José Juan Vázquez

Pyrexia of unknown origin: changing spectrum of diseases in two consecutive series.

Comparison was made of the aetiology and methods of diagnosis in two series of patients meeting the classic criteria of pyrexia of unknown origin during 1968-1981 and during 1982-1989 seen in the Department of Internal Medicine at La Paz University Hospital, Madrid, Spain. There was a statistically significant decrease in the percentage of infections and an increase in neoplasms and connective tissue disorders in the second series. The percentage of patients diagnosed by laparatomy was similar in both series but the diagnosis yield at laparotomy was greater in the second period. Pyrexia of unknown origin continues to be a condition which can defy clinical expertise in in spite of advances in diagnostic techniques.

Happiness among the garbage: Differences in overall happiness among trash pickers in León (Nicaragua)

This article analyzes various aspects related to overall happiness expressed by 99 people who make their living in the dumps of León (Nicaragua) – a group that is difficult to access, heavily stigmatized, and living in extreme poverty. We interviewed all the people living from the garbage in the city of León using a heteroapplied structured interview. In order to gather information on overall happiness, we used an instrument that combined illustrations with explanations by the interviewers. The results show that people in León who make their living by collecting rubbish state that they are happy, have optimistic expectations regarding their future, and show a lack of any relationship between overall happiness and income. The respondents appear to obtain their main sources of happiness in areas of their lives other than the economic and labor spheres, and mainly from areas related to their social and leisure activities.

The Mental Health and Social Exclusion European Network

This report concerns the activities developed by the Mental Health and Social Exclusion (MHSE) Network, an initiative supported by the Mental Health Europe (World Federation of Mental Health). We report some data from the preliminary survey done in five capital cities of the European Union (Madrid, Copenhagen, Brussels, Lisbon, and Rome). The main aim of this survey was to investigate, from a mostly qualitative point of view, the causal and supportive factors implicated in the situation of the homeless mentally ill in Europe. The results point out the familial and childhood roots of homelessness, the perceived causes of the situation, the relationships with the support services, and the expectations of future of the homeless mentally ill. The analysis of results has helped to identify the different variables implicated in the social rupture process that influences homelessness in major European cities. The results were used as the basis for the design of a more ambitious current research project about the...

Stressful life events in countries of differing economic development: Nicaragua, Chile, and Spain.

the aim was to describe a study involving 481 psychology students in the last courses of their degrees (M age = 21.9 yr., SD = 4.2; 94 men and 386 women) from Nicaragua, Chile, and Spain. The study examined the potential risk of experiencing certain stressful life events, the number of stressors, and their characteristics. Also were analyzed the strength of their relation to social class and stressful life events experienced. Greater presence of stressful life events were reported among people from less developed countries, Chile and Nicaragua, and among people belonging to lower social class.

Early Psychological Consequences of the March 11, 2004, Terrorist Attacks in Madrid, Spain

On March 11, 2004, Al-Qaeda set off 10 bombs on several train routes in Madrid. 192 people were killed and 2,000 wounded. In this study, 1,179 questionnaires were administered Week 2 after the attacks to residents 18 years and over from the affected geographical areas. The questionnaire included items about sociodemographic variables and exposure to the attacks. Psychological effects were assessed as presence of acute stress and depressive symptomatology and functional impairment. 46.7% of the sample presented symptomatology of acute stress and 49.6% depressive symptoms. Among the symptoms of acute stress, the most frequent were re-experiencing (72.5%) and dissociative symptoms (71.8%). The chief predicting variables in symptomatology were being female, over 65 yr. old, and a habitual train user. The large number of affected people was refined with an item analysis and the consideration of severity of interference in psychosocial functioning.

Suicide attempts and stressful life events among female victims of intimate partner violence living in poverty in Nicaragua

This article describes a study of 136 female intimate partner violence victims living in poverty in Nicaragua. The paper aimed to analyze the relationship between experiencing stressful life events (SLE) and perceived social support with suicide attempts, and to evaluate the differences in the SLE experienced by female suicide attempters versus non-attempters. The results showed the existence of a high level of SLE among the interviewees, and that women who have attempted suicide have experienced substantially more of these events. Experiences of violence and less social support were especially related to suicide attempts among the interviewees.

Attitudes Toward Nongovernmental Organizations in Central America

This article analyses, from a sample of 860 undergraduates in Nicaragua and El Salvador, how willing they would be to donate money to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) if they lived in an industrialized country as well as their perceptions of the work undertaken by these organizations, the trust they generate, their perception of the effect their work has and how sustainable they think the projects they undertake are, and how they perceive wrongdoing by their members. Are also analyzed how differences in sociodemographic variables, the university at which they study, their political ideology, economic situation, or links to an NGO affect these perceptions. The results show a high degree of willingness to donate money to NGOs if they lived in an industrialized country. With increased willingness being shown by women, the more politicized, those that consider themselves to be poor, and those that work or collaborate with NGOs. Moreover, different degrees of agreement with aspects related to NGOs were found according to the economic situation, the university at which they studied, and the gender of those interviewed.

Coagulation abnormalities in patients with eosinophilia.

Haematological variables in patients with eosinophilia and in healthy control subjects were studied in order to determine whether there were abnormalities in the coagulation system in patients. We found significantly elevated levels of fibrinogen, fibrin degradation products, platelet number and beta-thromboglobulin in patients. The abnormalities were not related to the causes of eosinophilia nor to its severity. This lack of correlation could be due to the heterogeneity of human peripheral blood eosinophils.

A Comparison between Homeless, Domiciled and Vulnerable Populations in Madrid

Many descriptive studies of the homeless have been conducted in the USA (Rossi, 1989) and, to a lesser extent, in Europe and other industrialized countries (Brousse et al., 2002: Marpsat and Firdion, 1998, 2000; Meltzer, 1994). Similar studies have also been carried out in Spain (Munoz et al., 2003; Vazquez, Munoz and Rodriguez, 1999), and they have found results that are generally comparable to those found in other countries. The homeless population is largely male, with an average age around 40, low educational levels, high unemployment rates, and significant mental and general health problems.Although the psychosocial profile of the homeless population has been investigated extensively, there are not many studies comparing the profile of homeless people to that of the general population and of vulnerable people (e.g. the poor) who are not homeless (Koegel and Burnam, 1988). One of the problems with that type of study is that the concept of vulnerability to homelessness is not easy to define. At first, research centreed almost exclusively on mental health disorders as risk factors (Fisher and Breaky, 1991). Further studies have identified a number of additional variables involved in the risk of becoming homeless such as, for example, the lack of robust family or social networks (Unger et al., 1998), the lack of schooling and job training (Brooks and Buckner, 1996; Stronge, 1993), employment difficulties (Epel, Bandura and Zimbardo, 1999), health problems (Ropers and Boyer, 1987), and stressful life events (Munoz et al., 1999). It is also well known that socio-economic variables, especially poverty and difficulties to gain access to the housing market, may influence the onset of homelessness.In order to determine which variables are most important and their exact role in homelessness, some researchers have begun to introduce control groups that are similar to the homeless group in some specific aspects. The majority of the studies focusing on those groups have analysed single women with and without children (Metraux and Culhane, 1999), the chronic mentally ill, people with substance-abuse disorders (Clark, Teague and Henry, 1999), and the elderly in high-risk situations (Keigher, Berman and Greenblatt, 1991). Although these populations provide an interesting contrast, they may differ from the homeless with respect to important key variables such as their socio-economic level.The main objective of the investigation was to compare two vulnerable groups (i.e., homeless people and users of services for the homeless) with available data (on socio-demographic, employment, educational and health variables) from a representative sample of the Spanish general population (Juarez, 1994). Comparisons of data from homeless groups and the general population are relatively rare. Furthermore, it is also necessary to assess the specificity of the findings by including other groups of disadvantaged people. Thus, as in other comparative studies of vulnerable populations, we used a control group of people who have a regular place to sleep but who use services for the homeless (i.e., soup kitchens and public baths). The second control group made up of vulnerable housed people was included as a means of analysing factors that, besides economic difficulties, may differentiate the homeless population.I. The samples1. The homeless group (HG)Sampling of the homeless group was conducted in Madrid, Spain, during four weeks in February and March 1997. Madrid is a city of three million people. The most reliable estimate of the number of homeless persons, based on field samples and service centre statistics, is around 3,000 people (Vazquez, Munoz and Rodriguez, 1999). The citys social services network providing shelter to the homeless consists of 10 public and private year-round shelters and 2 emergency shelters, open during the winter. At the time of the study, all of the 12 shelters were filled to capacity (1,086 beds). …

Report: We Were All Wounded on March 11 in Madrid

On March 11, 2004, Madrid suffered the worst terrorist attack in Spanish history and one of the gravest in the history of Europe. Ten bombs in total exploded almost simultaneously on four trains traveling on the commuter line connecting Guadalajara with Madrid, one of the most important transportation links in the region. The attack caused 192 deaths, and more than 2000 victims injured in the bombings needed to be treated in Madrid hospitals. In addition to the number of victims directly affected by the attacks, both the relatives of the dead and wounded and the many people who participated in the rescue operation can be considered secondary victims. All told, the number of affected persons could reach 18,000, according to data from the Spanish Psychological Association (Colegio Oficial de Psicologos). Nevertheless, as studies following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington showed, these events have palpable psychological effects on many more persons besides those who experienced them firsthand. In some sense, the entire population witnessed the attacks, through the media and particularly by viewing the images of the victims and their families over and over again. At the same time, people experienced a very high level of identification with the victims and were repeatedly exposed to stimuli that enabled them to relive the events. In the first days, the citizens of Madrid could—just by walking down the street—detect how people were distraught over the catastrophe. In the words of folk singer Joaquin Sabina, “an epidemic of sadness spread over the city.” After allowing for the inevitable difficulties, from all possible perspectives the response of psychology as a discipline and of psychologists as citizens must be deemed exemplary. All the emergency services and the public social health network were mobilized in the minutes following the attacks. Psychologists employed in the public health system played an essential role in the functioning of the mobile emergency services and the hospitals. In the first hours after the terrorist attacks, the Spanish Psychological Association (Madrid section) set up an emergency response structure to offer psychological assistance to the victims; 1415 volunteer psychologists enlisted immediately, 948 of whom later intervened. This emergency response structure continued to function until March 22 and provided direct assistance to more than 5000 persons (victims, relatives, rescue workers, volunteers, etc.) in funeral homes, hospitals, police stations, hotels, etc. The psychologists also provided help to 13,540 European Psychologist