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Aims/hypothesis: A positive impact of exercise intervention programmes on quality of life (QoL) may be important for long-term patient compliance to exercise recommendations. We have previously shown that QoL improves significantly with supervised exercise, whereas it worsens with counselling alone, in patients with type 2 diabetes from the Italian Diabetes and Exercise Study (IDES). Here, we report data on the relationship between changes in QoL and volume of physical activity/exercise in these individuals., Methods: This multicentre parallel randomised controlled, open-label, trial enrolled sedentary patients with type 2 diabetes (n = 606 of 691 eligible) in 22 outpatient diabetes clinics. Patients were randomised by centre, age and diabetes treatment using a permuted-block design to twice-a-week supervised aerobic and resistance training plus exercise counselling (exercise group) versus counselling alone (control group) for 12 months. Health-related QoL was assessed by the 36-Item Short Form (SF-36) Health Survey., Results: In the exercise group (n = 268 of 303 randomised), there was a trend for increasing QoL with increasing exercise volume, with significant improvement of the physical component summary (PCS) measure only above 17.5 metabolic equivalents h⁻¹ week⁻¹ and a clear volume-relationship for the mental component summary (MCS) measure. A relationship with volume of physical activity also was observed in the control group (n = 260 of 303 randomised), despite overall deterioration of all scores. Independent correlates of improvements in both PCS and MCS were exercise volume, study arm and, inversely, baseline score., Conclusions/interpretation: This large trial shows a relationship between changes in physical and mental health-related QoL measures and volume of physical activity/exercise, with supervised exercise training also providing volume-independent benefits.

The Long-Term Oxygen Treatment Trial demonstrated that long-term supplemental oxygen did not reduce time to hospital admission or death for patients who have stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and resting and/or exercise-induced moderate oxyhemoglobin desaturation, nor did it provide benefit for any other outcome measured in the trial. Nine months after initiation of patient screening, after randomization of 34 patients to treatment, a trial design amendment broadened the eligible population, expanded the primary outcome, and reduced the goal sample size. Within a few years, the protocol underwent minor modifications, and a second trial design amendment lowered the required sample size because of lower than expected treatment group crossover rates. After 5.5 years of recruitment, the trial met its amended sample size goal, and 1 year later, it achieved its follow-up goal. The process of publishing the trial results brought renewed scrutiny of the study design and the amendments. This article expands on the previously published design and methods information, provides the rationale for the amendments, and gives insight into the investigators' decisions about trial conduct. The story of the Long-Term Oxygen Treatment Trial may assist investigators in future trials, especially those that seek to assess the efficacy and safety of long-term oxygen therapy. Clinical trial registered with clinicaltrials.gov (NCT00692198).

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Summary Endometriosis is a chronic gynaecological disease that affects women during the reproductive age, and may compromise their quality of life (QoL) and sexual satisfaction. Few data are available on women affected by pelvic endometriosis in the absence of deep infiltrating endometriosis. Aim of the study To evaluate QoL and sexual satisfaction in a group of Italian women affected by pelvic endometriosis identifying specific sociodemographic variables that could impact on the individual perception of the disease. Method A survey was conducted on 150 women with pelvic endometriosis, recruited at the University hospital of Rome. The control group included 150 healthy women matched for age and relational status. A sociodemographic questionnaire, the Italian versions of the WHOQOL-Bref and McCoy Female Sexuality Questionnaire (MFSQ) and the Visual Analogue Scale were administered to participants. Results Our data show that the experimental group obtained a lower score than the control group in the questionnaire total scores and, specifically, in the physical, psychological and social relationships domains (WHOQOL) and in the sexuality domain (MFSQ). A positive and significant correlation was observed between relational status and the MSFQ total score. No significant correlation emerged between pain intensity and sociodemographic variables, total scores and subscales of the MSFQ and WHOQOL-BREF. Discussion and conclusion Our results showed that the disease has a negative impact on many areas of the overall functioning and sexuality quality of life of women. Nevertheless, the existence of mediatory variables emerged, emphasising how the presence of a partner could be considered a protective value in the experience of pain, therefore stressing the need to adopt a bio-psychosocial perspective to study and fully understand the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study analyses the quality of sex life and partnership in a sample of italian women affected by endometriosis verifying the hypothesis that women with endometriosis have less sexual and couple satisfaction than healthy women. Design And Method: The Italian version of McCoy Female Sexuality Questionnaire (MFSQ) was administered to a total sample of 110 Italian women, 55 with endometriosis, EG, and 55 without genital disease, CG, ages 18-45 years (M=30, SD=6), grouped into 3 clusters: 18-29, 30-39 and 40-45 years. A principal component analysis was conducted to verify the two factors structure identified in previous studies. A t test was conducted on both factors scores to assess the differences between groups. Results: As expected, factor analysis indentified 2 factors, sexuality (9 items) and partnership (5 items), with an adequate inter-item reliability (Cronbach''s a of .84 and .71 respectively). Women with endometriosis scored significantly lower in sexuality (t=4.59, a<.05) and partnership (t=2.63, a<.05), no significant age differences were found in factors scores. A logistic regression showed that only the sexuality factor significantly predicted the presence of the endometriosis (Wald=10.29, a<.05). Conclusions: According to recent studies, the results indicate that women with endometriosis have less sexual and partnership satisfaction than healthy women. Moreover low sexual satisfaction maybe an indicator of the presence of dyspareunia. Further researches are required to verify these results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]