Background:
Palliative care is an interdisciplinary medical approach for people with illnesses that are unresponsive to curative treatment. Music therapy has been gaining ground in this field since ...the 1970s, with a not-always-standardized range of interventions and musical techniques.
Objective:
The purpose of this systematic review is to analyze interventions with music therapy and new developments in this area in the field of palliative care.
Methods:
The primary source of data for this review was the online database Web of Science (WOS). We also used other databases such as Medline and Scopus. A systematic search was performed of the past 6 years following the PRISMA criteria.
Results:
From a selection of 310 documents, we reviewed 54 completed articles and included 19 studies in the review. The percentage of agreement in the selection of articles was 87.5% and the Cohen Kappa index of inter-rater reliability was 0.727. In 5 of the articles, the musical interventions were not specified. However, in the remaining 14 they were, including new developments such as use of the monochord and the body tambura, and adaptation of the RBL (Rhythm, Breath & Lullaby) method.
Conclusions:
There has been notable improvement in the specification of musical interventions during music therapy sessions in palliative care. However, articles in this field need to describe how these techniques are carried out and any new developments. All this without forgetting that the patient’s musical preferences are a fundamental aspect when performing music therapy sessions.
Psychosocial risks can negatively affect adolescents’ physical, psychological, and social health. Grounded on the cumulative risk theory, the objective of this study was to analyze the differences in ...health-related quality of life (HRQoL) depending on the accumulation of several psychosocial risks (bullying, cyberbullying, cyberdating abuse, sexting, online grooming, and problematic Internet use). The participants were 3,212 Spanish adolescents (53.7% females) with a mean age of 13.92 ± 1.44, who completed self-report online questionnaires that assessed each of the aforementioned risks and HRQoL. Overall, 41.4% of the female participants and 36.8% of the males presented at least one risk, with significant differences between sexes. The percentage of participants who presented an accumulation of three or more risks was 8.2%. Risk accumulation was related to a lower HRQoL score than those who presented no risks. The scores in HRQoL decrease at up to four risks, point at which the differences ceased to be significant.
ABSTRACT
Progress in applied neuroscience and neuropsychology in the educational context has revealed efficient methodologies for preventing academic failure and developing the potential of students. ...The aim of this work is to adopt a neuropsychological perspective to study learning‐related differences between students with learning difficulties (LD), without LD, and with high capacity. We evaluated visual, auditory, motor, touch, writing, language, and memory functionality in 156 students between 5 and 8 years of age. The results of the 3 × 4 factorial analysis (p < .01) and the effect size (η2p) indicate a medium‐large interaction effect between the three groups of subjects and the school year (most of the students with LD have lower scores in the neuropsychological areas evaluated than students with high abilities). These findings also hint at novel research areas for preventing academic failure and developing student capacities from a neuropsychological perspective based on basic cognitive functions.
Background
Verbal fluency tests (VFT) are highly sensitive to cognitive deficits. Usually, the score on VFT is based on the number of correct words produced, yet it alone gives little information ...regarding underlying test performance. The implementation of different strategies (cluster and switching) to perform efficiently during the tasks provide more valuable information. However, normative data for clustering and switching strategies are scarce. Moreover, scoring criteria adapted to Colombian Spanish are missing.
Aims
(1) To describe the Colombian adaptation of the scoring system guidelines for clustering and switching strategies in VFT; (2) to determine its reliability; and (3) to provide normative data for Colombian children and adolescents aged 6–17 years.
Methods & Procedures
A total of 691 children and adolescents from Colombia completed phonological (/f/, /a/, /s/, /m/, /r/ and /p/) and semantic (animals and fruits) VFT, and five scores were calculated: total score (TS), number of clusters (NC), cluster size (CS), mean cluster size (MCS) and number of switches (NS). The intraclass correlation coefficient was used for interrater reliability. Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to investigate which strategies were associated with VFT TS. Multiple regressions were conducted for each strategy, including as predictors age, age2, sex, mean parents’ education (MPE), MPE2 and type of school, to generate normative data.
Outcomes & Results
Reliability indexes were excellent. Age was associated with VFT TS, but weakly compared with strategies. For both VFT TS, NS was the strongest variable, followed by CS and NC. Regarding norms, age was the strongest predictor for all measures, while age2 was relevant for NC (/f/ phoneme) and NS (/m/ phoneme). Participants with higher MPE obtained more NC, and NS, and larger CS in several phonemes and categories. Children and adolescents from private school generated more NC, NS and larger CS in /s/ phoneme.
Conclusions & Implications
This study provides new scoring guidelines and normative data for clustering and switching strategies for Colombian children and adolescents between 6 and 17 years old. Clinical neuropsychologists should include these measures as part of their everyday practice.
WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS
What is already known on the subject
VFT are widely used within the paediatric population due to its sensitivity to brain injury. Its score is based on the number of correct words produced; however, TS alone gives little information regarding underlying test performance. Several normative data for VFT TS in the paediatric population exist, but normative data for clustering and switching strategies are scarce.
What this paper adds to existing knowledge
The present study is the first to describe the Colombian adaptation of the scoring guidelines for clustering and switching strategies, and provided normative data for these strategies for children and adolescents between 6 and 17 years old.
What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?
Knowing VFT's performance, including strategy development and use in healthy children and adolescents, may be useful for clinical settings. We encourage clinicians to include not only TS, but also a careful analysis of strategies that may be more informative of the underlying cognitive processes failure than TS.
Cocaine is associated with serious health problems including psychiatric co‐morbidity. There is a need for the identification of biomarkers for the stratification of cocaine‐addicted subjects. ...Several studies have evaluated circulating endocannabinoid‐related lipids as biomarkers of inflammatory, metabolic and mental disorders. However, little is known in substance use disorders. This study characterizes both free N‐acyl‐ethanolamines (NAEs) and 2‐acyl‐glycerols in abstinent cocaine addicts from outpatient treatment programs who were diagnosed with cocaine use disorder (CUD; n = 88), and age‐/gender‐/body mass‐matched healthy control volunteers (n = 46). Substance and mental disorders that commonly occur with substance abuse were assessed by the semi‐structured interview ‘Psychiatric Research Interview for Substance and Mental Diseases' according to the ‘Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision’ (DSM‐IV‐TR) and plasma‐free acyl derivatives were quantified by a liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry system. The results indicate that plasma acyl derivatives are altered in abstinent cocaine‐addicted subjects with CUD (CUD subjects). While NAEs were found to be increased, 2‐acyl‐glycerols were decreased in CUD subjects compared with controls. Multivariate predictive models based on these lipids as explanatory variables were developed to distinguish CUD subjects from controls providing high discriminatory power. However, these alterations were not influenced by the DSM‐IV‐TR criteria for cocaine abuse and dependence as cocaine trait severity measure. In contrast, we observed that some free acyl derivatives in CUD subjects were found to be affected by the diagnosis of some co‐morbid psychiatric disorders. Thus, we found that the monounsaturated NAEs were significantly elevated in CUD subjects diagnosed with mood N‐oleoyl‐ethanolamine and N‐palmitoleoyl‐ethanolamine (POEA) and anxiety (POEA) disorders compared with non‐co‐morbid CUD subjects. Interestingly, the coexistence of alcohol use disorders did not influence the circulating levels of these free acyl derivatives. In summary, we have identified plasma‐free acyl derivatives that might serve as reliable biomarkers for CUD. Furthermore, we found that monounsaturated NAE levels are also enhanced by co‐morbid mood and anxiety disorders in cocaine addicts. These findings open the way for the development of new strategies for cocaine addiction diagnosis and treatment.
Resumen Los trastornos relacionados con sustancias (TRS) pueden cursar con alteraciones neuropsicológicas que afectan las actividades de la vida diaria de una persona. El objetivo principal de este ...trabajo es estudiar el proceso de la toma de decisiones en pacientes con TRS y analizar si hay diferencias entre hombres y mujeres. Se administró una versión computarizada de la Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) a una muestra total de 101 pacientes con TRS que solicitaron tratamiento ambulatorio, 81 hombres (80,2%) y 20 mujeres (19,8%). Los resultados muestran una alteración en la toma de decisiones. Asimismo, se observó un peor rendimiento en el grupo de los hombres en la toma de decisiones en comparación con el grupo de las mujeres. Estos datos comprueban la importancia de tener en cuenta el sexo a la hora del diagnóstico e intervención en personas con TRS. Se precisan estudios futuros que profundicen en estas diferencias.
Abstract Dyslexia is a problem of increasing prevalence in school-age students. The latest experiences in the application of neuropsychology to education are interesting because they allow for the ...evaluation of different neuropsychological variables to obtain a better understanding of the learning processes of students in this population for specific subsequent interventions. The purpose of this study was to explore the following neuropsychological variables related to reading in adolescent students with and without dyslexia. The sample consisted of 60 students between 13 and 15 years of age, 30 with dyslexia and 30 without. The King Devick test was used to assess the saccadic eye movements, specifically the fast and automated denomination of digits; the Harris laterality test was used to evaluate functional laterality, and the ENFEN test for executive functions. The results revealed significant differences between the two groups. Students with dyslexia scored lower on the three neuropsychological skills assessed. These findings suggest that students with dyslexia may manifest poorer performance in those neuropsychological skills that are key to reader development.
ABSTRACT
There has been increasing evidence in recent years of the need to adapt intervention programs to the specific needs of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The main ...goal of this research work was to study the efficacy of an educational intervention program to improve attention and reflexivity in school children with ADHD in order to verify the improvements in symptoms associated with ADHD such as aggressivity, social isolation, anxiety, and attention deficit. The sample was comprised of 26 primary school children ranging from 7 to 10 years of age with ADHD. Symptoms of children with ADHD were evaluated by applying the Escalas Magallanes Screening Scale for Attention Deficits and Other Developmental Problems in Children (EMA‐DDA) at two time points (pre and post). The results show a statistically significant reduction in symptoms on the aggressivity and social isolation scales measured with the EMA‐DDA after applying the intervention program. These data supports the potential value of an intervention program for working with ADHD children.
Background: Few studies have explored changes in quality of life during the first three months of admission to a therapeutic community for addictions. The objective of this study was to determine the ...relationship between these changes and treatment outcomes at discharge. Methods: We undertook a prospective longitudinal study of 142 cocaine-dependent patients treated at a therapeutics community. All of these patients reached the 3-month evaluation and were subsequently followed until discharge. All participants completed the following measures: Health-Related Quality of Life for Drug Abusers Test; Beck Depression Inventory; State–Trait Anxiety Inventory; Opiate Treatment Index; Dual Diagnosis and Discharge Checklist. Results: At the 3-month assessment, scores on the Health-Related Quality of Life for Drug Abusers Test had increased significantly (Cohen’s d: 0.92), while scores on the Opiate Treatment Index (Cohen’s d: 0.86) and Beck Depression Inventory (Cohen’s d: 0.20) scales both decreased significantly. A higher proportion of the patients considered to have achieved “clinically relevant” treatment outcomes at discharge versus those without clinically relevant outcomes were considered “recovered” according to the Reliable Change Index. Conclusions: An improvement in quality of life-related variables from baseline to the 3-month assessment was associated with better outcomes at discharge from the therapeutic community. The findings of this study may help us to optimise therapeutic interventions.
The treatment of cocaine-dependent individuals (CDI) is substantially challenged by high drop-out rates, raising questions regarding contributing factors. Recently, a number of studies have ...highlighted the potential of greater focus on the clinical significance of neurocognitive impairments in treatment-seeking cocaine users. In the present study, we hypothesized that disadvantageous decision-making would be one such factor placing CDI at greater risk for treatment drop-out.
In order to explore this hypothesis, the present study contrasted baseline performance (at treatment onset) on two validated tasks of decision-making, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Cambridge Gamble Task (CGT) in CDI who completed treatment in a residential Therapeutic Community (TC) (N = 66) and those who dropped out of TC prematurely (N = 84).
Compared to treatment completers, CDI who dropped out of TC prematurely did not establish a consistent and advantageous response pattern as the IGT progressed and exhibited a poorer ability to choose the most likely outcome on the CGT. There were no group differences in betting behavior.
Our findings suggest that neurocognitive rehabilitation of disadvantageous decision-making may have clinical benefits in CDI admitted to long-term residential treatment programs.
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