Valid community-based data on the prevalence of chronic diseases in adolescents (12-18 years) with intellectual disability (ID-adolescents) are scarce. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence rates and the nature of chronic diseases in a population of ID-adolescents and to compare them with the rates among adolescents in the general…

There are few measures of pain for people with limited ability to communicate. Eight parents of adults with a known learning disability and associated physical health complaint were interviewed to explore their experience of identifying and managing the pain felt by their children. The parents did not often perceive their son or daughter to be in…

The author discusses an assessment of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's work over a 20-year period to improve end-of-life care in America. The case illustrates the evolution of the strategy from one focused on a multiyear randomized control trial of a series of hospital-based interventions that produced findings of "no effects" into several…

This review briefly summarizes recent empirical research on touch. The research includes the role of touch in early development, touch deprivation, touch aversion, emotions that can be conveyed by touch, the importance of touch for interpersonal relationships and how friendly touch affects compliance in different situations. MRI data are reviewed…

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate whether smoking affects the quality of life of the students at Medical Documentation and Secreteriat Program (MDS) of Health Services Vocational Colleges. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the questionnaire has been applied to 147 (73,5 %) students out of 200 MDS students. As data collecting…

Using Functional Measurement (Anderson, 2008), Frileux, Lelievre, Munoz Sastre, Mullet, and Sorum (2003) examined the joint impact of several key factors on lay people's judgments of the acceptability of physicians' interventions to end patients' lives. The level of acceptability was high, and the information integration rule that best described…

This study examined two types of potential sources of racial-ethnic disparities in medical care: implicit biases and time pressure. Eighty-one family physicians and general internists responded to a case vignette describing a patient with chest pain. Time pressure was manipulated experimentally. Under high time pressure, but not under low time…

The paper examines the language used to describe pain and surgery in the trials and the media discussions of the killing of Tracy Latimer by her father. Descriptions of proposed surgical procedures, that were planned before Tracy was killed, exaggerate the intrusiveness of surgeries to be performed so as to suggest that surgery would be worse than…

Yergason described the case of a woman with bicipital pain that was confirmed with isolated forearm supination. Since publication of this respective case report in 1931, orthopedic assessment textbooks have provided a wide range of descriptions for Yergason's Test and what a positive sign implicates. Vast differences in hand placement, along with…

The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of "Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory" 2nd edition (MMPI-2; Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) validity indicators in the detection of malingering in clinical patients with chronic pain using a hybrid clinical-known groups/simulator design. The…

There is growing literature in the area of medical students' quality of life. As far as we know, no qualitative studies have investigated the links between students' quality of life issues and their motivation to learn. The key question that drove the present study was: Is there a correlation between students' quality of life and their motivation…

Objective: Pain assessment for nonverbal older adults with cognitive impairments or dementia presents many challenges, and it is important to determine which scales are most useful in assessing pain among this population. Method: In this review 11 observational scales for assessment of pain in older adults with dementia or cognitive impairments…

Participants displaying high versus low levels of experiential avoidance as assessed by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (Hayes, Strosahl, et al., 2004) were compared in their reactions to and performance on a challenging perceptual-motor task. Participants were offered incentives for sorting colored straws into different colored containers…

Objective: In this Phase II trial, we evaluated a novel psychological treatment for depressed patients coping with the stresses of cancer. Effectiveness of a combined biobehavioral intervention (BBI) and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) was studied. Method: Participants were 36 cancer survivors (mean age = 49 years; 88% Caucasian; 92% female)…

This paper reviews the medical (salutogenic) effect of interventions that aim to improve quality of life. Review of studies where the global quality of life in chronically ill patients was improved independently of subjective and objective factors (like physical and mental health, yearly income, education, social network, self-esteem, sexual…