The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): reliability and validity of the Greek version

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Problems associated with alcohol abuse are recognised by the World Health Organization as a major health issue, which according to most recent estimations is responsible for 1.4% of the total world burden of morbidity and has been proven to increase mortality risk by 50%. Because of the size and severity of the problem, early detection is very important. This requires easy to use and specific tools. One of these is the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT).</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>This study aims to standardise the questionnaire in a Greek population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>AUDIT was translated and back-translated from its original language by two English-speaking psychiatrists. The tool contains 10 questions. A score ≥ 11 is an indication of serious abuse/dependence. In the study, 218 subjects took part: 128 were males and 90 females. The average age was 40.71 years (± 11.34). From the 218 individuals, 109 (75 male, 34 female) fulfilled the criteria for alcohol dependence according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV), and presented requesting admission; 109 subjects (53 male, 56 female) were healthy controls.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Internal reliability (Cronbach α) was 0.80 for the controls and 0.80 for the alcohol-dependent individuals. Controls had significantly lower average scores (t test <it>P </it>< 0.001) when compared to the alcoholics. The questionnaire's sensitivity for scores >8 was 0.98 and its specificity was 0.94 for the same score. For the alcohol-dependent sample 3% scored as false negatives and from the control group 1.8% scored false positives. In the alcohol-dependent sample there was no difference between males and females in their average scores (t test <it>P </it>> 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Greek version of AUDIT has increased internal reliability and validity. It detects 97% of the alcohol-dependent individuals and has a high sensitivity and specificity. AUDIT is easy to use, quick and reliable and can be very useful in detection alcohol problems in sensitive populations.</p

The 13 item Family Support Scale: Reliability and validity of the Greek translation in a sample of Greek health care professionals

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Julkunen Family Support Scale aims to record the sense of support that a subject receives from the members of his family. The object of the present study was to investigate the reliability and to assess the validity of the Greek translation of the Julkunen Family Support Scale in Greek health care professionals in a public general hospital.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In order to determine the indicator of validity of content we addressed nine expert professionals and one sociologist, asking them to evaluate how much relevant to the sense of familial support are the items of the questionnaire. Additionally, to assess reliability we used a sample of health care professionals.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was agreement among experts for the validity of content. Cronbach's alpha for the total items was 0.820, pointing to high validity. Only replacing item four could increase the scale's validity, but without significant differences.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The scale, in its Greek version, appears to be a brief and reliable tool that can be used for inpatients, in clinics as well as in epidemiologic studies of received family support.</p

Compassion fatigue, burnout and contributory factors among nurses in Latvia

Compassion fatigue is a quite newly defined disorder, characterized by depressed mood in relationship to work accompanied by feelings of fatigue, disillusionment and worthlessness. Burnout is a state of emotional and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. The objective of the research was to identify the existence of compassion fatigue and burn-out syndrome, and contributory factors in the working environment among nurses practicing in Latvia. The participants of the study were 129 nurses from several hospitals in Latvia. Results of the research indicate burnout and compassion fatigue presence among nurses. A number of factors contributing to burn-out syndrome have been identified.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Psychological symptom patterns and vital exhaustion in outpatients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several studies have reported high prevalence of anxiety and depression in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) outpatients. Moreover, these patients share psychological or psychopathological characteristics that inhibit their ability to cope with the disease. In the present study we aimed to record the prevalence of psychological symptom patterns in a sample of Greek COPD outpatients and to assess which psychological factors (and to which degree) contribute to vital exhaustion (VE).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study included 139 COPD outpatients. We used the Symptom Checklist 90 - Revised (SCL-90-R) and the Maastricht Questionnaire (MQ) in order to evaluate psychological symptom patterns and VE, respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean MQ score was 19.6, which is significantly higher than the corresponding score in the general population. Regarding the SCL-90-R dimensions, depression was the highest followed by somatization, obsessive-compulsive and anxiety dimensions. Additionally, a positive correlation was observed between the MQ and the SCL-90-R dimensions. MQ failed to demonstrate correlation with age, gender, education level or the severity of the disease. Depression seems to be responsible for 57.9% of the variation of VE, while obsessive-compulsiveness is responsible for an additional 2.4%. All the remaining dimensions of SCL-90-R had no statistically significant contributions.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings suggest the high prevalence of VE, together with high rates in most of the SCL-90-R dimensions with greater depression, somatization, obsessive-compulsiveness and anxiety in a Greek COPD group at various Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) diagnostic criteria stages. The coexistence of such symptoms should be further assessed as an eventual unfavorable prognostic factor.</p

Stress Coping Mechanisms and Professional Burnout Among Latvian Nurses

The reason of burnout is the negative influence of job stress. Due to burnout nurses work may become less productive, employees are absent due to illness, as well as the fluctuation of staff increases. It shows the need to develop adaptive coping strategies among nurses. The aim of the study was to find out stress coping mechanisms and burnout presence among nurses practicing in Latvia. The instruments which used for data collection: demographic questionnaire, R.S. Lazarus and S. Folkman’s The Ways of Coping Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory. The Ways of Coping Scale completed by 484 nurses working in healthcare institutions in different regions of Latvia in the age range from 21 to 66 years. The highest values have: planful problem-solving, self-controlling and positive reappraisal, accepting responsibility and seeking social support; while the lowest values can be seen in two scales – confrontive coping and escape/avoidance. The prevailing ways of coping stress in the sample are planful problem solving, self-controlling and positive reappraisal. Maslach burned out inventory which was completed by 587 practicing nurses. Age range of respondents was from 22 to 68 years. Descriptive statistical parameters for Maslach Burnot Inventory by subscales: mean for Emotional Exhaustion subscale - 22.75 (SD=10.75), for Depersonalization subscale was 7.52 (SD=5.30) and for rank of Personal achievement subscale - 34.57 (SD=8.22).publishersversionPeer reviewe