Sleep quality, the neglected outcome variable in clinical studies focusing on locomotor system; a construct validation study

In addition to general health and pain, sleep is highly relevant to judging the well-being of an individual. Of these three important outcome variables, however, sleep is neglected in most outcome studies.Sleep is a very important resource for recovery from daily stresses and strains, and any alteration of sleep will likely affect mental and physical health, especially during disease. Sleep assessment therefore should be standard in all population-based or clinical studies focusing on the locomotor system. Yet current sleep assessment tools are either too long or too specific for general use.

Remission in schizophrenia: validity, frequency, predictors, and patients' perspective 5 years later

In March 2005, the Remission in Schizophrenia Working Group (RSWG) proposed a consensus definition of symptomatic remission in schizophrenia and developed specific operational criteria for its assessment. They pointed out, however, that the validity and the relationship to other outcome dimensions required further examination. This article reviews studies on the validity, frequency, and predictors of symptomatic remission in schizophrenia and studies on patients' perspectives. These studies have demonstrated that the RSWG remission criteria appear achievable and sustainable for a significant proportion of patients, and are related to a better overall symptomatic status and functional outcome and, to a less clear extent, to a better quality of life and cognitive performance. However, achieving symptomatic remission is not automatically concurrent with an adequate status in other outcome dimensions. The results of the present review suggest that the RSWG remission criteria are valid and useful. As such, they should be consistently applied in clinical trials. However the lack of consensus definitions of functional remission and adequate quality of life hampers research on their predictive validity on these outcome dimensions. Future research should therefore search for criteria of these dimensions and test whether the RSWG remission criteria consistently predict a "good" outcome with respect to functioning and quality of life.

Eating disorders in youth: diagnostic variability and predictive validity

The primary aim was to examine the utility of DSM-IV criteria in predicting treatment outcome in a sample of adolescents with eating disorders.

Validity of multi-fiber muscle velocity recovery cycles recorded at a single site using submaximal stimuli

To examine the validity of multi-fiber muscle velocity recovery cycles (VRCs) recorded by direct muscle stimulation with submaximal stimuli.