The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a brief cognitive screening instrument that is known for its good psychometric properties and sensitivity to detect mild cognitive impairment (MCI). After ten years, it became relevant to update the previous Portuguese normative study due to changes in the population and some limitations present in the study itself. The study sample was composed of 860 cognitively healthy adults, stratified according to verified distribution of the Portuguese population across several sociodemographic variables. All participants completed a neuropsychological assessment battery, in which the MoCA was included. The analysis of the relationships between the sociodemographic variables and the MoCA show that age and educational level had a significant effect on MoCA scores, with educational level being the better predictor. These results foster the consideration of age and educational level in the development of normative data. The present study contributes to a reliable update of the normative data of MoCA. The new age groups and more stratified norms comply with the natural changes on the Portuguese population, providing an increase of power and clinical accuracy. The presented norms consider the cognitive domains subscores, consequently improving the comprehension and utility of the results obtained from the MoCA test.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23279095.2023.2252949 | DOI Listing |
J Psychoactive Drugs
January 2025
FPCEUP - Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal.
Portugal is commonly recognized as one of the best drug policy examples in the world. Nonetheless, contrasts between drug use risks in rural vs urban settings in the country is an understudied topic, even if its specific challenges are commonly affirmed, both by professionals and people who use drugs (PWUD). The aim of this study was to compare rural and urban environments concerning socio-sanitary services availability; illegal drugs availability; risk behaviors related to drug use; stigma associated with illicit drug use; and social support.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVet World
November 2024
Center for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
Background And Aim: Papillomaviruses (PVs) infections have been documented in numerous animal species across different regions worldwide. They often exert significant impacts on animal health and livestock production. Scientists have studied natural products for over half a century due to their diverse chemical composition, acknowledging their value in fighting cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLipids Health Dis
January 2025
Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Local Health Unit of Santo António, Largo Professor Abel Salazar, Porto, 4099-001, Portugal.
Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of mortality worldwide, necessitating more refined strategies for risk assessment. Recently, lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] has gained attention for its distinctive role in atherosclerosis, yet its prevalence and impact for cardiovascular risk assessment are not well-documented in the Portuguese population. This study aimed to characterize Lp(a) levels in a real-world Portuguese cohort, investigating its prevalence and association with CVD risk.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Pharm Sci
January 2025
National Association of Pharmacies. Electronic address:
Introduction: Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, various public health measures were adopted to reduce the transmission risk, including the full reimbursement of SARS-CoV-2 professional rapid antigen detection tests (Ag-RDT) conducted in clinical pathology laboratories, community pharmacies (CPs), and other authorized entities. This study aimed to assess the impact of integrating CPs into the Portuguese National Health Service (NHS) testing strategy on the capacity of professional Ag-RDT delivery, and to compare the equity in testing access with and without CPs participation.
Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study assessed the impact of adding CPs into the testing strategy based on two main outcomes by municipality: (i) average distance (in Kilometres) of the population to the nearest Ag-RDT site; and (ii) the average number of weekly hours available to testing per 1,000 inhabitants, as of January 31, 2022.
Rev Port Cardiol
January 2025
Cardiology Department, Santa Cruz Hospital, Lisbon, Portugal; Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit, Santa Cruz Hospital, Lisbon, Portugal.
Introduction And Objectives: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is the gold standard for quantifying aerobic functional capacity, yet it is costly and not widely available. The CLINIMEX Aerobic Fitness Questionnaire (C-AFQ) may be a practical alternative as it estimates oxygen consumption at peak exercise (VO peak) based on patients' responses to a list of activities with known energy requirements. However, its applicability in cardiac patients is unclear and has not yet been studied.
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