The Italian McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire-Revised (MQoL-R): Psychometrics in Neurological and Neoplastic Populations.

Background: The McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire-Revised (MQoL-R) is the gold standard for assessing QoL in end-of-life, chronic patients; however, an Italian standardization is lacking.

Objective: This study aimed at assessing the psychometric properties of the Italian MQoL-R in patients with chronic neurological/oncological conditions.

Methods: 177 inpatients with life-threatening, chronic neurological/oncological conditions were consecutively recruited in 8 clinics in Northern/Southern Italy were administered the MQoL-R and the Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS).

Development and validation of the Maugeri Sleep Quality and Distress Inventory (MaSQuDI-17).

Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a questionnaire designed to measure the impact of sleep impairment on emotional distress in patients with various sleep disorders.

Methods: Five experts created an item data-bank pertaining to sleep-related psychological symptoms and somatic perceptions. Fifty patients in two focus groups examined each item for: a) word clarity (indicating any ambiguity of interpretation) and b) appropriateness for the target population.

Active music therapy approach for stroke patients in the post-acute rehabilitation.

Guidelines in stroke rehabilitation recommend the use of a multidisciplinary approach. Different approaches and techniques with music are used in the stroke rehabilitation to improve motor and cognitive functions but also psychological outcomes. In this randomized controlled pilot trial, relational active music therapy approaches were tested in the post-acute phase of disease.

Work engagement and occupational stress in nurses and other healthcare workers: the role of organisational and personal factors.

Aims And Objectives: The aims of this study were to: (1) identify the role of organisational and personal factors in predicting work engagement in healthcare workers and (2) compare work engagement and occupational stress perceptions of healthcare professional categories.

Background: Healthcare professionals, with particular regard to nurses, are exposed to several job stressors that can adversely affect both their mental and physical health and also decrease work engagement. Work engagement can be considered as the positive opposite of burnout, and it is characterised by energy, involvement and professional efficacy.

Occupational stress and job satisfaction of healthcare staff in rehabilitation units.

Background: Occupational stress and job dissatisfaction are recognized risk factors for healthcare professionals and can lead to a decrease in work performance and in the quality of care offered, and to poorer health of workers. Research in the rehabilitation care setting is very limited and needs to be explored.

Objectives: To investigate occupational stress, job satisfaction and their relationships with organizational factors among healthcare staff in rehabilitation units.

Knowledge and expectations of patients in palliative care: issues regarding communication with people affected by life-threatening diseases.

Objective: Different social norms influence the type and amount of information transmitted to palliative care patients. In Italy disclosure rate is low and medical decisions are often mediated by the family since communication of diagnosis and prognosis is viewed as harmful and brutal. Aims of our study were to assess palliative care patients' knowledge about their diagnosis and prognosis and expectations; and to evaluate possible differences between palliative care patients with and without cancer.

Italian validation of the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MQOL-It).

Introduction: Quality of life is a dynamic concept that can undergo change with time and/or disease progression. The aim of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Italian version of the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MQOL-It), that we consider useful for assessing quality of life in Palliative Care.

Methods: The MQOL-It was administered by interview to 175 patients (M 108; F 67) admitted to a Unit of Palliative Care.

Efficacy of the SF-36 questionnaire in identifying obese patients with psychological discomfort.

Background: The primary endpoint of this study was to assess the association of health-related quality of life (QoL) and the presence of psychopathology. The association of other patients' characteristics and of Cognitive Behavioral Assessment (CBA) scales with quality of life (QoL) was also evaluated.

Methods: 100 consecutive obese patients (WHO grade 2 and 3 obesity), addressed for psychological advice before either invasive or non-invasive treatment of obesity, were investigated.

[Guidelines on psychological intervention in cardiac rehabilitation- methodological process].

The development and the role of cardiac rehabilitation in healthcare programs related to cardiovascular diseases has led to the growth of knowledge, experience and specific technical, scientific, organizational and cultural skills on the part of the different health professionals engaged with the cardiologist in the management of rehabilitation programs. The need to define the characteristics of the psychological intervention in cardiac rehabilitation programs on the basis of scientific evidence encouraged the Board of the Italian Group of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention [Gruppo Italiano di Cardiologia Riabilitativa e Preventiva (GICR)] to set up a working group (WG), composed of psychologists chosen on the basis of their proven specific experience in clinical research, with the task of defining the state-of-the-art of the psychological intervention in cardiac rehabilitation on the basis of documented efficacy, as a first step to formulating Guidelines on Psychological Intervention in Cardiac Rehabilitation. The methodology adopted by the WG was in line with the recommendations of the National Guidelines Program of the Italian Ministry of Health; the WG chose, in addition, to exploit a detailed critical review of clinical psychology practice in order to provide systematic evidence for recommendations and clinical approaches at present supported only by expert opinion.