Contribution for the validation of the portuguese version of EQ-5D

Introduction: The EQ-5D allows the achievement of two essential components of any measure of health-related quality of life to be used in cost-utility economic evaluations: (i) a profile describing the health status in terms of domains or dimensions; and (ii) a numeric value associated with the health status described. Aim: The Portuguese version of the EQ-5D questionnaire was completed in 1998, based on guidelines set by the EuroQol Group, including translation and back translation procedures. Despite its wide use in Portugal, until now it had not yet been published studies that initially led to the Portuguese version and the guarantee of acceptability, reliability and validity. The purpose of this article is to document these first values relating to the Portuguese version of the EQ-5D. Material and Methods: We used three different samples: a first one with 1,500 individuals representative of the Portuguese population; a second with 140 individuals just intended for the reliability test; and a third sample with 643 individual patients with cataracts, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or rheumatoid arthritis. Results: The acceptability was assessed by the number of missing responses. It was also found a marked ceiling effect, with a large part of the sample not reporting any problems in the dimensions of the EQ-5D. Discussion: The construct validity was tested by examining the degree to which low values of EQ-5D were positively associated with increasing age, being female, and the sick, as well as the values of dimensions of the SF-36v2 scale. Convergent validity was based on correlations between EQ-5D values and other specific measures. The EQ-5D showed moderate to high correlations with other disease-specific measures of health status and health related quality of life. Conclusion: We can state that the Portuguese version of the EQ-5D has a good accessibility, reliability and validity in measuring health.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

AI4CITY - An automated machine learning platform for smart cities

Nowadays, the general interest in Machine Learning (ML) based solutions is increasing. However, to develop and deploy a ML solution often requires experience and it involves developing large code scripts. In this paper, we propose AI4CITY, an automated technological platform that aims to reduce the complexity of designing ML solutions, with a particular focus on Smart Cities applications. We compare our solution with popular Automated ML (AutoML) tools (e.g., H2O, AutoGluon) and the results achieved by AI4CITY were quite interesting and competitive.This work has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020, and was carried out within the project ”City Catalyst - Catalisador para Cidades Sustentáveis” reference POCI/LISBOA-01-0247-FEDER-046119, co-funded by Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER), through Portugal 2020 (P2020)

Physical and mental summary measures of health state for the Portuguese population

RESUMO - O objetivo do presente artigo é descrever os procedimentos seguidos para obter as medidas sumário física e mental do instrumento de medição do estado de saúde SF-36. Uma análise fatorial exploratória, com rotação varimax, permitiu encontrar as 2 medidas sumário associadas a uma variância explicada de 72,5%. Após o cálculo das medidas sumário física e mental, foram determinados os valores padrão com vista à definição das normas portuguesas referentes a estes indicadores agregados. A determinação destas medidas permite a sua utilização como variáveis explicativas em estudos econométricos.ABSTRACT - The goal of this article is to describe the procedures followed to obtain physical and mental summary measures of the health state measurement instrument SF-36. An exploratory factor analysis, with varimax rotation, found the two summary measures associated with an explained variance of 72.5%. After computing the physical and mental summary measures the standard values were obtained for the definition of Portuguese norms relating to these aggregated indicators. The determination of these measures allows their use as explanatory variables in econometric studies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Anxiety, stress and coping stress strategies in researchers: COVID-19 pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected worldwide, with the need for changes at the level of personal and professional life. The researchers, as with other professions, have been one of the professional classes that have had to reinvent. Aim: This study had the aim, to assess the anxiety, stress, and coping strategies in Portuguese researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Data were collected from 243 researchers using an online questionnaire, that included a Depression, Anxiety and Stress (DASS-21), and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS). The study was performed between 1st June to 11th August 2021. Results: The findings suggest singles and younger researchers showed higher values of stress and anxiety. Medical and health sciences research areas presented higher levels on the DASS21 stress scale (p<0.05). Also, the results showed a moderate or moderate strong significant positive linear relationship between the scales (p<0.001): DASS-21 stress and anxiety; CISS21 emotional-oriented with DASS-21 stress and anxiety. Conclusion: The findings of this study support the growing concern for the mental health of the population, and in this case in particular, for the mental health of researchers. This study draws attention to the need for the intervention with more extensive and diverse studies in this professional class.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evaluation of the potential of fucoidan-based microparticles for diabetes treatment

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Marine organisms have in their constitution materials with a wide range of properties and characteristics inspiring their application within the biomedical field. One important example is fucoidan (Fu), an underexploited sulfated polysaccharide extracted from the cell wall of the brown seaweeds, with high solubility in water1. Fucoidan is composed of L- fucose and glucuronic acid including sulfate groups and has important bioactive properties such as antioxidative, anticoagulant, anticancer and in the reduction of blood glucose1,2. In this work, the biomedical potential of fucoidan was assessed by processing modified fucoidan (MFu) into microparticles by photocrosslinking using superhydrophobic surfaces and visible light3,4. Biological performance on the developed constructs using human pancreatic beta cells is currently under investigation. METHODS: To design the materials structures, fucoidan was modified by methacrylation reaction3. Briefly, Fu aqueous solution 4% w/v was mixed with methacrylated anhydride (MA) in volume of 12% v/v at 50oC to react for 6h. Further, MFu particles with and without insulin (0.5% w/v) were produced by pipetting a solution of 5% MFu v/v with triethanolamine and eosin-y (photoinitiators) onto superhydrophobic surfaces4 (Fig. 1A) and then photocrosslinking using visible light4. MFu and developed particles were characterized using 1HNMR, turbidimetry and SEM to assess their chemistry and morphology, respectively. Moreover, the insulin release was evaluated in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution at pH 7and simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) at pH 5. The ability of the developed materials to support adhesion and proliferation of cells was assessed by suspension culture of human pancreatic cells 1.1B4 (3.5x105 cells/ml) in contact with MFu microparticles during up to 7 days. RESULTS: The chemical modification performed on Fu was confirmed by the presence of vinyl and additional methyl peaks in the 1HNMR of modified fucoidan, not present in Fu spectrum. Methacrylated fucoidan was obtained with a methacrylation degree of 17%. The produced fucoidan particles have round shape and average diameter of 1.53 mm (Fig. 1B). The insulin release in PBS and SIF demonstrate that the particles can release insulin in a sustained manner under the studied period. It seems that the insulin release is slower for SIF (pH5, Fig. 1C), than for PBS. The biological tests regarding the culture of pancreatic beta cells demonstrate that cells show a round-like shape and tend to form pseudo-islets during the culture period studied (Fig. 1D). DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS: This work demonstrates the successful production of fucoidan- based-microparticles through the methacrylation of fucoidan, using visible light and superhydrophobic surfaces. The covalent crosslinking methacrylated fucoidan through visible light represents a promising method to obtain biocompatible fucoidan particles with a uniform round shape. The obtained insulin release profiles are sensitive to different pH (pH7 and pH5), mimicking the normal physiological pathway for insulin release. Furthermore, the results suggest these systems could be used for treatment of type I diabetes mellitus as they sustain beta cells viability and proliferation. The response also suggested, that the MFu particles could be a good candidate as drug delivery vehicles for the diabetes mellitus treatment. REFERENCES: 1 Silva TH et al (2012), Biomatter 2(4): 278:289. 2Sezer Alidemir et al (2011), Fucoidan: A versatile biopolymer for biomedical applicatons (Springer Ber.Heid).pp377-406. 3Mihaila S.et al (2013), Adv. Health. Mat. 2(6): 895-907. 4Rial Hermida et al, Acta Biomater.(2014) 10(10) 4314-4322. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This work was partially funded by projects 0687_NOVOMAR_1_P (POCTEP), CarbPol_u_Algae (EXPL/MAR- BIO/0165/2013), ComplexiTE (ERC-2012-ADG 20120216-321266). Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology is also gratefully acknowledged for doctoral grants of L. Reys and N. Oliveira and post- doctoral grants of S.S. Silva and D. Soares da Costafunded by projects 0687_NOVOMAR_1_P (POCTEP), CarbPol_u_Algae (EXPL/MARBIO/0165/2013) , ComplexiTE(ERC-2012-ADG 20120216-321266). Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technologyinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Predicting death and morbidity in perforated peptic ulcer

Peptic ulcers are defined as defects in the gastrointestinal mucosa that extend through the muscularis mucosae. Although not being the most common complication, perforations stand out as being the complication with the highest mortality rate. To predict the probability of mortality, several scoring systems based on clinical and biochemical parameters, such as the Boey and PULP scoring system have been developed. This article explores, using data mining in the medical data available, how the scoring systems perform when trying to predict mortality and patients’ state complication. We also try to conclude, from the two scoring systems presented, which predicts better the situations described. Regarding the results, we concluded that the PULP scoring allows a better mortality prediction achieving, in this case, above 90% accuracy, however, the results may be inconclusive due to the lack of patients who died in the dataset used. Regarding the complications, we concluded that, on the other hand, the Boey system achieves better results leading to a better prediction when it comes to predicting patients’ state complication.FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (UID/CEC/00319/2013

Autism spectrum as an etiologic systemic disorder: a protocol for an umbrella review

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the most common neurodevelopmental disorder with a huge prevalence increasing every year (1/44 children). Still diagnosed as a mental disorder, the last 10 years of research found possible causes, risks, genetics, environmental triggers, epigenetics, metabolic, immunological, and neurophysiological unbalances as relevant aetiology. Umbrella methodology is the highest level of scientific evidence, designed to support clinical and political decisions. A literature search for autism aetiology, pathophysiology, or causes, conducted in the last 10 years, at PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Scopus, and the Web of Science, resulted in six umbrella reviews. Nevertheless, only one quantitative analysis reported risk factors and biomarkers but excluded genetics, experiments on animal models, and post-mortem studies. We grouped ASD’s multi-factorial causes and risks into five etiological categories: genetic, epigenetic, organic, psychogenic, and environmental. Findings suggest that autism might be evaluated as a systemic disorder instead of only through the lens of mental and behavioural. The overview implications of included studies will be qualitatively analysed under ROBIS and GRADE tools. This umbrella review can provide a rational basis for a new urgent health policy to develop better and adequate integrated care services for ASD. The methodological protocol has the register CRD42022348586 at PROSPERO.Zélia Anastácio acknowledges the support by Portuguese national funds through the FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology) within the framework of the CIEC (Research Center on Child Studies of the University of Minho) project under the reference UIDB/00317/202

The use of mental health promotion strategies by nurses to reduce anxiety, stress, and depression during the COVID-19 outbreak: a prospective cohort study

Objectives: To evaluate and compare nurses' depression, anxiety and stress symptoms at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and after six months; to evaluate and compare the frequency of use of mental health promotion strategies during the same period; and to identify the relationship between the frequency of use of mental health promotion strategies, during the same period, with nurses’ depression, anxiety and stress symptoms. Methods: Data collection was carried out in two moments: at baseline and after six months. An online questionnaire was applied to nurses to assess the frequency of use of some mental health promotion strategies and their depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms (through the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales – short version (DASS-21)). Results: The anxiety and stress symptoms significantly decreased over time. The physical activity increased, and a decrease was observed in the remote social contacts after six months. The stress, anxiety and depression scores were significantly lower in nurses who frequently or always used all strategies compared to participants who never or rarely used them, except for one strategy (rejecting information about COVID-19 from unreliable sources). Conclusions: Mental health promotion strategies, such as physical activity, relaxation activity, recreational activity, healthy diet, adequate water intake, breaks between work shifts, maintenance of remote social contacts, and verbalization of feelings/emotions, are crucial to reduce nurses’ stress, anxiety and depression symptoms during the COVID-19 outbreak.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Patient-centered care for people with depression and anxiety: an integrative review protocol

Introduction: Depression and anxiety are mental diseases found worldwide, with the tendency to worsen in the current pandemic period. These illnesses contribute the most to the world’s rate of years lived with disability. We aim to identify and synthesize indicators for the care process of the person with depression and/or anxiety disorders, based on patient-centered care, going through the stages of diagnostic assessment, care planning, and intervention. Methods and analysis: An integrative literature review will be conducted, and the research carried out on the following databases: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, CINAHL, Web of Science, TrialRegistry, and MedicLatina. The research strategy contains the following terms MesH or similar: “patient-centered care”, “depression”, and “anxiety”. Two independent revisers will perform the inclusion and exclusion criteria analysis, the quality analysis of the data, and its extraction for synthesis. Disagreements will be resolved by a third revisor. All studies related to diagnostic assessment, care planning, or intervention strategies will be included as long as they focus on care focused on people with depression and anxiety, regardless of the context. Given the plurality of the eligible studies, we used the narrative synthesis method for the analysis of the diagnostic assessment, the care and intervention planning, and the facilitators and barriers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Depression and Anxiety of Portuguese University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study about Prevalence and Associated Factors

ABSTRACT: The mental health of university students has worsened over time, and it is young people who have suffered the most from the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of mental health. Anxiety and depression are the most common symptoms reported by university students and are often the cause of disabilities, either in academic performance or in other spheres of life. Aim. The aim of this study was to both assess the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in Portuguese university students and analyze the factors associated with these symptoms. Methods. A quantitative cross-sectional study with a sample of 3,399 university students from seven Portuguese higher education institutions was conducted. The following questionnaires were used: the generalized anxiety disorder assessment scale (GAD-7), the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9), and a study-created sociodemographic questionnaire. The Kendall correlation coefficient, chi-square test of independence, Spearman correlation coefficient, Shapiro-Wilk test, Mann–Whitney-Wilcoxon test, and Kruskall-Wallis test were used to analyze the association between variables. The statistical analysis was done using the software R Statistics (Version 4.0.4), using a significance level of 0.05. Results. Mild to severe anxiety symptoms were reported by 75% of the participants, and 61.2% described mild to severe depressive symptoms. Of the sample, 19.5% reported a previous diagnosis of a mental disorder, with 38.7% diagnosed after the pandemic began. Additionally, 23% reported taking medication for mental health issues, and 26.7% had considered self-harm or harbored thoughts of being “better off dead.” The study found lower anxiety and depressive symptoms (p < 0 05) among men, students with higher socioeconomic status, those who frequently traveled home, individuals without prior mental health diagnoses, those with better academic performance, and those who avoided substances like coffee, tobacco, cannabis, and other illegal psychoactive substances. Interestingly, students in romantic relationships exhibited more anxiety symptoms (p < 0 05). Moreover, participants who believed they had experienced moral or sexual harassment displayed higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms (p < 0 001). Conclusions. There was a decrease in the mental health of university students after the pandemic compared to prepandemic studies, and the proportion of students with anxiety and depressive symptoms was alarming. There is an urgent need to implement programs in universities to promote students’ mental health.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio