Spanish validation of the short version of the racing and crowded thoughts questionnaire (RCTQ-13)

BACKGROUND

The Racing and Crowded Thoughts Questionnaire (RCTQ-13) is the most widely used specific scale for the measurement of racing thoughts, but there is currently no Spanish version that allow the evaluation in Spanish-speaking patients. The objective of this study is to translate, adapt, and validate the RCTQ-13 in a Colombian population with affective disorders.

METHODS

The questionnaire was translated and back-translated, and corrections were implemented following a pilot test to improve comprehensibility. We included patients with Bipolar I Disorder and with Major depressive disorder seen in three centers in the city of Medellín, Colombia. We evaluate structural validity with confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. Construct validity was also assessed with the comparison between euthymic, maniac, and depressive episodes and the correlation with worry, rumination, and mania scales. Responsiveness was measured 1 month after the first evaluation. Based on item response theory (IRT), we also estimated item difficulty, discrimination, and fit using a generalized partial credit model.

RESULTS

Two hundred fifty subjects were included. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the three-factor structure of the scale was appropriate. Internal consistency was adequate for the entire scale (Cronbach's alpha = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.94-0.96) and for each factor. Test-retest reliability was good (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.82, 95%IC: 0.70-0.88). For construct validity, we observed differences between patients with different types of affective episodes, a moderate positive correlation with the Penn State Worry Scale (r = 0.55) and the Ruminative Response Scale (r = 0.42), and a low negative correlation with the Young Mania Rating Scale (r = - 0.10). Responsiveness was proved to be adequate. Under IRT, the response thresholds for the response options are organized for all items. The infit was adequate for all items and the outfit was acceptable.

CONCLUSIONS

The Spanish version of the RCTQ-13 is a reliable, valid, and responsive scale and can be used for the clinical assessment of the construct of racing and crowded thoughts in patients with the spectrum of affective disorders in whom this experience can be expressed with different nuances. Further research is needed to expand the relationship with rumination and worry.

Interventions for Basal Cell Carcinoma: Summary of Main Comparisons From a Cochrane Review and a Practical Interpretation of Findings

Numerous surgical and nonsurgical modalities are available to treat basal cell carcinoma (BCC), but their true effectiveness and safety is unknown. This article summarizes the evidence presented in a recent Cochrane review and aims to facilitate the interpretation of the review's findings for the Spanish and Latin American scientific communities. Much of the evidence the reviewers found came from single studies, preventing meta-analysis. Conventional surgical excision continues to be the most effective treatment for low-risk BCC. Most studies had small sample sizes, and some had problems with blinding, limitations which will have affected the assessment of subjective outcomes, such as pain and cosmetic results. The authors identified a lack of standardization in relation to recurrences and cosmetic outcomes that threatens not only the internal validity of the studies but also their external validity and reproducibility.

Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment

Objective

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are common clinical features of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, such symptoms in non-demented PD patients have scarcely been investigated. To address this issue, we describe the neuropsychiatric profile in PD patients with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).

Participants and Method

Eighty non-demented PD patients were included. The patients were divided into two groups depending on the presence or absence of MCI (PD-MCI and PD-nMCI, respectively). MCI diagnosis was made according to the Movement Disorder Society Task Force Level I criteria. NPS were evaluated using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). For each domain, the presence and magnitude of symptoms (frequency x severity) was calculated. The total NPI score was also computed, in which higher scores suggest greater behavioral disturbance.

Results

PD-nMCI (n = 59, 74%) and PD-MCI (n = 21, 26%) groups were similar in the disease stage and years since diagnosis. In contrast with the PD-nMCI group, participants in the PD-MCI group were older. Fourteen PD-MCI (66%) and 45 PD-nMCI (76%) patients reported at least one neuropsychiatric symptom in the previous month. In both groups, the most frequent NPS were sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, apathy, irritability, and disinhibition. Additionally, the proportion of these symptoms between groups did not differ significantly (p > 0.05). There was only a tendency of greater score in the disinhibition subscale in PD-MCI group (p < 0.02). In both groups, NPS were not associated with clinical variables (years since diagnosis, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale -III) after adjusting for age.

Conclusions

Preliminary findings suggest that NPS are frequent in PD patients independent of the degree of cognitive impairment, and they may encompass non-motor features of the clinical spectrum of the disease. Further longitudinal investigations are needed to determine whether such symptoms may predict the cognitive decline in these patients.

Validation of the sixth version of the Addiction Severity Index (ASI-6) for patients in a clinical population of Colombia

Introduction: The Addiction Severity Index (ASI-6) is recommended for identifying the needs of addicted patients and assessing the effectiveness of a program. Objective: To develop a version of the ASI-6 suitable for Colombia and trans-linguistically and trans-culturally equivalent to the original. Additionally, this study also sought to assess the reliability and construct validity of the resulting version. Materials and methods: The study included Colombian adults with harmful substance use or dependence syndrome who were being treated at drug addiction centers. The original English version underwent a cultural adaptation process. The scale was translated and back-translated to assess its equivalence. Reliability was assessed in terms of internal consistency and interrater and test-retest reliability. The convergent aspect of the construct validity was assessed via the correlation of the instrument with other scales measuring similar underlying constructs. Results: We found an adequate internal consistency for the subscales of the ASI-6 for its Cronbach´s alpha coefficient was above 0.7 with the exception of the social problems subscale (α=0.66). In addition, interrater and test-retest reliability was high, since their intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was above 0.7 for all the subscales. Construct validity was demonstrated by a Spearman correlation coefficient ranging from 0.53 to 0.88 between the ASI-6 subscales and other similar scales. Conclusion: The version of the ASI-6 adapted to the Colombian context was found to have good reliability and validity, thus it can be introduced into clinical practice. However, additional studies are needed to evaluate its responsiveness and structural validity.

Validación del cuestionario de 90 síntomas SCL-90-R de Derogatis en una muestra clínica colombiana

Introducción. El cuestionario de comprobación de 90 síntomas (SCL–90–R) se utiliza, con frecuencia, en la exploración de la salud mental. Sin embargo, no existen estudios sobre su validez ni sobre la sensibilidad al cambio en la población clínica colombiana. El objetivo es establecer las propiedades estructurales y psicométricas del SCL–90–R para muestras clínicas colombianas e identificar diferencias con relación al género y a la sensibilidad de cambio. Metodología. Diseño longitudinal con tres meses de diferencia entre la primera y la segunda observación. Participaron 214 pacientes que asistían a consultas (51.9 % hombres y 43.1 % mujeres), con edad media de 26 años (desviación 11.3). Se realizó tanto el análisis factorial confirmatorio como el exploratorio para buscar los mejores índices de validez. Instrumentos: El SCL–90–R y el cuestionario sociodemográfico y de características de la psicoterapia. Resultados. Se identificaron adecuados niveles de confiabilidad con alfas de Cronbach entre 0.74 y 0.90. El análisis factorial confirmatorio mostró índices de bondad de ajuste bajos: Índices de bondad de ajuste comparativo = 0.67, Índice de Tucker-Lewis = 0.65 e Índice de ajuste normalizado = 0.508, y valor de la aproximación del error cuadrático medio de 0.068. La solución final del análisis factorial exploratorio mostró un índice Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin de 0.92 y un resultado significativo en la prueba de esfericidad de Bartlett (Chi cuadrado = 3,682.9; gl = 603, valor p < 0.001). Esta estructura incluyó 36 ítems para una razón de tamaño de muestra/ítems igual a 5.9 y representó el 60.7 % de la varianza total, con siete de los nueve factores que contiene el cuestionario original: depresión, obsesiones y compulsiones, somatización, ansiedad, hostilidad, ansiedad fóbica e ideación paranoide. Se identificaron para ambas versiones adecuados índices de sensibilidad al cambio. Con relación a las diferencias según el género, se reportaron diferencias significativas en algunos factores, con puntuaciones superiores en las mujeres; para el cuestionario original se identificaron diferencias en el factor ansiedad y en el cuestionario abreviado, en el factor depresión y hostilidad. Conclusiones. El cuestionario original reportó adecuados niveles de confiabilidad. El cuestionario abreviado, que se generó a través del análisis factorial exploratorio, reportó adecuados niveles tanto de confiabilidad como de validez. Ambas versiones del cuestionario presentaron sensibilidad para detectar cambios en un segundo momento de la evaluación. [Londoño NH, Agudelo DM, Martínez E, Anguila D, Aguirre DC, Arias JF. Validación de la escala de 90 síntomas SCL-90-R de Derogatis en una muestra clínica colombiana. MedUNAB. 2018;21(2):45-59. doi:10.29375/01237047.2807]

[Design and comparative analysis of an inventory of avoidable mortality indicators specific to health conditions in Colombia]

OBJECTIVES

To develop a list of indicators of avoidable mortality (LIAM) in order to analyze failed efforts to control the mortality risks prevalent in Colombia, and to compare its results to those of two widely-used approaches.

METHODS

The official mortality records of Colombia for 1985-2001 were reviewed; the basic causes of death were classified according to the ICD-9. Indicators of avoidable mortality (AM) were selected using an algorithm that combined the lists of Holland and Taucher, the definition of Rutstein and colleagues, and the principle of Uemura. The proportions of avoidable deaths that resulted from applying the LIAM and the two AM lists were compared to a database containing Colombia's official death records from 1993-1996.

RESULTS

Of the 680 617 deaths registered during the study period, 18.2% were classified as avoidable according to Holland's list, and 51.3%, by Taucher's list. According to the LIAM, avoidable mortality rose to 76.7%. This pattern remained relatively stable in 1993-1996. The differences observed between the proportions of avoidable deaths according to the LIAM and that of the two other lists were related to the local epidemiological profile and the conceptual approach of each list.

CONCLUSIONS

The differences between the LIAM and the AM lists of Taucher and of Holland attest to the consequences of using one or another classification in the Colombian context. The LIAM can be a valuable resource for undergirding and evaluating health policies, but must be adjusted to the specific situation in which it is applied.

Environmental influences that affect attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: study of a genetic isolate

Three independent complex segregation analyses found that the cause of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was the presence of major genes interacting with environmental influences. In order to identify potential environmental risk factors for ADHD in the Paisa community--a very well described, genetically isolated group--we randomly selected a sample of 486 children between 6 and 11 years of age. This group included 200 children with ADHD (149 males and 51 females) and 286 healthy controls (135 males and 151 females). The ADHD DSM-IV diagnosis was obtained using the DICA and BASC evaluation instruments, and the children's mothers or grandmothers filled out a questionnaire on each child's exposure to prenatal, neonatal, and early childhood risk factors. The data were analyzed using cross tabulation and stepwise logistic multiple-regression analyses. Cross tabulation associated ADHD with a variety of factors, including miscarriage symptoms, premature delivery symptoms, maternal respiratory viral infection, moderate to severe physical illness in the mother during gestation, prenatal cigarette and alcohol exposure, neonatal seizures, asphyxia or anoxia, severe neonatal illness, mild speech retardation, moderate brain injury, and febrile seizures (odds ratio >or= 2, P < 0.05). Stepwise logistic multiple-regression analysis also uncovered a block of variables, including male gender, maternal illnesses, prenatal alcohol exposure, mild speech retardation, febrile seizures, and moderate brain injury (odds ratio >or= 2.0, P < 0.05). Future studies on the risk of developing ADHD must include these environmental factors as covariates.