Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been reported being a safe and effective treatment in schizophrenia. However, there are a limited number of studies assessing continuation ECT utilization in patients with schizophrenia giving partial response to pharmacological treatment. Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of continuation ECT in preventing relapse i...

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). It may act through intracellular process modulation, but its exact mechanism is still unknown. Animal research supports a neurotrophic effect for ECT. We aimed to investigate the association between changes in serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (sBDNF) levels and clinical improvement following ECT in pati...

Study was conducted to assess the sensitivity and simplicity of various pain rating scales in patients of osteoarthritis with chronic pain so that most appropriate scale can be identified. Scales included were Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale (WBS), Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), Faces Pain Scale- Revised (FPS-R), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Verbal Rating Scale (VRS). Patients were asked t...

The present study introduces the Post-Traumatic Embitterment Disorder Self-Rating Scale (PTED Scale), which asks for prolonged and disabling embitterment reactions in the aftermath of negative life events. The PTED Scale was administered to four independent samples of patients and normals. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were high. Factor analysis indicated a two-factor solutio...

Although early antidepressant clinical trials simply relied on a clinician's judgment as to whether a depressed patient clinically improved or not, the Hamilton Depression (HAM-D) rating scale has become the 'gold standard' to assess the efficacy of new antidepressants. The alternative Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) has not achieved general acceptance. However, its ease of us...

Longitudinal studies are permeating clinical trials in psychiatry. Additionally, in the same field, rating scales are frequently used to evaluate the status of the patients and the efficacy of new therapeutic procedures. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to study the psychometric properties of these instruments within a longitudinal framework. In the area of depression, the Hamilton depress...

The following case series describes the treatment of neuropathic pain in post-surgical scars, using adipocytes and adipose-derived stem/progenitor cells (ASCs). Two cases are described in which patients underwent lipofilling to treat painful scars after cosmetic surgery. The primary indication for lipofilling was pain reduction and not improved cosmesis. Numeric rating scale (NRS) values were r...

CONTEXT The use of unidimensional pain scales such as the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), Verbal Rating Scale (VRS), or Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) is recommended for assessment of pain intensity (PI). A literature review of studies specifically comparing the NRS, VRS, and/or VAS for unidimensional self-report of PI was performed as part of the work of the European Palliative Care Research Collab...