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Motivational interviewing (MI)-based interventions can be effective for people living with HIV (PLWHIV) with medical follow-up problems. This study aimed to assess the stage of motivation to attend medical appointments of PLWHIV with medical follow-up problems and to evaluate a single telephone session MI intervention directed to engage them in care. The change in stage was evaluated before and after the intervention, and attending medical appointments was monitored for six months. Thirty-nine PLWHIV participated; 51.3% were in precontemplation/contemplation and 49.7% in preparation/action stage. Most (excluding those in the action stage from the beginning) (n = 22, 71.0%) advanced to another stage after the intervention (z = - 4.235, p < .001), and most did not miss the following appointments. Brief and remote MI interventions could be useful in low-resource settings, especially for those in the early stages of change, to explore motivations related with missing medical appointments., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Anticipation of trust from someone with high social closeness is expected. However, if there is uncertainty in the interaction because a person is a stranger or because he has distrusted us on another occasion, we need to keep track of his behavior and intentions. Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) we wanted to find the brain regions related to trust anticipation from partners who differ in their level of social closeness. We designed an experiment in which 30 participants played an adapted trust game with three trustors: A computer, a stranger, and a real friend. We covertly manipulated their decisions in the game, so they trusted 75% of the trials and distrusted in remaining trials. Using a psychophysiological interaction analysis, we found increases in functional coupling between the anterior insula (AIns) and intra parietal sulcus (IPS) during trust anticipation between a high versus low social closeness partner. Also, the right parietal cortex was coupled with the fusiform gyrus (FG) and the inferior/middle temporal gyrus during trust anticipation of a friend versus a stranger. These results suggest that brain regions involved in encoding the intentions of others are recruited during trust anticipation from a friend compared to a stranger., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Heart failure (HF) is a chronic disease that acutely and progressively reduces physical functionality. The patient commonly suffers from intermittent relapses that increase the likelihood of comorbidities such as chronic insomnia, cognitive impairment, alterations in sexual response, psychological distress, symptoms of anxiety and depression disorder, and decreased self-care behaviors. The objective of this study was to identify the main needs for psychological support in patients with HF., Methodology: A descriptive, cross-sectional and analytical study was carried out. Participants were selected through consecutive non-probability samples. 150 patients with a diagnosis of HF who attended the Specialized Center for Heart Failure at the National Institute of Cardiology “Ignacio Chávez” were evaluated from November 2018 to April 2019, applying the inventories: Quality of life in patients with HF (Minnesota), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), psychological distress thermometer (visual analog scale) and the HF Patient Information Needs Inventory., Results: 33% of the patients perceive a high level of psychological distress that requires immediate assistance and 26.6% report a medium level that requires monitoring. The main information needs reported by the patients were information on taking medications (53.7%) and managing psychological distress (43.9%)., Conclusion: Active assessment of psychological distress and unmet information needs is relevant in patients with heart failure, thus highlighting the importance of their identification and the correct design and application of evidence-based interventions aimed at their resolution.

Background: Prostate cancer is the most frequent neoplasm in Mexican men, the research literature contains few studies that address prostate cancer patients and quality of life in Mexico., Objective: To validate the Functional Assessment Cancer therapy (FACT-P) scale., Method: 201 males 49 to 90 years of age, at any clinical stage of prostate cancer, under treatment or follow-up participated. It's a non-experimental cross-sectional study. Patients were evaluated through the FACT-P jointly with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Exploratory analysis examined the factorial structure, and confirmatory analysis to evaluate the adjustment of the exploratory model to the data., Results: A four-factor model that explained 64.65% of the variance, Cronbach's alpha 0.79, and correlations were statistically significant, Pearson's r of 0.146-0.716, p < 0.01 and p < 0.05. Analyses also distinguished metastatic patients from non-metastatic ones. The main indices of the confirmatory model were satisfactory for the adjustment of data and showed an estimate error close to zero., Conclusions: This Mexican version of FACT-P showed reliability and validity comparable to the original one., (Copyright: © 2020 Permanyer.)

Objective: This study examined the course and predictors of supportive care needs among Mexican breast cancer patients for different cancer treatment trajectories., Methods: Data from 172 (66.4% response rate) patients were considered in this observational longitudinal study. Participants were measured after diagnosis, neoadjuvant treatment, surgery, adjuvant treatment, and the first post-treatment follow-up visit. Psychological, Health System and Information, Physical and Daily Living, Patient Care and Support, Sexual, and Additional care needs were measured with the Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS-SF34). Linear mixed models with maximum-likelihood estimation were computed., Results: The course of supportive care needs was similar across the different cancer treatment trajectories. Supportive care needs declined significantly from diagnosis to the first post-treatment follow-up visit. Health System and Information care needs were the highest needs over time. Depressive symptoms and time since diagnosis were the most consistent predictors of changes in course of supportive care needs of these patients., Conclusions: Health system and information care needs of Mexican breast cancer patients need to be addressed with priority because these needs are the least met. Furthermore, patients with high depressive symptoms at the start of the disease trajectory have greater needs for supportive care throughout the disease trajectory., (© 2018 The Authors. Psycho-Oncology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The aim of this paper is to describe educational programs that reportedly teach how to break bad news in the emergency department. We also suggest some recommendations on how to communicate bad news based on the research of evidence available in the field. The examined evidence points toward six major components with which physicians should familiarize when communicating bad news: 1) doctor-patient empathic communication, 2) establishing a proper space to give the news, 3) identifying characteristics of the person who receives the news, 4) essential aspects for communicating the news; 5) emotional support, and 6) medical and administrative aspects of the encounter. Finally, we point out several limitations in the studies in the field and future challenges identified in the communication of bad news in emergency room facilities.

Purpose: Mexican breast cancer patients are generally diagnosed in advanced stages of the disease and often experience delays in cancer treatment delivery. Currently, little is known about these patients' psychological care needs. This study assessed levels and correlates of supportive care needs of Mexican breast cancer patients around the time of cancer diagnosis., Methods: One hundred seventy-three newly diagnosed Mexican breast cancer patients participated in the study. Supportive care needs, anxiety, depression, and patients' sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were assessed. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine factors associated with care needs., Results: Up to 44% of patients showed unmet care needs. Health system/information needs were the most prevalent (68%), while physical/daily living needs the least (19%). Level of depressive symptoms was most consistently related to care needs. Patients with higher levels of depressive symptoms had higher psychological (β = 0.38), physical/daily living (β = 0.43), patient care/support (β = 0.17), and additional unmet care needs (β = 0.30), than patients with lower levels of depressive symptoms., Conclusions: This study suggests that mainly health system/information needs arise at the time of cancer diagnosis among Mexican breast cancer patients. Patients suffering high levels of depressive symptoms reported the highest levels of unmet needs. Future studies should be conducted to elucidate the care needs throughout the disease trajectory, as such information can inform health care professionals and policy makers and lead to improvements in the organization and provision of health care services for Mexican breast cancer patients.

Objectives: To evaluate the association between variables related to stress, reasons, and depression, and adherence to treatment in HIV-positive individuals, and to analyze the robustness according to a theoretical psychology model., Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 25 female and 39 male HIV-positive participants receiving services at the Outpatient Center for Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS and Sexually-transmitted Diseases (Centro Ambulatorio para la Prevención y Atención del VIH/Sida e Infecciones de Transmisión Sexual) in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. The psychological variables, the degree of treatment adherence, stress-related circumstances, and the severity of depression were examined. Rates were calculated for the key variables associated with stress, reasons, and depression. The associations among variables were determined by multiple regression., Results: During the month preceding the study, 65.6% of the 64 participants reported having faithfully followed the prescribed treatment, while 34.4% had failed, in some way, to follow the treatment (chi(2) = 6.250; P = 0.012). Regression analysis found that there was only one combination, an intermediate level of stress linked to tolerance of uncertainty and low levels of depression, that was significantly associated (F [3.58] = 3.298; P = 0.027) with adherence to treatment; the combination of these two variables explained 38.2% of the total variance found., Conclusions: The combination of stress levels with tolerance of uncertainty and depression could be used as a predictor for true compliance with prescribed treatment plans. These results should be taken into account when designing intervention and treatment-adherence campaigns in HIV-positive individuals.

On the basis of consistent antecedents linking anxiety and maladaptive problems such as school failure, substance abuse, and somatic complaints, a retrospective study was conducted in order to gain understanding of more specific parenting variables related to anxiety in 3,432 Mexican adolescents. Data were collected through the application of the Health, Lifestyles and Behavior Inventory which contains sections measuring typical psychological complaints, family interaction and child-rearing practices, and socioeconomic variables. Factor analysis produced three anxiety-related factors and two parent-child interaction factors. Significant negative correlations were found between desirable father-child and mother-child interactions for all three anxiety factors.