No abstract

One hundred and five patients with rheumatoid arthritis were assessed on two occasions separated by 15 months, by means of the ARA functional scale, the Mallya and Mace index, the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and the Functional Limitations Profile (FLP). Thirty three per cent of patients were assessed as clinically changed in terms of the ARA scale. On both occasions cross-sectional correlations were strongest between the health status measures (HAQ and FLP) and grip strength and the Ritchie articular index. The sensitivity and specificity of the two health status measures in relation to clinical change were calculated and overall the HAQ and FLP achieved similarly modest levels of sensitivity and specificity. The greater amount of precision and information provided by the FLP has to be weighed against the simpler measurement assumptions and shorter time required to administer the HAQ.

No abstract

This study examines the eye movements of skilled readers in a sequential light-tracking task commonly used with developmental dyslexics. Research with dyslexic readers has frequently indicated that dyslexic readers display erratic eye movements when reading text. Pavlidis proposed that the characteristics of eye movements in a simple light-tracking task may be used to distinguish dyslexic readers from normal readers, constituting an objective test for dyslexia. In this study the performance of English and Iraqi skilled readers was examined during a sequential light-tracking task. Both groups displayed less stable eye movements when performing the tracking task in a direction counter to that by which they normally read script.