Aida Maria de Oliveira Cruz Mendes

Adaptation to Portuguese of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS)

OBJECTIVE To adapt to Portuguese, of Portugal, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales, a 21-item short scale (DASS 21), designed to measure depression, anxiety and stress. METHOD After translation and back-translation with the help of experts, the DASS 21 was administered to patients in external psychiatry consults (N=101), and its internal consistency, construct validity and concurrent validity were measured. RESULTS The DASS 21 properties certify its quality to measure emotional states. The instrument reveals good internal consistency. Factorial analysis shows that the two-factor structure is more adequate. The first factor groups most of the items that theoretically assess anxiety and stress, and the second groups most of the items that assess depression, explaining, on the whole, 58.54% of total variance. The strong positive correlation between the DASS 21 and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD) confirms the hypothesis regarding the criterion validity, however, revealing fragilities as to the divergence between theoretically different constructs.

Analysis of the alcohol consumption phenomenon among adolescents: study carried out with adolescents in intermediate public education

This study aimed to evaluate the alcohol consumption phenomenon in public schools in Coimbra, Portugal (7th, 8th and 9th grades) for the implementation of a preventive program of alcohol use/abuse. This is a quantitative, descriptive and correlational study. The sample included 654 students (51.5% female) between 12 and 18 years of age. The Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire – Adolescent form (AEQ-A) and the Questionnaire of Knowledge on Alcohol were used for data collection. Results show that positive expectancy on alcohol is discriminative of consumption and occurrence of intoxication. Positive expectancy exists even before adolescents have significant experiences with alcohol consumption and increases with age, which reinforces the need for early preventive effort. These results permitted to improve the prevention program included in the school curriculum of the 7th grade students.This study aimed to evaluate the alcohol consumption phenomenon in public schools in Coimbra, Portugal (7th, 8th and 9th grades) for the implementation of a preventive program of alcohol use/abuse. This is a quantitative, descriptive and correlational study. The sample included 654 students (51.5% female) between 12 and 18 years of age. The Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire--Adolescent form (AEQ-A) and the Questionnaire of Knowledge on Alcohol were used for data collection. Results show that positive expectancy on alcohol is discriminative of consumption and occurrence of intoxication. Positive expectancy exists even before adolescents have significant experiences with alcohol consumption and increases with age, which reinforces the need for early preventive effort. These results permitted to improve the prevention program included in the school curriculum of the 7th grade students.

Falls in hospital settings: a longitudinal study

Este estudo visou avaliar a prevalencia das quedas, conhecer as suas consequencias, identificar as causas e estudar estrategias de intervencao para preveni-las. E um estudo descritivo longitudinal, de 2007 a 2009, com registro, pelos enfermeiros, das quedas dos doentes, num servico de medicina, em escala construida para o efeito. A maioria das quedas ocorreu em doentes parcialmente dependentes, variando a idade entre 64 e 74 anos. O quarto foi, em todos os anos, o local onde maioritariamente ocorreram. Embora da maioria das quedas nao houvesse resultado consequencias, essas foram registradas em 36% dos casos. O numero de quedas registrado aumentou ao longo dos anos do estudo. De igual modo se revelou diferenca na proporcionalidade do numero de registros para os turnos da tarde e noite (39% em 2007, 57% em 2008 e 64% em 2009). A identificacao de barreiras a referenciacao e como as ultrapassar sao analisadas.

Depression, anxiety and stress in primary health care users

Os objetivos deste estudo foram descrever niveis de depressao, ansiedade e estresse dos usuarios de um centro de saude urbano/rural, analisar diferencas de sexo e a comorbilidade entre depressao, ansiedade e estresse. Este e um estudo descritivo correlacional, aplicando-se uma versao portuguesa da DASS-21, em amostra consecutiva (n=343). Tem-se como resultados que 40,52, 43,48 e 45,06% dos individuos apresentam, respetivamente, algum grau de depressao, ansiedade e estresse. Identificaram-se niveis graves ou muito graves de ansiedade em 20,87% dos individuos, de estresse em 22,38% e de depressao em 12,24%. As mulheres apresentam niveis medios de depressao, ansiedade e estresse mais elevados. Depressao, ansiedade e estresse estao forte e positivamente associados. Esses resultados apontam para elevada prevalencia - mais alta que em outros paises - e revelam diferencas de sexo e comorbilidade. Com base neles, poder-se-a desenvolver estrategia de intervencao local e comunitaria para a promocao da saude mental e prevencao da doenca, particularizando as mulheres.AIM Describe levels of depression, anxiety and stress among users of an urban/rural health centre, analyse sex differences and comorbidity between depression, anxiety and stress. METHOD Descriptive co-relational study with a Portuguese version of DASS-21; consecutive sample (n=343). RESULTS 40.52%, 43.48% and 45.06% of individuals present some degree of depression, anxiety and of stress, respectively. Severe or very severe levels of disturbance were found in 20.87% (anxiety), 22.38% (stress) and 12.24% (depression) of individuals. Women present higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress. Depression, Anxiety and Stress are strongly and positively associated. CONCLUSION These results show high point prevalence--higher than in other countries--and reveal differences in sex as well as comorbidity. They may allow for the development of a local and community intervention strategy for mental health promotion and disease prevention, particularly for women.

Literacia em saúde mental de adolescentes e jovens: conceitos e desafios

Health literacy, understood as a constellation of cognitive and social skills and competences that allow individuals to access, understand and use informat...

Quedas em doentes hospitalizados: contributos para uma prática baseada na prevenção

Inpatient falls are the most documented accidents in hospital,gaining particular attention because of the individual consequencesthey cause and th...

Análise do fenômeno do consumo de álcool em adolescentes: estudo realizado com adolescentes do 3º ciclo de escolas públicas

This study aimed to evaluate the alcohol consumption phenomenon in public schools in Coimbra, Portugal (7th, 8th and 9th grades) for the implementation of a preventive program of alcohol use/abuse. This is a quantitative, descriptive and correlational study. The sample included 654 students (51.5% female) between 12 and 18 years of age. The Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire – Adolescent form (AEQ-A) and the Questionnaire of Knowledge on Alcohol were used for data collection. Results show that positive expectancy on alcohol is discriminative of consumption and occurrence of intoxication. Positive expectancy exists even before adolescents have significant experiences with alcohol consumption and increases with age, which reinforces the need for early preventive effort. These results permitted to improve the prevention program included in the school curriculum of the 7th grade students.This study aimed to evaluate the alcohol consumption phenomenon in public schools in Coimbra, Portugal (7th, 8th and 9th grades) for the implementation of a preventive program of alcohol use/abuse. This is a quantitative, descriptive and correlational study. The sample included 654 students (51.5% female) between 12 and 18 years of age. The Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire--Adolescent form (AEQ-A) and the Questionnaire of Knowledge on Alcohol were used for data collection. Results show that positive expectancy on alcohol is discriminative of consumption and occurrence of intoxication. Positive expectancy exists even before adolescents have significant experiences with alcohol consumption and increases with age, which reinforces the need for early preventive effort. These results permitted to improve the prevention program included in the school curriculum of the 7th grade students.

Quedas em meio hospitalar: um estudo longitudinal

Este estudo visou avaliar a prevalencia das quedas, conhecer as suas consequencias, identificar as causas e estudar estrategias de intervencao para preveni-las. E um estudo descritivo longitudinal, de 2007 a 2009, com registro, pelos enfermeiros, das quedas dos doentes, num servico de medicina, em escala construida para o efeito. A maioria das quedas ocorreu em doentes parcialmente dependentes, variando a idade entre 64 e 74 anos. O quarto foi, em todos os anos, o local onde maioritariamente ocorreram. Embora da maioria das quedas nao houvesse resultado consequencias, essas foram registradas em 36% dos casos. O numero de quedas registrado aumentou ao longo dos anos do estudo. De igual modo se revelou diferenca na proporcionalidade do numero de registros para os turnos da tarde e noite (39% em 2007, 57% em 2008 e 64% em 2009). A identificacao de barreiras a referenciacao e como as ultrapassar sao analisadas.

Mental health literacy about schizophrenia: a survey of Portuguese youth.

Mental health literacy about psychotic disorders, specifically schizophrenia, may assist in appropriate help seeking and early intervention, preventing the exacerbation of symptoms and improving health outcomes in the medium and long term. The aim of this study was to characterize the level of mental health literacy of Portuguese youth concerning schizophrenia.

Significado de cargas no trabalho sob a ótica de operacionais de limpeza

OBJETIVO: Analisar o significado das cargas de trabalho para operacionais de limpeza de uma unidade de Emergencia/Pronto Socorro e identificar as estrategias que eles utilizam como protecao as essas cargas. METODOS: Estudo descritivo, exploratorio qualitativo, com a participacao de 12 operacionais de limpeza. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas e as falas submetidas a analise de conteudo em suas etapas: leitura, determinacao das unidades de registro e significacoes, codificacao e classificacao; tratamento e interpretacao dos resultados obtidos. RESULTADOS: Emergiram tres categorias: carga vivenciada no trabalho relacionada com a materialidade interna, carga vivenciada no trabalho relacionada com a materialidade externa e estrategias de enfrentamento utilizadas para amenizar e/ou prevenir as cargas no trabalho. CONCLUSAO: Os profissionais conhecem parcialmente as cargas as quais estao expostos e enfrentam-nas individualmente.