Cognitive impairment is prevalent in schizophrenia and is related to poorer functional and treatment outcomes. Cognitive assessment is therefore now a routine component of clinical trials of new treatments for schizophrenia. The current gold-standard for cognitive assessment in clinical trials for schizophrenia is the MATRICS (Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophr...

The Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) is a useful clinical and research assessment, but it has limitations in content, age range, and efficiency. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of the item bank for a new computer adaptive testing version of the PEDI (PEDI-CAT). An expanded item set and response options were reviewed by clinician experts and examined...

INTRODUCTION Frailty is a major concern due to its costly and widespread consequences, yet evidence of effective interventions to delay or reduce frailty is lacking. Our previous study found that a multifactorial intervention was feasible and effective in reducing frailty in older people who were already frail. Identifying and treating people in the pre-frail state may be an effective means to ...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate an early home-supported discharge service for stroke patients. DESIGN We carried out a prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded-endpoint trial (allocation ratio of 1:1) with patients assigned to either an early home-supported discharge service or usual care. SETTING The study was undertaken in Aveiro, Portugal, between April 2009 and April 2013. SUBJECTS We inclu...

Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) are a useful way of recording patient perceptions of the impact of their cancer and the consequences of treatment. Understanding the impact of radiotherapy longer term requires tools that are sensitive to change but also meaningful for patients. PROMs are useful in defining symptom severity but also the burden of illness for cancer patients. Patient rep...

PURPOSE The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is authorized by the US government to review and disseminate the scientific evidence for clinical preventive services. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the alignment of Medicare preventive services coverage with the recommendations of the USPSTF before implementation of health reform. METHODS We recorded all Medicare coverage for...

BACKGROUND A curriculum evaluation gap was addressed by exploring the final year of the Oregon Consortium of Nursing Education (OCNE) curriculum through student perception of competency and benchmark proficiency. METHOD Researchers used a mixed-methods design to explore RN to baccalaureate (RNBS) student self-assessment data on perceived benchmark proficiency. Students' written statements wer...

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to assess whether National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA)-funded randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published in the HTA journal were described in sufficient detail to replicate in practice. SETTING RCTs published in the HTA journal. PARTICIPANTS 98 RCTs published in the HTA journal up to March 2011. Complet...

We describe the use of a number of outcome measures that have been used over the past eight years to evaluate adult psychological therapies services in the Wakefield & Pontefract locality of the South West Yorkshire Mental Health NHS Trust. The psychological therapies service now has a unique database of outcome measures completed by 5563 clients, which has been used nationally and internationa...