Prevalence of Psychopathological Symptoms and Their Determinants in Four Healthcare Workers' Categories during the Second Year of COVID-19 Pandemic.

Highly stressful situations, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, induce constant changes in the mental state of people who experience them. In the present study, we analyzed the prevalence of some psychological symptoms and their determinants in four different categories of healthcare workers during the second year of the pandemic. A total of 265 physicians, 176 nurses, 184 other healthcare professionals, and 48 administrative employees, working in different Italian healthcare contexts, answered a questionnaire including variables about their mental status and experience with the pandemic.

Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation of the Italian version of the Synkinesis Assessment Questionnaire in individuals with peripheral facial palsy.

Background: After peripheral facial palsy, the onset of facial synkinesis results in aesthetic disfigurement and local muscle tension or pain, with possible deterioration of patient's well-being and social participation. The availability of valid instruments to evaluate patient-reported severity of facial synkinesis is important to capture the subjective perception of facial impairment.

Aim: To generate and validate an Italian version of the Synkinesis Assessment Questionnaire, a patient-reported outcome measure to assess patient-perceived severity of facial synkinesis after peripheral facial palsy.

Moral Distress among Frontline Physicians and Nurses in the Early Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy.

During the COVID-19 health emergency, healthcare professionals faced several ethical demanding job stressors, becoming at particular risk of moral distress. To date, only a few scales have been developed to evaluate moral distress among frontline professionals working in contact with COVID-19 patients. Moreover, although many healthcare professionals from various disciplines were converted to COVID-19 patient care, no study has yet analyzed whether the resulting change in duties might represent a risk factor for moral distress.

Cognitive impairment, frailty and rehabilitation outcome in older cardiorespiratory patients. DEC_FRAinRIAB: Study protocol.

Background: Chronic heart failure (CHF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are two clinical conditions often associated with functional worsening, cognitive dysfunctions, treatment non-adherence, psychological distress and poor quality of life (QoL). In addition, since patients suffering from these conditions are often older adults, the presence of frailty syndrome could worsen the clinical situation.

Methods And Design: This study protocol of a prospective multi-center clinical trial, will be conducted at two hospitals of the Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS group, from July 2020 until December 2022.

Bone Response to Weight Loss Following Bariatric Surgery.

Obesity is a global health challenge that warrants effective treatments to avoid its multiple comorbidities. Bariatric surgery, a cornerstone treatment to control bodyweight excess and relieve the health-related burdens of obesity, can promote accelerated bone loss and affect skeletal strength, particularly after malabsorptive and mixed surgical procedures, and probably after restrictive surgeries. The increase in bone resorption markers occurs early and persist for up to 12 months or longer after bariatric surgery, while bone formation markers increase but to a lesser extent, suggesting a potential uncoupling process between resorption and formation.

Is the Brain Undernourished in Alzheimer's Disease?

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amino acid (AA) levels and CSF/plasma AA ratios in Alzheimer Disease (AD) in relation to nutritional state are not known. Methods: In 30 fasting patients with AD (46% males, 74.4 ± 8.

A systematic review on the usability of robotic and virtual reality devices in neuromotor rehabilitation: patients' and healthcare professionals' perspective.

Background: The application of virtual reality (VR) and robotic devices in neuromotor rehabilitation has provided promising evidence in terms of efficacy, so far. Usability evaluations of these technologies have been conducted extensively, but no overviews on this topic have been reported yet.

Methods: A systematic review of the studies on patients' and healthcare professionals' perspective through searching of PubMed, Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL, and PsychINFO (2000 to 2021) was conducted.

The Montescano Effect: Being Resilient Through Challenges and Changes.

Hospitals are places where you live a piece of your life, no matter you are healthcare professional, patient or caregiver. This editorial describes the humanistic approach to medicine adopted by the Montescano Institute, an Italian research and clinical hospital dedicated to the rehabilitation of neurological and cardiopulmonary diseases according to updated international guidelines. The aim of these "notes from the field" is to provide a sound example of humanistic clinical practice before, during and after the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety symptoms in COVID-19 outpatients with different levels of respiratory and ventilatory support in the acute phase undergoing three months follow-up.

Background: The well-known COVID-19 pandemic totally transformed people's lives, paving the way to various psychopathological symptoms. In particular, patients may experience a short- and long-term decreasing in their wellbeing. In this vein, the aim of this paper was to assess the COVID-19 patients' psychopathological profile (post-traumatic stress disorder, distress, anxiety and depression symptoms), detecting possible differences linked to the ventilatory treatments.

Computer-Assisted Assessment of the Interaction Between Arousals, Breath-by-Breath Ventilation, and Chemical Drive During Cheyne-Stokes Respiration in Heart Failure Patients.

Transient increases in ventilation induced by arousal from sleep during Cheyne-Stokes respiration in heart failure patients are thought to contribute to sustaining and exacerbating the ventilatory oscillation. The only possibility to investigate the validity of this notion is to use observational data. This entails some significant challenges: (i) accurate identification of both arousal onset and offset; (ii) detection of short arousals (<3 s); (iii) breath-by-breath analysis of the interaction between arousals and ventilation; (iv) careful control for important confounding factors.

The CO-MAsk Approach: Tips for Fostering Mask Use Among Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Face masks are effective at limiting contagion of the coronavirus. However, adherence to face mask use among the older adult population is often unsatisfactory due to cognitive impairment, misconceptions, and difficulty in retrieving face masks. This brief note provides healthcare professionals with simple suggestions about how to improve face mask adoption in the older adults, in particular if they suffer from mild cognitive impairment.

Psychological Characteristics of Patients with Takotsubo Syndrome and Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome: An Explorative Study toward a Better Personalized Care.

During an acute cardiac event, Takotsubo Syndrome (TTS) and Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) apparently share very similar clinical characteristics. Since only a few inconsistent studies have evaluated the psychological features that characterize these different patients, the aim of the present explorative research was to investigate if post-recovery TTS and ACS patients present different psychological profiles. We also investigated whether the occurrence of acute psychological stressful episodes that had occurred prior to the cardiac event could be found in either syndrome.

Interaction Between Arousals and Ventilation During Cheyne-Stokes Respiration in Heart Failure Patients: Insights From Breath-by-Breath Analysis.

Arousals from sleep during the hyperpneic phases of Cheyne-Stokes respiration with central sleep apnea (CSR-CSA) in patients with heart failure are thought to cause ventilatory overshoot and a consequent longer apnea, thereby sustaining and exacerbating ventilatory instability. However, data supporting this model are lacking. We investigated the relationship between arousals, hyperpnea and post-hyperpnea apnea length during CSR-CSA.

Polypharmacy Management in the Older Adults: A Scoping Review of Available Interventions.

Polypharmacy paves the way for non-adherence, adverse drug reactions, negative health outcomes, increased use of healthcare services and rising costs. Since it is most prevalent in the older adults, there is an urgent need for introducing effective strategies to prevent and manage the problem in this age group. To perform a scoping review critically analysing the available literature referring to the issue of polypharmacy management in the older adults and provide narrative summary.

The patient-caregiver dyad: the impact of cognitive and functional impairment.

This study evaluates the cognitive impairment impact on the caregiver's burden and quality of life.Patient-caregiver dyads admitted to dementia Diagnostic-Therapeutic Care Pathway underwent a psychological and neuropsychological assessment. Overall, 30 caregivers (age 58.

SMiLE to Life: Meaning in life in healthcare professionals working in palliative care and rehabilitation medicine.

Background: In the healthcare landscape, various protective factors are identified, such as meaning in life (MiL), namely what gives sense to life events. However, little is known about this construct in the healthcare population.

Objectives: To describe MiL among healthcare professionals employed in palliative care and neuro-rehabilitation medicine, unveiling possible differences related to medical specialty and socio-demographic characteristics.

Well-Being and Professional Efficacy Among Health Care Professionals: The Role of Resilience Through the Mediation of Ethical Vision of Patient Care and the Moderation of Managerial Support.

Drawing on the Conservation of Resources theory, this study analyzes whether resilience could be related to healthcare providers' wellbeing and professional self-efficacy, both directly and indirectly, as mediated by ethical vision of patient care and moderated by managerial support in dealing with ethical issues. Overall, 315 Italian healthcare professionals employed in neuro-rehabilitation medicine or palliative care specialties participated in this multi-centered cross-sectional study. The following variables were investigated: resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), wellbeing (Maugeri Stress Index-Reduced), professional self-efficacy (Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey), ethical vision of patient care and managerial support in dealing with ethical issues (Italian version of the Hospital Ethical Climate Survey).

Peripheral Blood Lymphocyte Percentage May Predict Chemotolerance and Survival in Patients with Advanced Pancreatic Cancer. Association between Adaptive Immunity and Nutritional State.

Pancreatic Carcinoma (PC) cells have the ability to induce patient immunosuppression and to escape immunosurveillance. Low circulating lymphocytes are associated with an advanced stage of PC and reduced survival. Blood lymphocytes expressed as a percentage of Total White Blood Cells (L% TWBC) could predict chemotolerance (n° of tolerated cycles), survival time and Body Weight (BW) more effectively than lymphocytes expressed as an absolute value (L > 1500 n°/mm) or lymphocytes >22%, which is the lowest limit of normal values in our laboratory.

Essential amino acid supplementation is associated with reduced serum C-reactive protein levels and improved circulating lymphocytes in post-acute inflamed elderly patients.

Background: Persistent systemic inflammation leads to multidistrectual body dysfunctions. Attenuation of inflammation may improve patients' functional and life prognoses. We hypothesized that essential amino acids (EAAs) given to elderly patients in rehabilitation after acute diseases may be associated with a reduced inflammatory state.

ICF model implementation in an interdisciplinary intervention for intraparenchymal hemorrhage (IPH) with focus on neuropsychological functioning: a case report.

Spontaneous intraparenchymal hemorrhage (IPH) is relatively common and has a very important impact on clinical outcomes, motor and functional abilities and it may affect different cognitive domains. A 60-year-old male was admitted in post-acute phase, at Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, to undertake neuro-motor treatment for a period of 4 months. The patient was affected by IPH.

Altered Amino Acid Metabolism in Patients with Cardiorenal Syndrome Type 2: Is It a Problem for Protein and Exercise Prescriptions?

The goal of this retrospective study was to document any alterations in plasma amino acids (AAs) in subjects with cardiorenal syndrome type 2 (CRS 2). We analyzed data from sixteen patients with CRS 2 and eight healthy subjects (control group, C), whose plasma arterial (A) and venous (V) AA concentrations had been measured. Compared to C, the group of CRS 2 patients showed significant reductions by more than 90% in A ( < 0.