The main aim of this study was to provide evidence of the broad employability of the NEQ with patients of different gender and age with cancer in different phases of the disease and care process, ...using an Item Response Theory (IRT) approach and investigating Differential Item Functioning (DIF).
The NEQ was completed by 762 patients visiting, consecutively, outpatient clinics or admitted to oncology wards. Patients included in the study had different primary tumor sites and were in different phases of the disease and care process. The properties of the questionnaire were analyzed by applying IRT to test how well each item of the scale concurs in measuring unmet needs, how reliable the whole scale is, and whether the scale was metrically invariant across gender, age, and phase of the disease.
Results showed that the NEQ performed well in measuring unmet needs and measurement equivalence of the scale across gender, age, and phase of the disease was verified.
The current study supports the utility and broad employability of the NEQ, thus providing empirical evidence that it is psychometrically sound and metrically equivalent across different groups of cancer patients. As such, the scale could be an effective tool when planning psychosocial interventions to improve the care process and patients' quality of life.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The assessment of well-being remains an important topic for many disciplines including medical, psychological, social, educational, and economic fields. The present study assesses the reliability and ...validity of a five-item instrument for evaluating physical, psychological, spiritual, relational, and general well-being. This measure uniquely utilizes a segmented numeric version of the visual analog scale in which a respondent selects a whole number that best reflects the intensity of the investigated characteristic. In study one, 939 clinical (i.e., diagnosed with cancer and liver disease with cirrhosis) and non-clinical (i.e., undergraduate students and their family and acquaintances) participants between the ages of 18 to 87 years (M = 47.20 years, SD = 19.62, 54% males) were recruited. Results showed items have strong discriminant ability and the spread of threshold parameters attests to the appropriateness of the response categories. Moreover, convergent and discriminant validity were found with other self-report measures (e.g., depression, anxiety, optimism, well-being) and the measure showed responsiveness to two separate interventions for clinical populations. In study two, 287 Canadian (ages ranged from 18 to 30 years; M = 20.78, SD = 3.32; 23% males) and 342 Italian undergraduate psychology students (age ranged from 18 to 29 years, M = 21.21 years, SD = 1.73, 38% males) were recruited to complete self-report questionnaires. IRT-based differential item functioning analyses provided evidence that the item properties were similar for the Italian and English versions of the scale. Additionally, the validity results obtained in study one were replicated and similar relationships between criterion variables were found when comparing the Italian- and the English-speaking samples. Overall, the current study provides evidence that the Italian and English versions of the WB-NRSs offer added value in research focused on well-being and in assessing well-being changes prompted by intervention programs.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The present study aims to develop and validate an Italian version of the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS). A large sample of Italian-speaking participants (N = 1139) completed the BSCS and measures of ...personality and individual dispositions. A clinical sample (N = 217) was administered the Italian version and an English-speaking sample (N = 274) completed the original version to test measurement invariance. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the best fit was observed for a shortened two-factor model (i.e., impulse control and self-discipline). Metric invariance across languages and partial strong invariance across genders, ages, and clinical status were demonstrated. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability for the total scale were adequate, and validity was established based on its correlations with related constructs and confirming that males and young individuals are more likely to have lower self-control. Results support the use of the shortened BSCS version to assess self-control in Italian-speaking individuals.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Dying at home and dying at the preferred place of death are advocated to be desirable outcomes of palliative care. More insight is needed in their usefulness as quality indicators. Our objective is ...to describe whether "the percentage of patients dying at home" and "the percentage of patients who died in their place of preference" are feasible and informative quality indicators.
A mortality follow-back study was conducted, based on data recorded by representative GP networks regarding home-dwelling patients who died non-suddenly in Belgium (n = 1036), The Netherlands (n = 512), Italy (n = 1639) or Spain (n = 565). "The percentage of patients dying at home" ranged between 35.3% (Belgium) and 50.6% (The Netherlands) in the four countries, while "the percentage of patients dying at their preferred place of death" ranged between 67.8% (Italy) and 86.0% (Spain). Both indicators were strongly associated with palliative care provision by the GP (odds ratios of 1.55-13.23 and 2.30-6.63, respectively). The quality indicator concerning the preferred place of death offers a broader view than the indicator concerning home deaths, as it takes into account all preferences met in all locations. However, GPs did not know the preferences for place of death in 39.6% (The Netherlands) to 70.3% (Italy), whereas the actual place of death was known in almost all cases.
GPs know their patients' actual place of death, making the percentage of home deaths a feasible indicator for collection by GPs. However, patients' preferred place of death was often unknown to the GP. We therefore recommend using information from relatives as long as information from GPs on the preferred place of death is lacking. Timely communication about the place where patients want to be cared for at the end of life remains a challenge for GPs.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The wood mouse
is common in woodlands and open areas of the Western Palearctic. Despite extensive research, little is known about its population ecology in fields in the Mediterranean area, where the ...climate involves great seasonal changes in environmental features. Here, we investigated wood mice seasonal fluctuations in the number of captures and population structure by sampling long-fallow fields and woodlands, i.e., oak forest and conifer plantation, in a heterogeneous landscape of central Italy. Mice were live-trapped every two months for three years (23.814 trap-days). The number of captures, mice body weight, and proportion of adult, residents and breeding individuals were analyzed. Mice dynamics changed across seasons and habitats. In fields, we recorded more captures, more reproductive individuals, and fewer non-adults and resident individuals in the warmer months compared to the colder months; mice were heavier in warmer months. During the cold season, the captures and adult proportion in fields were lower than in resource-rich woodlands. Breeding and non-resident mice were more abundant in fields than in woodlands in warmer months. Overall, the seasonal demographic variations we recorded provide evidence that fields can represent a suboptimal habitat in Mediterranean heterogeneous landscapes, acting nonetheless as a source of food resources, cover, and mates for mice in spring-summer.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Purpose:
Assessing patients’ unmet supportive care needs is essential in order to prioritize areas of cancer care that require improvement. The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to compare ...the unmet needs of cancer patients in different stages of the disease and care process (diagnosis, treatments following diagnosis, follow-up and/or rehabilitation, relapse/recurrence, progression of the disease, and palliative care).
Methods:
The research focused on patients from 7 oncology units of the same geographic region (Tuscany, a region of central Italy) in the same period of time regardless of primary tumor site. A total of 752 patients filled in the Needs Evaluation Questionnaire and the Psychological Distress Inventory.
Results:
We observed high rates of cancer patients who expressed unmet needs, especially in the areas of information and relational and material needs. The multiple regression models showed a direct correlation between psychological distress and extent of unmet needs. Individual unmet needs had significantly different entities at diverse phases.
Conclusions:
The present study confirmed the dynamic nature of needs of cancer patients, highlighting some critical aspects in different stages of the care process on which to concentrate attention and resources and suggesting the usefulness of periodic and repeated assessments of principal needs.
Abstract Context In Italy, data regarding the use of complementary therapies (CTs) among patients with cancer are sparse and discordant. Objectives The present study aimed to investigate the ...demographic and psychological characteristics of Italian cancer patients who use CTs and the perceived benefit of users. Methods Eight hundred three patients from six Italian oncology departments were interviewed about CT use and completed two questionnaires to explore psychological distress and the resilience trait called sense of coherence (SOC). Patients included in the study had different primary tumor sites and were in different phases of the disease and care process. Results At the time of measurement, 37.9% of patients were using one or more types of CTs. The most commonly used CTs were diets and dietary supplements (27.5%), herbs (10.8%), homeopathy (6.4%), and mind-body therapies (5.5%). The Italian context is characterized by a high percentage of patients who informed their physicians about CT use (66.3%) and who experienced benefits (89.6%); 75.2% of the patients had used CTs in the past. Multivariate analysis revealed that young, female patients, who previously used complementary and alternative medicine in the past, appear more likely to use at least one type of CT in the present. Predictors of the use of CTs varied according to the type of CT. Among psychological factors, SOC was positively associated with both past and present CT use. Conclusion Overall prevalence of CTs among Italian cancer patients is high and is in accordance with the European average. In addition to clinical and sociodemographic factors, the resilience trait SOC also was associated with CT use.
“In the mirror of the Wonder of Luca Giordano” was a multi-sensorial experience created in the gallery frescoed by Luca Giordano in Palazzo Medici Riccardi, in Florence; the project involved ...different disciplines and researchers. The entire experience was subjected to an impact analysis, combining principally psycho-physiological, qualitative psychological and neuro-physiological aspects. In most of the visitors who participated in the study the experience evoked a sense of pleasure, enjoyment, relaxation, lightness, space-time suspension, involvement and immersiveness. In many of the visitors, the devices detected changes in heartbeat with a stastically significant decrease in blood pressure and heart rate, demontrating that the impact of artwork in a multi-sensorial experience and in an augmented perception environment is a psycho-somatic impact. Our experience suggests that projects such as "In the mirror of the Wonder of Luca Giordano" could be a very useful tool for cultivating emotional intelligence and could be developed in museums alongside the more classical paths of fruition.
Patients with chronic liver disease face debilitating complications in their daily living and constantly report several types of unmet needs, but there is a paucity of validated questionnaires to ...assess these needs. In this study, we present the development of the Needs Evaluation Questionnaire for Liver Diseases (NEQ-LD) for the assessment of unmet needs in patients with chronic liver disease. Two hundred eighty-six outpatients with chronic liver diseases from a single tertiary referral center completed the NEQ-LD and related validity measures. Item response theory analyses were performed and demonstrated the strong psychometric properties of the questionnaire. Differential item functioning analyses showed that the scale functions equally across groups differing for age, sex, and presence of cirrhosis, suggesting the large applicability of the NEQ-LD for the assessment of unmet needs and between-group comparisons. Criterion validity measures provided evidence that unmet needs were positively associated with measures of depression and anxiety and negatively associated with measures of subjective well-being and physical and mental health. Unmet needs were expressed by a high percentage of patients, especially in the areas of information and dialogue with clinicians. One third of the sample reported material needs. Most of the items describing unmet needs were reported more frequently by patients with cirrhosis. Conclusion: We developed a reliable, valid, and largely employable instrument that can promote patient-centered care and facilitate support services in Hepatology.
The Well-being Numerical Rating Scales (WB-NRSs) can be used to assess rapidly and accurately different types of well-being. However, the spiritual well-being scale showed slightly weaker ...psychometric properties. This study aimed to further investigate its suitability in measuring spiritual well-being. Participants (
= 270, age:
= 32.98; SD = 15.64; 67% females) were administered a questionnaire including spiritual well-being, gratitude, compassionate love, and personality traits measures. A network analysis (based on correlations) was used to display graphically the pattern of relationships among the measured constructs (i.e. the nomological net). Results provided evidence that the scale measures spiritual well-being as defined in the literature, that is, a component distinct from faith and compassionate love, but connected to meaning in life, quality of relationships, personality traits, and gratitude. These findings confirm the WB-NRSs is a psychometrically sound and easy-to-use tool with clear benefits for both research and clinical assessment.
PDF
