[Burden and perceived stress among informal caregivers of people suffering from mental disorders]. / Fardeau et stress perçu chez les proches aidants de personnes souffrant de troubles psychiques.

Informal caregivers of people with severe mental illness are particularly at risk of experiencing high levels of burden and perceived stress, which can worsen their global health. In addition, the semi-confinement in 2020 represented a period of additional difficulties for informal caregivers in French-speaking of Switzerland. The burden represents all the negative consequences linked to the informal caregiver role. Perceived stress is the way in which the informal caregiver will perceive a potentially threatening situation, according to their coping strategies and personal resources. Burden and perceived stress can be rapidly assessed in primary care, to suggest useful and effective support interventions to the informal caregivers.

Les proches aidants de personnes atteintes d'un trouble psychique sont particulièrement à risque de vivre des niveaux élevés de fardeau et de stress perçu, ce qui peut détériorer leur état de santé globale. En outre, le semi-confinement de 2020 a représenté une période de difficultés supplémentaires pour les proches en Suisse romande. Le fardeau représente l'ensemble des conséquences défavorables relatives au rôle d'aidant. Le stress perçu est la façon dont le proche aidant va percevoir une situation potentiellement menaçante, selon ses stratégies de coping et ses ressources personnelles. Fardeau et stress perçu peuvent être évalués de façon rapide déjà en soins de première ligne afin de proposer aux proches aidants une orientation vers des interventions de soutien utiles et efficaces.

A randomized controlled trial of a targeted support program for informal caregivers in adult psychiatry.

Background: The importance of informal caregivers for persons with severe mental illness has been demonstrated. However, this role may cause a high care burden that considerably affects caregiver health. The Ensemble program is a five-session brief individual intervention designed to support informal caregivers. This trial aimed to assess the efficacy of the program versus SAU (support as usual) for participants with a high care burden. Methods: A single-center randomized controlled trial including 149 participants was conducted. Caregivers in the intervention arm participated in the Ensemble program. The effects of the intervention were assessed using mixed models for repeated measures analysis of variance on improvements in informal caregivers' psychological health status, optimism levels, burden scores, and quality of life at three time points (T0 = pretest; T1 = posttest at 2 months, and T2 = follow-up at 4 months). Results: Analysis of the Global Psychological Index showed no significant effect at the two endpoints in favor of the Ensemble group. However, the Brief Symptom Inventory-Positive Symptom Distress Index was significantly lower at the two-month follow-up. A significant reduction in burden on the Zarit Burden Interview was observed post-intervention, along with an increase in optimism levels on the Life Orientation Test-Revised at follow-up in the Ensemble group. No significant differences were observed in quality of life. Clinical improvements in both psychological health status and burden levels were also identified. Conclusion: The Ensemble program offers an inclusive approach based on a recovery perspective that significantly reduces symptom distress and burden and increases optimism among informal caregivers.Clinical trial registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov/, NCT04020497.

The qLabs® FIB system, a novel point-of-care technology for a rapid and accurate quantification of functional fibrinogen concentration from a single drop of citrated whole blood.

Hypofibrinogenemia is often associated with excessive bleeding and requires immediate treatment. The qLabs FIB® is a handheld and easy-to-use point-of-care (POC) device designed for the rapid measurement of functional fibrinogen concentration from a single drop of citrated whole blood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the analytical performances of the qLabs FIB system. Fibrinogen concentrations from 110 citrated whole blood specimen were measured by both the qLabs FIB and the Clauss laboratory reference methods (STA®-Liquid Fib assay on STA-R® Max from Stago). A three-laboratories comparison study was conducted to assess reproducibility and repeatability of the qLabs FIB using plasma quality control material. In addition, single-site assays were conducted to assess the repeatability from citrated whole blood specimen covering the qLabs FIB reportable range. A very strong correlation between the qLabs FIB and the Clauss laboratory reference method was observed (r = 0.95). Using a clinical cut-off value of 2.0 g/L, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) of citrated whole blood was 0.99 and sensibility and specificity were 100 % and 93.5 %, respectively. Percent CVs for reproducibility and repeatability assessed from quality control material, were both <5 %. Repeatability assessed from citrated whole blood specimen showed a CV of 2.6 to 6.5 %. In conclusion, the qLabs FIB system enables a rapid and reliable measurement of functional fibrinogen levels from citrated whole blood and exhibits a strong prediction power at the 2 g/L clinical cut-off when compared to the Clauss laboratory reference. Further clinical studies should demonstrate its ability to quickly confirm the diagnosis of acquired hypofibrinogenemia and help identify patients who may benefit from targeted hemostatic treatment.

Women involvement in the informal caregiving field: A perspective review.

The patient recovery process of individual with mental health disorder is reinforced if they are connected with their community and supported by relatives. The literature has shown that caregivers are important, although their roles can lead to alterations in their own health; and women are the most involved in this role. The present review investigated women's involvement in the informal caregiver scientific field. A literature review indicated gender differences; researchers who are women are more interested in this field than men. Even with a good representation of women in this scientific field, the results showed a statistically significant gender difference for the first and second authors, whereas there was no significant gender difference among the last authors. More efforts must be made to recognize the importance of women's involvement in research because they raise a specific important field. Family caregivers are key players in the healthcare system, but to date, there has been little recognition of their enormous contribution. Our results also indicated the informal caregiver role is filled more by women than by men, which creates social inequalities in many domains, especially in opportunities at the professional level. Tailored interventions are required to address the specific needs and issues of family caregivers. A better redistribution of unpaid work, such as informal caregiving, compared to paid work must be made to respect gender in social existence.