1,720,974 research outputs found
Exploring the genetic susceptibility of chronic widespread pain: the tender points in genetic association studies
No full textChronic widespread pain (CWP) is a prevalent disorder associated with a low pain threshold and increased levels of psychological distress. Evidence indicates that there is a genetic component to CWP syndromes and pain sensitivity. Here we have identified and reviewed the current literature on genetic association (GA) studies of CWP and pain sensitivity by searching MEDLINE and EMBASE between January 1990 and May 2007. Of the 18 candidate genes studied to date, no definitive susceptibility genes have been identified. This review highlights the key issues for consideration when interpreting the findings from existing studies and in designing future studies to ensure robust and comparable findings in this field. Well-designed GA studies are essential if the genetic component to CWP aetiology is to be fully determined
Restorative sleep predicts the resolution of chronic widespread pain: results from the EPIFUND study
No full text<b>Objectives</b> Poor sleep is associated with chronic widespread pain (CWP). Conversely, good-quality sleep may play a role in the resolution of pain symptoms. Sleep is a multidimensional construct, comprising a number of diverse components. The aims of the current study were to examine the hypotheses that: (i) good sleep quality would predict the resolution of CWP, (ii) restorative sleep would predict the resolution of CWP and (iii) that these relationships would be independent of confounding psychological factors.<p></p>
<b>Methods</b> Subjects in a population-based prospective study completed a pain questionnaire at baseline from which subjects with CWP were identified. Baseline sleep was measured using the Estimation of Sleep Problems Scale which measures sleep onset, maintenance, early wakening and restorative sleep. The questionnaire also contained scales examining psychosocial status. Subjects were followed up 15 months later and pain status was assessed.<p></p>
<b>Results</b> A total of 1061 subjects reported CWP at baseline of whom 679 (75% of eligible subjects) responded at follow-up. Of those, a total of 300 (44%) no longer satisfied criteria for CWP. Univariate analysis revealed that three of the four sleep components were associated with the resolution of CWP: rapid sleep onset, odds ratio (OR) = 1.7, 95% CI 1.2, 2.5; absence of early wakening, OR = 1.6, 95% CI 1.1, 2.4; and restorative sleep, OR = 2.7, 95% CI 1.5, 4.8. After adjusting for the effect of psychosocial factors, which may have confounded the relationship, only restorative sleep (OR = 2.0, 95% CI 1.02, 3.8) was associated.<p></p>
<b>Conclusions</b> Self-reported restorative sleep was independently associated with the resolution of CWP and return to musculoskeletal health
Premorbid psychosocial factors are associated with poor health-related quality of life in subjects with new onset of chronic widespread pain: results from the EPIFUND study
No full textChronic widespread pain (CWP) is associated with poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL). It is unclear whether pain itself is the cause of poor HRQoL or other factors play a role. We hypothesised that new onset of CWP was associated with poor physical and mental HRQoL but that psychosocial risk markers for CWP onset would explain this relationship. A prospective population-based survey measured pain and psychosocial status at baseline. Subjects free of CWP at baseline were followed up 15 months later, when pain status, threatening life events and HRQoL (SF-12) were assessed. The risk associated with the new onset of CWP and reporting poor SF12-MCS and SF12-PCS was quantified using multinomial logistic regression (relative risk ratios (RRRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI)), adjusted for age and gender. 3000 subjects (77%) free of CWP at baseline participated at follow-up. 2650 subjects (88%) provided full SF-12 and pain data and formed the cohort for this analysis. 9.4% of subjects (n = 248) reported new CWP. New CWP was associated with an increased risk of having the poorest SF12-MCS (RRR = 2.3; 95% CI 1.6–3.2) and SF12-PCS (RRR = 8.0; 95% CI 5.4–11.8) scores. After adjusting for baseline psychosocial status, the relationship between CWP onset and SF12-MCS was attenuated (RRR = 1.2; 95% CI 0.8–1.8), although the association with SF12-PCS remained (RRR = 4.8% CI 3.1–7.47). New onset of CWP is associated with poor mental and physical HRQoL. However, the relationship with mental HRQoL is explained by psychosocial risk markers
Psychosocial risk markers for new onset irritable bowel syndrome: results of a large prospective population-based study
No full textIrritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects up to 22% of the general population. Its aetiology remains unclear. Previously reported cross-sectional associations with psychological distress and depression are not fully understood. We hypothesised that psychosocial factors, particularly those associated with somatisation, would act as risk markers for the onset of IBS. We conducted a community-based prospective study of subjects, aged 25–65 years, randomly selected from the registers of three primary care practices. Responses to a detailed questionnaire allowed subjects’ IBS status to be classified using a modified version of the Rome II criteria. The questionnaire also included validated psychosocial instruments. Subjects free of IBS at baseline and eligible for follow-up 15 months later formed the cohort for this analysis (n = 3732). An adjusted participation rate of 71% (n = 2456) was achieved at follow-up. 3.5% (n = 86) of subjects developed IBS. After adjustment for age, gender and baseline abdominal pain status, high levels of illness behaviour (odds ratio (OR) = 5.2; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 2.5–11.0), anxiety (OR = 2.0; 95% CI 0.98–4.1), sleep problems (OR = 1.6; 95% CI 0.8–3.2), and somatic symptoms (OR = 1.6; 95% CI 0.8–2.9) were found to be independent predictors of IBS onset. This study has demonstrated that psychosocial factors indicative of the process of somatisation are independent risk markers for the development of IBS in a group of subjects previously free of IBS. Similar relationships are observed in other “functional” disorders, further supporting the hypothesis that they have similar aetiologies
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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