Analysis of specialist medical rescue team interventions in Sokołów county in 2016

INTRODUCTION: One of the main aims of the Polish Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is to rescue and protect human health and life. The aim of the study is to analyze specialist medical rescue team (S MRT) interventions in the county of Sokołów in 2016. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 1361 ambulance call reports from the period January 1st to December 31st 2016 of rescue activities performed during interventions by S MRTs in Sokołów county. RESULTS: The mean time of arrival of S MRTs to the patient was 9.42 ± 7.5 min (max time is 49 min, min time is 1 minute). Average departure time was 51.8 ± 23.5 min (max 218 min, min 23.5 min). The highest incidence of S MRTs operations was observed in July (n = 134, 10%) and lowest in February (n = 95, 7%). CONCLUSIONS: Emergency Medical System reaction time for patients in our region does not differ from other data available in the literature

How does hedonic aroma impact long-term anxiety, depression, and quality of life in women with breast cancer? a cross-lagged panel model analysis

Depression and anxiety are common symptoms during and after adjuvant chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer (BC), with implications on quality of life (QoL). The present study evaluates the temporal relationship between anxiety, depression, and QoL (primary outcomes), as well as the impact of hedonic aroma (essential oils) on this relationship. This is a secondary analysis of a previously reported randomized controlled trial, with two groups: an experimental group (n=56), who were subjected to the inhalation of a self-selected essential oil during chemotherapy, and a control group (n=56), who were only subjected to the standard treatment. The hedonic aroma intervention occurred in the second (T1), third (T2), and fourth (T3) chemotherapy sessions, three weeks apart from each other. The follow-up (T4) assessments took place three months after the end of the treatment. Cross-lagged panel models were estimated in the path analysis framework, using structural equation modeling methodology. Regarding the control group, the cross-lagged panel model showed that anxiety at T1 predicted anxiety at T3, which in turn predicted both QoL and depression at T4. In the experimental group, hedonic aroma intervention was associated with stability of anxiety and QoL over time from T1 to T3, with no longitudinal prediction at T4. For women undergoing standard chemotherapy treatment, anxiety was the main longitudinal precursor to depression and QoL three months after chemotherapy. Thus, essential oils could complement chemotherapy treatment for early-stage BC as a way to improve long-term emotional and QoL-related adjustment.This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (PSI/01662), School of Psychology, University of Minho, and was supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Portuguese State Budget (Ref.: UIDB/PSI/01662/2020), and a PhD fellowship awarded to first author (SFRH/BD/137321/2018 PHD Fellowship) supported by the FCT and European Social Fund (Human Capital Operational Programme—HCOP). The research of CSM was partially supported by CMUP, which is financed by national funds through FCT under the project with reference UIDB/00144/2020. CBMA was founded by “Contrato-Programa” UIDB/04050/2020, through the FCT I.Pinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

EMPATHY AND BURNOUT SYNDROME IN THE PRACTICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES — PILOT STUDY

  INTRODUCTION: The burnout syndrome is a result of stress on the work situation and most often concerns pro­fessions requiring emotional and direct contact with another human being. The level of empathy is closely related to the phenomenon of occupational burnout. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of socio-demo­graphic factors of emergency services employees on the level of empathy. METHOD: In the period January–March 2018, a survey was conducted using a questionnaire — Emphatic Sensi­tiveness Scale (ESC) and an anonymous author’s questionnaire containing questions regarding sex, age, length of employment, occupation, marital status and number of hours worked per month. The survey was addressed to 81 employees of emergency services: paramedics (n = 17) and firefighters (n = 23). The control group consisted of 16 nurses and 25 people performing non–medical professions. RESULTS: The average number of hours worked per month by the respondents was 189 ± 49. There were 50 fe­males (62%) and 31 males (38%). The questionnaire showed statistically significant differences in perspective taking domain between the control group composed of people working in non-medical professions (25.6 ± 4.3) and emergency services professionals: firefighter (28.7 ± 3.6) vs. paramedic (29.9 ± 3.5) vs. nurse (31.2 ± 3.0), p < 0.001. It has been shown a statistically significant effect of sex on personal distress domain: male (21.4 ± 4.2) vs. female (24.3 ± 4.7), p = 0.005. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our data indicates that: (1) Nurses were characterised by the highest level of empathy amongst the surveyed professional groups; (2) Females were characterised by a higher level of personal distress; (3) Variables such as sex, age, and length of employment did not affect the level of empathy

Breast cancer post-surgical impact on women´s quality of life during chemotherapy treatment: A structural equation modelling approach

Early ViewBreast cancer is an important public health problem that is increasing in incidence, being a stressor with a negative impact on women's quality of life. This study is focused on the evaluation of temporal precursors (one month before) of women's quality of life undergoing chemotherapy, considering post-surgical personal, clinical, cognitive and neuropsychophysiological factors, according to the Transactional Stress and Coping Model.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. Grant Numbers: SFRH/BD/137321/2018, UIDB/00144/202

The HEXACO-100 across 16 languages: a large-scale test of measurement invariance

The HEXACO Personality Inventory–Revised (HEXACO–PI–R) has become one of the most heavily applied measurement tools for the assessment of basic personality traits. Correspondingly, the inventory has been translated to many languages for use in cross-cultural research. However, formal tests examining whether the different language versions of the HEXACO–PI–R provide equivalent measures of the 6 personality dimensions are missing. We provide a large-scale test of measurement invariance of the 100-item version of the HEXACO–PI–R across 16 languages spoken in European and Asian countries (N = 30,484). Multigroup exploratory structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analyses revealed consistent support for configural and metric invariance, thus implying that the factor structure of the HEXACO dimensions as well as the meaning of the latent HEXACO factors is comparable across languages. However, analyses did not show overall support for scalar invariance; that is, equivalence of facet intercepts. A complementary alignment analysis supported this pattern, but also revealed substantial heterogeneity in the level of (non)invariance across facets and factors. Overall, results imply that the HEXACO–PI–R provides largely comparable measurement of the HEXACO dimensions, although the lack of scalar invariance highlights the necessity for future research clarifying the interpretation of mean-level trait differences across countries

Comparisons of Daily Behavior Across 21 Countries

While a large body of research has investigated cultural differences in behavior, this typical study assesses a single behavioral outcome, in a single context, compared across two countries. The current study compared a broad array of behaviors across 21 countries (N ¼ 5,522). Participants described their behavior at 7:00 p.m. the previous evening using the 68 items of the Riverside Behavioral Q-sort (RBQ). Correlations between average patterns of behavior in each country ranged from r ¼ .69 to r ¼ .97 and, in general, described a positive and relaxed activity. The most similar patterns were United States/Canada and least similar were Japan/United Arab Emirates (UAE). Similarities in behavior within countries were largest in Spain and smallest in the UAE. Further analyses correlated average RBQ item placements in each country with, among others, country-level value dimensions, personality traits, self-esteem levels, economic output, and population. Extroversion, openness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, selfesteem, happiness, and tolerant attitudes yielded more significant correlations than expected by chance