Ricerca e aggiornamento infermieristico in Nefrologia e Dialisi mediante internet

Lo scopo del lavoro è stato quello di verificare l'attitudine all'utilizzo dei siti di interesse nefrologico da parte degli infermieri di area nefrologica. Lo studio ha incluso 90 infermieri dell'area nefrologica, operanti in corsia, ambulatorio e dialisi degli ospedali di: Pisa, Livorno, Lucca, Lido di Camaiore (Versilia), Volterra, S. Miniato. Il questionario era composto da dieci domande a risposta multipla Sì - No - In Parte, preparato per valutare le conoscenze del personale infermieristico sui siti internet di interesse nefrologico. I risultati dell'indagine dimostrano una scarsa propensione degli infermieri intervistati all'uso di internet quale fonte di aggiornamento professionale. Durante la distribuzione e la raccolta dei test abbiamo sempre trovato molta disponibilità e interesse in tutti i Centri da noi reclutati. L'impressione è che l'interesse per l'aggiornamento sia presente ma sopito negli infermieri e che andrebbe solamente fatto emergere. </jats:p

Convergent validity of five-dimension psychopathology of Addiction: Relationships with aggressive behaviour

Background. In the present study, which continues our programme of five-dimension psychopathology of addiction validation, we have investigated a sample of Heroin Use Disorder (HUD) patients, using SCL-90 and the Buss-Durke Inventory to provide a more precise definition of the psychopathological structure of HUD patients in terms of aggressive behaviour. Methods. Two hundred and forty-two patients were recruited; all of them had received a diagnosis of HUD, according to DSM-5 criteria. Their age was 26.01±4.4 years (age range: 16-42). Of the 242 study participants, 157 (64.9%) were males. We studied correlations between BDI and SCL-90 at the univariate and multivariate canonical correlation analysis to identify and measure the associations that may connect the two separate sets of variables. Results. Recruited patients showed a severe drug addiction history and had a psychopathology and aggressive behaviour severity very similar to those of HUD patients entering treatment. Two different psychopathological profiles, both positively correlated with aggressive behaviour, were found. In the first, where Violence/Suicide is inversely correlated with the Panic Anxiety dimension, violent behaviour (Assault) is directly correlated with Violence/Suicide. Conversely, when Violence/Suicide is directly correlated with Panic Anxiety, this psychopathological cluster also includes opioid withdrawal symptoms and the tendency to a negative affect expressed both in the style, including arguing, shouting, screaming and the content of speech, including threats, curses, and being overcritical (Verbal Aggression). This psychopathological/ behavioural syndrome is indirectly correlated with a covert form of aggressive behaviour marked out by Resentment, Suspiciousness, Worthlessness/Being Trapped and Sensitivity/Psychoticism symptomatology. Conclusions. Violence/ Suicide dimension was confirmed to have a closer relationship with violent behaviour than with suicidality proneness. The correlation between Worthlessness/Being Trapped and Sensitivity/Psychoticism appears to be confirmed again by a questionnaire on aggressive behaviour

Mild behavioral impairment: Presentation of the diagnostic criteria and the Italian version of the MBI-Checklist

SUMMARY. Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are common in the prodromal stage of dementia and can precede the onset of cognitive impairment. The presence of NPS in cognitively normal patients or in patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is associated with an increased risk of progression along the neurodegenerative process. The need to identify, in the early stages of the disease, the population at risk of cognitive decline has led to the formulation of the concept of Mild Behavioral Impairment (MBI). This neurobehavioral syndrome is characterized by late-onset sustained psychiatric symptoms, in patients without cognitive deficits or in those with MCI, identifying a condition associated with an increased probability of conversion into dementia. MBI represents the neurobehavioral axis of pre-dementia risk states, as a complement to the neurocognitive axis of MCI. For some, MBI may be the initial manifestation of neurodegenerative disease, observed before cognitive impairment is apparent. The Mild Behavioral Impairment-Checklist (MBI-C) was developed on the basis of the MBI diagnostic criteria, established by the International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART). The MBI-C allows to identify, in a standardized way, patients with MBI and to follow the course of their neurodegenerative disease. This article describes the creation of the MBI-C scale and presents its Italian version

Symptomatological features of patients with and without Ecstasy use during their first psychotic episode.

BACKGROUND: Ecstasy use is generally chosen by adolescents and young adults for its entactogenic properties (the production of feelings of empathy, love, and emotional closeness to others.) Despite this desired and frequently realized outcome, Ecstasy use has often resulted in the genesis of psychotic symptoms and aggressive behaviors, particularly after chronic and/or intensive use. METHODS: To explore the negative consequences of Ecstasy use and to examine the aggressive nature oftentimes seen in many Ecstasy users we employed a case-control study model. We compared, by means of validated psychometric tests, the psychopathological symptoms (BPRS), the aggressiveness (OAS) and the social adjustment (DSM-GAF) of psychotic patients with (n = 23) and without (n = 46) recent user of Ecstasy, during their first psychotic episode and hospitalization. All 23 Ecstasy users were Ecstasy users only. RESULTS: Almost all of the psychotic symptoms were of similar severity in both groups. Blunted affect was milder in users than in non-users, whereas hostility and aggressive behavior was significantly more severe in users than in non-users. CONCLUSIONS: psychosis with a high level of aggressiveness and violence constitutes an important 'side-effect' that surely runs counter to the expected entactogenic action of Ecstasy. At a patient psycho-educational level, this study suggests that the use of Ecstasy may be counterproductive with respect to user expectations

Discriminant and convergent validity of TEMPS-A[P]. Correlation with Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ32) during a stressful situation.

BACKGROUND: The Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego Questionnaire (TEMPS) has, in its self and rater-wise evaluation form, been designed to evaluate temperamental characteristics in clinical and non-clinical populations. METHODS: In this study we aim to extend the field of correlations of TEMPS to include the Occupational Personality Questionnaire, ipsative version (OPQ32i). These correlations, if present, could provide a partial contribute to the validation process of TEMPS, currently in progress in various countries. OPQ32 is a self-report personality questionnaire designed to give information on an individual's preferred behavior, as assessed in terms of a number of work-related characteristics. In 921 applicants, who were competing to become cadets in the Italian Navy, we assessed, during the entrance examination, the correlations between TEMPS-A[P] and OPQ32i. RESULTS: Depressive temperament implies a low level of ability to relate to others; hyperthymic temperament implies high levels of feelings and emotions, and the capability to relate to people; cyclothymic temperament appears to be distinguished by creativity and a low level of relationships with others; irritable temperament partly overlaps with cyclothymic temperament, the main difference being the higher level of energy and the lower level of empathy of irritable subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The four affective temperaments, in our sample, proved to significantly differ in the work capacity features measured by OPQ32 factors. These observed correlations between the two tests partially contributes to the ongoing validation process of TEMPS-A[P]. From a personality standpoint this study further supports the hypothesis that temperaments belong to the realm of normality rather than that of pathology, in line with their putative adaptive role