Biomedical subjects

H Caci

Publications and source records attributed to H Caci.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Functional and dysfunctional impulsivity: contribution to the construct validity.

OBJECTIVE: Impulsivity has been found to be an important trait of personality, whose consequences are not always negative although available questionnaires focused on its 'dysfunctional' aspect. METHOD: Dickman's Functional and Dysfunctional Impulsivity questionnaire has been translated into French, and filled out by students. The tetrachoric correlation matrices were factor analysed. RESULTS: The psychometric properties are very close to those of the English version, and we recovered both factors in males and females. The factor similarities between the genders (in our sample) and between the languages (English vs. French) are very good. The Dysfunctional scale is correlated with the Motor Impulsivity subscale of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, and both scales are grossly independent from Spielberger's Trait-Anxiety Inventory. CONCLUSION: Our results support a two-factor solution similar to the English one. Nevertheless, the validity of the functional factor remains to be investigated in further studies.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

The apathy inventory: assessment of apathy and awareness in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and mild cognitive impairment.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to establish the validity and reliability of the apathy inventory (IA), a rating scale for global assessment of apathy and separate assessment of emotional blunting, lack of initiative, and lack of interest. METHOD: Information for the IA can be obtained from the patient or from a caregiver. We evaluated 115 subjects using the IA, consisting of 19 healthy elderly subjects, 24 patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), 12 subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 60 subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD). RESULTS: Internal consistency, item reliability, and between-rater reliability were high. A test-retest reliability study demonstrated that caregiver responses to IA questions were stable over short intervals. A concurrent validity study showed that the IA assesses apathy as effectively as the Neuro Psychiatric Inventory apathy domain. In the caregiver-based evaluation, AD subjects had significantly higher scores than controls, both for global apathy score and for the lack of interest dimension. When the AD patients were subdivided according to diagnostic criteria for apathy, apathetic patients had significantly higher scores than non apathetic patients. With the patient-based evaluations, no differences were found among the AD, MCI and control groups. The scores in the patient-based evaluations were only higher for the PD group versus the control subjects. The results also indicated that AD patients had poor awareness of their emotional blunting and lack of initiative. CONCLUSIONS: The IA is a reliable method for assessing in demented and non-demented elderly subjects several dimensions of the apathetic syndrome, and also the subject's awareness of these symptoms.

Aged↗

PubMed2000

Relationship between impulsivity and platelet serotonin content in adolescents.

The relationship between impulsivity and serotonin function was explored in impulsive and non-depressed adolescents. Platelet serotonin content was chosen as a peripheral indicator of central serotonin function. Impulsivity was assessed with a questionnaire. All measures were performed once a week over a 6-week period for all subjects. Subjects comprised eight adolescent inpatients who were hospitalized as a result of their impulsive acts and eight healthy age- and sex-matched control subjects. Mean platelet serotonin concentration was significantly higher in the impulsive group than in the control group. Platelet serotonin concentration was positively correlated with the intensity of impulsivity in the patient group.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

The composite scale of morningness: further psychometric properties and temporal stability.

OBJECT: To assess the temporal stability of the French version of the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM), and to replicate our previous findings in an independent sample in order to confirm the good internal properties of this instrument. METHOD: Sixty nursing students (11 males and 49 females) filled out the Composite Scale of Morningness on two occasions over a 13-month period. RESULTS: The scale's reliability is high: Cronbach's alpha = 0.874 in males and 0.904 in females. The CSM total scores are normally distributed and independent of gender. They do not differ between occasions, and are highly correlated: r = +0.885 in males and r = +0.930 in females. CONCLUSION: The French version of the CSM is stable over time and psychometrically reliable. These are the characteristics of a personality trait. Further studies should explore its personality, biological and genetic correlates.

Circadian Rhythm↗

PubMed2000

[Factor analysis of french translation of the Barratt impulsivity scale (BIS-10)].

Though the concept of impulsiveness is controversial, there are many attempts being made to measure this dimension. In this context, only psychometric measures are widely considered valid and are routinely in use. Barratt developed the first scale that specifically measured impulsiveness. Subsequently, various refinements have improved the validity of results. We have translated, without any significant problems, the tenth validated version of this scale (BIS 10) into French, and we have completed a factorial analysis. The scale was coupled with a self-administered questionnaire designed to assess anxiety. A sample of 280 subjects between the ages of 18 and 79 years (average age, 36.9) were recruited from the general population. Subject age was found to have a weak but nevertheless significant correlation with the impulsiveness rating. A principal component analysis (PCA) resulted in the first 9 factors explaining 55.6% of the variance. Another PCA of these factors allowed the identification of a second tier of 3 second order factors; these were closely related to Barratt's ranking. Our study confirms results from the scale's initial analysis--results which could not be subsequently reproduced. To our knowledge, this is the first French translation of an instrument that specifically measures impulsiveness and the first in which a factorial structure has been tested in the general population.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Psychometric properties of the French version of the composite scale of morningness in adults.

The objective of this study was to provide a reliable instrument to measure morningness for upcoming studies in French samples, using the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM), which has been translated into French. Nursing students (n = 356) completed the questionnaire between February and March 1997. The total score obtained was independent of age and gender, and normally distributed. The reliability was high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.85), and factorial analysis confirmed the unidimensionality of the scale. Evening-type subjects are thought to score under 31, and morning-type subjects are thought to score above 44. As an external validation, morningness was associated, on weekdays and weekends, with early rising times and bedtimes and early peak times of physical and mental performance. In conclusion, we found that the English and the French versions of the Composite Scale of Morningness gave identical results. The scale is reliable and can be used for French-speaking adult samples. Nevertheless, normative data and other external validity criteria are needed.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Whole blood serotonin content, tryptophan concentrations, and impulsivity in anorexia nervosa.

BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that anorectics with or without bulimic features would differ on impulsivity and indices of central serotoninergic function (high impulsivity being correlated with reduced serotoninergic function). METHODS: For all patients impulsivity rating scales and questionnaires detailing severity of eating disorder were assessed, and whole blood serotonin concentration (5-HT), free and total tryptophan (TT) concentrations, and large neutral amino acids (LNAA) were assayed. RESULTS: Nineteen patients with anorexia nervosa were included, 10 presented associated bulimic features and nine did not. Twelve healthy matched controls were also included. Our hypothesis was not verified. However, tryptophan concentration and the ratio of tryptophan concentration to LNAA allow us to separate controls from anorectics, whereas 5-HT concentration does not. Two significant and positive correlations were found: between impulsivity and anxiety in the total anorectic population, and between anxiety and serotonin in the impulsive group. CONCLUSIONS: All measured peripheral biologic indices except 5-HT concentration may be of interest in this pathology. Impulsivity and anxiety seem to be two personality components involved in anorexia nervosa. This study lead us to the necessity of redefining impulsivity in anorexia nervosa.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Neurocognitive subtypes of schizophrenia according to performance at verbal fluency tasks].

UNLABELLED: There is a general agreement that schizophrenia is an heterogeneous disorder and cognitive performances could be an interesting feature in order to allow a better description of specific subtypes. The aim of this study was: 1) to describe clinical and neuropsychological performances of 45 DSM IV schizophrenic patients divided in two groups according to their performances in verbal fluency task; 2) to compare each group with the performances of healthy subjects matched for sex, age and education. METHOD: The differentiation criteria was the total number of words generated during 3 formal and 3 semantic fluency tasks. Data were analysed using a disjoint clustering procedure with Euclidean distance. A two cluster solution was considered optimal. Cluster S1 includes 21 schizophrenic subjects defined as low performer (range: 40-83, mean 66.7). Cluster S2 includes 24 schizophrenic subjects (range: 87-158, mean 102.8). All schizophrenic patients were clinically evaluated with SANS, SAPS and a psychosocial aptitude rating scale (PARS). Patients and controls were assessed with the following battery: verbal fluency, Trail making test A & B, Stroop test, Brown Peterson paradigm for evaluation of working memory. RESULTS: Patients with low verbal fluency had significantly higher scores at the SANS and PARS. Furthermore, the low performers (cluster S1) were differentiated from those with better performances (cluster S2) by significantly poorer results in all neuropsychological tests. Comparison with healthy subjects indicated that cluster S1 patients also had significantly poorer results in all neuropsychological tests. Relative to their 24 controls cluster S2 patients performances was lower in all measures excepted in one subscore of the Stroop test and in the number of cluster produced. This later result could indicate that some capacities for willed intention were preserved in this group and that the alteration in verbal fluency performances were better explained by impairment of the other cognitive processes. DISCUSSION: These findings point out that: 1) use of performance in cognitive executive task such as verbal fluency is a possible criteria in order to separate different types of schizophrenic patients; 2) in the two groups of schizophrenic subjects, various processes defects underline cognitive performances indicating the presence of different neurobiological dysfunctioning.

Adult↗