Psychometric validation of PROMIS® Anxiety and Depression Item Banks for the Brazilian population.

PURPOSE: Scientific evidence indicates that depression and anxiety symptoms may be understood as risk factors associated with the incidence and progression of chronic diseases. Considering the lack of mental health assessment tools that meet strict methodological standards, the authors have chosen to validate the psychometric properties of Anxiety and Depression Item Banks - Emotional Distress domain of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) for the Brazilian population. METHODS: In this study, 606 adults responded to the self-administered Anxiety and Depression Item Banks, which were calibrated using Factor Analyses (Exploratory and Confirmatory analysis) and adjustment of the Graded Response Model. Transcultural validity was assessed by Differential Item Functioning (DIF). RESULTS: The two-factor analysis confirmed the unidimensionality of Emotional Distress Items (CFI = 0.96, TLI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.05). The residual correlation matrix did not identify item pairs with local dependence. Indicators marked with DIF presented a low impact for gender, age, and language variables. The instrument demonstrated greater reliability in the moderate-severe range, indicating that the error reduction is reflected in the - 1.0 to + 3.0 amplitude. CONCLUSION: The psychometric measurements of Anxiety and Depression Item Banks in the Brazilian version were equivalent to those in the original version. Additional research contemplating patients with different levels of emotional distress are necessary to better comprehend the results obtained in this study.

Cross-cultural adaptation to Portuguese of a measure of satisfaction with participation of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS(r)).

BACKGROUND: Mental disorders often impair functioning in several areas of life and lead to unhappiness and suffering that may affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Satisfaction with participation is an indicator of HRQoL, and its measurement by patients reflects the impact of disease on their social, emotional and professional life. The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS(r)) offers an item bank based on item response theory. This system provides efficient, reliable and valid self-report instruments of satisfaction with participation, a measure that is both scarce and useful in the assessment of mental disorder outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To cross-culturally adapt the PROMIS(r) satisfaction with participation item bank to Portuguese. METHODS: Cross-cultural adaptation followed the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) multilingual translation method and was achieved through steps of forward and backward translations, review by bilingual experts (one of them a native of Portugal) and pretesting in a group of 11 adult native Brazilians. Instrument adaptation followed a universal approach to translation, with harmonization across languages. RESULTS: Equivalence of meaning was achieved. As two of the 26 translated items, which asked about leisure and social activities, were not understood by less educated participants, an explanation in parentheses was added to each item, and the problem was solved. All items were appropriate and did not cause embarrassment to the participants. CONCLUSIONS: The satisfaction with participation item bank is culturally and linguistically suitable to be used in Brazil. After the pretest is applied in Portugal and in other Portuguese-speaking countries, the same instrument will be ready to be used in multinational studies.

Psychometric properties of the Autoquestionnaire Qualité de Vie Enfant Imagé (AUQEI) applied to children with cerebral palsy.

BACKGROUND: Quality of life (QL) assessments of children with incapacitating diseases, such as cerebral palsy (CP), have often been conducted with the help of the representatives of a child, making QL assessment more subjective. The Autoquestionnaire Qualité de Vie Enfant Imagé (AUQEI) is a QL assessment designed for children to self-report-it uses images to facilitate the reporting process. OBJECTIVE: evaluate the psychometric properties of AUQEI when responses are given by children with CP. FINDINGS: Children aged 4 to 12 years (45 with CP and 45 healthy children) gave responses to the questionnaire. The data quality, reliability and validity were assessed. The data loss rate ranged from 8.8% to 46.7%, and was highest for the "autonomy" factor. No floor or ceiling effect was detected. The success rate for reliability of the internal consistency of the items was less than 80% for the "autonomy" factor. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.71 for the instrument and less than 0.5 for the factors. All the factors had a success rate of greater than 80% for the discriminating validity of the items. The factors did not have correlations between each other, thus indicating adequate discriminating validity. Convergent validity was tested and a significant correlation was demonstrated only between the AUQEI "functioning" factor and the Child Health Questionnaire--50-Item (CHQ-PF50) physical summary score (r = 0.31, p = 0.042). The AUQEI scores did not have correlations with the gross motor function scores (p>0.05) as expected for divergent validity. Regarding construct validity, the total AUQEI score obtained by the CP group was lower (median: 47.3) than that of the healthy group (median: 51.0) (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The AUQEI was shown to be a reliable and valid instrument for assessing children with CP when the total score was used. Convergent validity should continue to be tested in future studies.

Health-related quality of life and depressive symptoms in undergraduate nursing students.

This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study aimed at investigating the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of nursing students and its relationship with year of training, sociodemographic variables and the intensity of depressive symptoms. A convenience sample of 256 students, out of 353 eligible (72%), responded to the Medical Outcomes Study - The 36 Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) (self-administered). Final-year students, females and students with a higher intensity of depressive symptoms presented lower SF-36 scores in the physical functioning, vitality and social functioning domains. Institutional psychopedagogic support programs may minimize this negative impact on the HRQoL and encourage better professional performance of students in higher vulnerability situations.

[Quality of life of caregivers of overweight or obese children and adolescents]. / Qualidade de vida de cuidadores de crianças e adolescentes com sobrepeso ou obesidade.

This study evaluated the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of caregivers of overweight and obese children and adolescents. Three-hundred and sixty caregives of children and adolescents (ages ranging from 9 to 12 years) diagnosed with overweight (n=96; average age 11.1 years), obesity (n=62; average age 10.9 years) and eutrophy (n=202; average age 10.7 years), regular students of public and private schools in Uberlândia (Minas Gerais), were invited to answer The 36 item Short Form Questionnaire (SF-36). The scores obtained were compared according to the body mass index (BMI) of the children and adolescents, and no significant differences were found between caregivers of overweight, obese and etrophic children and adolescents. Hence, there is no harm to the HRQL of caregivers of overweight and obese children and adolescents.

Not telling the truth in the patient-physician relationship.

The presence of truth and honesty is a permanent demand, and becomes vital the more committed and intimate a relationship is. Medical practice is relevant to this discussion when one questions whether or not a physician should always tell their patient the truth in the face of a progressive or potentially fatal disease, regarding their diagnosis, outcome, therapy and evolution of the specific disease. From this discussion we aim, with the present report, to look at the truth applicable to the patient-physician relationship, and its ethical and moral implications; and also to look at where the Brazilian Code of Medical Ethics (BCME) and the medical literature stand regarding this issue. One concludes that there are only two moments not to tell a patient the truth: when the patient does not want to be informed, and when the truth could be iatrogenic. The question now is, when would the truth be iatrogenic? Physicians, in our opinion, would not be able to judge solitarily when the truth might be deleterious to their patient. Alternatively, we proposed the appointment of a multidisciplinary commission to help the doctor with such a decision.