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Pascal Auquier

Publications and source records attributed to Pascal Auquier.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

Generic health-related quality of life instruments in children and adolescents: a qualitative analysis of content.

PURPOSE: To determine the extent of differences and similarities in content between heath-related quality of life (HRQOL) instruments for children and adolescents. METHODS: A descriptive and explanatory qualitative approach was carried out. Instruments specifically designed for use with children or adolescents were included. To assure the validity of the findings a triangulation of the analysis and "member checking" were performed. RESULTS: Ten questionnaires were analyzed. All of them included items referring to physical, psychological, and social aspects of health. A relatively low number of categories explained the content of the questionnaires. CONCLUSIONS: A reasonably coherent notion of HRQOL underlies instruments available for children and adolescents. HRQOL measurement in young people is still in its developmental step.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Esmolol blunts the cerebral blood flow velocity increase during emergence from anesthesia in neurosurgical patients.

UNLABELLED: Cerebral hyperemia has been demonstrated during emergence from anesthesia in neurosurgical patients, but its mechanism is speculative. We performed this study to test the hypothesis that this could be attributed to sympathetic overactivity. Thirty neurosurgical patients were included in a prospective, randomized, double-blinded study comparing esmolol, a short-acting beta-blocker, and a placebo. Esmolol (0.3 mg. kg(-1). min(-1)) was infused from the end of anesthesia to 15 min after extubation. Cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV), mean arterial blood pressure, and heart rate were recorded before anesthesia, during anesthesia after surgery, at extubation, and 5-60 min after extubation. Cardiac output (COe) was estimated by using an esophageal Doppler from anesthesia to 60 min after extubation. CBFV, COe, and heart rate were significantly lower in the esmolol group. Mean arterial blood pressure was comparable between the groups. There was no correlation between CBFV and COe at any time point during the study. In conclusion, esmolol blunted the CBFV increase during emergence, confirming that sympathetic overactivity contributes to cerebral hyperemia during neurosurgical recovery. IMPLICATIONS: Esmolol blunted the postoperative increase in cerebral blood flow velocity in neurosurgical patients. The origin of sympathetic hyperactivity and its potential deleterious consequences require further study.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗
PubMed2002

Effectiveness of clozapine in neuroleptic-resistant schizophrenia: clinical response and plasma concentrations.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relation between plasma concentrations of clozapine and its 2 main metabolites desmethyl clozapine and clozapine N-oxide, and clinical change in a sample of inpatients with schizophrenia who were resistant to conventional neuroleptics. METHOD: Thirty-seven patients (27 men and 10 women, mean age 34.8 yr) with treatment-resistant schizophrenia were treated with clozapine for 18 weeks; dosage was adjusted according to clinical response, and plasma concentrations of clozapine and of its metabolites were measured weekly by high-performance liquid chromatography. Clinical status was also assessed weekly with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Patients were considered "responsive" if they showed at least a 20% improvement over their baseline PANSS ratings. RESULTS: The mean endpoint clozapine dosage was 486.5 mg/day. There was a significant correlation between the daily dosage of clozapine and the plasma levels of clozapine and of its metabolites (p < 0.05). There was no correlation between the clozapine plasma level and the percent improvement on the PANSS. Clozapine plasma levels were not significantly different between those who responded to clozapine (n = 19) and those who did not (n = 18) and were not significantly different between patients who smoked (n = 28) and those who did not (n = 9). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis determined the plasma level threshold (above which a better clinical response was obtained) to be 550 ng/mL. Using the total of plasma levels of clozapine and its metabolites did not lead to a better sensitivity and specificity. CONCLUSIONS: Our calculated plasma clozapine threshold was higher than that reported by others, but this may be related to the severity of symptoms of our patient sample. Monitoring plasma rates remains a useful tool, together with clinical evaluation, to establish the clozapine dosage for an optimum benefit-risk ratio.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Cross-cultural adaptation to Spanish of the Vécu et Santé Perçue de l'Adolescent (VSP-A):: a generic measure of the quality of life of adolescents].

BACKGROUND: Different measures of health related quality of life for use exclusively in children and adolescents have been developed over the last ten years. However, few instruments of this type have been adapted in Spain. The VSP-A is a generic health related quality of life measure for adolescents aged 11-17 developed in France. The objective of this study was to adapt the VSP-A into Spanish as a first step towards obtaining this questionnaire. METHODS: The version of the VSP-A including 39 questions was adapted following the forward-backward translation methodology, including two translations into Spanish, scoring of difficulty (0 min-10 max.) and classification of semantic and conceptual equivalence, two panel discussions with adolescents, as well as meetings of consensus with the original authors. Finally, a backward translation (translation back into the original language) was carried out into French, and the final pre-test version was administered in a pilot test. RESULTS: Most of the questions were classified as equivalent (24/39). Following the meetings with adolescents, changes were made in some questions. After the back-translation into French, three questions required some minor changes. CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish version of the VSP-A seems to be semantically and culturally equivalent to the original version and suitable for adolescents in Spain. The inclusion of easy statements in the original version, the comments of the adolescents and the involvement in the adaptation process of the original authors has offered the possibility of achieving a suitable pre-test version. The next phase of the study will involve the questionnaire's reliability and validity testing. The VSP-A is expected to be useful for measuring the health-related quality of life in health surveys or as a screening tool in schools and primary care centers in Spain.

Adolescent↗