Behavioural neurology
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Behavioural neurology · Jan 2015
Personal Strengths and Health Related Quality of Life in Dementia Caregivers from Latin America.
The research literature has begun to demonstrate associations between personal strengths and enhanced psychosocial functioning of dementia caregivers, but these relationships have not been examined in the context of dementia caregivers in Latin America. The present study examined whether personal strengths, including resilience, optimism, and sense of coherence, were associated with mental and physical health related quality of life (HRQOL) in 130 dementia caregivers in Mexico and Argentina. ⋯ In comparison, the personal strengths together accounted for 8.9% of the variance in caregiver physical HRQOL, and only sense of coherence yielded a unique effect. These results underscore the need to construct and disseminate empirically supported interventions based in part on important personal strengths, particularly sense of coherence, for this underrepresented group.
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Behavioural neurology · Jan 2015
Multicenter StudyMortality and One-Year Functional Outcome in Elderly and Very Old Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injuries: Observed and Predicted.
The aim of the present study was to evaluate mortality and functional outcome in old and very old patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and compare to the predicted outcome according to the internet based CRASH (Corticosteroid Randomization After Significant Head injury) model based prediction, from the Medical Research Council (MRC). Methods. Prospective, national multicenter study including patients with severe TBI ≥ 65 years. ⋯ The CRASH models predicted unfavorable outcome in all patients. Conclusion. The CRASH model overestimated mortality and unfavorable outcome in old and very old Norwegian patients with severe TBI.
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Behavioural neurology · Jan 2015
Sleep duration and sleep quality following acute mild traumatic brain injury: a propensity score analysis.
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has been widely studied and the effects of injury can be long term or even lifelong. This research aims to characterize the sleep problems of patients following acute mTBI. ⋯ Our study supports that sleep problem is common in mTBI group. After adjusting the confounders by propensity score, sleep duration and subjective sleep quality are the most frequently reported problems in mTBI patients within one month after the injury.
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Behavioural neurology · Jan 2015
Neurophysiological Indicators of Residual Cognitive Capacity in the Minimally Conscious State.
The diagnostic usefulness of electrophysiological methods in assessing disorders of consciousness (DoC) remains to be established on an individual patient level, and there is need to determine what constitutes robust experimental paradigm to elicit electrophysiological indices of covert cognitive capacity. ⋯ ERP paradigms involving actively counting SON represent a robust paradigm in probing for volitional cognition in minimally conscious patients and add important diagnostic information in some patients.
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Behavioural neurology · Jan 2015
Loss in Executive Functioning Best Explains Changes in Pain Responsiveness in Patients with Dementia-Related Cognitive Decline.
There is ample evidence that dementia changes the processing of pain. However, it is not known whether this change in pain processing is related to the general decline in cognitive functioning or whether it may be related to specific domains of cognitive functioning. With the present study we tried to answer this question. ⋯ Variance in pain responsiveness (NFR and facial expressions) was best explained by those items assessing executive functioning even when controlling for overall cognitive performance and memory functioning. The close association between executive functioning and pain responsiveness suggests that dementia-related neurodegeneration in prefrontal areas might result not only in reduced executive functioning but also in a loss of pain inhibitory potency, rendering the patient more vulnerable to pain. Our findings also suggest that pain assessment in dementia should be regularly completed by tests of cognitive functions.