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

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

Prevalence of alexithymia and its association with anxiety and depression in a sample of Greek chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) outpatients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major health problem, especially in adults over 40 years of age, and has a great social and economic impact. The psychological morbidity of COPD patients with regard to anxiety and depressive symptoms has been extensively studied in the past. However, few studies have investigated the prevalence of alexithymia in these patients, as well as its association with this comorbidity. Based on this fact, we studied the prevalence of alexithymia and its association with anxiety and depressive symptoms in COPD outpatients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The present study included 167, randomly selected, outpatients diagnosed with COPD. Alexithymia, anxiety and depression were assessed using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Spielberger Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean BDI score was 12.88 (SD: 7.7), mean STAI score 41.8 (SD: 11.0) and mean TAS-20 score 48.2 (SD: 11.5). No differences were observed between genders regarding age and alexithymia (t test <it>P </it>> 0.05), while female patients presented higher depression and trait anxiety scores than males (t test <it>P </it>< 0.05). Clinically significant levels of anxiety were present in 37.1% of men, and in 45.7% of women. The mean depression score was also higher than the corresponding mean score in the general population (one-sample t test <it>P </it>< 0.01), while 27.7% and 30.5% of the sample presented mild and moderate to severe depression, respectively. Finally, a strong correlation was observed between alexithymia, depression and anxiety.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study confirms the high prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms in Greek outpatients with COPD. The prevalence of alexithymia in COPD patients, contrary to what has been observed in patients with other chronic respiratory diseases, seem to be lower. However, we observed a strong association between alexithymia, depression and anxiety levels. This observation suggests that alexithymia should be taken into consideration when drafting specific psychotherapeutic interventions for these patients.</p

Post-COVID-19 interstitial lung disease: Insights from a machine learning radiographic model

IntroductionPost-acute sequelae of COVID-19 seem to be an emerging global crisis. Machine learning radiographic models have great potential for meticulous evaluation of post-COVID-19 interstitial lung disease (ILD).MethodsIn this multicenter, retrospective study, we included consecutive patients that had been evaluated 3 months following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection between 01/02/2021 and 12/5/2022. High-resolution computed tomography was evaluated through Imbio Lung Texture Analysis 2.1.ResultsTwo hundred thirty-two (n = 232) patients were analyzed. FVC% predicted was ≥80, between 60 and 79 and &lt;60 in 74.2% (n = 172), 21.1% (n = 49), and 4.7% (n = 11) of the cohort, respectively. DLCO% predicted was ≥80, between 60 and 79 and &lt;60 in 69.4% (n = 161), 15.5% (n = 36), and 15.1% (n = 35), respectively. Extent of ground glass opacities was ≥30% in 4.3% of patients (n = 10), between 5 and 29% in 48.7% of patients (n = 113) and &lt;5% in 47.0% of patients (n = 109). The extent of reticulation was ≥30%, 5–29% and &lt;5% in 1.3% (n = 3), 24.1% (n = 56), and 74.6% (n = 173) of the cohort, respectively. Patients (n = 13, 5.6%) with fibrotic lung disease and persistent functional impairment at the 6-month follow-up received antifibrotics and presented with an absolute change of +10.3 (p = 0.01) and +14.6 (p = 0.01) in FVC% predicted at 3 and 6 months after the initiation of antifibrotic.ConclusionPost-COVID-19-ILD represents an emerging entity. A substantial minority of patients presents with fibrotic lung disease and might experience benefit from antifibrotic initiation at the time point that fibrotic-like changes are “immature.” Machine learning radiographic models could be of major significance for accurate radiographic evaluation and subsequently for the guidance of therapeutic approaches

Intra and extracellular magnesium levels and atheromatosis in haemodialysis patients

Purpose The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that magnesium (Mg) status is related to the degree of the atherosclerosis in haemodialysis (HD) patients Patients and Methods Intima-media thickness of both common carotids (CCA-IMT) was assessed by B-mode ultrasound in 94 stable chronic HD patients and in 182 healthy controls Intracellular magnesium (IcMg) as well as serum magnesium (sMg) levels were obtained in the HD patients and in 49 healthy subjects who were used as a second control group IcMg was estimated by determination of this ion in isolated peripheral lymphocytes using atomic absorption phasmatometry Results Multivariate regression analysis revealed that m HD patients both sMg and IcMg were negatively associated with CCA-IMT (p=0 038 and p=0 012 respectively) Patients' age as well as serum calcium χ phosphorous product were positively associated with this parameter whereas other traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease were not Conclusions A strong negative association of both extracellular and intracellular Mg with CCA-IMT exists m HD patients The above finding suggests that magnesium may play an important protective role in the development and/or acceleration of arterial atherosclerosis in patients with chronic renal insufficiencyΣκοπός Ο σκοπός της εργασίας είναι να ελεγξομε την υπόθεση οτι το φορτίο του μαγνησίου του οργανισμού σχετίζεται με τον βαθμό της αθηρωμάτωσης στους αιμοκαθαιρομενους νεφροπαθείς Ασθενείς και Μέθοδοι Το πάχος του συμπλέγματος εσω και μέσου χιτωνος των κοινών καρωτίδων (ΠΕΜΧΚ) μετρήθηκε με B-Mode υπερηχογραφία σε 94 αιμοκαθαιρομενους ασθενείς και 182 υγιείς μάρτυρες Το ενδοκυττάριο μαγνήσιο (μαγνήσιο λεμφοκυττάρων) και το μαγνήσιο του ορού προσδιορίσθηκαν στους ασθενείς και στους μάρτυρες με φασματοφωτομετρια ατομικής απορρόφησης Αποτελέσματα Η ανάλυση με την πολυμεταβλητη γραμμική παλινδρόμηση έδειξε οτι στους ασθενείς τόσο το μαγνήσιο του ορού οσο και των λεμφοκυττάρων σχετιζόταν αρνητικά με το ΠΕΜΧΚ (ρ=0 038 και ρ=0 012 αντίστοιχα) Το ΠΕΜΧΚ σχετιζόταν θετικά με την ηλικία και το γινόμενο ασβεστίου x φωσφόρου των ασθενών ενω δεν βρέθηκε συσχέτιση με άλλους κλασσικούς παράγοντες καρδιαγγειακού κίνδυνου Συμπεράσματα Μια ισχυρή αρνητική σχέση, μεταξύ του ενδοκυττάριου και του εξωκυτταριου μαγνησίου αφ ενός και του ΠΕΜΧΚ αφ έτερου ανεδείχθη στους αιμοκαθαιρομενους ασθενείς Οι αρνητικές αυτές συσχετίσεις ίσως υποδηλώνουν οτι το μαγνήσιο διαδραματίζει ενα σημαντικό προστατευτικό ρολό στην αθηρωμάτωση των αιμοκαθαιρομενων ασθενώ

Response and Resilience of <i>Scenedesmus rubescens</i> Microalgae to ZnO Nanoparticles

Microalgae are microorganisms of great importance for aquatic ecosystems. The investigation of their interaction with potential environmental stressors like nanoparticles (NPs) is essential in order to assess their behavior and fate in aquatic ecosystems. The scope of this work is to investigate the response and potential toxic effects of the short-term exposure of Scenedesmus rubescens microalga to zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs with various initial nitrate concentrations in the culture medium. Scenedesmus rubescens was cultivated in four different compositions of modified BG-11 with a nitrate content varying from 0 to 300 mg/L, and it was exposed to four concentrations of ZnO NPs, ranging from 0.081 to 81 mg/L. S. rubescens was found to be resilient towards ZnO NP toxicity. The results also highlight the fact that the toxic effects of ZnO NPs on microalgae are highly dependent on the species tested. The nitrate content of the medium did not affect the toxicity of ZnO NPs but had a significant impact on cell concentration, as it was observed at an initial nitrate concentration of 300 mg/L. Further investigation should focus on studying the morphological and metabolic characteristics and mechanisms contributing to this species’ resilience

Impact of Adverse Drug Reactions in Patients with End Stage Renal Disease in Greece

Background: Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) require specialized therapeutic interventions. The decreased renal function that modulates the physiology and presence of comorbidities is often associated with variations in the pharmacological response, thus increasing the risk of adverse drug events or reactions (ADE/ADRs) from co-administered drugs. Methods: A cross-sectional study to record comorbidities, drug&ndash;drug interactions (DDIs), ADE/ADRs in patients with chronic kidney disease of stage five in Greece. The study enrolled 60 patients of mean age 64.8 &plusmn; 12.9 years, undergoing hemodialysis three times a week. Demographic and social factors, comorbidities, laboratory test data, medication regimens, DDIs and the reporting of ADE/ADRs were analyzed. Results: Cardiovascular diseases and diabetes were the main comorbidities. In total, 50 different DDIs of various clinical significance were identified. CNS, GI-track, and musculoskeletal-system-related ADE/ADRs were most often reported by patients. ADE/ADRs as clinical outcome from DDIs were associated in 64% of the total identified DDIs. There was a positive trend between number of medications, ADE/ADRs report and DDIs. Conclusions: The impact of ADE/ADRs in ESRD patients should be always considered. Guidelines as well as continuous training in the context of evidence-based clinical practice by healthcare personnel on therapy administration and prevention of adverse events are important