Validation of the Spanish Version of the ICECAP-O for Nursing Home Residents with Dementia

Background Measurement of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is important for a chronic disease, such as dementia, which impairs the quality of life of affected patients in addition to their length of life. This is important in the context of economic evaluations when interventions do not (only) affect HRQoL and these other factors also affect overall quality of life. Objective To validate the Spanish translation of the ICECAP-O's capability to measure Health-related quality of life in elderly with dementia who live in nursing homes. Method Cross-sectional study. For 217 residents living in 8 Spanish nursing homes, questionnaires were completed by nursing professionals serving as proxy respondents. We analyzed the internal consistency and other psychometric properties. We investigated the convergent validity of the ICECAP-O with other HRQoL instruments, the EQ-5D extended with a cognitive dimension (EQ-5D+C), the Alzheimer's Disease Related Quality of Life (ADRQL) measures, and the Barthel Index measure of activities of daily living (ADL). Results The ICECAP-O presents satisfactory internal consistency (alpha 0.820). The factorial analysis indicated a structure of five principal dimensions that explain 66.57% of the total variance. Convergent validity between the ICECAP-O, EQ-5D+C, ADRQL, and Barthel Index scores was moderate to good (with correlations of 0.62, 0.61, and 0.68, respectively), but differed between dimensions of the instruments. Discriminant validity was confirmed by finding differences in ICECAP-O scores between subgroups based on ADL scores (0.70 low, 0.59 medium, and 0.39 high level care), dementia severity (0.72 mild, 0.63 medium, and 0.50 severe), and ages (0.59 below 75 years and 0.84 above 75 years). Conclusions This study presented the first use of a Spanish version of the ICECAP-O. The results indicate that the ICECAP-O appears to be a reliable Health-related quality of life measurement instrument showing good convergent and discriminant validity for people with dementia

Trobicúlidos y trombiculiasis en La Rioja

Los trombicúlidos son ácaros de distribución mundial pertenecientes a la familia Trombiculidae. Algunos géneros tienen gran importancia en medicina humana y veterinaria. En América y Europa se asocian a cuadros clínicos de dermatitis pruriginosas estacionales (trombiculiasis). En el Sudeste Asiático e Islas del Pacífico son los vectores reconocidos del tifus de los matorrales. Su potencial papel en la transmisión de otras enfermedades infecciosas se desconoce. Los objetivos de este trabajo fueron: 1) Descripción de la epidemiología de la trombiculiasis en La Rioja; 2) Identificación del agente causal y su ciclo biológico; 3) Estudio de la presencia de Rickettsia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Borrelia spp., Coxiella burnetii, Bartonella spp. y Orientia tsutsugamushi en trombicúlidos y 4) Descripción clínica de la trombiculiasis en La Rioja. Nuestros datos han puesto de manifiesto la coincidencia de la estacionalidad de los cuadros de trombiculiasis humana y canina con la presencia de larvas de trombicúlidos en la vegetación de zonas definidas en La Rioja. Se ha descrito la presencia de N. inopinata por primera vez en España. La identificación de esta especie de trombicúlidos en la época y lugar donde se producían los casos de trombiculiasis, implica epidemiológicamente a N. inopinata como agente causal de esta afección. En la zona de estudio, se encontraron larvas de N. inopinata en la vegetación desde mediados de verano hasta finales de otoño. Los ejemplares adultos de esta misma especie se detectaron en el suelo durante la primavera. Las larvas de trombicúlidos retiradas de aves, potencialmente migratorias, se clasificaron también como N. inopinata. En nuestro medio, no tenemos evidencia de que los trombicúlidos estén infectados por Rickettsia spp., A. phagocytophilum, Borrelia spp., C. burnetii, Bartonella spp. ni O. tsutsugamushi. No obstante, su papel como causantes de trombiculiasis humanas y caninas ha de ser tenido en cuenta desde el punto de vista de la Salud Pública. En las personas, los trombicúlidos producen cuadros clínicos molestos de dermatitis muy pruriginosas, mientras que los perros sufren parasitaciones masivas con procesos graves que pueden llegar a ser fatales. La única medida de prevención eficaz es evitar el contacto con la vegetación en aquellas zonas donde se ha documentado la presencia de trombicúlidos. Por tanto, se deben impulsar campañas que informen a la población del riesgo de sufrir trombiculiasis en La Rioja.Trombiculid mites, also known as chiggers, belong to Family Trombiculidae and are worldwide distributed. Some genera have medical and veterinary importance. In America and Europe they are associated with seasonal pruriginous dermatitis (trombiculiasis). In Southeast Asia and Pacific Islands they are recognized vectors of scrub typhus. The potential role of trombiculid mites in the transmission of other infectious diseases is unknown. The objectives of this study were: 1) Description of the epidemiology of trombiculiasis in La Rioja; 2) Identification of the etiological agent and study of its life cycle; 3) Investigation of the presence of Rickettsia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Borrelia spp., Coxiella burnetii, Bartonella spp. and Orientia tsutsugamushi in chiggers, and 4) Clinical characterization of trombiculiasis in La Rioja. Our data have shown the coincidence between the seasonality of human and canine cases of trombiculiasis and the presence of larvae over vegetation in well-defined areas from La Rioja. N. inopinata has been described for the first time in Spain. The identification of this trombiculid species in the same season and area where trombiculiasis cases occurred, epidemiologically involves N. inopinata as the etiological agent of this condition. In the studied area, N. inopinata larvae were detected over vegetation since mid-summer to the end of autumn. Furthermore, in spring, adult trombiculid mites belonging to the same species were found in the soil. Trombiculid larvae removed from potentially migratory birds were classified as N. inopinata. In our environment, there is no evidence of Rickettsia spp., A. phagocytophilum, Borrelia spp., C. burnetii, Bartonella spp. or O. tsutsugamushi infection in trombiculid larvae. Nevertheless, their role in human and canine trombiculiasis has to be taken into account as a Public Health concern. People parasitized with trombiculid mites suffer from very disturbing pruriginous dermatitis, whereas massive parasitation in dogs lead to severe clinical pictures reaching sometimes a fatal outcome. To avoid contact with vegetation in periods of time and areas where the presence of trombiculid larvae has been documented is the only effective preventive measure against trombiculiasis. Therefore, preventive strategies to inform the population about the risk of trombiculiasis in La Rioja should be established

La investigación frente al SARS-COV-2 y la COVID-19 en el Departamento de Enfermedades Infecciosas del Hospital Universitario San Pedro-CIBIR

Durante la pandemia provocada por el SARS-CoV-2, agente causal de la COVID-19, el Departamento de Enfermedades Infecciosas en su brazo armado o asistencial del Hospital y en su lado más científico en el Centro de Investigación Biomédica han puesto su grano de arena para dar luz a la generación de conocimiento práctico y básico necesarios para conseguir salir de la gran crisis generada. En este artículo se enumeran las diferentes aportaciones publicadas por los miembros de este equipo multidisciplinarDuring the pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, the Department of Infectious Diseases formed by its clinical team together with its more scientific side in the Center from Biomedical Research of La Rioja have worked hard to generate new knowledge to overcome this crisis from both a basic and clinic approach. This article summarizes the different scientific articles published by the members of this multidisciplinary team

Discriminant Validity.

<p>Discriminant Validity.</p

Convergent Validity.

<p>Convergent Validity.</p

Demographic and description measurement instruments (N = 217).

<p>Demographic and description measurement instruments (N = 217).</p

Total variance explained.

<p>Total variance explained.</p