Adult English-speaking women (n = 126) were enrolled from women’s health clinics at a public hospital. QOL using the short form 12 version 2, disability (days missed from work, inability to do household activities),
and utilization of health services (number of emergency room visits and hospitalizations) were assessed first with A-CASI at the time of enrollment and again (n = 102) with CATI 1 week later. Participants assessed with both modes were 38 years old on average, predominantly African-American, 41% had a high school education or less, and 61% were uninsured. Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient or Cohen’s kappa was calculated to establish concordance between paired A-CASI and CATI assessments.
Concordance Selleck R788 between the two interview methods ranged from fair to substantial for the QOL components, (concordance correlation coefficient SHP099 ic50 [CCC] of .76 and .87, respectively), the QOL subscales, and disability indices (CCC range; .53-.91). For health services utilization, there was moderate concordance for emergency room visits (CCC = .70) but only slight concordance for the number of hospitalizations in the past year (CCC = .37).
Administering surveys through a telephone or
self-administered computer-assisted interview resulted in moderate to substantial agreement for the short form QOL components and fair to substantial for the QOL subscales and disability measures. These findings suggest A-CASI and CATI can be used interchangeably for some QOL scales.”
“Study Design. Prospective case series.
Objective. The study aimed to investigate the therapeutic efficacy
of sacroiliac joint (SIJ) blocks with triamcinolone acetonide in patients with SIJ pain without spondyloarthropathy.
Summary of Background Data. Numerous studies have demonstrated that SIJ blocks with corticosteroid/anesthetic provide long-term pain relief in seronegative spondyloarthropathy. However, only one report on SIJ dysfunction patients without spondyloarthropathy shows promising results.
Methods. We conducted a prospective observational study of patients at a University Spine Center from March 2005 to May 2006. CBL0137 order The above mentioned SIJ blocks were performed in 150 patients, and dual SIJ blocks confirmed SIJ pain in 39 patients (26%).
Results. Twenty-six patients (66.7%) experienced significant pain reduction for more than 6 weeks; the overall mean duration of pain reduction in these responders was 36.8 +/- 9.9 weeks. SIJ blocks were ineffective in 13 patients (33.3%); the mean duration of pain reduction in these patients was 4.4 +/- 1.8 weeks. Univariate analysis revealed that treatment failure was significantly associated with a history of lumbar/lumbosacral fusion (P = 0.03).
Conclusion. SIJ blocks with triamcinolone acetonide are beneficial for some patients with SIJ pain without spondyloarthropathy.