BACKGROUND Infertility is a condition associated with impairment in several areas of life. Questionnaires about quality of life (QoL) allow the examination of the impact of health conditions in a broader way, comprehending outcomes beyond symptomatology, morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with various aspects of QoL. METHODS Cross-sectional study...

INTRODUCTION Narcolepsy patients report lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) than the general population, as measured by the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36). This analysis evaluated whether changes in SF-36 correlated with physician-rated Clinical Global Impression of Change (CGI-C). METHODS Data were from 209 of 228 narcolepsy patients participating in an 8-week clinical trial of...

OBJECTIVE To assess the health status and fatigue in sicca patients with or without Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and to test whether the immune-inflammatory activity or the extent of the disease predict fatigue in SS. METHODS The Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form General Health Survey (MOS SF-36) was used in 1 degree SS (n = 90), 2 degrees SS (n = 24), non-SS patients with sicca symptoms (n = 15) ...

Objective Comparative analysis of the quality of life and functionality of patients undergoing lumbar spine arthrodesis due to degenerative lumbar spine disease. The authors sought to correlate the influence of anxious and depressive symptoms before and after surgery. Methods A prospective cohort study was performed, with 32 patients submitted to arthrodesis due to degenerative lumbar spine d...

OBJECTIVE To compare anthroposophic treatment (eurythmy, rhythmical massage or art therapy; counselling, anthroposophic medication) and conventional treatment for low back pain (LBP) under routine conditions. METHODS 62 consecutive outpatients from 38 medical practices in Germany, consulting an anthroposophic (A-) or conventional (C-) physician with LBP of >or= 6 weeks duration participated i...

BACKGROUND Despite a growing literature on the efficacy of behavioral weight loss interventions, we still know relatively little about the long terms effects they have on HRQL. Therefore, we conducted a study to investigate the immediate post-intervention (6 months) and long-term (12 and 24 months) effects of clinically based weight management programs on HRQL. METHODS We conducted a randomiz...

The effects of irrigation with treated urban wastewater (WW) on the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) diversity and soil microbial activities were assayed on a long-term basis in a semiarid orange-tree orchard. After 43 years, the soil irrigated with fresh water (FW) had higher AMF diversity than soils irrigated with WW. Microbial activities were significantly higher in the soils irrigated wit...

BACKGROUND Screening asymptomatic individuals for neoplasia can have adverse consequences on quality of life. Colon cancer screening is widespread but the quality of life (QOL) consequences are unknown. This study determined the impact of screening colonoscopy on QOL measures in asymptomatic average-risk participants. METHODS Asymptomatic male and female participants aged 55-74 years were ran...