1,721,022 research outputs found
Diagnostic criteria for psychosomatic research (DCPR) in fibromyalgia patients
No full textIntroduction: Although many studies highlighted the importance of the psychological component associated with Fibromyalgia (FM), few studies investigated the clinical utility of the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) in FM. The aim is to investigate the prevalence of psychosomatic syndromes, as assessed with the DCPR, in a group of FM patients and to evaluate their impact on the psychosocial functioning. Methods: Two groups of 101 patients with FM or Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) were assessed using the DCPR, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the SF-36 that evaluates the physical (SF-36_PC) and mental (SF-36_MC) component of health related quality of life.
Results: The results indicated a significantly higher prevalence of psychosomatic syndromes in the somatization (persistent somatization: 64.4% vs 14.9%; conversion symptoms: 48.5% vs 6.9%; anniversary reaction: 45.5% vs 17.8%), irritability (type A behavior: 57.4% vs 34.7%; irritable mood: 40.6% vs 24.8%), and demoralization (51.5% vs 17.8%) clusters of the DCPR in FM compared to RA patients. The multiple linear regression indicated that, even controlling for depressive (p< .001) and anxiety symptoms (p= .027), abnormal illness behavior (p= .006), somatization (p= .021) and demoralization (p= .025) were statistically significant contributing factors in explaining the negative impact of FM on the SF-36_MC. Conclusion: The data confirmed a very high prevalence of psychosomatic syndromes in FM patients. Furthermore, psychosomatic syndromes showed a predictive validity in detecting a low health-related quality of life in FM patients, highlighting the clinical utility of the DCPR in detecting patients’ psychosocial dysfunction.
The clinical utility of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Personality Disorders (SCID-5-PD) and of the Structured Interview of Personality Organization (STIPO) will also be briefly discussed in order to provide an overview on the existing diagnostic instruments
Stressful life events in fibromyalgia: a case-control study
No full textBackground. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of traumatic events in a group of patients with Fibromyalgia (FM), compared to patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), and to investigate its association with the clinical and psychological variables.
Materials and Methods. Two groups of 101 women with FM and 101 women with RA, matched for age and years of education, were assessed with: Traumatic Experiences Checklist (TEC), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the SF-36 for the health-related quality of life (HRQoL).
Results. FM patients reported significantly higher levels of pain, anxiety and depressive symptoms and a lower HRQoL compared to RA patients (all p <0.001). Regarding alexithymia, FM patients showed higher difficulties in identify feelings compared to RA patients (p <0.001).
Data on the traumatic experiences highlighted a significantly higher number of negative life events in FM (TEC – total score) and a significant higher global impact (TEC - composite score), compared to RA patients (p <0.001). In particular, 57.4% FM vs 22.8% RA patients reported the presence of emotional neglect, and 50.5% FM vs 15.8% RA patients reported the presence of emotional abuse. However, in FM patients, the presence of traumatic experiences seems not to have a direct relationship nor on the clinical neither on the psychological distress variables.
Conclusion. The present study revealed a higher prevalence of lifetime trauma in FM patients compared to RA patients. Furthermore, FM patients showed greater impairment in the ability to identify their own emotions.
Nevertheless, the higher prevalence of traumatic experiences seems not to have a direct relation with FM symptoms, although FM patients had a worst quality of life and higher pain and psychological distress compared to the RA patients
Personality matters: relationship between personality characteristics, spirituality, demoralization, and perceived quality of life in a sample of end-of-life cancer patients
Full text linkPurpose: Personality could be an interesting dimension to explore in end-of-life cancer patients, in order to investigate how personality affects quality of life. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the relationship among personality through the Big Five Inventory (BFI), spirituality, and demoralization and to explore their impact on their quality of life. Methods: A sample of 210 end-of-life Italian cancer patients were assessed with the BFI, the Demoralization Scale (DS), the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being (FACIT-SP-12), the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Scale–General Measure (FACT-G), and the Karnofsky performance status. Results: Correlational analysis highlighted a significantly negative relationship between extraversion and agreeableness traits and all the demoralization dimensions. On the other side, neuroticism trait was significantly and positively correlated with the Demoralization Scale (p < 0.01). To understand the impact of these variables on quality of life (FACT-G), we performed a hierarchical multiple regression: in the final model, demoralization remained the strongest contributing factor (β = − 0.509, p < 0.001), followed by neuroticism (β = − 0.175, p < 0.001), spirituality (β = 0.163, p = 0.015), and Karnofsky index (β = 0.115, p = 0.012). Conclusion: Our data underlined how both the neuroticism trait and demoralization are correlated with a worst health status in terminal cancer patients, whereas spirituality is a protective factor. The study of personality may allow to better understand the inner patient’s experience and improve communication between patient and healthcare staff in order to build and apply better-tailored psychological treatment
Utility of the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research in assessing psychological disorders in fibromyalgia patients
Full text linkThe data confirmed the clinical utility of the DCPR in detecting psychological disorders in FM patients. The results highlighted a very high prevalence of psychosomatic syndromes in FM patients, who displayed an average of more than 4 psychosomatic syndromes each, with every patient displaying at least one. Furthermore, psychosomatic syndromes indicated predictive validity with respect to a poor health-related quality of life in FM patients
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