BACKGROUND The aim was to critically appraise and synthesize the literature relating to set-shifting ability in eating disorders. PsycINFO, Medline, and Web of Science databases were searched to December 2005. Hand searching of eating-disorder journals and relevant reference sections was also undertaken. METHOD The 15 selected studies contained both eating disorder and healthy control groups,...

Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) often suffer from impairments in executive functions, such as mental rigidity, which can be measured as impaired set-shifting. Previous studies have shown that set-shifting deficits in patients with PD result from hypo-excitation of the caudate nucleus and lateral prefrontal cortices. The results of these studies may have been influenced by the inclusion o...

Understanding of neuro-dynamics of a complex higher cognitive process, Working Memory (WM) is challenging. In WM, information processing occurs through four subsystems: phonological loop, visual sketch pad, memory buffer and central executive function (CEF). CEF plays a principal role in WM. In this study, our objective was to understand the neurospatial correlates of CEF during inhibition and ...

BACKGROUND Health workforce needs-based shortages and skill mix imbalances are significant health workforce challenges. Task shifting, defined as delegating tasks to existing or new cadres with either less training or narrowly tailored training, is a potential strategy to address these challenges. This study uses an economics perspective to review the skill mix literature to determine its stren...

OBJECTIVE We assessed the correlation between the deficits of cognition, movement, and brain activity in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactvity Disorder (ADHD). METHOD We recruited 15 children with ADHD and 15 age- and sex-matched healthy control participants. Clinical symptoms, cognitive shifting, movement shifting, and brain activity were assessed using the Korean ADHD Rating Scale, t...

Ever since the 2006 World Health Report advocated increased community participation and the systematic delegation of tasks to less-specialized cadres, there has been a great deal of debate about the expediency, efficacy and modalities of task shifting. The delegation of tasks from one cadre to another, previously often called substitution, is not a new concept. It has been used in many countrie...

BACKGROUND The shortage and mal-distribution of surgical specialists in sub-Saharan African countries is born out of shortage of individuals choosing a surgical career, limited training capacity, inadequate remuneration, and reluctance on the part of professionals to work in rural and remote areas, among other reasons. This study set out to assess the views of clinicians and managers on the use...

BACKGROUND One potential solution to limited healthcare access in low and middle income countries (LMIC) is task-shifting- the training of non-physician healthcare workers (NPHWs) to perform tasks traditionally undertaken by physicians. The aim of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of studies involving task-shifting for the management of non-communicable disease (NCD) in LMIC. METHO...