assessed by measuring the time taken to reach 50% maximal activity (T50/s). There was a highly significant negative correlation between T50 and age, T50 declining from 93 s at 19 years to 71 s at 65 years (r = -0.637, p less than 0.0001). A strong negative correlation was demonstrated between T50 and FVII level (r = -0.415, p = 0.0007) and FVIII:C level (r = -0.465, p = 0.0001). Although FVII concentration correlated with age (r = 0.307, p = 0.014) no relationship was seen between age and FVIII:C. These data suggest that coagulation rates in plasma accelerate with age.     

Verbal Working Memory and Atherosclerosis in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease: An fMRI study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Intimal-medial thickening (IMT) of the carotid wall is an accepted peripheral marker of atherosclerosis. It is associated with increased risk for myocardial infarction and stroke, and lower attention-executive-psychomotor functioning. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between IMT and brain activity during a verbal working memory (VWM) task in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). METHODS: Thirteen CVD patients underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a 2-Back VWM task, and B-mode ultrasound of the carotid arteries. IMT was calculated using an automated algorithm based on a validated edge-detection technique. The relationship between IMT and 2-Back-related brain activity was modeled using partial correlations controlling for age and small vessel disease as measured by white matter signal hyperintensities on MRI (WMH). RESULTS: Higher IMT was associated with lower 2-Back-related signal intensity and in the right middle frontal gyrus, independent of age and WMH. CONCLUSIONS: IMT may be one mechanism contributing to brain dysfunction in CVD. The blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast appears to be highly sensitive to peripheral vascular health as measured by IMT. Future studies should examine the sensitivity and specificity of the BOLD response for predicting cognitive decline in CVD.