Health-related quality of life in Welsh adults: psychometric properties of the SF-36v2 and normative data

OBJECTIVES

The use of normative data has become well-accepted and a common strategy to interpret individual's health outcome scores, which can help in making decisions. The objectives of this study were to obtain population normative data for the domains and component summaries of the 36-item SF-36® Health Survey (SF-36), and to evaluate its reliability and construct validity.

METHODS

This study was conducted using population-based data from the Welsh Health Survey (WHS; 2011-2015). This study used version 2 of the SF-36 (SF-36v2® Health Survey). The descriptive statistics and normative data for the eight domains and two summaries, physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS), were calculated. Reliability assessment used internal consistency methods and construct validity assessment used known group comparisons and item-scale correlations.

STUDY DESIGN AND SAMPLE

We performed a secondary analyses of data from the Welsh Health Survey (WHS).

RESULTS

This study included 74,578 participants aged 16 years or older (53.6% were women). Participants aged 16-24 years scored higher on SF-36 scale than older groups on all domains. The SF-36 profiles by age group demonstrated lower scores for older age groups, with the most pronounced differences shown on the physical-related scales. Across the age groups, men had higher PCS and MCS scores than women. All SF-36 domains and PCS and MCS achieved a good to excellent internal consistency reliability exceeding 0.7. The scales demonstrated construct validity by showing associations with a range of factors known to be related to health.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides SF-36 normative data for Wales based on a representative data and confirms the construct validity and reliability of the SF-36.

On the Prevalence and Potential Functionality of an Intrinsic Disorder in the MERS-CoV Proteome

Middle East respiratory syndrome is a severe respiratory illness caused by an infectious coronavirus. This virus is associated with a high mortality rate, but there is as of yet no effective vaccine or antibody available for human immunity/treatment. Drug design relies on understanding the 3D structures of viral proteins; however, arriving at such understanding is difficult for intrinsically disordered proteins, whose disorder-dependent functions are key to the virus’s biology. Disorder is suggested to provide viral proteins with highly flexible structures and diverse functions that are utilized when invading host organisms and adjusting to new habitats. To date, the functional roles of intrinsically disordered proteins in the mechanisms of MERS-CoV pathogenesis, transmission, and treatment remain unclear. In this study, we performed structural analysis to evaluate the abundance of intrinsic disorder in the MERS-CoV proteome and in individual proteins derived from the MERS-CoV genome. Moreover, we detected disordered protein binding regions, namely, molecular recognition features and short linear motifs. Studying disordered proteins/regions in MERS-CoV could contribute to unlocking the complex riddles of viral infection, exploitation strategies, and drug development approaches in the near future by making it possible to target these important (yet challenging) unstructured regions.

Comparative analysis of camelid mitochondrial genomes

Camelus dromedarius has played a pivotal role in both culture and way of life in the Arabian peninsula, particularly in arid regions where other domestic animals cannot be easily domesticated. Although, the mitochondrial genomes have recently been sequenced for several camelid species, wider phylogenetic studies are yet to be performed. The features of conserved gene elements, rapid evolutionary rate, and rare recombination make the mitochondrial genome a useful molecular marker for phylogenetic studies of closely related species. Here we carried out a comparative analysis of previously sequenced mitochondrial genomes of camelids with an emphasis on C. dromedarius, revealing a number of noticeable findings. First, the arrangement of mitochondrial genes in C. dromedarius is similar to those of the other camelids. Second, multiple sequence alignment of intergenic regions shows up to 90% similarity across different kinds of camels, with dromedary camels to reach 99%. Third, we successfully identified the three domains (termination-associated sequence, conserved domain and conserved sequence block) of the control region structure. The phylogenetic tree analysis showed that C. dromedarius mitogenomes were significantly clustered in the same clade with Lama pacos mitogenome. These findings will enhance our understanding of the nucleotide composition and molecular evolution of the mitogenomes of the genus Camelus, and provide more data for comparative mitogenomics in the family Camelidae.

Assessment of inhalation technique in children with asthma, Abha, Saudi Arabia

The inhalation technique of asthma in children was assessed using the criteria defined by the standardized inhaler checklist of the Netherlands Asthma Foundation and Dutch asthma foundation. Four hundred and thirty seven newly referred patients to chest clinic, department of pediatric, Assir Central Hospital, Southwestern Saudi Arabia were instructed to demonstrate their inhalation technique and to fill out a questionnaire related to the inhalation instructions received before their referral.

RESULTS

Four hundred and thirty seven patients newly referred for evaluation of their asthma (5-12 years of age with mean age of 7.16+1.69 years, 202 (46.2%) girls, 235 (53.8%) boys were included in the study. Two hundred two (46.2%) patients use MDI. The remaining (53.8%) patients use the DPI, 123 (52.35%) of them use turbohalers while 112 (47.65%) use diskhalers. Only 36 patients (8.2 %) completed the assessment without making any mistake. Of the remainders, 399 (91.8%) made one or more mistakes. Of the MDI users, eleven patients (5.4%) performed correctly all the steps, and 54 (26.7%) performed correctly four or more steps. Ten (8.9%) of the diskhaler users performed all the steps correctly and forty nine (43.8) performed correctly four or more steps. Fifteen (12 2%) of the turbohaler users performed correctly all the steps and ninety five (77.2%) performed correctly four or more steps. One hundred five of the male patients (44.7%), performed correctly more than three steps as compared to 93 of the female patients (46.5) with p value=0.704. One hundred and one patients (67.3%) between the age of 8-12 years performed more than three steps correctly as compared to 97 (33.8%) of patients aged 5-7 years (p=0.001).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, many asthmatic children use their inhaler devices too poorly with the result of an unreliable drug delivery. Turbohaler device inhalation technique was the easiest, followed by diskhaler then lastly the MDI. Education of asthmatic children and their families is highly needed to make sure the patient perform the correct inhalation technique.

Screening for asthma and associated risk factors among urban school boys in Abha city

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the present study was to measure the prevalence of asthma and asthma-related symptoms among male school children in Abha City and to determine some of the possible risk factors influencing its occurrence.

METHODS

A randomly selected sample of 4300 male school children aged 7 to 15 years in Abha were subjected to a previously validated questionnaire for asthma to be completed by parents. Asthma was identified based on the Rush Medical College and International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Children questionnaire. Information of asthma family history, asthma related symptoms, and other atopic conditions, smokers in the family, pets ownership and monthly family income were collected.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of asthma was 9% (95% Confidence Interval: 7.73%-9.67%). Doctor-diagnosed asthma was reported by 4%, exercise-induced asthma by 4% and wheeze in the past year by 8%. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that positive family history of atopic condition (Odds Ratio=437.11, P<0.001), pets ownership (Odds Ratio=2.91, p<0.001), and lower monthly family income (Odds Ratio=2.00, P<0.02) were significant factors influencing the development of asthma.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the screening methodology adopted in this study could be applied for all children at the beginning of the school year, being simple and non-invasive measure. The prevalence of asthma in school children in Abha is greater than that reported from most developing countries and closer to the rates reported in developed countries. Avoidance of pets ownership at home, improving social class and premarital counselling for atopic persons are all recommended.