Biomedical subjects

V Aghababian

Publications and source records attributed to V Aghababian.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Development and validation of a patient-based health-related quality of life questionnaire in schizophrenia: the S-QoL.

We developed a self-administered instrument to assess health-related quality of life (HRQL) among people with schizophrenia. The S-QoL, based on Calman's approach to the subject's point of view, is a multidimensional instrument that is sensitive to change. The scale is a 41-item questionnaire with eight subscales (psychological well-being, self-esteem, family relationships, relationships with friends, resilience, physical well-being, autonomy and sentimental life) and a total score. In-depth interviews with patients determined the pertinent issues for item development. The validation study, performed with 207 patients, showed high internal consistency reliability, reproducibility and responsiveness. Construct validity was confirmed using established clinical and HRQL measures. S-QoL covers domains that differ from areas tapped in other measures, with greater responsiveness. The S-QoL is an efficient instrument for the measurement of the impact of schizophrenia on individuals' lives.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

From "logographic" to normal reading: the case of a deaf beginning reader.

Visual word recognition of a profoundly deaf girl (AH) with developmental reading disorders was explored using an experimental technique that measures performance as a function of eye fixation within a word. AH's fixation-dependent word recognition profile revealed that she was inferring the identity of words using a "logographic" reading strategy (i. e., using salient visual features). Following this observation a special training program that enhances the understanding of grapheme-phoneme relations was applied. After few months of training, AH's reading skills improved, while her fixation-dependent performance changed to become like that of normal readers. We discuss the impact of our technique for the early diagnosis of reading impairments.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMed2000

Developing normal reading skills: aspects of the visual processes underlying word recognition.

Visual word recognition performance of first graders (mean age: 6.6 years) through fifth graders (mean age: 10.8 years) was investigated using an experimental technique that is known to elicit the "viewing position effect" in skilled readers. The results showed that this effect, which consists of a systematic variation of performance as a function of fixation position within words, emerged early at the end of the 1st year of reading instruction. Visual field asymmetries in recognizing individual letters in words were also observed starting from first grade. Effects of word familiarity were obtained as early as in second grade. In contrast to skilled readers, children showed a marked word-length effect, which persisted through the first 5 years of instruction. No other qualitative differences between beginning and skilled readers were apparent. Hence, the basics of reading skills, as measured by the present technique, seem to be attained very early during acquisition. Further experience mainly reduces the time a reader needs to extract visual information from print.

Attention↗

PubMed1999

An exploration of the psychometric properties of the French version of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale.

The psychometric properties of the French version of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) were studied in a population of 85 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia in accordance with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III-R) criteria. The results of the study of the properties (internal consistency and principal-component analysis) of the initial structure with 3 scales (positive, negative, and general psychopathology) led us to investigate other factorial structures. We thus isolated a 5-factor structure (negative, hostility, positive, disorganization, and anxiety), explaining 54.7% of the total variance. The internal consistency of the 5 factors isolated was good (0.79, negative factor; 0.71, hostility factor; 0.77, positive factor; 0.66, disorganization factor; and 0.61, anxiety factor). The 3-subscale structure of the PANSS is discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Factorial structure of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS): a forced five-dimensional factor analysis.

We conducted a study on 205 schizophrenic patients in order to explore the factorial structure of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). We first documented the validity and reliability of the five-dimensional structure of the PANSS, initially derived from the work of Kay and Sevy and completed by Lindenmayer et al. Some items (stereotyped thinking, mannerisms and posturing, poor attention, lack of judgement, disturbance of volition, and preoccupation) appeared to contribute little to the constitution of the dimensions initially described by Kay and Sevy. Those items were not taken into account in the forced five-dimensional factor analysis. We therefore investigated further the psychometric properties of the PANSS using only the retained items. The validity and reliability of this new five-dimensional structure are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The influence of memory disorders on self-evaluation of subjective quality of life among schizophrenic patients].

INTRODUCTION: For the past few years, in the field of psychiatric disorders, measurements of subjective quality of life are integrated as an important criterion of judgment. The use of standardized questionnaires, based on the patients point of view has become widespread. However, in schizophrenic patients, cognitive impairement, and notably memory, is often advanced as a limit to the use of the self-reported questionnaires. METHODS: In this preliminary study, we investigated in 53 schizophrenic patients, the impact of memory impairment, specifically the episodic memory, on quality of life, taking into account confounding socio-demographic and clinical factors. The memory was assessed using the BEM 84. The patient's subjective quality of life was assessed by the self-reported questionnaire S-QoL. RESULTS: No correlation was found between memory efficiency and quality of life level: patients with severe and non-severe impairment scored all the S-QoL domains similarly. DISCUSSION: However, the majority of schizophrenic patients could be considered as deficient on a wide assortment of neuropsychological evaluations, in particular in the attention and executive functions. The influence of the whole cognitive impairment of life must be confirmed.

Adolescent↗