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J M Vendrell

Publications and source records attributed to J M Vendrell.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Subjective experience in brain-injured patients and their close relatives: a European Brain Injury Questionnaire study.

Results are reported from an international project the aim of which has been to develop and validate a wide-ranging questionnaire suitable for administration to brain-injured patients and their relatives. A self-report questionnaire concerning subjective experience of cognitive, emotional and social difficulties (The European Brain Injury Questionnaire, EBIQ) was administered to a group of 905 brain-injured patients, and close relatives to these competed a parallel version of the questionnaire concerning the brain-injured person. The sample was drawn from seven European countries together with Brazil. The same questionnaire was also administered to a group of 203-non-brain-injured controls, similarly in self-report and relative-report versions. Scales relating to eight specific areas of functioning, together with a global scale, are derived from the questionnaire and their internal reliability was estimated in the present data. Analyses of the 63 items of the questionnaire showed consistently greater levels of problems for the brain-injured group, especially as indicated by relatives. This pattern was substantially replicated among the nine scales. The scales discriminated well between stroke patients and those who had suffered a traumatic brain injury. There was also a tendency for reported problems to be greater for patients who were surveyed later post-injury (> or = 19 months) rather than earlier. Comparison of sets of controls derived from two countries (France and Brazil) showed small but important differences. It is concluded that the questionnaire has an acceptable reliability and validity, but that it will be necessary to obtain culturally relevant non-brain-injured control data when employing it in different countries.

Adolescent

Multiple memory deficits in patients with multiple sclerosis. Exploring the working memory system.

Some patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) demonstrate impaired memory. A group of 16 patients with MS who were mildly to moderately affected (Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale Score = 3.8) were studied, and they were compared with a matched control group on tests of "working memory." The working memory system was explored by evaluating the amount of information that can temporarily be held in a buffer system during encoding. Results indicated that patients with MS have difficulty in processing information at the level of a hypothesized articulatory loop in working memory. This deficit was correlated with their retrieval of verbal information from long-term memory, as well as how accurately they processed verbal information presented at a rapid rate. There was no significant relationship between ratings of MS severity or number of plaques visualized on magnetic resonance imaging scans and the degree of working memory deficit.

Adult

The dosage dependency of growth and maturity in growth hormone deficiency treated with human growth hormone.

A group of 11 pre-pubertal growth hormone deficient patients were treated with human growth hormone over a period of 4 years. In 6 of the patients the dosage was 4 IU 3 times a week and in 5, 8 IU 3 times a week. Changes in height demonstrated that the "catch up" was significantly greater and of longer duration in the second group. In spite of a more rapid increase of bone age in the second group, the prognosis of final height had improved significantly at the end of the study period. A comparative study of the plasma concentrations significantly at the end of the study period. A comparative study of the plasma concentrations of T4, TSH, gonadotrophins and steroids, to see if the greater velocity of bone maturity in the second group could be due to contamination of the preparation by other could be due to contamination of the preparation by other hypophysary hormones, did not demonstrate significant differences between the groups.

Body Height