Search

Background: Adolescents and young adults (AYAs; ages 15-29 years) diagnosed with cancer are increasingly recognized as an oncology population with distinct psychosocial needs. However, few specialized psychosocial interventions for AYAs currently exist. This study reports on the development of a novel group-based psychotherapy intervention to address the psychosocial needs of AYAs. The objective was to evaluate the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effects of the intervention., Methods: The manualized group psychotherapy program is delivered virtually over an 8-week period by registered psychologists. Four groups (n = 5-11 AYAs per group) with a total of N = 33 participants (M age  = 20.97 years, SD = 3.68, range = 15-29 years, 76% women) were conducted. Recruitment and retention data assessed intervention feasibility. Patient-reported psychosocial outcomes were measured at baseline and immediately following the intervention to assess preliminary effects. Acceptability was assessed following the intervention using a self-report measure of participant satisfaction., Results: Overall, the completion rate of the intervention was 85% (n = 28). All participants "strongly agreed" (88%) or "agreed" (13%) that they were satisfied with the group. Meeting, sharing experiences, and expressing feelings with other AYAs were identified as the most helpful aspects. Participants reported significant improvements in emotional (p < 0.05) and functional (p < 0.01) quality of life from baseline to immediately post-intervention with medium effect sizes (d = 0.58-0.70)., Conclusions: Findings suggest that the intervention is feasible, acceptable, and shows promise for improving psychosocial outcomes for AYAs. Further research will refine the intervention and establish efficacy in a randomized trial., (© 2024 The Authors. Psycho‐Oncology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objective: Bodily threat monitoring is a core clinical feature of Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) and is targeted in psycho-oncology treatments, yet no comprehensive self-report measure exists. The aim of this study was the theory-informed development and initial validation of the Bodily Threat Monitoring Scale (BTMS)., Methods: Adult survivors of breast and gynaecological cancers (Study 1: N = 306, age = 37-81 years) and childhood cancer survivors (Study 2: N = 126, age = 10-25 years) completed the BTMS, designed to assess how individuals monitor for and interpret uncertain symptoms as indicating that something is wrong with their body. Participants completed measures to assess construct and criterion validity of the BTMS, and childhood cancer survivors (Study 2) completed the BTMS again 2 weeks later to assess test-retest reliability., Results: The 19-item BTMS demonstrated excellent internal consistency across adult and childhood cancer samples (α = 0.90-0.96). Factor analyses indicated two subscales capturing 1. Monitoring of bodily sensations and 2. Threatening interpretations of bodily sensations. Two-week stability estimates were acceptable. For construct validity, the BTMS correlated with body vigilance and anxiety sensitivity. The BTMS also demonstrated criterion validity, yielding significant associations with FCR, intolerance of uncertainty, help-seeking behaviours, and quality of life. The BTMS was associated with FCR while controlling for body vigilance and anxiety sensitivity, indicating a unique contribution of this theory-informed measure., Conclusions: The BTMS shows evidence of sound psychometric properties and could be used to elucidate the role of bodily threat monitoring in the maintenance and management of FCR., (© 2023 The Authors. Psycho-Oncology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Burnout is defined as an occupational phenomenon linked to chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed and included among the factors influencing health status or contact with health services. Although several studies were performed for assessing this phenomenon, there is a lack of data on the prevalence of burnout and associated predictors, due to different definitions of the syndrome and heterogeneity of assessment methods. One of the well-known evidences on burnout is related to the highest risk professions, which include policemen, firemen, teachers, psychologists, medical students, nurses, physicians, and other health professionals, such as pharmacists. Objective . The aims of the present study were to (1) assess the occurrence of burnout syndrome among a sample of pharmacists employed in public and private pharmacies located in Rome province (Latium Region; central Italy); (2) evaluate the role of some potential predictors for the development of the syndrome. Materials and Methods . A questionnaire elaborated ad hoc was administered online to 2,000 members of the Association of Professional Pharmacists of Rome and its province and employed in public or private pharmacies. The questionnaire included the 14-item Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM) tool and questions on demographic characteristics and working conditions. Results . Physical exhaustion was the burnout dimension with the highest score; besides, approximately 11% of the studied pharmacists were categorized as having clinically relevant burnout levels (≥4.40). Several of the investigated variables significantly influenced the single burnout dimensions at the univariate analyses; multivariate analyses demonstrated that alcohol consumption and workplace location have a significant independent role on the overall SMBM index, while working time significantly influences clinically relevant burnout level. Conclusions . The results revealed that pharmacists are at risk of burnout, and thus, it is necessary to perform specific preventive intervention for managing this occupational threat., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest that may have affected this study., (Copyright © 2019 Carmela Protano et al.)

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2018/7649085.]., (Copyright © 2019 Simone De Sio et al.)

Introduction: The perception of psychosocial risks exposes workers to develop work-related stress. Recently the attention of scientific research has focused on a psychosocial risk already identified as "job insecurity" that regards the "overall concern about the continued existence of the job in the future" and that also depends on worker's perception, different for each gender., Aim of the Study: The aim of this cross sectional study is to show if job insecurity, in the form of temporary contracts, can influence the perception of psychosocial risks and therefore increase worker's vulnerability to work-related stress and how the magnitude of this effect differs between genders., Materials and Methods: 338 administrative technical workers (113 males and 225 females) were administered a questionnaire, enquiring contract typology (permanent or temporary contracts), and the Health Safety Executive questionnaire to assess work-related stress. The Health Safety Executive Analysis Tool software was used to process collected questionnaires and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to evaluate the statistical significance of the differences obtained., Results: Workers with temporary contracts obtained lower scores than workers with permanent contracts in all the domains explored by the Health Safety Executive Analysis questionnaire, statistically significant (P<0,05). The female workers obtained lower scores than male workers in all domains explored by the Health Safety Executive questionnaire., Conclusions: Authors conclude that perception of psychosocial risks can be influenced by job insecurity, in the form of temporary contracts, and increases worker's vulnerability to work-related stress and differs between genders.

A previous preliminary investigation based on a novel MRI approach to map anatomical connectivity revealed areas of increased connectivity in Alzheimer's disease (AD) but not in mild cognitive impairment patients. This prompted the hypothesis tested here, that these areas might reflect phenomena of brain plasticity driven by acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs). Thirty-eight patients with probable AD (19 under medication with AChEIs and 19 drug-naïve) were recruited together with 11 healthy controls. All subjects had MRI scanning at 3T, including volumetric and diffusion-weighted scans. Probabilistic tractography was used to initiate streamlines from all parenchymal voxels, and anatomical connectivity maps (ACMs) were obtained by counting, among the total number of streamlines initiated, the fraction passing through each brain voxel. After normalization into standard space, ACMs were used to test for between-group comparisons, and for interactions between the exposure to AChEIs and global level of cognition. Patients with AD had reduced ACM values in the fornix, cingulum, and supramarginal gyri. The ACM value was strongly associated with the AChEI dosage-x-duration product in the anterior limb (non-motor pathway) of the internal capsule. Tractography from this region identified the anterior thalamic radiation as the main white matter (WM) tract passing through it. The reduced connectivity in WM bundles connecting the hippocampi with the rest of the brain (fornix/cingulum) suggests a possible mechanism for the spread of AD pathology. An intriguing explanation for the interaction between AChEIs and ACM is related to the mechanisms of brain plasticity, partially driven by neurotrophic properties of acetylcholine replacement., (Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

This study investigates the differential contribution of gray matter (GM) atrophy and deafferentation through white matter (WM) damage in the clinical progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Thirty-one patients with probable AD, 23 with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI), and 14 healthy subjects underwent MRI scanning at 3T. Voxel-based morphometry was used to assess regional GM atrophy in AD and a-MCI patients. Diffusion tensor-MRI tractography was used to reconstruct the cingulum bilaterally, and to quantify, voxel-by-voxel, its fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) (measures of microscopic WM integrity). Atrophy of the cinguli was also assessed by means of jacobian determinants (JD) of local transformations. In AD patients, four clusters of reduced GM were found nearby the cinguli, in the posterior (PCC) and anterior cingulate cortex, and in the hippocampal/parahippocampal areas. Widespread areas of reduced FA and increased MD were found in the cinguli of both, AD and a-MCI patients. A region of macroscopic atrophy was detectable in AD patients only. Strong associations were found between local GM densities in the four identified clusters, and measures of micro- and (to a lesser extent) macroscopic damage of patients' cinguli. Linear regression analyses revealed that MD in the cinguli predicts patients' measures of episodic memory in combination with GM density of hippocampal/parahippocampal areas, and measures of global cognition in combination with GM density of the PCC. This study indicates that brain deafferentation though the cingulum is likely to play a remarkable role in progressive development of cognitive impairment in AD., (Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Background and Aims: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder in which the patients can exhibit some behavioural disturbances in addition to cognitive impairment. The aims of the present study were to investigate the relationship between severity and rate of decline of the cognitive and behavioural impairment in patient with AD., Methods: 54 AD patients were assessed at baseline and after 12 months with the Mental Deterioration Battery (MDB), the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive (ADAS-Cog) and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-10)., Results: MDB was more accurate than ADAS-Cog in the early diagnosis of AD. Conversely, ADAS-Cog was more sensitive at revealing the progression of cognitive decline. Depression, Apathy and Anxiety are the most frequent and severe behavioural disturbances at baseline. At follow-up Delusions and Irritability increased significantly. Significant correlations were observed between severity of cognitive impairment and behavioural disorders both at baseline and in the progression rate passing from T0 to T12., Conclusions: Severity and progression rate of behavioural and cognitive alterations in patients with AD are significantly associated.