BackgroundThe Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment (SMFA) questionnaire is one of the most commonly used scales to evaluate functional status and quality of life (QOL) of patients with a broad range of musculoskeletal disorders. However, a Chinese version of the SMFA questionnaire for the psychometric properties of skeletal muscle injury patients in China is still lacking. The current study translated the SMFA into Chinese and assessed its reliability and validity among Chinese patients with skeletal muscle injury of the upper or lower extremities.MethodsThe original SMFA was translated from English into Chinese and culturally adapted according to cross-cultural adaptation guidelines. A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted, comprising 339 skeletal muscle injury patients (aged 20–75 years) from 4 hospitals. The SMFA, the health survey short form (SF-36) along with a region-specific questionnaire (including the disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand questionnaire (DASH), the hip disability and osteoarthritis outcome score (HOOS), the knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score (KOOS), and the foot function index (FFI)) were completed according to the region of injury. Reliability was estimated from the internal consistency using Cronbach’s α and validity was assessed via convergent validity, known-groups comparison, and construct validity.ResultsCronbach’s α coefficient was over 0.75 for two subscales and four categories of the SMFA, suggesting that the internal consistency reliability of the SMFA was satisfactory. Known-groups comparison showed that the dysfunction index and the bother index of the SMFA discriminated well between patients who differed in age, gender, injury location, and operation status rather than in subgroups based on the body mass index (BMI). The convergent validity of the SMFA was good, as moderate to excellent correlations were found between the subscales of the SMFA and the four subscales of SF-36 (physical function, role-physical, bodily pain, and social functioning) and the region-specific questionnaires. The construct validity was proved by the presence of a six-factor structure that accounted for 66.85 % of the variance.ConclusionThe Chinese version of the SMFA questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument to measure patient-reported impact of musculoskeletal injuries in the upper or lower extremities.

Background. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) causes psychological distress and can have a negative impact on the general mental health and rehabilitation in affected patients under currently implemented isolation guidelines. Auricular point pressure (APP) as well-established technique in traditional Chinese medicine may help to relieve sleep disturbance and anxiety in COVID-19 patients. Methods. During the early phase of the epidemic/pandemic, patients were enrolled in this study (02/2020 until 03/2020 n = 84). They were strictly isolated on specific wards at the Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine in Hubei. The retrospective cohort study design included two groups. Group A patients were treated with an auricular point pressure (APP) in addition to standard intensive care medicine while Group B participants (No-APP) received routine nursing measures alone. Treatment outcome was measured using the St. Mary’s Hospital Sleep Questionnaire (SMH) Score and the 7-Item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7). Both scores were measured in each patient at baseline and on the discharge day. Results. The SMH score and sleep status changed in APP patients at the end of the treatment period when compared with No-APP patients ( P < 0.01 ). APP-treated patients demonstrated lower GAD-7 scores than No-APP controls ( P < 0.01 ). Further, no significant differences in safety or adverse events between the APP and No-APP groups were observed. Conclusion. The results from our snapshot study during the early phase of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic/pandemic suggest that auricular point pressure could be a simple and effective tool to relieve insomnia and situational anxiety in hospitalized patients suffering from COVID-19 and kept under disconcerting conditions of isolation.

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Death associated protein kinase 1 (DAPK1) is a notable serine/threonine kinase involved in the regulation of multiple cellular pathways, including apoptosis and autophagy. Although DAPK1 is usually considered to be a tumor suppressor, it was previously reported to promote the viability of p53 mutant cancer cell lines and possess physiological oncogenic functions in breast cancer. However, the ability of endogenous DAPK1 to suppress breast cancer cell mobility has not been assessed. In the present study, the prognostic function of DAPK1 in a Chinese patient cohort was evaluated, and no significant association was observed between DAPK1 expression and patient survival or lymph node metastasis. In order to investigate the physiological function of endogenous DAPK1, stable inducible DAPK1 knockdown MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines were established. Consistent with previous studies, endogenous DAPK1 only regulated cell viability in p53 mutant MDA-MB-231 cells. However, knockdown of DAPK1 did not significantly affect cell motility of either MCF7 or MDA-MB-231 cells. Altogether, these results further explored the function of endogenous DAPK1 in breast cancer and may shed light in understanding the molecular signaling pathways regulating the physiological function of DAPK1.