Influence of social support and stressful life events on adherence to colorectal cancer screening using faecal occult blood test in Spanish medium risk population.

Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Five-year survival rate in Spain is 57%. The most important prognostic factor is the stage of the tumor at the diagnosis.

Social network, presence of cardiovascular events and mortality in hypertensive patients.

The aim of this study was to ascertain the relationship between social network and the appearance of mortality (cardiovascular events (CVEs)) in patients with arterial hypertension (AHT). This is a cohort study of 236 patients with a 9-year follow-up. Measurements included age, sex, blood pressure (BP), diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, marital status, social network, social support, stage of family life cycle (FLC), mortality and CVEs.

Rate of detection of advanced neoplasms in proximal colon by simulated sigmoidoscopy vs fecal immunochemical tests.

Background & Aims: We compared the ability of biennial fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) and one-time sigmoidoscopy to detect colon side-specific advanced neoplasms in a population-based, multicenter, nationwide, randomized controlled trial.

Methods: We identified asymptomatic men and women, 50-69 years old, through community health registries and randomly assigned them to groups that received a single colonoscopy examination or biennial FIT. Sigmoidoscopy yield was simulated from results obtained from the colonoscopy group, according to the criteria proposed in the UK Flexible Sigmoidoscopy Trial for colonoscopy referral.

[Cultural adaptation and validation of the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey questionnaire (MOS-SSS)].

The aim of this study was the assesment of psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the instrument "Medical Outcomes Study - Social Support Survey (MOSSSS)". This questionnaire has been translated and adapted in a Portuguese sample of 101 patients with chronic illness of a rural health centre in Portugal. The average age of patients was 63.