RESUMO
Previous research focused on the conventional approaches to test psychometric characteristics of the Night Eating Questionnaire (NEQ). The purpose of this research was to examine the psychometric properties of the Night Eating Questionnaire using the Rasch model in a sample of university students. The study was carried out from November 2018 to March 2019 on 300 students in health sciences at the University of Pristina temporarily seated in Kosovska Mitrovica, who completed the NEQ. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) suggested that the Serbian version mirrored the original NEQ structure: Goodness of fit index = 0.978, Comparative fit index = 0.996, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.995, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.011 and Standardized Root Mean Square Residual = 0.057. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the total scale was 0.627. The Rasch analysis showed that the item separation index classified the items into six groups based on their level of difficulty. The person reliability index separated well night eaters from day eaters. Few items did not fit the adequate range for the infit/outfit statistics. Overall, there were several groups of NEQ items that have a distinctive difficulty level, but the difference was not a remarkable one. This means that most students did not have night eating syndrome (NES), despite various levels of item difficulty. The NEQ performs well in the efforts to distinguish people who eat and do not eat at night. Most students reported conventional eating patterns and only a few had NES. The properties of the NEQ warrant its use in further night eating research.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Due to its deep penetration into the dermis, ultraviolet A (UVA) radiation is considered a primary factor in skin photoaging. The aim of this study is to use a qualitative and quantitative analysis to determine the structural parameters of skin photoaging in mice exposed to UVA radiation, with or without the application of a photoprotective cream. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The experiment consisted of the radiation of female BALBc mice in a solarium by UVA rays, up to total dosages of 7800 J/cm² and 12500J/cm². A total of 78 animals were divided into 4 experimental and 2 control groups. All animals were shaved and the animals in 2 experimental groups were treated with a photoprotective cream half an hour before exposure. The samples of the treated skin were stained with Hematoxylin-eosin and Van-Gieson staining methods. All measurements, except for the presence of dyskeratosis, were taken using ImageJ 150i software. RESULTS: In the study, the signs of skin photoaging were more evident in untreated groups of animals. Dysceratosis was more frequent in both of the untreated groups of animals (p=0.004) and (p=0.003). The lowest values of epidermal thickness (13.8± 2.6µm and 12.7±2.3µm) were present in both of the untreated groups of animals (p<0.001) and (p<0.001). The highest values of stratum corneum thickness (34.3±8.5µm) were observed in the untreated, shorter radiated group of animals (p<0.001) which was irradiated for the shortest period of time. Beside the control groups, the highest length of dermo-epidermal junction (DEJ) was recorded in the group of treated, longer radiated animals (1467.6±94.6µm) (p=0.373). The lowest values of dermal thickness (115.9±10.5µm and 134.8±21.8µm) and volumetric density of the collagen fibers (31.92±3.19% and 29.40±4.54%) were present in both untreated groups of animals (p<0.001), (p<0.001), (p=0.035). CONCLUSIONS: Skin photoaging was most pronounced in the groups of animals irradiated without the application of photoprotective cream.
