Differences in the Quality of Life of Patients Recently Diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic diseases, encompassing Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). An IBD diagnosis has an impact on the quality of life of patients; this impact can be different according to the type of disease. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze the differences in the impact on quality of life in the early stages after diagnosis in patients with CD and UC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was an observational, multi-center, and cross-sectional study, with the participation of 156 patients recently diagnosed with IBD (<6 months) from 4 hospitals from the Health Council of the Valencian Community. The patients were assessed through the use of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ-32), which measures the quality of life when living with IBD. RESULTS: The sample was composed of 80 patients with CD (51.0%) and 76 patients with a UC diagnosis. The mean age was 42.3 ± 16.2. The CD patients were more affected (42.5%) in their general quality of life than the UC patients (17.1%) (p = 0.001). In the dimensions of the IBDQ-32, the patients with CD showed significant differences in the systemic, emotional, and social spheres. The bowel dimension scores were similar in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The patients who were recently diagnosed with CD were more affected regarding their quality of life as compared to those who were diagnosed with UC. Psychological care must be considered to mitigate the impact of an IBD diagnosis.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Anxiety Perceived by Healthcare Professionals: Differences between Primary Care and Hospital Care.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an emotional impact on healthcare professionals at different levels of care, and it is important to understand the levels of anxiety of hospital personnel (HP) compared to those of primary care personnel (PCP). The objectives herein were to assess the differences in anxiety levels between these populations and to detect factors that may influence them. The anxiety levels (measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale) of the HP and PCP groups were compared using data collected from a cross-sectional study. The secondary variables included demographic and health data, confinement factors, contact with COVID-19 patients, having suffered from COVID-19, perceptions of protection, caregiver overload, threat, and satisfaction with management. We found anxiety "case" (35.6%) and "at-risk" (21%), with statistically significant differences in the group "at risk", and higher scores in the PCP group. The factors associated with the perception of threat and protection were significant determinants of an increase in anxiety, with all of them showing statistically significant differences. There were greater symptoms of anxiety in the PCP group than the HP group (32% vs. 18%). The factors associated with the prevalence of anxiety symptoms were the perceptions of threat, protection, management, caregiver overload, and perceived degree of threat associated with COVID-19.

Personality and psychopathology in potential live kidney donors: A cluster analysis of personality features.

BACKGROUND: The previous psychosocial evaluation of the potential living kidney donors (PLKD) requires a detailed understanding of the psychosocial benefits and the possible damages of the act of donation. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to create clusters by using the clinical patterns of personality and to evaluate their influence on psychopathological variables. METHODS: Observational, analytical and cross-sectional study that included the PLKD from February 2009 to March 2017. The patients were referred to the Hospital Psychology Unit by the Transplant Coordination Unit. The total sample was composed of 100 participants. The socio-demographic characteristics, the relationship with the recipient and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory were included. RESULTS: The final sample was composed by 100 PLKD. The mean age of the participants was 45.70, and most were women (70%). The analysis showed a final result of 3 personality clusters that best represented the data, in agreement with the DSM-5 classification. The PLKD from cluster 3 obtained greater scores in all the clinical syndromes. CONCLUSIONS: The personality evaluation of the PLKD could help with the planning of monitoring protocols of the participants who were classified to cluster 3, in order to improve their post-transplant psychosocial adjustment. This result makes us consider the usefulness of the psychosocial evaluation to preserve the psychological health of the PLKD.