Publications by authors named "Maria-Teresa Munoz-Sastre"

Background: The aim of the study was to characterize the different ways in which, based on certain physical manifestations that an individual suddenly experiences, people judge the possibility that these manifestations indicate the onset of a heart attack.

Methods: One hundred ninety-four French adults--plus six physicians--were presented with a set of realistic vignettes composed by orthogonally crossing the levels of four factors: the type of pain felt, and the presence or absence of nausea, excess sweating, and of difficulty breathing.

Results: Four qualitatively different reactions were found among the lay people.

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Objective: New genome sequencing techniques allow new approaches in medical genetics, in particular by facilitating the diagnosis of genetic diseases. However, their use also leads to unsolicited genetic findings being uncovered. This type of discovery raises ethical, legal and psychological considerations.

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Patient-physician relationship is ideally based on mutual trust. Trust usually takes times to build but can quite instantaneously be destroyed as a result of a single action or a single misperception. This study examined the way patients conceptualize the relationship between trust in a physician and perceived competency, honesty and openness, and personal involvement in care.

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Background: Undiagnosed type 2 diabetes is common and can lead to unrecognized health complications. Given that earlier detection can reduce the damage to vital organs, it is important for all persons to be able to make the connection between certain new manifestations in their bodies and the possibility of diabetes. This study examined the extent to which people use the behavioral changes they observe in others (or in themselves), as well as relevant family history, to judge the possibility of the onset of diabetes.

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Background: In Colombia, a person caught in possession of an illicit substance is not judicially sanctioned as long as the quantity does not exceed the maximum allowable amounts. Given that the public is divided on the appropriateness of this policy, an examination of the various public positions was undertaken.

Method: A convenience sample of 302 adults were presented with 48 vignettes depicting a situation of everyday life easily recognizable by all in Colombia; that of a male person who is apprehended in the street by the police because he is suspected of illicit trafficking.

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Background: The large unmet need in India for organs to transplant calls for an increase in living organ donations. This study examined the positions of Indian university students on making a living organ donation.

Methods: A convenience sample of 339 students from Karnatak University rated willingness to be a living donor in 48 scenarios consisting of all combinations of 5 factors: recipient's identity (close family member vs stranger), level of surgical risk for the donor, possible long-term health consequences for the donor, probability of transplant success, and likelihood of finding other donors (the subject is one of the rare compatible donors or one donor among others).

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The objective of this study was to carry out a detailed mapping of the different personal positions of French nurses concerning the practice of hypnotherapy. Factorial design was used to assess the impact of 4 situational factors: type of postoperative care and degree of pain associated with it (chemotherapy, wound cleansing and bandaging, or body grooming that leads to pain on mobilization); whether paracetamol (also known as acetaminophen) was administrated along with hypnosis or not; professional credentials of the hypnotherapist; and patient's identity (adult, young person, elderly person, or young person with learning difficulties). A combination of scenario technique and cluster analysis was implemented.

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Purpose: We examined the way people assess hospitalized patients' quality of life from what they immediately observe when entering the patient's room, from what they learn by conversing with the patient, and from what they know about the patient's social life.

Methods: A sample of 474 adults (among them 7 physicians, 57 nurses, and 42 nurse's aides) aged 18-90 years was presented with 54 realistic scenarios depicting the situation of a terminally ill patient, and created by orthogonally combining the levels of four factors: chronic pain (e.g.

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Background: Supervised injection facilities have been set-up in many countries to curb the health risks associated with unsafe injection practices. These facilities have, however, been met with vocal opposition, notably in France. As harm reduction policies can only succeed to the extent that people agree with them, this study mapped French people's opinions regarding the setting-up of these facilities.

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Background: French laypeople's views on xenotransplantation were examined.

Methods: A convenience sample of 224 adults (among them, 37 nurses) judged of the acceptability of xenotransplantation in 50 realistic scenarios composed of various combinations of 4 factors: 1. the type of graft (eg, pig cardiac valve), 2.

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Background: French laypeople's views on the allocation of organs for transplantation were examined.

Methods: A total of 199 adults make judgments of priority for a liver transplant in 48 realistic scenarios composed of all combinations of 4 factors: 1. probability of success, 2.

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Background: Public authorities resort to various control policies in order to curb the prevalence of unhealthy behaviors. As these policies can only succeed to the extent that people agree with them, this study mapped French people's positions regarding restrictive control policies in general.

Method: A sample of 344 adults (among them health professionals and lawyers) were presented with 54 vignettes depicting a control policy.

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Next-generation sequencing techniques enable unsolicited findings to be detected. This discovery raises ethical questions concerning the return of these findings. Our study aimed to highlight the views of the general public, patients under supervision and health professionals concerning the acceptability of disclosing unsolicited results to patients.

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Background: Romanian laypeople's and health professionals' views on living organ donation were examined.

Methods: From July 2015 to May 2016, 263 adults (among them 31 physicians and 20 nurses) judged the acceptability of living organ donation in 42 realistic scenarios composed of varying levels of 6 factors: 1. type of organ, 2.

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Background: Inappropriate use of antibiotics is a worldwide issue. In order to help public health institutions and each particular physician to change patterns of consumption among patients, it is important to understand better the reasons why people accept to take or refuse to take the antibiotic drugs. This study explored the motives people give for taking or refusing to take antibiotics.

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Objective: The study mapped French people's views regarding the acceptability of posthumous reproduction.

Background: Posthumous reproduction - the use of a deceased person's gametes for procreative purposes -is a controversial procedure because it involves a series of ethical issues, namely the surviving partner's rights to procreation, the emotional feelings and financial interests of other family members, and the government's interest in maintaining orderly inheritance rules.

Methods: A convenience sample of participants aged 19-68 (104 lay people, 47 health professionals and 15 lawyers) were presented with 48 realistic stories that were composed according to a four-factor within-subject design: marital status (married for about 10 years with children, married for about three years without children, and cohabiting for three years without children) × attitude of the deceased's parents (favourable vs.

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The aims of the present study were to map French laypersons' views regarding the acceptability of maternal surrogacy and to delineate the circumstances under which surrogacy is considered, by different groups of people, as especially problematic. Participants (N = 236) were presented with a number of scenarios depicting the circumstances in which a couple has contracted with a surrogate mother and were asked to indicate the extent to which such a contract may present a moral problem. The scenarios were created by varying four factors: the type of surrogacy (traditional or gestational), the surrogate mother's level of autonomy, the family context in which the surrogate mother lives, and whether surrogacy was commercial or altruistic.

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Background: Cancer patients suffer in part because some health professionals prescribe or administer amounts of analgesics, namely opioids, which are too small or too widely spaced to be fully effective. Patients' reluctance to use opioids for pain treatment is often mentioned as a reason not to apply the official guidelines, but very few studies have been conducted on people's attitudes about opioid use to relieve cancer pain.

Methods: One hundred twenty lay participants and 30 health professionals (7 physicians and 23 nurses) were presented with a set of vignettes describing a terminally ill woman with cancer who is in pain.

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Aim: We explored the positions of nurses working in hospitals regarding the acceptability of refusing to give a repeat dose of painkiller to a postoperative patient who requested it. These positions were compared with that of lay people, physicians, and other health professionals.

Design And Methods: Factorial design was used to assess the impact of 6 situational factors: the patient's age, the current level of pain as assessed by the nurse, the number of requests, the level of risk associated with the administration of a repeat dose, the outcome of surgery, and the giving of alternative mild analgesics.

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Person-centered or patient-centered care (PCC) focuses on the individual's needs and concerns. Although PCC is widely acknowledged as a core value of modern medicine, there has been a lack of research on how dental curricula could engage future dentists in PCC approaches. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of a PCC course on empathy in dental students.

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Aim: To study the views on the acceptability of terminal sedation (TS) of laypeople and health professionals in France.

Method: In November 2013-June 2015, 223 laypeople and 53 health professionals (21 physicians and 32) judged the acceptability of TS in 48 realistic scenarios composed of all combinations of four factors: (a) the patients' life expectancy, (b) their request for sedation, (c) the decision-making process and (d) the type of sedation. In all scenarios, the patients were women with a terminal illness suffering from intractable pain and receiving the best possible care.

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Objectives: We examined the views of lay people and health professionals in France about involuntary treatment of residents in nursing homes.

Method: Participants (101 lay people, 20 nurses, 20 psychologists, and 10 physicians) were presented with a series of stories created by varying the levels of five factors: type of behavioral problem encountered (e.g.

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Background: Are people's views on abortion as polarised as is suggested by the 'marches for life' that regularly take place in Paris and other capitals? Objective To map French people's positions regarding the acceptability of induced abortion.

Methods: One hundred and fifty-nine participants were presented with stories composed according to a three within-subject design: Reason for abortion (e.g.

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The objective of this study was to map people's positions regarding the breaking of bad news to patients. One hundred forty adults who had in the past received bad medical news or whose elderly relatives had in the past received bad news, 25 nurses, and 28 nurse's aides indicated the acceptability of physicians' conduct in 72 vignettes of giving bad news to elderly patients. Vignettes were all combinations of five factors: (a) the severity of the disease (severe but not lethal, extremely severe and possibly lethal, or incurable), (b) the patient's wishes (insists on knowing the full truth vs.

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