Ann Acad Med Singap
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Ann Acad Med Singap · Jul 2013
Diagnostic performance of short portable mental status questionnaire for screening dementia among patients attending cognitive assessment clinics in Singapore.
The Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ) is a brief cognitive screening instrument, which is easy to use by a healthcare worker with little training. However, the validity of this instrument has not been established in Singapore. Thus, the primary aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic performance of SPMSQ for screening dementia among patients attending outpatient cognitive assessment clinics and to assess whether the appropriate cut-off score varies by patient's age and education. A secondary aim of the study was to map the SPMSQ scores with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores. ⋯ Despite the advantage of being a brief screening instrument for dementia, the use of SPMSQ is limited by its low sensitivity and specificity, especially among patients with less than 6 years of education.
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Ann Acad Med Singap · Jun 2013
Comparative StudyAn alternative treatment option for scaphoid nonunion advanced collapse (SNAC) and radioscaphoid osteoarthritis: early results of a prospective study on the pyrocarbon adaptive proximal scaphoid implant (APSI).
Scaphoid nonunion advanced collapse (SNAC) and radioscaphoid osteoarthritis are difficult to treat. Options include proximal row carpectomy (PRC), four corner fusion (4CF) and wrist arthroplasty or arthrodesis. However, with inevitable disease progression, a significant proportion of patients undergo total wrist fusion. This reduces function by abolishing wrist movement. We review the preliminary results of a pyrocarbon interpositional radiocarpal implant in a small cohort of patients from our prospective study and challenge the assumption that there are no surgical alternatives. ⋯ Our early results are encouraging, warrant further and longer studies and support the use of pyrocarbon implants as a primary procedure in what is a generally young and active subgroup of patients.