The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Women's Perinatal Mental Health: Preliminary Data on the Risk of Perinatal Depression/Anxiety from a National Survey in Italy

Increasing evidence suggests that during the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety and depression during the perinatal period increased. The aim of the study is to estimate the prevalence of risk for both maternal depression and anxiety among women attending 18 healthcare centres in Italy during the SARS-COV-2 pandemic and to investigate the psychosocial risks and protective factors associated. It was divided into a retrospective phase (2019, 2020, and the first nine months of 2021) and a prospective phase (which began in November 2021 and it is still ongoing), which screened 12,479 and 2349 women, respectively, for a total of 14,828 women in the perinatal period. To evaluate the risk of anxiety and depression, the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and an ad hoc form were used to collect sociodemographic variables. In the prospective study, the average age of the women is 31 (range 18-52) years. Results showed that the percentage of women who had EPDS score ≥9 increased from 11.6% in 2019 to 25.5% in the period ranging from November 2021 to April 2022. In logistic regression models, the variables associated with the risk of depression at a level ≤0.01 include having economic problems (OR 2.16) and not being able to rely on support from relatives or friends (OR 2.36). Having the professional status of the housewife is a lower risk (OR 0.52). Those associated with the risk of anxiety include being Italian (OR 2.97), having an education below secondary school level (OR 0.47), having some or many economic problems (OR 2.87), being unable to rely on support from relatives or friends (OR 2.48), and not having attended an antenatal course (OR 1.41). The data from this survey could be useful to determine the impact of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic on women and to establish a screening program with common and uniformly applied criteria which are consistent with national and international women's mental health programs

The physical movement in preschool : Preschool teacher´s perception ofits significance for children´s development and learning

Syftet med studien var att ta reda på hur förskollärarna uppfattar betydelsen av fysisk rörelse i förskolan för barns utveckling och lärande. För att ta reda på det genomfördes en kvalitativ studie med semistrukturerade intervjuer där åtta förskollärare deltog. Ljudupptagning skedde under intervjuernas gång och intervjuerna transkriberades och bearbetades i enlighet med en konventionell innehållsanalys. Resultatet visade att förskollärarna uppfattade att fysisk rörelse kan främja barns koncentrationsförmåga och välmående. Förskollärarna uppfattade även att den fysiska rörelsen kunde användas som innehåll och metod i undervisningen då de beskrev ett flertal undervisningstillfällen där de arbetat gränsöverskridande. Slutsatsen är att förskollärarna har en medvetenhet kring betydelsen av deras eget engagemang och delaktighet i fysiska aktiviteter. Att vara en god förebild är betydelsefullt för att stödja och uppmuntra barn till rörelseglädje.

The physical movement in preschool : Preschool teacher´s perception ofits significance for children´s development and learning

Syftet med studien var att ta reda på hur förskollärarna uppfattar betydelsen av fysisk rörelse i förskolan för barns utveckling och lärande. För att ta reda på det genomfördes en kvalitativ studie med semistrukturerade intervjuer där åtta förskollärare deltog. Ljudupptagning skedde under intervjuernas gång och intervjuerna transkriberades och bearbetades i enlighet med en konventionell innehållsanalys. Resultatet visade att förskollärarna uppfattade att fysisk rörelse kan främja barns koncentrationsförmåga och välmående. Förskollärarna uppfattade även att den fysiska rörelsen kunde användas som innehåll och metod i undervisningen då de beskrev ett flertal undervisningstillfällen där de arbetat gränsöverskridande. Slutsatsen är att förskollärarna har en medvetenhet kring betydelsen av deras eget engagemang och delaktighet i fysiska aktiviteter. Att vara en god förebild är betydelsefullt för att stödja och uppmuntra barn till rörelseglädje.

A survey on virtual environment applications to fear of public speaking

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is one of the most prevalent anxiety disorders in Europe and comprises the fear of public speaking as its typical sub-type. Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is the intervention of choice for SAD, and it includes exposure to anxiety-provoking stimuli to induce systematic desensitization and reduce anxiety. Similarly, exposure therapy per se has been used and found effective, although it is not as specific as CBT for the treatment of SAD. Interestingly, exposure to anxiety-provoking situations can be achieved in Virtual Environments (VEs) through the simulation of social situations allowing individuals with public speaking anxiety to live and develop real exposure-like reactions. The Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) is the treatment of anxiety disorders based on such VEs. AIM: This article aims to provide an overview of the scientific literature related to the applications of Virtual reality to the treatment of fear of public speaking. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted the literature review on PubMed and Google Scholar for studies including the fear-of-publicspeaking VEs. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Reviewed studies addressed two main aspects: the design parameters of the VEs for adequate reactions to synthetic social stimuli, and the efficacy of VEs for fear of public speaking treatment. VEs resulted effective for triggering as-if-real reactions in relation to public speaking. VE-based exposures reduced public speaking anxiety measurements, decreased scores and maintained them at 3 month follow-up. Studies comparing VRET to pharmacological therapy are lacking, and there are few randomized controlled trials that compare VRET to CBT, especially on fear of public speaking treatment

Additional file 1: of Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Italian version of the Hip disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS)

Hip disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS), Italian version, LK 2.0, March 2017. (PDF 303 kb

Ruolo dei fattori psicologici nelle malattie infiammatorie croniche intestinali

Scopo del lavoro: Le malattie infiammatorie croniche intestinali (MICI) sono patologie estremamente disabilitanti, senza possibilit\ue0 di guarigione e dall'eziologia incerta. I fattori psicologici -stress, ansia, depressione - sembrano giocare un ruolo importante nell'insorgenza, decorso e nelle modalit\ue0 di gestione delle MICI. A fronte di una cospicua letteratura su aspetti psicologici \u201cclassici\u201d, sono carenti studi che valutino il ruolo dei meccanismi di difesa e fattori psichici specifici - quali l\u2019impulsivit\ue0/controllo, la rabbia/ostilit\ue0 - nell\u2019insorgenza e decorso della malattia, nonch\ue9 nell\u2019adattamento psicologico alla stessa e al trattamento. Il presente studio vuole indagare l'associazione tra specifici pattern psicologici e di personalit\ue0 e MICI con riferimento alle variabili psicologiche sopra menzionate. Materiale e Metodi: Saranno inclusi nello studio 200 pazienti con diagnosi di MICI (malattia di Crohn o colite ulcerosa) stratificati in rapporto alla diagnosi clinica (pazienti con patologia attiva vs. pazienti con patologia in remissione). 50 pazienti sono stati ad oggi arruolati e, previa sottoscrizione del consenso informato, hanno compilato la seguente batteria di questionari: Illness Perceptions Questionnaire Revised (IPQ-R), Symptoms Checklist-90 (SCL-90), Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ), Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI). Risultati: Si prevede di riscontrare differenze significative tra pazienti con MICI ed il campione normativo, nonch\ue9 tra pazienti in fase attiva di malattia e pazienti in remissione. Si ipotizza la presenza di pattern difensivi comuni a pazienti in fase attiva e pazienti in remissione. Nello specifico, ci si attende che i pazienti con MICI facciano maggiormente uso di strategie di difesa non esternalizzanti e primitive. Non sono attese differenze significative tra pazienti con malattia di Crohn e pazienti con colite ulcerosa. Conclusioni: I risultati del presente studio potrebbero mostrare evidenze preliminari circa la possibile associazione tra malattia di Crohn, colite ulcerosa e specifiche caratteristiche psicologiche, personologiche e difensive. Lo studio di fattori psicologici in questo tipo di pazienti pu\uf2 favorire una comprensione pi\uf9 approfondita di questa patologia, al fine di favorire l'adozione di pratiche di intervento psicologico-clinico efficaci nella cura delle MICI

Hypofractionated radiotherapy concomitant to capecitabine after induction chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Background and purpose: To assess feasibility, toxicity and outcome of moderately hypofractionated radiotherapy concomitant to capecitabine after induction chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer. Materials and methods: Patients with advanced pancreatic cancer without distant progression after induction chemotherapy (CHT) were considered. Radiochemotherapy (RCT) consisted of 44.25 Gy in 15 fractions to the tumor and involved lymph-nodes concomitant to capecitabine 1250 mg/m2/day. Feasibility and toxicity were evaluated in all pts. Overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS), distant PFS (DPFS) and local PFS (LPFS) were assessed only in stage III patients. Results: 254 patients, 220 stage III, 34 stage IV, were treated. Median follow up was 19 months. Induction CHT consisted of Gemcitabine (35 patients), or drug combination (219 patients); median duration was 6 months.Four patients (1.6 %) did not complete RT (1 early progression, 3 toxicity), median duration of RT was 20 days, 209 patients (82 %) received ≥ 75 % of capecitabine dose.During RCT G3 gastrointestinal toxicity occurred in 3.2% of patients, G3-G4 hematologic toxicity in 5.4% of patients. Subsequently, G3, G4, G5 gastric or duodenal lesions occurred in 10 (4%), 2 (0.8%) and 1 patients (0.4%), respectively.Median PFS, LPFS, and DPFS were 11.9 months (95 % CI:11.4–13), 16 months (95 % CI:14.2–17.3) and 14.0 months (95 % CI:12.6–146.5), respectively.Median OS was 19.5 months (95 % CL:18.1–21.3). One- and two-year survival were 85.2 % and 36 %, respectively. Conclusions: The present schedule of hypofractionated RT after induction CHT is feasible with acceptable toxicity rate and provides an outcome comparable with that achievable with standard doses and fractionation