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The self-concept, its importance has been widely investigated in different areas of knowledge and involved in numerous clinical situations, and is considered an entity in different vulnerable psychopathological disorders in women. We conducted a study aiming to identify some psychological characteristics that influence and / or predictors of self-concept in women, specifically, alexithymia and assertiveness. In this study, descriptive, correlational and cross, the instrument of data collection was composed of scales (validated in the Portuguese population); Self-concept Clinical Inventory (SCCI) Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS20) and Rathus Assertiveness Scale (RAS). The convenience sample consisted of 104 female students in the Bachelor of Nursing, aged between 18 and 35 years, mean age 19,32 years and standard deviation 1,7. The self-concept varied between 58 and 94 (minimum-maximum), with an mean of 74,06 and 72,00 of mode. Correlational study found that alexithymia (TAS20) (rho=−,426; p=,000) and its factors: identifying feelings (F1-TAS20) (rho=−,270; p=,006), describe feelings (F2-TAS20) (rho=−,392; p=,000) and externally oriented thinking (F3-TAS20) (rho=,372; p=,000) correlated negatively and highly significantly with self-concept. Assertiveness correlated positively and highly significantly with self-concept (rho=,412; p=,000). Through hierarchical multiple regression predictor variables emerged as the self-concept: alexithymia (2,25%;p=,000 negative contribution), assertiveness (2,64%; p=,002 positive contribution) externally oriented thinking (2,92%; p=,008 negative contribution). We conclude that the implementation of strategies which promote personal and social development and personal and social skills of women, particularly assertiveness and expression of emotions are essential to a better self-concept and consequently to the mental health of women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the general population in Portugal is estimated to be 30%. It is already known that many patients who present a psychiatric disorder do not seek a medical doctor, in part because they do not recognise their illness but also because of stigma associated to these disorders. Mental health promotion programs for schools are believed to help overcome these difficulties. Objectives: To analyse the knowledge on mental health issues and psychiatric disorders of Portuguese school students from the 7th to the 12th grade, and to assess their contact and interactions with patients who have a psychiatric disorder. Methods: Five students from each class at Pedro Alexandrino high school were selected and they were asked to answer to a questionnaire. Data collected from the questionnaires was then statistically analysed. Results: The sample collected for this study included a total of 145 students, 60% male and 40% female, with a mean age of 15years-old. Global knowledge about mental health and psychiatric disorders among students was poor and it was primarily acquired through the media. A comparatively high percentage of students in our sample (46%) knew at least one patient with a psychiatric disorder, and in most cases those patients were from their family group or circle of friends. Conclusions: Education on mental health and psychiatric disorders should be implemented at schools and within the context of health education, in order to promote mental health and also to help reduce stigma usually associated to psychiatric disorders. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Therapy adherence is a key factor in the control of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Optimal self-care requires skills in health literacy (HL)., Objective: This study aims to analyze the relationship between HL and adherence to therapy and to understand the possible influence of other sociodemographic and disease variables., Methods: A multicenter, cross-sectional study was conducted in Portuguese in 13 different primary health care units in both rural and urban environments. A sociodemographic questionnaire and two validated instruments, "Medical Term Recognition Test" and "Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities," were applied. The last value of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and the number of chronic medications were collected from clinical records. Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations were performed as well as multivariable linear regression to assess the association between HL and adherence to therapy., Key Results: Participants (n = 354) were on average age 63.67 ± 10.39 years, 57.1% male and 42.9% female, 68.4% with inadequate HL and an average HbA1c of 7 ± 1.18%. Better HL was correlated with higher adherence to the total of self-care activities, nonpharmacological therapy, and foot care. In multivariable linear regression analyses, better HL ( β = 0.176, p = .003), less than minimum wage (β = -0.197, p = .001) and insulin therapy ( β = 0.272, p = .001) were independently associated with increased adherence to overall self-care activities., Conclusion: In a representative sample of people with T2DM in Portugal, HL was a key factor for greater adherence to demanding self-care activities. [ HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice . 2024;8(4):e194-e203. ].

Background: Homeless people are continuously facing adverse living conditions as poor access to basic nutrition, hygiene conditions and healthcare services, being at increased risk of severe infectious diseases as HIV and hepatitis as well as cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders. The characterization of homeless people's health is fundamental to identify their health care needs. Considering that the aforementioned diseases are associated with chronic inflammatory processes, the main goal of this study was to characterize the inflammatory profile of a homeless population through quantification in saliva of a panel of inflammatory cytokines., Methods: The inflammatory profile was assessed in 114 individuals residing in two temporary shelters located in Lisbon and that accepted to participated in the study. Inflammatory proteins were quantified using a Multiplex Immunoassay approach. Data analysis was performed using the GraphPad Prism software and statistical significance among the groups was assessed using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney test., Results: Even though some protein levels might be masked by drug treatment, data analysis showed high levels of INF-ϒ, IL-10 and TNF-α in the infectious disease group, critical cytokines for the immune response against viruses and bacteria. Also, cytokines like IL-1β and IL-6 were detected at statistically significant levels in the cardiovascular disease group and all cytokines included in this study were quantified in the mental disorders group., Conclusion: These findings may help the healthcare services in the evaluation of treatment efficacy and disease monitoring, and in the development of effective public healthcare strategies and policy interventions to improve quality of life of the homeless population., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Gomes, Mendes, Ferrito, Andrade, Neves-Amado, Resende, Santos, Manso, Almeida, Vollrath, Lopes, Barros, Rosa and Figueiredo.)

Introduction and Objectives: Digital health (DH) is a broad concept, bringing together technology and healthcare, that is playing an increasingly important role in the daily routine of healthcare professionals (HCPs) and promises to contribute to the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. There are no solid data on the position of Portuguese HCPs toward the implementation of DH in cardiovascular medicine. This national cross-sectional study aims to provide a snapshot of DH implementation in Portuguese cardiovascular HCP routines and to identify both expectations and barriers to its adoption., Methods: An 18-question survey was created specifically for this study and distributed to 1174 individuals on the Portuguese Society of Cardiology mailing list., Results: We collected 117 valid responses (response rate 10%). Almost all participants had smartphones and laptops, and two-thirds had tablets. Electronic medical information systems were the most used DH tool (84% of respondents) and were considered the most important for improving cardiovascular care. Implantable technologies (sensors and devices), telemedicine and social media were used by more than two out of three respondents and considered «very important» or «extremely important» by most of them. Most participants showed positive expectations regarding the impact of DH in cardiovascular medicine: 78% agreed that DH could improve health outcomes, 64% that it promotes health literacy and 63% that it could decrease healthcare costs. The top-rated barriers were patients' inability to use smartphones, limited access to electronic devices, and lack of legal regulation of DH., Conclusion: Most Portuguese cardiovascular HCPs had at least three electronic devices (mainly smartphones, laptops and tablets) and showed positive expectations regarding DH's current and future impact on cardiovascular medicine. Patient DH literacy, technology adoption, and DH regulation were identified as the most important barriers to increasing the adoption of DH tools in cardiovascular medicine., (Copyright © 2024 Sociedade Portuguesa de Cardiologia. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Different treatment options exist for localized prostate cancer. Treatments performed in high-volume hospitals are associated with better results. Our objective was to describe time trends in prostate cancer treatments in Portugal and case volume per hospital. We used the national database of diagnosis-related group of the Portuguese Central Administration of the Health System to describe the number of radical prostatectomy (RP), brachytherapy (BT) and external radiotherapy (eRT) treatments performed in all National Health System hospitals. There was a rapid increase in the annual number of RP until 2006 and then a deceleration; BT treatments augmented significantly until 2011. The utilization of eRT also increased, surpassing RP after 2010. From the 46 hospitals performing RP, only eight had a case-volume > 50 treatments/year, and from the nine hospitals performing BT, only four accomplished > 15 treatments/year. In the 11 hospitals with eRT, nine performed > 50/year. Regarding RP, there was negative correlation between the hospital volume and length of stay (r = - 0.303; p = 0.041). In the Portuguese National Health Service there was a steep increase in the number of prostate cancer treatments, and there is an ample margin for concentration of RP and BT treatments, for improvement of the hospitals case volume., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Introduction and Objectives: Social media (SoMe) has a flourishing role in cardiovascular (CV) medicine as a facilitator of academic communication not only during conferences and congresses, but also by scientific societies and journals. However, there is no solid data illustrating the use of SoMe by CV healthcare professionals (CVHP) in Portugal. Hence, the main goal of this national cross-sectional survey was to accurately characterize SoMe use by Portuguese CVHPs., Methods: A 35-item questionnaire was specifically developed for this study, approved by the Digital Health Study Group of the Portuguese Society of Cardiology (SPC), and sent, by e-mail, to the mailing list of the SPC (including 1293 potential recipients)., Results and Conclusion: There were 206 valid answers. Fifty-two percent of respondents were female and 58% were younger than 44 years of age with almost two out of three participants being physicians. Ninety-two percent of the survey participants reported that they are currently using SoMe; LinkedIn was the most common platform used for professional purposes. Sixty-four percent believed SoMe had had a positive impact on their clinical practice; 77% and 49% had used SoMe for acquiring and sharing information related to COVID-19, respectively. In conclusion, the majority of Portuguese CVHPs that participated in this survey are actively using SoMe, with a greater participation of those <45 years of age; its clinical impact is positive, with a leading role in the dissemination of evidence during the COVID pandemic., (Copyright © 2023 Sociedade Portuguesa de Cardiologia. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Aims: The diagnostic performance of the new Peguero-Lo Presti ECG criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) has not been validated by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the diagnostic performance of Peguero-Lo Presti, Cornell and Sokolow--Lyon voltage criteria for LVH as defined by CMR in an all-comers European population., Methods: A total of 240 consecutive patients referred for CMR who had a concomitant electrocardiogram for review were evaluated. LVH group patients were defined according to the reference values for sex and age of left ventricular mass index (LVMi). A control group, adjusted by sex, was randomly selected from a population without LVH. We applied the ECG voltage criteria to both groups and evaluated their diagnostic accuracy. Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were compared., Results: Two hundred and forty patients (mean age 63 years; 65% men) were divided into two groups (LVH n = 149; control n = 91). The main causes of LVH were hypertension (24.8%) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (21.5%). The remaining patients of this group had a diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy (14.8%), valvular heart disease (7.4%) and infiltrative cardiomyopathy (2.0%). Overall, the sensitivity for LVH diagnosis of the Peguero-Lo Presti criteria outperformed both the Cornell (47 vs. 29%, P < 0.001) and Sokolow--Lyon voltage criteria (vs. 25%, P < 0.001). The specificities of all the criteria were above 94%, without significant differences between them., Conclusion: In an all-comers European population with LVH defined by CMR, the criteria of Peguero-Lo Presti showed increased sensitivity for this diagnosis, when compared with the Sokolow--Lyon and Cornell voltage criteria. As such, they could become the preferred ECG diagnostic tool when evaluating patients at risk for LVH.

Selection due to social interactions comprises competition over matings (sexual selection stricto sensu) plus other forms of social competition and cooperation. Sexual selection explains sex differences in ornamentation and in various other phenotypes, but does not easily explain cases where those phenotypes are similar in males and females. Understanding such similarities requires knowing how phenotypes influence nonsexual social interactions as well, which can be very important in gregarious animals, but whose role for phenotypic evolution has been overlooked. For example, 'mate choice' experiments often found preferences for ornamentation, but have not assessed whether those are strictly sexual or are general social preferences. Using choice experiments with a gregarious and mutually ornamented finch, the common waxbill (Estrilda astrild), we show that preferences for ornamentation in the opposite-sex also extend to same-sex interactions. Waxbills discriminated between opposite- and same-sex individuals, but most preferences for colour traits were similar when interacting with either sex. Similar preferences in sexual and nonsexual associations may be widespread in nature, either as social adaptations or as by-product of mate preferences. In either case, such preferences may set the stage for the evolution of mutual ornamentation and of various other similarities between the sexes., (© 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.)

This manuscript examined the psychometric properties and factor structure of the emotional contagion scale in a Portuguese sample. The original scale was first given to a sample of 1445 individuals to verify its internal consistency. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. Results suggested that the data from the emotional contagion scale are best fit by a one-factor model. Differences between sexes were assessed and higher susceptibility to emotional contagion was observed in women than in men. Convergent and discriminant validity analyses were also conducted. The Portuguese version of the emotional contagion scale also had good internal consistency and test-retest reliabilities; thus it is a psychometrically sound measure within a Portuguese population.

Background: Congenital subaortic stenosis (SAS) has a high recurrence rate after surgical correction. Aortic valve disease frequently coexists with SAS, being its occurrence and progression unpredictable. We aimed to assess predictors of SAS recurrence and aortic valve disease occurrence and progression., Methods: Retrospective analysis of 51 patients with SAS followed in a congenital heart disease clinic of a tertiary care hospital from July 1982 to October 2009., Results: The mean age at SAS diagnosis was 15 years and 28 patients (54.9%) were men. Aortic regurgitation was present in 23 (45.1%) patients. Thirty-four (66.7%) patients were submitted to SAS surgical correction, six (17.6%) of them also with aortic valve repair/replacement. Eighteen (52.9%) patients had SAS recurrence and eight patients (23.5%) underwent reoperation. A shorter time from diagnosis to surgery (odds ratio [OR] 0.98 [95% confidence interval, CI 0.96-1.00]; P= 0.04) and a left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) peak pressure gradient at diagnosis > 50 mm Hg (OR 2.63 [95% CI 1.52-4.53]; P= 0.05) were independent predictors of SAS recurrence. At the end of follow-up, 37 patients (72.5%) had some form of aortic valve disease and 24 patients (47.1%) had progression for or of the aortic valve disease. Higher LVOT peak pressure gradient at diagnosis (OR 1.10 [95% CI 1.01-1.21]; P= 0.05) and higher left ventricular mass (OR 1.04 [95% CI 1.01-1.07]; P= 0.014) were independent predictors of aortic valve disease. Predictors of aortic valve disease progression were not found., Conclusions: SAS recurrence occurred mainly in patients operated sooner and with a high LVOT peak pressure gradients, suggesting a more severe form of disease. A more turbulent systolic jet at LVOT was probably one of the main causes of aortic valve damage. Aortic valve disease progression occurred independently of surgery and SAS recurrence. All LVOT morphological anomalies should be detected and corrected in order to prevent SAS recurrence and aortic valve disease., (© 2011 Copyright the Authors. Congenital Heart Disease © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The social psychological literature considers two main perspectives on the study of perceived cultural differences between majorities and minorities: one proposes that perception of cultural differences is an antecedent of prejudice and another states that the attribution of cultural differences to minorities is already a hidden expression of racial prejudice. This paper offers further support to this latter perspective. One hundred and ninety-four participants answered a questionnaire measuring (1) general racist belief; (2) cultural differences attributed to Black people (hetero-ethnicization); (3) the asymmetric attribution of secondary and primary emotions to the in-group and to Black people (infra-humanization); (4) the asymmetric attribution of natural and cultural traits to in-group members and to Black people (ontologization); and (5) negative evaluation of this social category. The general racist belief scale was not anchored in a specific group and measured the belief in the inferiority of certain social groups or peoples based on biological or cultural factors. Relationships between the scales were analysed through a set of Structural Equation Models. According to the predictions, results showed that the attribution of cultural differences is a dimension of prejudice. Results also showed that attribution of cultural differences, negative evaluation of Black people, ontologization, and infra-humanization were different dimensions of a common latent factor that can be identified as racial prejudice; and that prejudice was predicted by general racist belief. Results are discussed in the light of the study of the impact of perceived cultural differences on intergroup relations and in the light of the "new racism" approaches.

A spatially dynamic model for the productivity of spores and adults of green macroalgae (Enteromorpha sp.) was developed for a mesotidal estuary (Mondego estuary, Portugal). Many of the algal processes and parameters included in the model were experimentally obtained. Model predictions were compared to a real time series (1993-1997) of macroalgal biomass variation and the two sets show a good agreement (ANOVA, P<0.001). Results suggest that algal growth is highly sensitive to small changes in depth and exhibits different patterns of variation in different seasons. On a yearly basis, global calculations for the south channel of the estuary (137 ha) suggest that during bloom years, macroalgal biomass may reach about 21,205 ton DW compared to 240 ton DW in regular years. On a seasonal basis, the difference may be even more significant. The consequences of such variations on the nitrogen and phosphorus loading of the system and the adjacent coastal area are discussed.