ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a modified Naturalistic Action Test (m-NAT) for Korean patients with impaired cognition. The NAT was originally designed to assess everyday action impairment associated with higher cortical dysfunction. METHODS: We developed the m-NAT by adapting the NAT for the Korean cultural background. The m-NAT was modeled as closely as possible on the original version in terms of rules and scoring. Thirty patients receiving neurorehabilitation (twenty-three stroke patients, five traumatic brain injury patients, and two dementia patients) and twenty healthy matched controls were included. Inter-rater reliability was assessed between two raters. Validity was evaluated by comparing the m-NAT score with various measures of attention, executive functions, and daily life. RESULTS: Performance on the m-NAT in terms of the total score was significantly different between patients and controls (p<0.01). Patients made significantly more total errors than controls (p<0.01). Omissions error was the most frequent type of error in patient group. Intraclass correlation coefficients for total m-NAT score was 0.95 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92 to 0.97; p<0.001); total error was 0.91 (95% CI, 0.89 to 0.92; p<0.001). Total m-NAT score showed moderate to strong correlations with Stroop test interference score & index, Trail Making Test parts A and B, Sustained Attention to Response Task commission error, Functional Independence Measure, Korean instrumental activities of daily living, Korean version of the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire, and Executive Behavior Scale (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The m-NAT showed very good inter-rater reliability and adequate validity. The m-NAT adjusted to Korean cultural background can be useful in performance-based assessment of naturalistic action for clinical and research purposes.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the analgesic effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the primary motor (M1), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and sham tDCS in patients with painful diabetic polyneuropathy (PDPN). METHODS: Patients with PDPN (n=60) were divided randomly into the three groups (n=20 per group). Each group received anodal tDCS with the anode centered over the left M1, DLPFC, or sham stimulation for 20 minutes at intensity of 2 mA for 5 consecutive days. A blinded physician rated the patients' pain using a visual analog scale (VAS), Clinical Global Impression (CGI) score, anxiety score, sleep quality, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the pain threshold (PT) to pressure. RESULTS: After the tDCS sessions, the M1 group showed a significantly greater reduction in VAS for pain and PT versus the sham and DLPFC groups (p<0.001). The reduction in VAS for pain was sustained after 2 and 4 weeks of follow-up in the M1 group compared with the sham group (p<0.001, p=0.007). Significant differences were observed among the three groups over time in VAS for pain (p<0.001), CGI score (p=0.01), and PT (p<0.001). No significant difference was observed among the groups in sleep quality, anxiety score, or BDI score immediately after tDCS. CONCLUSION: Five daily sessions of tDCS over the M1 can produce immediate pain relief, and relief 2- and 4-week in duration in patients with PDPN. Our findings provide the first evidence of a beneficial effect of tDCS on PDPN.
