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Recurrent syncope as a chronic disease: preliminary validation of a disease-specific measure of functional impairment.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Linzer, M; Gold, DT; Pontinen, M; Divine, GW; Felder, A; Brooks, WB
Published in: J Gen Intern Med
April 1994

BACKGROUND: A disease-specific measure of functional health in syncope would provide an important outcome measure for use either in clinical trials or in the clinical management of patients with recurrent syncope. METHODS AND MEASUREMENTS: In a previous study the authors used formal functional status measures to determine physical and psychosocial impairment in recurrent syncope. This study provides a preliminary assessment of a disease-specific measure of function. The measure was pilot tested on 84 subjects, and validated in a separate cohort of 49 patients. The measure consists of 1) an 11-question matrix of yes/no questions, assessing the ways that syncope interferes with a patient's life (the result is expressed as a proportion of the total number of ways that syncope might interfere and is called the Impairment Score), and 2) three Likert-scale questions that assess the patient's fear and worry about syncope. Correlations were obtained between scores on the disease-specific measure and other measures of functional health. RESULTS: Among the 49 patients in the test cohort, final scores on the disease-specific measure correlated with both physical and psychosocial dimension scores on a measure of functional status, the Sickness Impact Profile (r = 0.35-0.36, p = 0.01), and with five of ten subscale scores on a measure of psychological distress, the Symptom Checklist 90-R (r = 0.30-0.43, p = 0.004-0.02). CONCLUSIONS: This new disease-specific quality-of-life measure in syncope measures both physical and psychosocial components of impairment and could be a valuable adjunct in measuring outcomes in syncope patients.

Duke Scholars

Published In

J Gen Intern Med

DOI

ISSN

0884-8734

Publication Date

April 1994

Volume

9

Issue

4

Start / End Page

181 / 186

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Syncope
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Recurrence
  • Quality of Life
  • Pilot Projects
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Linzer, M., Gold, D. T., Pontinen, M., Divine, G. W., Felder, A., & Brooks, W. B. (1994). Recurrent syncope as a chronic disease: preliminary validation of a disease-specific measure of functional impairment. J Gen Intern Med, 9(4), 181–186. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02600121
Linzer, M., D. T. Gold, M. Pontinen, G. W. Divine, A. Felder, and W. B. Brooks. “Recurrent syncope as a chronic disease: preliminary validation of a disease-specific measure of functional impairment.J Gen Intern Med 9, no. 4 (April 1994): 181–86. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02600121.
Linzer M, Gold DT, Pontinen M, Divine GW, Felder A, Brooks WB. Recurrent syncope as a chronic disease: preliminary validation of a disease-specific measure of functional impairment. J Gen Intern Med. 1994 Apr;9(4):181–6.
Linzer, M., et al. “Recurrent syncope as a chronic disease: preliminary validation of a disease-specific measure of functional impairment.J Gen Intern Med, vol. 9, no. 4, Apr. 1994, pp. 181–86. Pubmed, doi:10.1007/BF02600121.
Linzer M, Gold DT, Pontinen M, Divine GW, Felder A, Brooks WB. Recurrent syncope as a chronic disease: preliminary validation of a disease-specific measure of functional impairment. J Gen Intern Med. 1994 Apr;9(4):181–186.
Journal cover image

Published In

J Gen Intern Med

DOI

ISSN

0884-8734

Publication Date

April 1994

Volume

9

Issue

4

Start / End Page

181 / 186

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Syncope
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Recurrence
  • Quality of Life
  • Pilot Projects
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans