A real opportunity to modify cardiovascular risk through primary care and prevention: A pilot study.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) represent a major threat to health and primary prevention outstands as the most effective instrument to face this issue, addressing multiple risk factors at a time and influencing behavioral patterns. Community nurses have been involved in many interdisciplinary prevention activities, resulting in effective control of CV risk factors. We conducted a pilot study aiming at describing the impact on the CV risk profile of an 18-month interdisciplinary intervention on lifestyle habits. From September 2018 to May 2020, four general practitioners (GPs) working in the Roman neighborhood of Torresina recruited patients having a cardiovascular risk score (CRS) equal to or higher than 3% and lower than 20%; those patients were included in a nutritional, physical, and psychological counseling program. Assessments of patients' health status were led at baseline, 6, 12, and 18 months by a nutritionist, a physiotherapist, a psychologist, their GPs, and a community nurse. The CRS was estimated at every examination, based on the Italian Progetto Cuore algorithm. A total of 76 patients were included (mean age of 54.6 years; 33 men and 43 women). Mean CRS showed a significant reduction between baseline and 12 months (from 4.9 to 3.8); both total cholesterol and systolic blood pressure (SBP) significantly decreased at 6 months of follow-up (respectively, from 211.1 to 192 and from 133.1 to 123.1). Nonetheless, the reduction was later maintained only for SBP. However, during the last 6 months of the intervention, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, thus, it is not possible to know how much the results achieved at 18 months were influenced by the restrictive measures introduced by the Italian government. When stratifying according to the presence of hypertension/diabetes and physical activity, no differences in the CRS could be highlighted between the two groups. Our pilot study proved that an interdisciplinary counseling intervention program can improve CV risk profile and could be further spread to people that, according to their CRS, would benefit more from changes in lifestyles.

Alexithymia: A facet of uncontrolled hypertension.

INTRODUCTION: Proper control of blood pressure reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications in hypertensive people. However, this control remains mostly unsatisfactory. Although alexithymia has been associated with essential hypertension, no study has analysed the relationship between alexithymia and blood pressure control in drug-treated hypertension. This research aimed to analyse the presence and the characteristics of this relationship, considering both the pharmacological treatment and the achievement of adequate maintenance of blood pressure in a physiological range. METHOD: One thousand two hundred and forty-one people participated in the study. Eight hundred and ten were hypertensive patients, and four hundred and thirty-one were normotensive people. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 was used to assess alexithymia. RESULTS: Results show that hypertensive people are more alexithymic than normotensive people. According to the presence of pharmacological treatment, treated hypertensive patients are more alexithymic than normotensive and not treated hypertensive patients. Considering the blood pressure control associated with the drug-therapy, people with uncontrolled hypertension are more alexithymic than normotensive and untreated hypertensive people. CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm a relationship between alexithymia and essential arterial hypertension, but they also highlight that alexithymia appears to be associated with higher severity of hypertension. Alexithymia could be a facet of uncontrolled hypertension.

Coping styles in individuals with hypertension of varying severity.

The strategies that people usually use to cope with stressful events, that is, their coping style, may affect blood pressure and cardiovascular functioning. Generally, hypertension is positively associated with emotion-oriented, maladaptive coping strategies and negatively related to task-focused coping styles, but no study has investigated the relationship between coping strategies and the severity of hypertension. This study aimed to assess whether the severity of cardiovascular disorders was associated with specific coping strategies. Participants were selected from the Policlinico Umberto I of the University of Rome "Sapienza." The sample was divided into five groups: (a) healthy people (n = 190); (b) people with untreated hypertension (n = 232); (c) people using antihypertensive medication (n = 158); (d) people using antihypertensive medication with uncontrolled hypertension (n = 179); and (e) people suffering from both hypertension and heart diseases (N = 192). Coping strategies were evaluated with the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations. One-way ANCOVAs, considering Group as the independent variable and the coping strategies (task-focused, emotion-oriented and avoidance-oriented coping) as dependent variables, showed that individuals affected by both hypertension and heart diseases made less use of task-focused coping strategies than the other groups. These findings confirm the relationship between coping style and hypertension and highlight that patients with hypertension and heart diseases make less use of appropriate coping strategies.

[Economic performance and well being in call center operators]. / Rendimento economico e benessere negli operatori telefonici di un call center.

INTRODUCTION: Many studies highlight that workers showing high well-being prove high job performance, but it is unknown whether economic performance affects psychological well-being. This study is aimed to analyze the relationships between economic performance and well-being in call center operators. METHOD: Forty-nine telephone operators, engaged in the sale of credit cards, were required to fill in questionnaires assessing the following dimensions: Well-being, Alexithymia, Coping, Psychopathological symptoms, and Self-declared Economic performance. RESULTS: Results show that workers with low Economic performance have moderate levels of Self-Acceptance and Positive Interpersonal Relationships and high levels of Psychopathological Symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Though these results are preliminary, given the limited number of participants, they indicate that a low economic performance is associated with a reduced psychological well-being of operators, which is reflected in poor self-acceptance, in lower positive interpersonal relationships, in the presence of distress and psychological symptoms.