Item re-scaling of an Italian version of the sickness impact profile: effect of age and profession of the observers.

An Italian version of the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) obtained by professional and nonprofessional translators was checked for cross-cultural equivalence using a back-translation method followed by two scaling studies. The first scaling study involved 30 health professionals who ranked the items within each category for severity of dysfunction. By comparing Italian and US average ranks, 14 highly discordant items were identified. A revised translation was evaluated in a new study involving 120 observers stratified by age (< 65 versus > or = 65 years) and profession (health versus non health professionals) into 4 groups of the same size. The Italian and American item rank orders were almost equivalent, independently of the age and profession of the observers (93% of the ranks showing differences < 2), suggesting that this Italian version of SIP is cross-culturally unbiased. However, older age was associated with higher variability in the rank orders, and some caution is required for use in the geriatric population.

Synergistic anticonvulsant effect of valproic acid and ethosuximide on pentylenetetrazole-induced epileptic phenomena in rats.

The possible synergistic effect of valproic acid and ethosuximide in combination on pentylenetetrazole-induced epilepsy was investigated in rats. Valproic acid and ethosuximide administered intraperitoneally both showed dose-dependent anti-epileptic activity towards pentylenetetrazole-induced myoclonias and tonic-clonic seizures. The valproic acid-ethosuximide combination had a synergistic pharmacological effect. Against myoclonias combined valproic acid-ethosuximide produced a non-significant decrease in the effective dose of both drugs compared with treatment with either drug alone. In the case of tonic-clonic seizures the protective effect against the seizures was significantly increased by combined treatment compared with treatment with either drug alone. Neither plasma concentrations nor any other pharmacokinetic parameters were significantly changed when the same doses of valproic acid and ethosuximide were given, singly or in combination.