The Constipation Severity Instrument is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing constipated patients. Administration of the Constipation Severity Instrument to other constipated patients will further validate its use.

While our sample was statistically underpowered, AB produced clinical improvements in constipation severity and QOL.

The effects of aging and deliberative activities on decision making were examined. In two separate tasks, young, middle-aged, and older adults were presented with four alternatives and given instructions to choose the best one. Following study, participants were either given additional time to think about their decision or were prevented from doing so. Decision quality did not benefit from additional deliberative activity when the structure of the stimuli facilitated fluent online processing. In contrast, deliberation promoted performance when such processing was more difficult. In addition, those individuals who focused on attribute information relevant to the decision context performed better than those who did not. Age differences in performance were minimal, but older adults with lower levels of education or cognitive ability tended to perform worse than the rest of the sample under conditions where deliberative skills were required to promote performance. The results are inconsistent with recent proposals regarding the benefits of passive deliberation. In addition, the results support the general assertion that the age effects in decision making will be most evident in situations dependent upon deliberative skills.

The present study examined age differences in the within-person daily associations of basic cognition, everyday cognition, and busyness with forgetting to take medication. The authors extend previous interindividual difference findings by conducting a daily diary study of a baseline assessment and 8 consecutive days of 40 older adults (age = 60-89 years, M = 74.86) and 31 younger adults (age = 18-20 years, M = 18.30) where basic cognition, everyday cognition, busyness, and forgetting medication were assessed each day and entered simultaneously into one model. Results from a logistic multilevel model indicated that performance on Letter Series was beneficial for both age groups, but the role of fluctuations in busyness on forgetting to take medications was opposite for younger and older adults. Younger adults remembered to take their medication the most on days when they had high everyday cognition and were busier. Older adults remembered to take their medication the most on days when they had high everyday cognition but were less busy. These findings highlight the importance of contextual variation in busyness in relation to daily medication adherence for younger and older adults.

This article describes how the multi-step mid-course assessment of the REACH II community translation project in North Carolina was guided by the RE-AIM framework, and summarizes adaptations made to enhance the feasibility of adoption and maintenance while at the same time assuring fidelity to program core elements. The two-stage assessment involved both quantitative (survey) and qualitative (discussion group) components. Results indicated a need to focus primarily on tailoring pre-intervention training, streamlining and clarifying intervention guides and tools, targeting specific participant recruitment messages, addressing issues of session length, and clarifying what flexibilities family consultants could exercise in terms of specific session content addressed and other supportive materials used. The use of the RE-AIM framework and the mixed-method process allowed the program staff to thoroughly assess program satisfaction and areas of concern, and ultimately ensured that the family consultants implementing the intervention had a voice in the adaptation process.