The current study aimed at examining the potential role of self-compassion and self-judgment components on depressive symptomatology and psychological health in people with a diagnosis of chronic ...physical disease. The sample included 223 participants with a diagnosis of chronic physical disease, aged between 18 and 45 years, who completed an online survey. The tested model showed an excellent fit to the empirical data and path analysis results indicated that mindfulness, self-judgment, and isolation have a significant impact on depressive symptomatology (explaining 40% of its variance) and also on psychological health (explaining 45% of its variance). This study shed some light on the role of both self-compassion and self-judgment components, suggesting the importance of the promotion of mindfulness skills and the reduction of self-judgment and feelings of isolation in people with chronic physical disease. These findings seem to support the development of more effective interventions for the promotion of psychological health and reduction of depressive symptoms in people diagnosed with a chronic physical disease.
This study aimed to examine the role of decentering and committed action as mediators of the link of external and internal shame with psychological health, in people with a chronic disease diagnosis ...(
n
= 223) and without chronic disease (
n
= 230). Participants with chronic disease presented higher levels of both external and internal shame. Path analysis results showed that these variables seem to be negatively linked to psychological health and that their effects on this outcome seem to be reduced by the mechanisms of decentering and committed action. The tested model explained 56% of psychological health’s variance and was invariant across groups. This study emphasizes the importance of taking a decentered stance towards internal experiences and behaving accordingly to one’s personal values on psychosocial functioning, independently of disease status. These results may have particular relevance to individuals with high levels of shame.
This study tested the acceptability and efficacy of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and compassion-based intervention (LIFEwithIBD) in people with IBD through a two-arm RCT.
Participants were ...recruited at the Gastroenterology Department of the Coimbra University Hospital between June and September 2019. Of the 355 patients screened, those who accepted to participate were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: experimental group (LIFEwithIBD;
= 25) or control group (waitlist;
= 29). Participants completed self-report measures at baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1), and 3-month (T2) and 12-month (T3) follow-ups. Intervention acceptability was assessed. Efficacy was examined using intent-to-treat ANCOVA at post-intervention after adjusting for baseline values of depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms (primary outcomes). Linear mixed models for all longitudinal outcomes were also analysed. Inflammatory and disease biomarkers were determined at T0 and T3.
Acceptability results revealed a high level of satisfaction and perceived usefulness regarding the intervention. Both groups experienced a significant decrease in stress symptoms and IBD symptom perception at T1. No significant differences were observed at follow-up for the primary outcomes. The experimental group reported significantly lower Crohn's disease Symptom severity at T2 than the control group. Post-hoc analyses designed to mitigate floor effects revealed substantial treatment effects for the experimental group regarding anxiety symptoms. No significant differences were observed in clinical biomarkers from T0 to T3.
The LIFEwithIBD intervention shows promising, although preliminary, benefits for managing disease activity and reducing anxiety symptoms in IBD patients with high severity of psychological distress.
: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03840707, identifier NCT03840707.
Literature highlights the impact of loneliness on mental and physical wellbeing. Nonetheless, the link between loneliness and the distinct domains of quality of life has only been slightly explored. ...Moreover, the relationship between early affiliative memories and current feelings of loneliness still need to be studied. The main goal of this study was to explore how early memories of warmth and safeness and physical, psychological and social quality of life (QoL) are related through the mediating influences of loneliness, by testing a novel model in a community-based sample of 509 adult participants of both sexes. Path analysis results suggested that the lack of early memories of warmth and safeness is associated with higher levels of loneliness, which in turn, is associated with decreased physical, psychological and social quality of life. This model accounted for 22%, 45% and 41% of the variance of physical, psychological and social quality of life, respectively. This study seems to suggest that loneliness is a defensive response that may have its roots in the absence of early emotional experiences of warmth and safeness, which may become a conditioned mental representation of self and others that greatly influences one’s perceptions of one’s physical, psychological and social quality of life. Findings seem to support the relevance of addressing the abilities of warmth, kindness and compassion to overcome loneliness, and subsequently to promote physical, psychological and social well-being.
The HIV-1 initial viral infection may present diverse clinical and laboratory course and lead to rapid, intermediate, or long-term progression. Among the group of non-progressors, the elite ...controllers are those who control the infection most effectively, in the absence of antiretroviral therapy (ART). In this paper, the TH1, TH2 and TH17 cytokines profiles are described, as well as clinical and laboratory aspects of an HIV-infected patient with undetectable viral load without antiretroviral therapy. Production of IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IL-17 was detected; in contrast IL-4 was identified. Host-related factors could help explain such a level of infection control, namely the differentiated modulation of the cellular immune response and a non-polarized cytokine response of the TH1 and TH2 profiles.
Uveitis is a heterogeneous collection of infrequent diseases, which poses significant challenges to cost-effective research in the field. Medical registries are being increasingly recognized as ...crucial tools to provide high-quality data, thus enabling prospective clinical research. This paper describes the design and technical structure development of an innovative countrywide electronic medical record for uveitis, Uveite.pt, and gives an overview of the cohort registered since its foundation, March 2020.
Uveite.pt is an electronic medical record platform developed by the Portuguese Ocular Inflammation Group (POIG), a scientific committee of the Portuguese Ophthalmology Society. This is a nationwide customized web-based platform for uveitis patients useful for both clinical practice and real-world-based research, working as a central repository and reporting tool for uveitis. This paper describes the technical principles, the design and the development of a web-based interoperable registry for uveitis in Portugal and provides an overview of more than 400 patients registered in the first 18 months since inception.
In infrequent diseases, the existence of registries enables to gather evidence and increase research possibilities to clinicians. The adoption of this platform enables standardization and improvement of clinical practice in uveitis. It is useful to apprehend the repercussion of medical and surgical treatments in uveitis and scleritis, supporting clinicians in the strict monitoring of drug adverse reactions and surgical outcomes.
Fibula fractures are the third most common stress fractures in children and adolescents. The triad of localised periosteal reaction, endosteal thickening and radiolucent cortical lines, localised in ...the distal third of the fibula along with a typical clinical history is in most cases sufficient to establish the diagnosis. Proximal fibula stress lesions are a very rare finding, with few reports in the literature. Stress fractures in this location demand careful investigation before a definitive diagnosis can be made. In the presence of non-specific MRI findings, stress fracture should be a diagnosis of exclusion. The authors report a case referred to their department by a sports medicine physician with a suspicion of stress fracture of the proximal fibula without characteristic imaging findings, which was ultimately confirmed as a stress lesion only by biopsy.
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