Spirituality and quality of life in older adults: a path analysis model.

BACKGROUND: Study older adults' quality of life is becoming increasingly important in the assessment, quality improvement and allocation of health and social care service. The purpose of this study was to enhance knowledge on the relationship between modifiable (psychological variables) and non-modifiable variables (sociodemographic), and quality of life in elderly, regarding psychological and social variables in Portuguese context. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study, including 604 older adults from general community. 63.6% of the sample was composed by female gender with a mean age of 71.6(SD = 4.81). Participants completed the following instruments: Barthel Index to assess functionality; Satisfaction with Social Support Scale to assess social support; The Spiritual and Religious Attitudes in Dealing with Illness to assess spirituality and Short Form Health Survey 36, to assess mental and physical quality of life. RESULTS: A path analysis model was performed where the presence of a chronic disease, age and functionality has a direct effect on physical quality of life and spirituality had a direct effect on mental quality of life. Social support mediated the relationship between functionality and mental quality of life, and in turn, functionality mediated the relationship between age and physical quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Results reinforce the effect of age and chronic disease as non-modifiable variables as well as functionality, spirituality and satisfaction with social support as modifiable variables, in the quality of life of older people. Social support, health and education programs in the community should be promoted in order to improve quality of life in this population. Strategies to promote functionality and enhance the social support network, especially in the elder with chronic illness, should be a priority.

Automedicação: comportamento de um grupo de estudantes de saúde no ensino superior / Self-medication: behavior of a group of health students in higher education

Introduction: In developed countries, self-medication has become a common practice, especially where over-the-counter medication is possible. Self-medication is considered one of the main public health problems. Aim: To characterize the profile of a group of students in health higher education, in relation to self-medication during their academic career. Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive exploratory study, framed in the quantitative paradigm. 285 students from the Nursing Degree and Physiotherapy Degree courses, a stratified sample, from a private Higher School of Health in northern Portugal, participated. A structured questionnaire was used to gather the necessary information for the study, the data collection period was from October to December 2017. Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS - version 24), using descriptive statistics techniques (univariate and bivariate). Results and Discussion: Participated predominantly female students, with an average age of 21 years. They resort to self-medication, and on their own initiative. The most commonly used drugs were analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs, which were consumed for short periods. The results obtained with the study are in line with others developed in the area. Conclusions: Students self-medicate and base their decision making with knowledge in pharmacology. These results are important for the population where the study was conducted. It is suggested to approach non-pharmacological interventions to treat pain cause that stood out for self-medication

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Nível de e-literacia em saúde em alunos do ensino secundário privado / Level of e-literacy in health in private secondary school students

Introduction: e-literacy in health is related to the use of Internet or other electronic means related to the dissemination or visualization of information about health and / or health services. Objectives: To describe the level of e-literacy in health, in a group of students of a private high school, in the North of Portugal; to relate the level of e-literacy in health with sociodemographic data; to relate the level of e-literacy in health with the contextual variables of the students. Method: Descriptive, correlational and transversal quantitative study. 102 students from the science and technology course of a private high school in the north of Portugal participated. A questionnaire was applied consisting of 3 groups: group I sociodemographic variables; group II consisted of contextual variables and group III constituted by the "eHEALS - eHealth Literacy Scale" scale. Results: Students presented positive levels of e-Literacy in health. They know how to use the Internet to find health information and recognize its usefulness and importance, but did not have confidence in the information obtained when making deci-sions on health. Conclusion: Students present positive levels of e-literacy in health but need guidance to the sources of consultation in order to rely on the information accessed for health project management

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