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Biomedical subjects

Carol S Burckhardt

Publications and source records attributed to Carol S Burckhardt.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Young women with fibromyalgia in the United States and Sweden: perceived difficulties during the first year after diagnosis.

PURPOSE: The major symptoms of fibromyalgia (FM)--pain, tiredness, disrupted sleep, and muscle weakness--severely impact everyday activities, including the paid work role of women who have had FM for a long time. There are no prospective studies on young and newly diagnosed women with FM. The aim of the present study was to describe and compare difficulties young and newly diagnosed women in Sweden and the United States experienced during their first year after diagnosis. METHOD: Three interviews, 6 months apart, were conducted, with 49 Swedish and 45 US women between the ages of 18 and 39. Five open-ended questions were asked concerning physical, psychological and social difficulties and limitations, and factors that increased or decreased their difficulties and limitations. At interviews 2 and 3 the women were also asked about ways of preventing their difficulties. The answers were written down and analysed by a content analysis approach. RESULTS: Consistent categories of difficulties were reported: symptoms, movements, activities, moods, social network, external factors and coping strategies. More US women were working outside their homes than were their Swedish counterparts and they expressed more difficulties compared with the Swedish women. CONCLUSIONS: In general, difficulties decreased and coping strategies increased over the 1-year period in both groups of newly diagnosed, young women.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2006

A comprehensive review of 46 exercise treatment studies in fibromyalgia (1988-2005).

The purpose of this review was to: (1) locate all exercise treatment studies of fibromyalgia (FM) patients from 1988 through 2005, (2) present in tabular format the key details of each study and (3) to provide a summary and evaluation of each study for exercise and health outcomes researchers. Exercise intervention studies in FM were retrieved through Cochrane Collaboration Reviews and key word searches of the medical literature, conference proceedings and bibliographies. Studies were reviewed for inclusion using a standardized process. A table summarizing subject characteristics, exercise mode, timing, duration, frequency, intensity, attrition and outcome variables was developed. Results, conclusions and comments were made for each study. Forty-six exercise treatment studies were found with a total of 3035 subjects. The strongest evidence was in support of aerobic exercise a treatment prescription for fitness and symptom and improvement. In general, the greatest effect and lowest attrition occurred in exercise programs that were of lower intensity than those of higher intensity. Exercise is a crucial part of treatment for people with FM. Increased health and fitness, along with symptom reduction, can be expected with exercise that is of appropriate intensity, self-modified, and symptom-limited. Exercise and health outcomes researchers are encouraged to use the extant literature to develop effective health enhancing programs for people with FM and to target research to as yet understudied FM subpopulations, such as children, men, older adults, ethnic minorities and those with common comorbidities of osteoarthritis and obesity.

Exercise↗
PubMed2005

Educating patients: self-management approaches.

PURPOSE: To review and evaluate approaches to educating patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). METHODS: A narrative literature review was undertaken to summarize the published literature on patient education for FMS patients. RESULTS: A number of studies contain specific education strategies while others are combined with exercise or movement therapies or cognitive-behavioural therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Self-efficacy provides an effective theoretical model from which to understand how patients change as a result of education strategies that focus on self-management. Programmes that combine education with cognitive-behavioural techniques and exercise are most effective in enhancing self-efficacy and decreasing symptoms of FMS.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed2005

Effects of chronic widespread pain on the health status and quality of life of women after breast cancer surgery.

BACKGROUND: Most research and treatment of post-breast cancer chronic pain has focused on local or regional pain problems in the operated area. The purpose of this pilot study was to compare and contrast the pain characteristics, symptom impact, health status, and quality of life of post-breast cancer surgery women with regional chronic pain versus those with widespread chronic pain. METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive design compared two groups of women with chronic pain that began after surgery: regional pain (n = 11) and widespread pain (n = 12). Demographics, characteristics of the surgery, as well as standardized questionnaires that measured pain (Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ-SF)), disease impact (Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B)), health status (Medical Outcomes Short Form (SF-36)) and quality of life (Quality of Life Scale (QOLS)) were gathered. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the groups on any demographic or type of surgery variable. A majority of both groups described their pain as aching, tender, and sharp on the MPQ-SF. On the BPI, intensity of pain and pain interference were significantly higher in the widespread pain group. Differences between the two groups reached statistical significance on the FIQ total score as well as the FACT-B physical well-being, emotional well-being and breast concerns subscales. The SF-36 physical function, physical role, and body pain subscales were significantly lower in the widespread pain group. QOLS scores were lower in the widespread pain group, but did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION: This preliminary work suggests that the women in this study who experienced widespread pain after breast cancer surgery had significantly more severity of pain, pain impact and lower physical health status than those with regional pain.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Validity and reliability testing of the Quality of Life Scale, Swedish version in women with fibromyalgia -- statistical analyses.

One consequence of constant widespread pain is a low quality of life. The purpose of the study was to examine whether the Quality of Life Scale, Swedish version (QOLS-S), regarded as a generic quality-of-life instrument, is a reliable and valid instrument for use in women with fibromyalgia (FM). Women with FM (n = 113) contributed data on the QOLS-S and other standardized instrument at three points in time. Internal consistency reliability estimates ranged from 0.89 to 0.92. Convergent construct validity was indicated by moderate agreement with a global life satisfaction question. Discriminant construct validity was denoted by low correlations with the physical functioning subscale of the SF-36. In a factor analysis three factors emerged: 'personal and social well-being', 'relations with others' and 'active participation'. A few of the items have high cross-loadings, and the instrument could be improved by rewording those items to more closely reflect one specific factor. Overall, these results provide evidence that the QOLS-S has acceptable validity and reliability for use in women with FM.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

The Flanagan Quality Of Life Scale: evidence of construct validity.

BACKGROUND: The Quality of Life Scale (QOLS), developed originally by John Flanagan in the 1970's, has been adapted for use in chronic illness groups. Evidence for reliability and validity has been published over the years for both English and translations. This paper presents further evidence of construct validity for persons with chronic conditions as well as across two languages, and gender. METHODS: A sample of 1241 chronically ill and healthy adults from American and Swedish databases was used to generate factor analyses for both the 15-item original QOLS and the 16-item chronic illness adaptation. RESULTS: Analysis of the data suggested that the QOLS has three factors in the healthy sample and across chronic conditions, two languages and gender. Factors that could be labeled (1) Relationships and Material Well-Being, (2) Health and Functioning, and (3) Personal, Social and Community Commitment were identified. CONCLUSIONS: The QOLS is a valid instrument for measuring domains of quality of life across diverse patient groups.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

The Quality of Life Scale (QOLS): reliability, validity, and utilization.

The Quality of Life Scale (QOLS), created originally by American psychologist John Flanagan in the 1970's, has been adapted for use in chronic illness groups. This paper reviews the development and psychometric testing of the QOLS. A descriptive review of the published literature was undertaken and findings summarized in the frequently asked questions format. Reliability, content and construct validity testing has been performed on the QOLS and a number of translations have been made. The QOLS has low to moderate correlations with physical health status and disease measures. However, content validity analysis indicates that the instrument measures domains that diverse patient groups with chronic illness define as quality of life. The QOLS is a valid instrument for measuring quality of life across patient groups and cultures and is conceptually distinct from health status or other causal indicators of quality of life.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Nonpharmacologic management strategies in fibromyalgia.

Clinicians using the results of the extant research base can take an optimistic view of the role of nonpharmacologic treatment strategies for fibromyalgia. There were no negative outcomes in any of the reviewed studies, although in a few studies the experimental treatment did not prove to be more effective than the attention control. Rather than viewing this negatively, one could look more closely at the attention control groups and attempt to better understand what they contained that worked as an active treatment. A number of trials include a follow-up component and all but one of them find maintenance of at least one outcome change. Maintenance of changes is more likely to occur when the patient continues to participate in the experimental activity long-term. Patients especially need strategies that help them continue in exercise regimens. Unlike cognitive skills strategies that once learned are likely to become part of a person's coping repertoire, both exercise and behavioral strategies, like progressive muscle relaxation, need to be performed on a consistent basis in order to have their effect. The goals of increased self-efficacy, symptom reduction, increased functional status and quality of life along with decreased inappropriate use of health care resources are realistic when patients persevere in their use of strategy combinations and receive support from their providers.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed2002

A randomized controlled trial of muscle strengthening versus flexibility training in fibromyalgia.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of a muscle strengthening program compared to a stretching program in women with fibromyalgia (FM). METHODS: Sixty-eight women with FM were randomly assigned to a 12 week, twice weekly exercise program consisting of either muscle strengthening or stretching. Outcome measures included muscle strength (main outcome variable), flexibility, weight, body fat, tender point count, and disease and symptom severity scales. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences between groups were found on independent t tests. Paired t tests revealed twice the number of significant improvements in the strengthening group compared to the stretching group. Effect size scores indicated that the magnitude of change was generally greater in the strengthening group than the stretching group. CONCLUSION: Patients with FM can engage in a specially tailored muscle strengthening program and experience an improvement in overall disease activity, without a significant exercise induced flare in pain. Flexibility training alone also results in overall improvements, albeit of a lesser degree.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

The use of the McGill Pain Questionnaire in assessing arthritis pain.

Responses to the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) were described in two samples of arthritis patients, an inpatient group (n = 94) and an outpatient group (n = 94). Subjects in both samples used a similar set of sensory words to describe their arthritis pain. The inpatient sample, however, used affective words of higher intensity than the outpatient sample. Because the two samples came from a common population, they were combined and exploratory factor analyses using principal component analysis with first oblique and then orthogonal rotations were performed. The analysis yielded 6 factors that accounted for 58.3% of the variance in the sample. Clear sensory factors, an affective factor and an evaluative factor were identified. The study provides preliminary evidence that a substantial affective dimension underlies the MPQ responses of arthritis patients and confirms the parsimony of a 3-factor solution for the questionnaire.

Arthritis↗