The introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has successfully changed the clinical course of people with HIV, leading to a significant decline in the incidence of HIV-related neurocognitive ...disorders. Integrase strand transferase inhibitors (INSTI) are recommended and preferred first-line ART for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in ART-naïve subjects. This type of therapy regimen is expected to have higher CNS penetration, which may bring more cognitive stability or even make significant cognitive improvement in people with HIV. The study aimed to follow up on neurocognitive performance in HIV subjects on two types of INSTI therapy regimens at two-time points, one year apart. The study sample consisted of 61 ART naïve male participants, of which 32 were prescribed raltegravir (RAL) and 29 dolutegravir (DTG). There was no significant difference between subsamples according to the main sociodemographic (age, education level) and clinical characteristics (duration of therapy, nadir CD4 cells level, CD4 cells count, CD8 cells, CD4/CD8 ratio). For neurocognitive assessment, six measures were used: general cognitive ability (MoCA test), verbal fluency (total sum score for phonemic and category fluency), verbal working memory (digit span forward), cognitive capacity (digit span backwards), sustained attention (Color Trail Test 1), and divided attention (Color Trail Test 2). In both therapy groups (RAL and DTG), there was no significant decrease in neurocognitive achievement on all used measures over a one-year follow-up in both therapy groups. A statistically significant interactive effect of time and type of therapy was found on the measure of divided attention—DTG group showed slight improvement, whereas RAL group showed slight decrease in performance. During the one-year follow-up of persons on INSTI-based regimen, no significant changes in cognitive achievement were recorded, which suggests that the existing therapy can have a potentially positive effect on the maintenance of neurocognitive achievement.
Conducting a study on a sample of 303 participants from the Novi Sad Voluntary Service we set out to validate the Volunteer Satisfaction Index (VSI) in the cultural context of the two European ...titles—Youth 2019 and Culture 2021. A battery of instruments was used for research purposes, Voluntary Satisfaction Inventory, Voluntary Function Inventory and Helping Attitude Scale. Our study is currently the only one in Serbia that evaluated volunteer satisfaction. The results support a volunteer model based on altruistic values, recognized and accepted, identifying volunteer benefits of personal gain and relationship with the organization. Since the Serbian version of the VSI scale was confirmed on the example of the Novi Sad Voluntary Service sample and has shown satisfactory psychometric properties, it can be used f or the purpose of further monitoring and evaluating volunteer satisfaction, examining other factors on which volunteer satisfaction is based.
Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents the most common form of chronic liver disease in mono-infected (without concomitant hepatitis B and/or C virus infection) people ...living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The proper and on time identification of at-risk HIV-positive individuals would be relevant in order to reduce the rate of progression from NAFLD into non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore visceral fat thickness (VFT) and anthropometric measurements associated with the development of NAFLD in patients mono-infected with HIV and on long-standing combination antiretroviral therapy (cART).Method: Eighty-eight (n = 88) HIV-positive male patients, average age 39.94 ± 9.91 years, and stable on cART, were included in this prospective study. VFT was measured using ultrasonography. Anthropometric measurements included body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (W/H), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist and hip circumference (WC, HC). Differences between variables were determined using the chi-square test. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the Youden index were used to determine optimal cut-off values of VFT and hepatic steatosis. The area under the curve (AUC), 95% confidence intervals, sensitivity and specificity are reported for the complete sample. Significance was set at p Results: Patients with steatosis had significantly higher values of BMI, HC, WC, W/H and WHtR. The VFT was higher in patients with steatosis (p 38.5 years correlated with steatosis in HIV-positive patients, namely sensitivity 89%, specificity 72%, AUC 0.84 (95% CI, 0.76–0.93, p Conclusion: In the absence of more advanced radiographic and histological tools, simple anthropometric measurements and VFT could assist in the early identification of persons at risk of hepatic steatosis in low- and middle-income regions.
•Social participation negatively contributes to symptoms of depression in the pandemic situation.•Older adults living in nursing homes have a higher level of depression than those living in their ...homes.•The relationship between social participation and depression remains the same regardless of a person lives in urban or rural areas or resides in a nursing home or their own house.
To determine the predictors and level of social participation and depressive symptoms within the context of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic and investigate if the residence and type of housing had a moderating role in the relationship between social participation and depressive symptoms.
This cross-sectional, comparative, and correlational study was conducted on a sample of 299 participants. Research instruments used in this study included: socio-demographic questionnaire, the Geriatric Depression Scale, the Maastricht Social Participation Profile, and Mini-Mental State Exam.
Social participation was found to contribute negatively to symptoms of depression (β = -0.245, p < .01), with a higher level of depression being found in older adults living in nursing homes (β = -0.152, p < .05).
The study confirmed a strong relationship between social participation and depressive symptoms in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The present study evaluated the assumptions of Interdependence Theory and the Theory of Social Exchange on the role of love exchange in relationship satisfaction in same-sex couples. We used an ...actor-partner interdependence model to examine four different effects on relationship satisfaction: (1.) Personal expression of love - actor effect; (2.) Personal expression of love - partner effect; (3.) Partner's expression of love - actor effect; and (4.) Partner's expression of love - partner effect. The sample included a total of 50 gay and 50 lesbian couples from Serbia (M
age
= 26.65, SD = 7.66). The results yielded that significant predictors of relationship satisfaction are how a person expresses love, how he/she perceived partner's expression of love, and how their partner perceived how he/she expresses love. We also found that the partner's personal expression of love was not a significant predictor of relationship satisfaction. The same predictors are significant for both gay and lesbian couples. This study indicates that a complex dyadic approach is needed when examining the role of the love expression in relationship satisfaction among same-sex couples.
Aims and objectives
To evaluate demographic and occupational factors of professional life on life satisfaction among nurses in Serbia and Poland.
Background
Compassion satisfaction and compassion ...fatigue, as aspects of a nurse's professional life, may affect their satisfaction with life in general. However, most studies on this topic have been conducted in Asian countries, and because there are differences in health care system performance across countries amid a global shortage of nurses, it is necessary to investigate professional quality of life in the European nursing context.
Methods
This multicenter, comparative, and correlational study was conducted on a sample of 669 hospital nurses in Serbia and Poland. The survey data were collected between November 2019 and February 2020 using the Demographic and Occupational Questionnaire (DOQ), Professional Quality‐of‐Life Scale (ProQOL‐5), and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). STROBE Statement guidelines for cross‐sectional studies were followed.
Results
Most nurses from both countries reported having moderate compassion satisfaction, moderate risk for compassion fatigue, and an average life satisfaction. The predictive factors of life satisfaction that most stand out include country of origin, financial situation, education, job satisfaction, and compassion fatigue.
Discussion and conclusion
Quality of professional life is significantly affected by shift duration, age, work experience, and job satisfaction. Negative aspects of professional life are significant predictors of life satisfaction.
Implications for nursing policy
The findings of this study indicate a need for implementing flexible shift patterns and enhancing interventions that will improve job satisfaction and compassion satisfaction while reducing the risk of compassion fatigue.
Rooted in Huston's (2000) model of adjustment in romantic relationships, the present study examined differences in individual and relationship characteristics and the predictive value of those ...characteristics for relationship satisfaction, regarding four groups of participants, based on gender and sexual orientation. The sample included a total of 100 heterosexual couples and 50 male and female homosexual couples each. Of the individual characteristics, need for affect achieves significant both actor and partner effects on relationship satisfaction in all subsamples, except for heterosexual women. A personal expression of love achieves both actor and partner effects on relationship satisfaction for heterosexual and homosexual men. The partner's expression of love (actor effect) on relationship satisfaction was registered in all groups, except for homosexual men. The present study offers the possibility of integrating knowledge of the differences between heterosexual and homosexual couples in the context of the model of adjustment in romantic relationships.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether the application of the Audio Recorded Cognitive Screen (ARCS) in cognitive functioning screening of persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) ...differentiates profiles of existing cognitive deficits (CDs) and whether this instrument can discriminate accurately between subjects who are cognitively intact (CI) and those with a cognitive disorder. Subjects and Methods: The research was conducted on a sample of 359 subjects, with two subsets of participants: 108 persons with a relapsing-remitting form of MS and 251 persons from the general population. Results: We labeled the three profiles obtained by applying the ARCS questionnaire: the CI profile, the profile of CI with visuospatial difficulties, and the profile of persons with CD. Conclusion: ARCS has the ability to differentiate persons with a CD from those without, both in a sample of persons suffering from MS and in a sample of persons from the general population. This finding indicates that this instrument is well suited for profiling the cognitive status into specific categories, which puts it among the instruments with a wide range of implementation.
Most previous studies have examined emotion recognition in autism spectrum condition (ASC) without intellectual disability (ID). However, ASC and ID co-occur to a high degree. The main aims of the ...study were to examine emotion recognition in individuals with ASC and co-occurring intellectual disability (ASC-ID) as compared to individuals with ID alone, and to investigate the relationship between emotion recognition and social functioning.
The sample consisted of 30 adult participants with ASC-ID and a comparison group of 29 participants with ID. Emotion recognition was assessed by the facial emotions test, while. social functioning was assessed by the social responsiveness scale-second edition (SRS-2).
The accuracy of emotion recognition was significantly lower in individuals with ASC-ID compared to the control group with ID, especially when it came to identifying angry and fearful emotions. Participants with ASC-ID exhibited more pronounced difficulties in social functioning compared to those with ID, and there was a significant negative correlation between emotion recognition and social functioning. However, emotion recognition accounted for only 8% of the variability observed in social functioning.
Our data indicate severe difficulties in the social-perceptual domain and in everyday social functioning in individuals with ASC-ID.
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