BACKGROUND:Recently, the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Gastric (FACT-Ga) was developed to measure the quality of life (QoL) of patients with gastric cancer. This newly developed instrument has not yet been validated. METHODS: Eighty-two patients with gastric adenocarcinoma completed questionnaires at baseline. The FACTGa scores were measured as a function of disease stage and performance status, and they were correlated with the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36), the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the MarlowCrowne Social Desirability Scale, the Paulhus Deception Scale, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Patients received a second questionnaire 2 weeks after baseline to evaluate test-retest reliability and again at 3 months to evaluate the sensitivity of the FACT-Ga to changes in performance status and to estimate the minimally important differences in scores that represented meaningful change. RESULTS: The internal and test-retest reliability of the FACT-Ga instrument was adequate. With the exception of the social well being subscale, all FACT-Ga scores were correlated as hypothesized with other measures. Relevant components of the FACT-Ga were sensitive to changes in performance status. CONCLUSIONS: The current results indicated that the FACT-Ga provides a valid and reliable measurement of QoL in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma. It is a useful instrument for QoL assessment in clinical trials, and it also may be useful for the detection of significant changes in the QoL of individual patients.

Objective. Important differences exist between axial psoriatic arthritis (AxPsA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Radiology Index (BASRI), the modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spinal Score (mSASSS), and the Radiographic Ankylosing Spondylitis Spinal Score (RASSS) were developed to score AS, and the Psoriatic Arthritis Spondylitis Radiology Index (PASRI) to score AxPsA. We aimed to develop a computerized scoring application and compare the intra-and interrater reliability of these scoring systems in AS and AxPsA. Methods. A computerized scoring application was developed to facilitate the scoring of radiographic features and calculate total scores for established scoring methods for AS and AxPsA. Digital spinal radiographs of 18 patients with AS and 40 patients with AxPsA were read in random order individually by 4 rheumatologists, data were entered into the application, and scores were obtained. The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) of the intra-and interrater reliability of scores for each method were then computed.

Patients with PAH who undergo invasive mechanical ventilation have an in-hospital mortality of 39.1%. Future work may help identify the types of patients who benefit most from advanced respiratory support in a critical care setting.

These findings suggest that allergen and DE variably influence different aspects of the innate immune response of the lung. SPD and MPO, known markers of allergic inflammation in the lung, are strongly increased by allergen while DE has a minor effect therein. DE induces a loss of CC16, a protective protein, while allergen has a minor effect therein. Results support site- and exposure-specific responses in the human lung upon multiple exposures.