Translation and Validation of the Greek Version of the Questionnaire for Assessing Fear of Radiotherapy in Oncology Patients.

This study aims to validate the Greek translation of the Questionnaire for Assessing Fear of Radiotherapy in Oncology Patients (QAFRT). Conducted as a cross-sectional pilot study, it involved 149 cancer patients from two radiotherapy departments in Thessaloniki, Greece. The sample included patients with various cancer types and stages, all of whom were undergoing radiation treatment. The QAFRT, originally containing 15 items measured on a Likert scale, was translated into Greek using the back-translation method. Exploratory factor analysis was performed on the translated version, resulting in a refined 13-item questionnaire encompassing four factors: fear of radiotherapy effectiveness, fear of illness during radiotherapy, fear of radiotherapy's impact on daily life, and fear of side effects and relationships. The reliability of the QAFRT was confirmed with Cronbach's α of 0.82 and intraclass correlation coefficient coefficients ranging from 0.92 to 0.98. The study concludes that the Greek version of the QAFRT is a reliable and valid tool for assessing the fear of radiotherapy in cancer patients, highlighting the need for adequate psychological support for those with high levels of fear.

Parental Resilience and Physical Health in Parents of Children With Type 1 Diabetes in Northern Greece.

BACKGROUND: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is the most common endocrine and metabolic disorder in children. On the other hand, little is known regarding the health of parents whose children suffer from T1DM. AIM: The study aims to investigate the mental resilience and physical health of parents of children with type 1 diabetes. METHODS: The sample consisted of 80 parents of children and adolescents with T1DM.The study was conducted with the contribution of associations of parents of children with type 1 diabetes in a large hospital in Northern Greece between April 2021 and September 2021. A demographic and clinical questionnaire, the Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale-14 (RS-14), and the General Health 28 Physical Health Measurement Questionnaire (GHQ-28) were used to collect the research data. RESULTS: Of the parents, 18.8% were male while 65% were female. The mean age of the parents was 44.02±6.71 years while the age of their children with diabetes was 13.13±6.05 years. Almost half of the children followed intensive insulin treatment (47.5%) whereas 22,5% reported that their children received insulin via a pump. A higher percentage of parents reported measuring their children's blood sugar more than six times a day (46,3%) and having their glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels checked four times a year (51.2%). Finally, statistically significant effects on the physical symptoms and severe depression of parents of children with type 1 diabetes were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Additional research is needed to assess the Greek parent population's resilience and physical health. This study will help healthcare providers to expand their knowledge and meet parents' needs.

Effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy-based interventions on psychological symptoms in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus: An update review of randomized controlled trials.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has long been recognized as a type of psychotherapy for the management of glycemic control and comorbid psychological disorders and symptoms in adults with diabetes, and has been previously reported with varying outcomes. The aim of this scoping review is to evaluate the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in order to determine the effects of CBT on Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients regarding depressive and anxiety symptoms, diabetes distress, and quality of life. An extensive literature search was conducted of the Pubmed, Scopus, Cinahl and Medline electronic databases. The search yielded 349 studies, of which 12 eventually met the entry requirements for RCTs. The majority of the studies included in the current scoping review demonstrated the benefits of CBT intervention in the amelioration of depressive symptoms, diabetes-related distress and quality of life in patients with T2DM. However, some studies reported limited evidence to support the use of CBT as an adjuvant therapy. The considerable levels of heterogeneity associated with most RCTs included warrant caution when interpreting results. The findings of this scoping review demonstrate the positive impact of CBT on depressive symptoms and other psychological aspects of everyday life in patients with T2DM.

Bipolar disorder, mood stabilizers and cognitive flexibility: Translationally dissecting illness from drug effects.

Bipolar disorder (BD) effects on cognition are confounded by the putative cognitive impact of its major pharmacological treatments, given the neurotrophic potential of mood stabilizers, particularly lithium. We examined the area of cognitive flexibility (CF), aiming to disentangle BD from medication effects, using translational methodology. CF was assessed by CANTAB-IED (intra- extra-dimensional shift; Study 1, euthymic BD participants) and its animal analog (Study 2, rats). Both studies included groups (1) control, (2) lithium, chronic, current treatment (LI-CHRON-C, A: > 2 years, N = 32; B: 2 months, N = 11); (3) valproate, chronic, current treatment (VPA-CHRON-C, A: > 2 years, N = 30; B: 2 months, N = 12). Study 2 included 2 additional groups; Group 4: LI-CHRON-PAST (2 months, stopped 1 month pretest, N = 13); Group 5: LI-ACUTE (LI on test days only, N = 13). In Study 1, neither total nor stage (discrimination: D; reversal R; intra- extra-dimensional shifts: IED) IED errors differed between groups [Kruskal-Wallis: H(2, N = 94) 0.95 > p > 0.65]. Similarly in Study 2, errors did not differentiate the 5 pharmacological groups. Differences emerged only between LI-ACUTE and Controls in response latencies (D, R, IED ANOVAS: 0.002 > p > 0.0003; contrasts D, R: p = 0.002, 0.0001). In conclusion, LI and VPA BD patients were indistinguishable from Controls in IED errors, as were animals treated with LI-CHRON, current or past, or VPA-CHRON-C vs Controls. LI-ACUTE treatment produced significant latency deficits vs Controls. Within the limitations of translational comparisons, our results suggest that the normal CF noted in euthymic BDs is not attributable to mood stabilizer effects.

The Impact of Comorbid Diabetes Type 2 on Quality of Life in Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Cancer and diabetes are two highly prevalent diseases worldwide and greatly influence quality of life of those suffering from it. The study aimed to compare quality of life in patients diagnosed with cancer and diabetes with those without diabetes both undergoing chemotherapy and to investigate the factors responsible for the difference between the two groups. METHODS: A convenience sample of 101 participants who had cancer and type 2 diabetes and 99 who had cancer without diabetes were used. RESULTS: Patients with comorbid diabetes were divided based on their diabetes duration and whether they had glycaemic control or not. Diabetic cancer patients without glycaemic control had lower scores in global health status and in physical and emotional functioning compared to diabetic cancer patients with glycaemic control and patients without diabetes (p < .05). After adjusting for demographic characteristics, the differences between the group with diabetes and without glycaemic control and the other two groups regarding global health status were statistically significant (p < .05). Patients with more than a 7-year history of diabetes had a significantly lower emotional functioning than the no diabetes group and lower global health status score than both of the other groups (p < .05). After adjusting for clinical and demographic characteristics, only the difference between the ≥ 7 years diabetes duration group and the no diabetes groups remained significant. CONCLUSION: The presence of diabetes in cancer patients who underwent chemotherapy seems to negatively influence certain domains of quality of life and this may be affected by the duration of diabetes and whether glycaemic control has been achieved or not.

Psychometric Properties, Factor Structure, and Evidence for Measurement Invariance in the Greek Version of the Disgust Scale-Revised (DS-R).

The Disgust Scale has been designed to measure disgust propensity-the individual ease in experiencing disgust. The present study aimed to explore the validity, reliability, the factor structure, and the measurement invariance of the Greek version of the Disgust Scale-Revised (DS-R). A sample of 754 healthy participants completed the Greek version of the DS-R. A subset (n = 363) also completed the revised Symptom checked list and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, in order to examine the concurrent validity. Exploratory and Confirmatory factor analyses in different subsets were used to examine the factor structure. Multiple indicators-multiple causes model (MIMIC) models were used to assess the measurement invariance across gender and age. Demographic influences were assessed using t-tests, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlations. Exploratory factor analysis concluded to two and three factor models, with a factor structure similar to the ones proposed in the literature. Confirmatory factor analysis and bi-factor analysis provided evidence in favor of the three-factor solution. Measurement invariance test revealed differences in six items across gender, and three items across age. The psychometric properties of the factors were satisfactory. Demographic influences on the responses were present, especially with respect to gender. The Greek version of the DS-R demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties, making it suitable for use for the Greek population.

Factors Influencing Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients Six Months after the Completion of Chemotherapy.

PURPOSE: To assess breast cancer patients' quality of life six months after the completion of adjuvant chemotherapy, and to investigate factors affecting this. METHODS: The study was conducted in one large hospital located in a major Greek city. A convenience sample of 61 breast cancer outpatients was recruited. A questionnaire, including the SF-36 scale and questions regarding demographic and clinical information, was used to collect data. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 51.52 ± 12.10. The effect of age on the physical role was significant (p = 0.003). Τhe effect of menopausal status on physical role was also found to be significant (p = 0.003); this might be explained by age. Regarding the treatment type, patients who received hormone therapy in addition to surgery and chemotherapy reported a significantly higher quality of life in terms of bodily pain (p = 0.04) and vitality (p = 0.04) than patients who underwent only surgery and chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Quality of life is affected by factors such as age, menopausal status, and previous therapy. Health care professionals should be more aware of the factors that influence the quality of life domains (physical role, bodily pain, vitality) within this group of cancer patients in order to meet their needs following acute treatment.

Prevalence, Wellbeing, and Symptoms of Dysmenorrhea among University Nursing Students in Greece.

Dysmenorrhea (pain during menstruation) is one of the most common medical conditions among women of reproductive age. Dysmenorrhea has been studied around the world but not yet in Greece. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence, characteristics, and impact of dysmenorrhea on the wellbeing (exercising, and social and academic functioning) among nursing students in Greece. A cross-sectional study of 637 nursing students was conducted by administering a questionnaire at a university in Athens. The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was 89.2% and the rate of severe intensity was 52.5%. Factors that were associated with severe dysmenorrhea were family history (p = 0.02), early menarche (p = 0.05) and menstruation duration (p = 0.05). Women with moderate and severe pain reported using pain relievers (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), paracetamol etc., p < 0.0005). Finally, activities affected by severe pain were class attendance (p = 0.01), personal studying (p < 0.0005), exercising (p < 0.0005), and socializing (p < 0.0005). Exam attendance (p = 0.27) and clinical placement attendance (p = 0.48) were not affected by severe dysmenorrhea. Dysmenorrhea has a high prevalence among nursing students and seems to affect important aspects of wellbeing and academic performance when the pain intensity is severe. The present findings lay the foundation for further investigation of dysmenorrhea both in the Greek population and cross-culturally.