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To develop a standardized, practical, self-administered questionnaire to monitor pediatric patients with burns and to evaluate the effectiveness of comprehensive pediatric burn management treatments, a group of experts generated a set of items to measure relevant burn outcomes. Children between the ages of 5 and 18 years were assessed in a cross-sectional study. Both parent and adolescent responses were obtained from children 11 to 18 years old. The internal reliability of final scales ranged from 0.82 to 0.93 among parents and from 0.75 to 0.92 among adolescents. Mean differences between parent and adolescent were small; the greatest difference occurred in the appearance subscale. Parental scales showed evidence of validity and potential for sensitivity to change. In an effort to support the construct validity of the new scales, they were compared with the Child Health Questionnaire and related to each other in clinically sensible ways. These burn outcomes scales reliably and validly assess function in patients with burns, and the scales have been developed in such a way that they are likely to be sensitive to change over time.

Background: Exercise-induced anaphylaxis (EIA) is a unique physical allergy that is triggered by exertion, the clinical spectrum and modifying factors of which have been previously studied. At the time of initial description, it was postulated that other factors contributed to this disorder. Objective: We sought to determine the clinical course and potential modifying factors in EIA. Methods: In 1993, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 671 individuals with exercise-associated symptoms for more than a decade using a validated 75-item questionnaire. Subjects met criteria for EIA if they had anaphylactic symptoms, including hypotension or upper airway obstruction, urticaria, or angioedema with physical exertion but without a passive increase in core body temperature. Results: Of 365 (54%) questionnaire respondents, 279 (87%) met criteria for EIA (199 females and 80 males). At the time of study entry, subjects with EIA (mean age, 37.5 years; range, 13 to 77 years) had an average of 10.6 years of symptoms, which were most frequently triggered by aerobic activities such as jogging or brisk walking (78% and 42%, respectively). On average, subjects reported that the frequency of attacks had decreased (47% of subjects) or stabilized (46% of subjects) since onset. One hundred (41%) subjects reported being completely free of attacks in the past year. Subjects reduced their attacks by avoiding exercise during extremely hot or cold weather (44%), avoiding ingestion of certain foods before exercise (37%), and restricting exercise during their allergy season (36%) or humid weather (33%). The most common pharmacologic agents used to manage symptoms were H1 antagonists (56%) and/or epinephrine (31%). However, 28% used no treatment at all. Conclusion: EIA is an episodic condition in which the frequency of attacks tends to stabilize or decrease over time. Improvement appears to result from individual modification of exercise and avoidance of known environmental and ingestible precipitants. (J Allergy Clin Immunol 1999;104:123-7.)

New scales for the clinical assessment of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are valid and reliable, and quantitate disease activity. We assessed the responsiveness to change of 2 widely used standardized multi-item lupus activity measures, the revised Systemic Lupus Activity Measure (SLAM-R) and the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI), and their ability to detect clinically relevant changes.Ninety-six (96) patients with definite SLE participated in this study. The group mean age was 45.0 (13.7) years, 91% were female, and the mean disease duration was 14.9 (7.5) years. Sociodemographic information, lupus activity (SLAM-R, SLEDAI), and damage were recorded at baseline. At each of the 5 monthly followup visits, the activity measures were repeated and a transition scale asked the physician if their patient's lupus activity had changed. Five different methods were used to compare the responsiveness of the activity measures studied: 1. the effect size; 2. the standardized response mean; 3. the control standardized response mean; 4. the area under the curve of a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve; and 5. a new multiple response modeling approach.Both SLAM-R and SLEDAI are responsive. SLAM-R is consistently, although moderately, more responsive than SLEDAI. All 5 methods of evaluating responsiveness yielded a consistent ranking of disease activity measures.SLAM-R and SLEDAI are responsive measures of lupus activity. SLAM-R appears to be more responsive than SLEDAI.

To determine whether patients with knee or hip osteoarthritis (OA) who have worse physical function preoperatively achieve a postoperative status that is similar to that of patients with better preoperative function.This study surveyed an observational cohort of 379 consecutive patients with definite OA who were without other inflammatory joint diseases and were undergoing either total hip or knee replacement in a US (Boston) and a Canadian (Montreal) referral center. Questionnaires on health status (the Short Form 36 and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index) were administered preoperatively and at 3 and 6 months postoperatively. Physical function and pain due to OA were deemed the most significant outcomes to study.Two hundred twenty-two patients returned their questionnaires. Patients in the 2 centers were comparable in age, sex, time to surgery, and proportion of hip/knee surgery. The Boston group had more education, lower comorbidity, and more cemented knee prostheses. Patients undergoing hip or knee replacement in Montreal had lower preoperative physical function and more pain than their Boston counterparts. In patients with lower preoperative physical function, function and pain were not improved postoperatively to the level achieved by those with higher preoperative function. This was most striking in patients undergoing total knee replacement.Surgery performed later in the natural history of functional decline due to OA of the knee, and possibly of the hip, results in worse postoperative functional status.

To study the outcome of Lyme disease (LD) in children identified in a total population survey of an endemic island.We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study off the coast of Massachusetts. Twenty-five children who met the Centers for Disease Control case definition for prior LD were compared with 26 children without LD from the same community. All children with LD received antibiotics during the acute phase of their disease. All 51 children were invited for a clinical evaluation, including 12-lead electrocardiogram (EKG), and measurement of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi by antibody-capture ELISA and Western blot.At a mean of 3.2 years from the initial manifestation of LD, children with prior LD did not have a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal or neurological symptoms, examination abnormalities, abnormal EKG, or behavioral difficulties, compared to children with no history of LD.Children who receive appropriate antimicrobial therapy for LD appear to have no demonstrable longterm morbidity.

The goal of orthopaedic interventions is to improve the functional health of patients, particularly physical function. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) commissioned a work group to construct functional health outcomes scales for children and adolescents, focusing on musculoskeletal health. The work group developed scales assessing upper extremity function, transfers and mobility, physical function and sports, comfort (pain free), happiness and satisfaction, and expectations for treatment. Parent and adolescent self-report forms were developed and tested on 470 subjects aged 2-18 years. The POSNA scales demonstrated good reliability, construct validity, sensitivity to change over a 9-month period, and ability to outperform a standard instrument, the Child Health Questionnaire physical functioning scale. They were useful for a wide variety of ages and diagnoses. They appear to be ideally suited for orthopaedic surgeons to assess the functional health and efficacy of treatment of their patients at baseline and follow-up.

Strategies to improve responsiveness of quantitative questionnaires and methods for evaluating responsiveness are reviewed. Current methods of evaluating responsiveness are not standardized and are themselves unevaluated. A conceptual model of assessing responsiveness is proposed.

To examine the psychometric properties and construct validity of a self-administered Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Index (RADAI).Five items of the Rapid Assessment of Disease Activity in Rheumatology (RADAR) questionnaire were aggregated into the RADAI and assessed for their factor loading, internal consistency, and construct validity.In 55 patients with RA, the RADAI had a high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.91) and correlated with physician's assessment of disease activity (r = 0.54, P0.01), the swollen joint count (r = 0.54, P0.01), and the C-reactive protein value (r = 0.43, P0.01).The RADAI is a highly reliable and valid self-administered measure of disease activity for clinical, health services, and epidemiologic research. Its sensitivity to change in longitudinal studies needs further study.

To determine the prevalence of symptomatic rheumatic disease in rural, urban and suburban areas of Taiwan by a 2-staged population survey.Nine thousand subjects over 20 years old were sampled proportional to age and sex for the area from 3 administrative areas in Taiwan. A pretested questionnaire to screen for potential rheumatic disorders and/or disability was administered in the communities by health workers. Subjects who screened positive were examined by a rheumatologist who assigned a final diagnosis based on established criteria.A total of 8998 persons over age 20 residing in Hen-San (rural area), Sien-Dien (suburban), and Cu-Tien (urban) were studied. Twenty-five percent (2272) of the population indicated rheumatic problems: 1124 of 2271 were evaluated by a rheumatologist with serological and radiological testing. The response rates were 49.7% in Hen-San, 50.7% in Sien-Dien and 48.5% on Cu-Tien. After age and sex adjustment, the prevalence of rheumatic symptoms in Hen-San, Sien-Dien, and Cu-Tien was 24.3, 18.4 and 26.3% respectively. It was significantly higher in rural Hen-San and urban Cu-Tien than in Sien-Dien. The prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Hen-San, Sien-Dien, and Cu-Tien was 0.26, 0.78, and 0.93%, osteoarthritis (OA) was 6.3, 5.8, 5.1%, ankylosing spondylitis (AS) was 0.54, 0.19, 0.4%, gout was 0.16, 0.67, 0.67%, respectively. The prevalence of RA in Sien-Dien and Cu-Tien was significantly higher than in Hen-San (p0.05) but were not statistically different for OA, AS and gout among those 3 sites. Only one case of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was found in urban Cu-Tien for a prevalence of 0.033%.Our results suggest that the prevalence of RA and AS is similar to that reported in Caucasians. We could not confirm anecdotal reports that SLE was common or that it is more common than RA in people of Chinese ancestry. The prevalence of OA of the hip is comparatively uncommon in our population. The difference in prevalence of rheumatism, RA, OA and gout in these areas suggests areas of further study.

The outcome of laminectomy for the relief of symptoms resulting from degenerative lumbar stenosis is not well established. Eighty-eight consecutive patients who had had a laminectomy for degenerative lumbar stenosis between 1983 and 1986 were studied. Eight of the patients had had a concomitant arthrodesis. The follow-up evaluation included a review of charts and standardized questionnaires that were completed by the patients. One year postoperatively, five patients (6 per cent) had had a second operation and five still had severe pain. By the time of the latest follow-up, in 1989, fifteen (17 per cent) of the original eighty-eight patients had had a repeat operation because of instability or stenosis; twenty-one (30 per cent) of the seventy patients who were evaluated by questionnaire in 1989 had severe pain. The factors found to be associated with a poor long-term outcome, defined as severe pain or the need for a repeat operation, or both, included co-existing illnesses (such as osteoarthrosis, cardiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, or chronic pulmonary disease) (p = 0.004), the duration of follow-up (p = 0.01), and an initial laminectomy involving a single interspace (p = 0.04). We concluded that the long-term outcome of decompressive laminectomy is less favorable than has been previously reported, and that co-morbidity and a single-interspace laminectomy are risk factors for a poor outcome.

A functional status measure was developed by adding 5 items to the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ-S), and compared to anthropometric measures of spinal mobility. Forty-four patients with spondylitis were evaluated by the HAQ-S and measures of spine flexibility (finger-to-floor, Smythe test, neck rotation, and chest expansion). Modification of the HAQ raised the mean difficulty score by 29% from 0.38 (SD = 0.49) to 0.49 (SD = 0.51), indicating increased ability to capture functional limitations. Neck rotation correlated most strongly with the HAQ-S score (r = -0.57), which suggests an important role for this measure in clinical management and followup of spondylitis.

A survey design which uses two tests in series greatly increases the efficiency of screening. We conducted a study to ascertain the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of a screening questionnaire for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. A series design in which this questionnaire is used, followed by an antinuclear antibody test, increased the predictive value of a positive screening result by 5 to 10-fold, depending on estimates of disease prevalence. An empirical study of the series design identified two new cases of SLE and indicated that the use of a questionnaire based on accepted criteria is theoretically sound and practical. This approach should prove useful for population surveys of SLE to avoid the sampling and detection biases of previous epidemiologic studies.