Psychometric Validation of the German Translation of the Quality of Life Questionnaire-Bronchiectasis (QOL-B)—Data from the German Bronchiectasis Registry PROGNOSIS

Patients with bronchiectasis feature considerable symptom burden and reduced health-related quality of life (QOL). We provide the psychometric validation of the German translation of the disease-specific Quality of Life Questionnaire-Bronchiectasis (QOL-B), version 3.1, using baseline data of adults consecutively enrolled into the prospective German bronchiectasis registry PROGNOSIS. Overall, 904 patients with evaluable QOL-B scores were included. We observed no relevant floor or ceiling effects. Internal consistency was good to excellent (Cronbach’s α ≥0.73 for each scale). QOL-B scales discriminated between patients based on prior pulmonary exacerbations and hospitalizations, breathlessness, bronchiectasis severity index, lung function, sputum volume, Pseudomonas aeruginosa status and the need for regular pharmacotherapy, except for Social Functioning, Vitality and Emotional Functioning scales. We observed moderate to strong convergence between several measures of disease severity and QOL-B scales, except for Social and Emotional Functioning. Two-week test-retest reliability was good, with intraclass correlation coefficients ≥0.84 for each scale. Minimal clinical important difference ranged between 8.5 for the Respiratory Symptoms and 14.1 points for the Social Functioning scale. Overall, the German translation of the QOL-B, version 3.1, has good validity and test-retest reliability among a nationally representative adult bronchiectasis cohort. However, responsiveness of QOL-B scales require further investigation during registry follow-up.

Exploring the relationship between loneliness and social cognition in older age

Understanding others is a key component of successful social interactions, and declines in social abilities during later life can lead to social isolation and loneliness. We investigated the relationship between different sub-components of social cognition and loneliness in a large sample of older adults. We tested perspective-taking and mentalizing skills, alongside self-reported loneliness and social functioning. Results revealed a significant effect of loneliness on older adults’ ability to resist egocentric interference when taking others’ perspectives. However, this effect was eliminated when age was added to models, which suggests that egocentric tendencies increase with age, and people experience increasing levels of loneliness and feelings of social isolation with increasing age. Mentalizing and interference from others’ perspectives were not influenced by loneliness or age.

Intellectual decline in patients with schizophrenia with comorbid type ii diabetes mellitus and alcoholism

Comorbid conditions in general psychopathological practice need equally research in the field of psychiatry and narcology, as well as the development of issues of social practice in relation to mental patients. There is an opinion that comorbid mental pathologies are even more common than “pure” forms of diseases. In most cases of comorbid conditions, the medical community increasingly encounters clinical situations where “classic” symptoms and syndromes are deformed, mutually intertwined and, superimposed on the actual social situation of the patient, acquire an “unreal fancy character”.Schizophrenia remains one of the most urgent problems at the stage of modern psychiatry formation. Up to date there are 1.1% of men and 1.9% of women in the general population of patients. Schizophrenic spectrum disorders are often combined with a number of chronic pathologies that increase the negative impact on the neuro-cognitive sphere of a person. One of the main problems of modern urbanized society is type II diabetes and alcoholism. By increasing the negative impact on a person’s cognitive abilities, they accelerate the process of disintegration of personality and its social functioning. The intellectual level of patients with those chronic diseases that require patients to actively and consciously participate in the treatment process and social functioning can significantly affect the patient’s ability to learn, independently manage the disease, establish a high level of compliance and, as a result, the effectiveness of therapy. An attentive study of the issue of the state of intelligence of patients with comorbid pathology will lead to an improvement in the patient’s social adaptation, a more careful attitude to their somatic health and reduce the risk of disability of the able-bodied population.

Clinical and Therapeutic Factors Affecting the Social Adaptation of Patients with Schizophrenia

Background: сurrently, the question remains open about the factors that affect the social functioning of patients with schizophrenia, including the role of negative symptoms and neurocognitive deficits. The aim: to study factors that affect the social functioning of patients with schizophrenia. Patients and methods: 64 in-patient with schizophrenia (mean age 35.9 ± 10.9 years) were examined at the stage of remission. The disease duration was 9.71 ± 6.0 years. The majority of patients suffered from paranoid and hallucinatory-paranoid attacs (43 and 23%, respectively). The study used follow-up, clinical and psychopathological methods as well as psychometric scales: PANSS, SANS, ВАСS, Calgary scales and UKU scales. An integrative indicator was introduced to assess the social adaptation of patients. Results: it is shown that as the duration of the disease increases, the indicator of social adaptation decreases. The presence of side effects of antipsychotic therapy is associated with restrictions on the social functioning of patients, but the use of second-generation antipsychotics contributes to an increase in the level of social functioning of patients. Patients with more pronounced apathetic-abulic disorders, flattened affect, anhedonia-asociality and social isolation are characterized by a lower level of social functioning. Adapted patients differ from maladapted patients by better indicators of auditory-speech memory, motor skills, information processing speed, ability to plan and problem solving behavior. Conclusion: the integrative indicator of social adaptation of patients with schizophrenia is associated with a number of cognitive and negative symptoms, features of antipsychotic therapy and the duration of the disease.