Validation of the Comfort scale for relatives of people in critical states of health / Validação da escala de conforto para familiares de pessoas em estado crítico de saúde / Validación de la escala de confort para familiares de personas en estado crítico de salud

AbstractObjective: this methodological study aims to present the construct validity of the Comfort scale for family members of people in a critical state of health (ECONF).Method:this is a methodological study. The sample was made up of 274 family members of adults receiving inpatient treatment in six Intensive Care Units (ICU) in the State of Bahía responded to 62 items distributed in 7 dimensions. The validation procedures adopted were based on the techniques of the Classical Test Theory.Results: the analysis of dimensionality was undertaken through principal components analysis, a scale being obtained with 55 items distributed in four factors: Safety, Support, Family member-relative interaction and Integration with oneself and the everyday. The analysis of the items' , discriminative power, undertaken by the item-total correlation-coefficient showed a good relationship of the items with their respective factors. From the ECONF's reliability test, from the analysis of internal consistency, a raised Alpha Cronbach coefficient was obtained for the 4 factors and the general measurement.Conclusion:the comfort scale presented satisfactory psychometric parameters, thus constituting the first valid instrument for evaluating the comfort of family members of people in a critical state of health. The advance made by the study lies in its theoretical framework on comfort, and provides the health team with a scale based on empirical evidence.

ResumoObjetivo:validar a Escala de Conforto para Familiares de pessoas em estado crítico de saúde.Método:trata-se de estudo metodológico. A amostra foi constituída por 274 familiares de pessoas adultas internadas em seis unidades de terapia intensiva que responderam a 62 itens, distribuídos em 7 dimensões. Os procedimentos de validação adotados foram embasados nas técnicas da Teoria Clássica dos Testes.Resultados:a análise da dimensionalidade foi realizada por meio da análise por componentes principais, obtendo-se uma escala com 55 itens distribuídos em 4 fatores: segurança, suporte, interação familiar/ente e integração consigo e com o cotidiano. A análise do poder discriminativo dos itens, realizada pelo coeficiente de correlação item-total, mostrou boa relação dos itens com seus respectivos fatores. O exame da fidedignidade da escala, por meio da análise da consistência interna, apresentou coeficiente alfa de Cronbach elevado para os 4 fatores e a medida geral.Conclusão:a Escala de Conforto apresentou parâmetros psicométricos satisfatórios, constituindo-se no primeiro instrumento válido para a avaliação do conforto de familiares de pessoas em estado crítico de saúde. A pesquisa avançou na construção de um referencial teórico sobre o conforto, e disponibilizou à equipe de saúde uma medida pautada em evidências empíricas.

ResumenObjetivo:validar la Escala de Confort para Familiares de personas en estado crítico de salud.Método:se trata de un estudio metodológico. La muestra estuvo constituida por 274 familiares de personas adultas, internadas en seis unidades de terapia intensiva, que respondieron a 62 ítems, distribuidos en 7 dimensiones. Los procedimientos de validación adoptados fueron basados en las técnicas de la Teoría Clásica de las Pruebas.Resultados:el análisis de la dimensionalidad fue realizada por medio del análisis por componentes principales, obteniéndose una escala con 55 ítems distribuidos en 4 factores: seguridad, soporte, interacción familiar/ente e integración consigo y con lo cotidiano. El análisis del poder discriminatorio de los ítems, realizado por el coeficiente de correlación ítem-total, mostró buena relación de los ítems con sus respectivos factores. El examen de confiabilidad de la escala, realizado por medio del análisis de consistencia interna, presentó un coeficiente Alfa de Cronbach elevado para los 4 factores y la medida general.Conclusión:la Escala de Confort presentó parámetros psicométricos satisfactorios, constituyéndose en el primer instrumento válido para la evaluación del confort de familiares de personas en estado crítico de salud. La investigación avanzó en la construcción de un referencial teórico sobre el confort, y suministró al equipo de salud una medida guiada en evidencias empíricas.

IFN-gamma production in response to Tax 161-233, and frequency of CD4+ Foxp3+ and Lin HLA-DRhigh CD123+ cells, discriminate HAM/TSP patients from asymptomatic HTLV-1-carriers in a Peruvian population.

Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV-1) can cause HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). The objective of this study was to gain insight into the pathogenesis of HAM/TSP by focusing on the CD8(+) T-cell response. Twenty-three HTLV-1-seronegative controls (SC), 29 asymptomatic HTLV-1 carriers (AC) and 48 patients with HAM/TSP were enrolled in the study. We evaluated the production of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with Tax overlapping peptides, the expression of genes related to the CD8(+) cytotoxic T-cell response, the frequency of CD4(+) Foxp3(+) cells and of dendritic cells, and the HTLV-1 provirus load (PVL). The frequency of cells producing IFN-gamma in response to Tax 161-233, but not to Tax 11-19, discriminated patients with HAM/TSP from AC. The increased pro-inflammatory response observed in patients with HAM/TSP was shared by AC with a high PVL, who also exhibited lower levels of granzyme H mRNA in unstimulated CD8(+) T cells than AC with a low PVL. Patients with HAM/TSP showed higher frequencies of CD4(+) Foxp3(+) cells and lower frequencies of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) than AC. Our findings are consistent with a model in which HTLV-1, along with the host genetic background, drives quantitative and qualitative changes in pDC and CD4(+) Foxp3(+) cells that lead to a predominance of inflammatory responses over lytic responses in the CD8(+) T-cell response of individuals predisposed to develop HAM/TSP.

Comparative study of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus serological assays using clinically and serologically defined reference standards and latent class analysis.

Accurate determination of infection with Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) has been hindered by the lack of a "gold standard" for comparison of serological assays used to estimate KSHV prevalence in serosurveys conducted in different settings. We have evaluated the performance of five in-house (developed at University College London [UCL], United Kingdom, and at the virology laboratory of the Instituto de Medicine Tropical [IMT] in Sao Paulo, Brazil) and two commercial (ABI and DIAVIR) serological assays to detect antibodies to latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) and to lytic KSHV antigens. We used a variety of serum samples assembled to represent populations likely to be at high, intermediate, and low risk of KSHV infection in Brazil. Composite reference standard panels were prepared based on clinical and serological parameters, against which assay performances were assessed using conventional Bayesian statistics and latent class analysis (LCA). Against the clinical reference standard, in-house immunofluorescence assays to detect anti-LANA antibodies (IFA-LANA) produced at UCL and IMT had similar performances, with sensitivities of 61% (95% confidence interval [CI], 48% to 74%) and 72% (95% CI, 58% to 83%) and specificities of 99% (95% CI, 94% to 100%) and 100% (95% CI, 96% to 100%), respectively, and only the IMT IFA-LANA was included in LCA, together with the IMT IFA-lytic and four enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). The LCA indicated that the IMT whole-virus ELISA performed best (sensitivity, 87% [95% CI, 81% to 91%]; and specificity, 100% [95% CI, 98% to 100%]), confirming the results obtained with the conventional statistical approach. Commercially available ELISA-based tests yielded the lowest specificities using a spectrum of serum samples. The evaluation of KSHV serological assays is warranted before planning serosurveys in various settings.