Higher levels of psychiatric symptomatology reported by health professionals working in medical settings in Greece

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Psychological distress in healthcare workers may vary across different specialties. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in the rate of anxiety and depression between medical and mental healthcare workers.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The sample was randomly selected and consisted of 229 workers from the medical health sector and 212 from the mental health sector, aged 39.8 ± 7.9 years old. Health workers from University and General Hospitals from all over Greece participated in the study. The Greek version of the Symptoms Rating Scale For Depression and Anxiety (SRSDA) was used. Statistics were processed with SPSS v. 17.0.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The medical health professionals showed statistically significantly higher scores in all the subscales in comparison with the mental health sector workers, independently of years serving in the department. The rates of a possible psychiatric disorder (score over cutoff points) were significantly elevated on the Beck-21, melancholy and asthenia subscales.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Medical healthcare workers appear to suffer from psychological distress more than their colleagues in the mental sector.</p

Tetracaine 0.5% eyedrops with or without lidocaine 2% gel in topical anesthesia for cataract surgery

Anthoula T Tsoumani1,2, Ioannis C Asproudis1, Dimitrios Damigos21Department of Ophthalmology University Hospital of Ioannina, 2Department of Medical Psychology, Postgraduate Course of &amp;ldquo;Pain Management&amp;rdquo;, University of Ioannina, GreeceBackground and objective: To evaluate the level of pain during phacoemulsification and foldable intraocular lens implantation under instillation of tetracaine 0.5% eyedrops versus a combination of lidocaine 2% gel and instillation of tetracaine eyedrops.Methods: This prospective, randomized, controlled study included 51 patients undergoing phacoemulsification under topical anesthesia. They were randomized into two groups based on the topical anesthetic method they were to receive. Preoperatively all patients were asked to answer a questionnaire. One hour postoperatively, they were asked to grade their intraoperative and postoperative pain on a visual analog scale from 0 to 10.Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the two methods of anesthesia. Gender and the presence of relatives or friends were independent factors playing a significant role in pain sensitivity.Conclusions: The combination of lidocaine 2% gel and tetracaine eyedrops does not have a better analgesic result than a single instillation of tetracaine 0.5% eyedrops.Keywords: ophthalmic pain, cataract, phacoemulsification, tetracaine eyedrops, lidocaine gel, topical anesthesi

Neuroticism and Extraversion in Patients Suffering from Hand Pain

Morbid conditions of the hand usually provoke intense pain. The relationship between the experience of pain and personality characteristics have been studied extensively. The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between personality characteristics, e.g. neuroticism and extraversion, and pain intensity in patients with hand conditions, and to examine possible differences between patients and healthy individuals. Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and the Neuroticism (EPQ-N) and Extraversion (EPQ-E) subscales of Eysenck Personality Questionnaire- Revised (short form) were administered to 104 patients of an outpatient orthopaedic clinic. Moreover, 65 healthy individuals were used as a control group. Bivariate correlational analyses was used to examine the relationship between neuroticism, extraversion and pain intensity. Neither neuroticism nor extraversion correlated with pain intensity. One-way analysis of variance was conducted to examine the differences between patients and controls concerning neuroticism and extraversion. Patients had significantly higher scores in both personality characteristics of neuroticism and extraversion. The assessment of personality characteristics in patients with pain may be an important factor for the design of more effective interventions for pain management

Defensive coping and health-related quality of life in chronic kidney disease: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Coping with the stresses of chronic disease is considered as a key factor in the perceived impairment of health related quality of life (HRQL). Little is known though about these associations in chronic kidney disease (CKD). The present study aimed to investigate the relationship of defensive coping and HRQL among patients in different CKD stages, after adjusting for psychological distress, sociodemographic and disease-related variables.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The sample consisted of 98 CKD patients, attending a university nephrology department. Seventy-nine (79) pre-dialysis patients of disease stages 3 to 4 and 19 dialysis patients were included. HRQL was assessed by the 36-item Short-Form health survey (SF-36), defensive coping by the Rationality/Emotional Defensiveness (R/ED) scale of the Lifestyle Defense Mechanism Inventory (LDMI) and psychological distress by the depression and anxiety scales of the revised Hopkins Symptom CheckList (SCL-90-R). Regression analyses were carried out to examine the association between SF-36 dimensions and defensive coping style.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Patients on dialysis had worse scores on SF-36 scales measuring physical aspects of HRQL. In the fully adjusted analysis, a higher defensive coping score was significantly associated with a lower score on the mental component summary (MCS) scale of the SF-36 (worse mental health). In contrast, a higher defensive score showed a small positive association with the physical component summary (PCS) scale of the SF-36 (better health), but this was marginally significant.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results provided evidence that emotional defensiveness as a coping style tends to differentially affect the mental and the physical component of HRQL in CKD. Clinicians should be aware of the effects of long-term denial and could examine the possibility of screening for defensive coping and depression in recently diagnosed CKD patients with the aim to improve both physical and mental health.</p

O R I G I N A L P A P E R Effects of Childhood Trauma on Hostility, Family Environment and Narcissism of Adult Individuals

Abstract Aim: This study aimed to investigate the effects of childhood trauma on hostility, family functioning and narcissism in adulthood. 595 healthy individuals participated, classified into two groups-trauma and no-trauma -based on experienced traumatic events. Methodology: The Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire, the Aggression subscale of The Symptom Checklist-90-R, the Family Environment Scale and The Narcissistic Personality Inventory were administered. Results: Higher levels of hostility (p=.040) and aggression (p=.041) were observed among participants reported exposure to a traumatic event. Apart from the conflict subscale (p=.018), no dysfunctional family environment was found. Narcissistic traits did not differ between the two groups (p=.199). Logistic regression models found that participants experienced childhood trauma had a higher risk of overall hostility (OR=0.92, 95% CI=.89-.99)

Understanding nurses’ psychosomatic complications that relate to the practice of nursing

The literature acknowledges that nursing practice can create physical and emotional stresses for its practitioners. This study aimed to acquire an in-depth understanding of being a nurse in the Greek National Health System. Interpretive phenomenology was used and Van Manen’s method of analysis was implemented. Conversational interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of nine nurses employed at the University Hospital of Ioannina in Greece. The findings produced three essential themes: a dissonance between the images and reality of nursing, emotional burnout, and psychosomatic entanglement.The dissonance between the idealization of nursing and the reality of nursing, along with the emotional crisis created by daily practice, constituted the two fundamental factors for developing psychosomatic complications. These impacted negatively on the participants’ personal and professional well-being. Psychosomatic complications can be prevented by clearly delineating roles, enabling collaboration between education and practice, developing mentorship programs, and using reflection in practice

The Relationship between Burden and Depression in Spouses of Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the burden and depression in spouses of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The interrelation between burden and depression in family caregivers has been pointed out by previous researches in several chronic diseases and researchers agree that they clearly go together and one cannot talk about one without considering the other. More particularly, in the present study, the caregiver burden, the depression, anxiety, and also health-related quality of life and demographic factors of spouses of patients with CKD were examined, using self-report questionnaires. Participants were 50 spouses of patients with CKD, 29 of whom were dialysis dependent and 21 were not dialysis dependent. Group differences were examined for participants. Results confirm the interrelation between caregiver burden and depression in spouses. The increased perceived burden related to higher levels of depression. Low levels of caregiver burden, depression, anxiety, and satisfactory quality of life were found in spouses, with no differences between them relevant to whether the patients were dialysis dependent or not. All the above parameters interrelated. Implications for the findings and future research directions are discussed

Sleep and its relationship to health-related quality of life in children and adolescents with inactive juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Aim of the work: To describe and compare sleep disturbance in children and adolescents with inactive juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and to study their relation to health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Patients and methods: Fifty JIA patients and 50 controls along with their parents were studied. Sleep disturbance was assessed by the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) and HRQoL was assessed according to the revised KINDLR questionnaire. Results: The 50 JIA children were 14 boys (28%) and 36 girls (72%); 58% children and 42% adolescent. The mean age of participants was comparable between boys (11.6 ± 2.9 years) and girls (11.4 ± 3.3 years) either in JIA (p = .76) or control (p = .56). Patients enrolled had enthesitis-related arthritis in 6(12%), RF-positive polyarthritis in 8(16%), oligoarthritis in 32(64%), systemic arthritis in 2(4%) and psoriatic arthritis in 2(4%). Patients had higher CSHQ score (45.5 ± 8.2) and a lower KINDLR (72.4 ± 16.8) compared to the control (40.4 ± 3.4 and 78.3 ± 5.4; p < .0001 and p = .02 respectively). There were no differences between children and adolescents however, Sleep Onset Delay was significantly highest in systemic-onset children (p = .028) and KINDLR emotional subscale was significantly increased in those with oligoarthritis (81.6 ± 16.6) (p = .02). All subscales significantly correlated with their corresponding total score (p < .01). Age at onset” with Emotional subscale were predictive of poor sleep and with number of hospitalizations for poor quality of life. Conclusions: Children and adolescents with inactive JIA, while taking medications, experience more disturbed sleep than matched control. This disturbance in their sleep entails in significant lower levels of HRQoL. Keywords: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis, Sleep disturbance, CSHQ, Health-related quality of life, KINDLRquestionnaire, Inactive diseas