Psychological factors and health-related quality of life in fibromyalgia patients.

Background: Fibromyalgia (FM) has been associated with decreased health-related quality of life (HRQoL), which has been linked to psychological variables such as anxiety, depression, coping, and social support. This study aimed to simultaneously analyse the association of these variables with HRQoL in FM patients and explore their mediating role in the relationship between somatic symptoms and HRQoL.

Participants And Procedure: A cross-sectional sample of 134 FM patients (97% women) with no other rheumatologic diseases followed in specialized healthcare services completed self-report questionnaires to evaluate pain, fatigue, sleep, anxiety, depression, coping, social support, and HRQoL.

Screening for Autism Spectrum Disorders - Validation of the Portuguese Version of the Social Communication Questionnaire.

There are no assessment and screening tools for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) validated for the Portuguese population. The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) is an useful screening tool of ASD diagnosis. The main objectives of our study were to produce a Portuguese version of the SCQ (SCQ-PF), study its internal consistency, sensitivity and specificity in order to evaluate its validity as a screening instrument for ASD.

Adaptation of the Pet Bereavement Questionnaire for European Portuguese Speakers.

The loss or death of a beloved pet creates a grief reaction comparable to that of the loss of a family member and may lead to the development of symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of persistent complicated grief disorder. Nevertheless, society does not always recognize it as a significant loss, which may contribute to bereaved owners feeling isolated and ashamed when coping with it, as well as not resorting to mental health professionals when necessary. The development of instruments to assess these reactions may contribute to improving the understanding of this suffering.

Deep learning methods for lesion detection on mammography images: a comparative analysis.

Automatic lesion segmentation in mammography images assists in the diagnosis of breast cancer, which is the most common type of cancer especially among women. The robust segmentation of mammography images has been considered a backbreaking task due to: i) the low contrast of the lesion boundaries; ii) the extremely variable lesions' sizes and shapes; and iii) some extremely small lesions on the mammogram image. To overcome these drawbacks, Deep Learning methods have been implemented and have shown impressive results when applied to medical image segmentation.

Quality of Life in Caregivers of Type 2 Diabetes Patients After Patient's Surgery: a Path Analysis.

Background: Type 2 diabetes Mellitus is a chronic disease, and one of its complications may result in amputation. The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of psychosocial variables, over time, on quality of life (QoL) of caregivers of patients (N = 110) who had undergone a recent amputation.

Method: A longitudinal design was employed: (T1) 1 month after the patient's surgery; (T2) 7 months after; and (T3) 10 months after.

Clinical, psychological and quality of life differences in fibromyalgia patients from secondary and tertiary healthcare.

Background: The 'funnel effect' of Fibromyalgia (FM) assumes that as patients access healthcare services, they present greater severity and a more complex clinical situation than individuals with FM from the general population, but the studies comparing patients treated in different levels of healthcare are scarce. The aim of this study was to analyse the 'funnel effect' hypothesis by comparing patients from secondary and tertiary healthcare services.

Methods: A cross-sectional sample of female patients was selected in secondary (rheumatology practices - RP) and in tertiary healthcare (chronic pain clinics - CPC).

Quality of Life Following a Lower Limb Amputation in Diabetic Patients: A Longitudinal and Multicenter Study.

: Lower limb amputation (LLA) leads to several emotional and physical sequelaes that have a negative impact on individuals` life. The objectives of this study were: 1) to analyze the relationship between emotional reactions (anxiety, depression and traumatic stress symptoms) and functionality level, before and after a LLA due to diabetic foot ulcer, and mental/physical quality of life; and 2) to analyze the mediator role of social support between emotional reactions and mental/physical quality of life. : A multicenter, longitudinal study with four time assessments: before the surgery, one month, six months, and ten months after surgery, including 206 individuals hospitalized with diabetic foot ulcer indicated for a LLA.

The Portuguese Adaptation of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form for Adult Population.

The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) is a self-report questionnaire that allows the assessment of positive mental health, including three well-being components-emotional, psychological and social-as well as the categorical diagnosis of the presence or absence of mental health. The purpose of this study is to describe the adaptation and validation of the Portuguese version of MHC-SF and to examine whether this is an adequate measure of positive mental health for the Portuguese context. The participants included 1448 respondents between the ages of 18 and 94 (M = 33.

Validation of the HPV Impact Profile in Portuguese women with human papilloma virus.

Human papilloma virus (HPV) is the world's most common causative agent in sexually transmitted viral infections; thus requiring clinical guidance, before and after treatment, to promote better quality of life in women diagnosed with HPV. The HPV Impact Profile (HIP) is a comprehensive instrument used to assess the psychosocial impact of HPV and related interventions in a wide range of domains. The main purpose of this study was to validate the HIP in Portuguese women, so that it can be used in this population, both in research and in clinical settings.

The hospital anxiety and depression scale, in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Purpose: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a long-lasting disabling disease with psychological implications. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a questionnaire developed to screen anxiety and depression among patients in hospital settings. The objective of this report was to study the metric properties of the Portuguese version of HADS regarding MS.

Psychosocial adjustment to a lower limb amputation ten months after surgery.

Objective: This longitudinal multisite study examined the influence of demographic characteristics, psychological reactions, functionality, coping strategies, and social support on psychosocial adjustment to lower limb amputation 10 months after surgery.

Method: Of an initial referral of 206 Portuguese patients, a sample of 86 patients who underwent a lower limb amputation due to Diabetes Mellitus Type II were evaluated during the hospitalization that preceded surgery (t0) and at inpatient follow-up consultations, 1 (t1), 6 (t2), and 10 months (t3) after surgery.

Results: Higher levels of anxiety symptoms and functionality at presurgery were associated with lower social adjustment to amputation and with higher adjustment to the limitations (t3) respectively.

Association of lifestyle-related factors and psychological factors on quality of life in people with schizophrenia.

In people with schizophrenia several factors are associated with poor quality of life (QoL), namely, lifestyle-related factors and psychological factors. However, there has been little research on the impact of these factors on QoL. Therefore, the relation between lifestyle-related factors, psychological factors, and QoL in people with schizophrenia was assessed.

Autonomous motivation and quality of life as predictors of physical activity in patients with schizophrenia.

Aim: Being physically active is a complex behaviour in patients with schizophrenia. Several factors were identified as barriers to achieving active behaviours in this population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate among a number of barriers what predicts the most on physical activity (PA) in patients with schizophrenia.

Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire in people with schizophrenia: construct validity of the Portuguese versions.

Purpose: People with schizophrenia have low physical activity levels that can be explained by the restriction in motivation. The Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2 is a 19-item scale commonly used to assess five different motivational subtypes for physical activity. However, there are limited psychometric analyses of this version in the schizophrenia context.

Optimism on quality of life in Portuguese chronic patients: moderator/mediator?

Objective: optimism is an important variable that has consistently been shown to affect adjustment to quality of life in chronic diseases. This study aims to clarify if dispositional optimism exerts a moderating or a mediating influence on the personality traits-quality of life association, in Portuguese chronic patients.

Methods: multiple regression models were used to test the moderation and mediation effects of dispositional optimism in quality of life.

Predictors of quality of life in Portuguese obese patients: a structural equation modeling application.

Living with obesity is an experience that may affect multiple aspects of an individual's life. Obesity is considered a relevant public health problem in modern societies. To determine the comparative efficacy of different treatments and to assess their impact on patients' everyday life, it is important to identify factors that are relevant to the quality of life of obese patients.

Psychosocial factors as predictors of quality of life in chronic Portuguese patients.

Background: Chronic illnesses are diseases of long duration and generally of slow progression. They cause significant quality of life impairment. The aim of this study was to analyse psychosocial predictors of quality of life and of subjective well-being in chronic Portuguese patients.

Depression and anxiety in a Portuguese MS population: associations with physical disability and severity of disease.

Background: Mood disorders, namely depression and anxiety, have been well documented in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). However, the putative associations between clinical features and mood disorders have not been well established.

Objectives: To detect anxiety and depression in MS patients; and to investigate possible associations with clinical factors.