Remembering more than meets the eye: a study of memory confusions about incomplete visual information.

The purpose of this series of four experiments was to examine the possible role of spontaneous imagery in memory confusions about the way in which visual information had been experienced. After viewing pictures of familiar objects, complete or incomplete in visual form, participants were asked to remember the way in which the objects had been presented. Although, as predicted, memory for the objects themselves was quite good, participants falsely remembered seeing complete versions of pictures that were actually presented as incomplete. These false reports were observed across a variety of encoding and testing conditions. The results suggest that the false reports (referred to here as completion errors) are due to internal representations based on filling-in processes in response to the encoding of incomplete visual information. As such, the results also speak to alternative explanations for the completion errors and, more broadly, to theoretical perspectives that draw on filling-in processes when accounting for object identification and object memory.

A systematic review of the economic burden of chronic angina.

BACKGROUND: Chronic angina carries an economic burden because of symptom management, the risk of major cardiovascular events, and lost productivity. The level of these costs has not been systematically quantified. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to assemble best evidence on the economic burden of chronic angina, including both the direct costs of healthcare and the indirect costs of lost productivity. METHODS: Studies published in English from January 1990 to June 2003 were located via electronic and manual searches and systematically reviewed. Eligible studies included those with information on cost of illness, cost of treatment, employment status, and/or work productivity and/or limitations for a population of patients with chronic angina. RESULTS: Seventeen studies assessed the healthcare cost of managing chronic angina. Cost estimates varied widely because of differing patient populations, healthcare settings, countries of origin, and year(s) of data collection. The most critical determinant of healthcare costs appeared to be the use of revascularization procedures. Twenty studies reported work limitations, 5 of which quantified productivity loss in monetary terms. Interventions for chronic angina resulted in some improvement in employment and work limitations over the short term. However, the positive effect of revascularization procedures tended to erode over the long term (3 years and beyond) in a substantial number of patients. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic angina carries substantial healthcare costs caused by frequent medical visits, medications, and expensive revascularization procedures. Workplace productivity loss because of angina is also substantial, but lasting long-term improvement in work status has been difficult to achieve.

Efficacy of selected treatments of HIV wasting: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: To assess the efficacy of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH), testosterone, and anabolic steroids in the treatment of HIV wasting. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published in English since 1996 was conducted. Studies of anabolic steroids, testosterone, and rhGH in treatment of HIV wasting reporting the efficacy outcomes of body composition measures, work output, or health-related quality of life (QoL) were eligible. Meta-analyses were performed for mean pre-post change in lean body mass (LBM), the within-study mean difference in pre-post change for LBM, and of odds ratios for certain safety events. RESULTS: A total of 18 studies met inclusion criteria for this review. CONCLUSION: The 3 treatments for HIV wasting assessed--rhGH, testosterone, and anabolic steroids--all demonstrated significant efficacy in increasing LBM as compared with placebo. Although meta-analysis did not indicate any statistically significant differences between these agents in the degree of efficacy in this outcome, the Food and Drug Administration-approved dose of rhGH may have advantages over the other 2 therapies in terms of improvements in functional capacity and QoL.

The effect of anemia treatment on selected health-related quality-of-life domains: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Anemia is a reduction in the oxygen-carrying capacity of red blood cells that results in a variety of symptoms, including dyspnea, headaches, light-headedness, and fatigue. Although anemia has been associated with reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL), its treatment has not yet been consistently shown to improve HRQoL. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review of the literature was conducted to determine whether the treatment of anemia improves HRQoL domains, regardless of the type of underlying disease. METHODS: Data for this review were drawn from the clinical trial databases from 2 previous systematic literature reviews of erythropoiesis-stimulating protein treatment for renal insufficiency- and cancer-related anemia, both spanning the period January 1, 1980, through December 31, 2001. MEDLINE, Cancerlit, and Current Contents/Clinical Medicine were searched using the combined terms erythropoietin, kidney failure, neoplasms, and anemia. The reference lists of all identified articles were searched manually for additional relevant papers. The review included prospective studies that reported both HRQoL and hematocrit (Hct) in patients with cancer or renal insufficiency who received treatment for anemia with an erythropoiesis-stimulating protein. HRQoL was categorized by domain (overall, energy/fatigue, physical, activity); changes in HRQoL domains were expressed as effect sizes and meta-analyzed, as were correlation coefficients. The effects on HRQoL of dropout rate, study duration, baseline Hct, and change in Hct were examined in meta-regression analyses. RESULTS: Sixteen studies each were identified in patients with renal insufficiency (N = 2253) and patients with cancer (N = 10,695). The treated groups included 11,710 patients, and the control groups included 1238 patients. The baseline Hct in all treated groups averaged 26.0%: 28.3% in the group with cancer and 24.4% in the group with renal insufficiency. The mean improvement in Hct from baseline to the end of treatment was 8.3% (range, 1.0%-16.5%) in treated patients and 1.0% (range, 0.0%-3.3%) in controls. The Hct changes were similar in treated patients with cancer and treated patients with renal insufficiency, as was the HRQoL effect size (0.43). Dropout rate and study duration were not significant predictors of HRQoL changes, but change in Hct was a significant predictor in both conditions. Meta-analysis of the correlation coefficients, adjusting for HRQoL domains, showed a consistent and significant positive correlation between change in Hct and change in HRQoL (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The consistency in both direction and magnitude of effect across many studies and thousands of patients supports the hypothesis that treatment of anemia with erythropoiesis-stimulating protein improves selected HRQoL domains in patients with renal insufficiency- or cancer-related anemia.