Browsing by Author "Gonçalves, Joaquim"
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- An approach to assess quality of life through biometric monitoring in cancer patientsPublication . Silva, Eliana; Aguiar, Joyce; Oliveira, Alexandra; Faria, Brígida Mónica; Reis, Luís Paulo; Carvalho, Victor; Gonçalves, Joaquim; Oliveira e Sá, JorgeCancer is a serious disease that causes significant disability and suffering, so naturally Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) is a major concern of patients, families and clinicians. This paper intends to relate biometric indices, in terms of HRV metrics, with self-perceived HRQoL from patients with lymphoma. Patients (N = 12) answered FACT questionnaire and used a smartband that collected biometrical data in real-time along the chemotherapy treatment. Our results revealed that Physical Well-Being, Total, Lymphoma subscale and FACT-Lym Trial Outcome domains seem to have a similar pattern that HRV metrics across the treatment cycles. In specific, the FACT domains and the HRV metrics have the lowest average levels on the first cycle and seem to increase along the following cycles (3rd and 6th cycles). This approach of continuous assessment of HRQoL will enable a better accuracy and more supported clinical decision.
- Biometrics and quality of life of lymphoma patients: A longitudinal mixed‐model approachPublication . Oliveira, Alexandra; Silva, Eliana; Aguiar, Joyce; Faria, Brigida Monica; Reis, Luís Paulo; Cardoso, Henrique; Gonçalves, Joaquim; Sá, Jorge Oliveira e Carvalho; Victor, Marques HerlanderKnowledge Engineering has become essential in the fields of Medical and Health Care with emphasis for helping citizens to improve their health and quality of life. This includes individual methods and techniques in health‐related knowledge acquisition and representation and their application in the construction of intelligent systems capable of using the acquired information to improve the patients' health and/or quality of life. Haemato‐oncological diseases can provide significant disability and suffering, with severe symptoms and psychological distress. They can create difficulties in fulfilling professional, family and social roles, affecting an individual's quality of life. Health related quality of life (HRQoL) is a subjective concept but there is also an objective component related to physiological indicators. Some of these physiological indicators can be easily assessed by wearable technology such heart rate variability (HRV). This paper introduces an intelligent system to assess, in real‐time, potential HRV indices, that can predict HRQoL in lymphoma patients throughout chemotherapy treatment and to account the individuals' variability.
- A clinical support system based on quality of life estimationPublication . Faria, Brigida Monica; Gonçalves, Joaquim; Reis, Luis Paulo; Rocha, ÁlvaroQuality of life is a concept influenced by social, economic, psychological, spiritual or medical state factors. More specifically, the perceived quality of an individual's daily life is an assessment of their well-being or lack of it. In this context, information technologies may help on the management of services for healthcare of chronic patients such as estimating the patient quality of life and helping the medical staff to take appropriate measures to increase each patient quality of life. This paper describes a Quality of Life estimation system developed using information technologies and the application of data mining algorithms to access the information of clinical data of patients with cancer from Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck services of an oncology institution. The system was evaluated with a sample composed of 3013 patients. The results achieved show that there are variables that may be significant predictors for the Quality of Life of the patient: years of smoking (p value 0.049) and size of the tumor (p value < 0.001). In order to assign the variables to the classification of the quality of life the best accuracy was obtained by applying the John Platt's sequential minimal optimization algorithm for training a support vector classifier. In conclusion data mining techniques allow having access to patients additional information helping the physicians to be able to know the quality of life and produce a well-informed clinical decision.
- A platform for assessing cancer patients’ quality of lifePublication . Faria, Brigida Monica; Gonçalves, Joaquim; Reis, Luís Paulo; Rocha, ÁlvaroIn general, quality of life is the perceived quality of an individual’s daily life, that is, an assessment of their well-being or lack thereof. Life quality of individuals is very important for involves several factors such as social, economic, psychological, spiritual or medical state. The information technologies can help with the management of the services for the healthcare of chronic patients. It was developed and implemented a Quality of Life platform using information technologies and with application of statistical methods to access the information of clinical data of patients with cancer from otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck services of an oncologic institution. The sample was composed of 3013 patients. The results show that there are variables with significant predictors for the Quality of Life: years of smoking (p value 0.049) and size of the tumor (p value < 0.001). In conclusion statistical methods allow having access to additional information helping the physicians to be able to know the quality of life and produce a well-informed clinical decision.
- QVida+: Quality of life continuos estimation for clinical decision supportPublication . Reis, Luís Paulo; Faria, Brígida Monica; Gonçalves, Joaquim; Rocha, Álvaro; Carvalho, VictorAdvances in the last decades in the areas of medical science and patients treatment resulted in a decrease in the mortality rate but also an increase in the number of patients with chronic diseases. This increased life expectancy of patients with chronic diseases often involves great suffering and considerable adverse effects for the patients. Thus, in addition to prolonging life, it is essential to increase the quality of life (QoL) of patients. QoL is now considered an important aspect in clinical practice for patients with chronic illnesses, but the methods to assess, in an automatic or semi-automatic manner, QoL, and their use in clinical decision support are still underexplored and their applications are virtually inexistent. The QVida + solution is based on scientific and technological developments in the areas of quality of life and mobile devices, with the goal of creating a new paradigm for the evaluation and use of QoL in clinical practice. The solution devised is based on an adaptive information system (IS) able to use physical and behavioral data of the patient, gathered by sensors and mobile devices, in conjunction with machine learning techniques, allowing continuous assessment of QoL based on measurement tools that significantly reduce the questionnaires response time without affecting the patients daily life. Continuous assessment of QoL and its rapid use on a clinical decision support system will enable a better quality and more supported decision, patient-centered, by the physician, allowing for an increased quality of life of patients.
- A Review of Commercial and Medical-Grade Physiological Monitoring Devices for Biofeedback-Assisted Quality of Life Improvement StudiesPublication . Nogueira, Pedro; Urbano, Joana; Reis, Luís Paulo; Cardoso, Henrique Lopes; Silva, Daniel Castro; Rocha, Ana Paula; Gonçalves, Joaquim; Faria, Brígida MónicaWith the rise in wearable technology and "health culture", we are seeing an increasing interest and affordances in studying how to not only prolong life expectancy but also in how to improve individuals' quality of life. On the one hand, this attempts to give meaning to the increasing life expectancy, as living above a certain threshold of pain and lack of autonomy or mobility is both degrading and unfair. On the other hand, it lowers the cost of continuous care, as individuals with high quality of life indexes tend to have lower hospital readmissions or secondary complications, not to mention higher physical and mental health. In this paper, we evaluate the current state of the art in physiological therapy (biofeedback) along with the existing medical grade and consumer grade hardware for physiological research. We provide a quick primer on the most commonly monitored physiologic metrics, as well as a brief discussion on the current state of the art in biofeedback-assisted medical applications. We then go on to present a comparative analysis between medical and consumer grade biofeedback devices and discuss the hardware specifications and potential practical applications of each consumer grade device in terms of functionality and adaptability for controlled (laboratory) and uncontrolled (field) studies. We end this article with some empirical observations based on our study so that readers might use take them into consideration when arranging a laboratory or real-world experience, thus avoiding costly time delays and material expenditures.
- Sistema de apoio à decisão clínica baseado em qualidade de vidaPublication . Ferreira, Mário; Reis, Luís Paulo; Faria, Brígida Mónica; Gonçalves, Joaquim; Rocha, Álvaro; Faria, Brigida Monicacrescente relevância do conceito de Qualidade de Vida (QDV) no âmbito da saúde, e a necessidade de aproveitar os benefícios da inovação das tecnologias e sistemas de informação, são a sustentação para o desenvolvimento de um Sistema de Apoio à Decisão Clínica (SADC), que este estudo pretende apoiar. Através da expetativa individual, de bem-estar físico, psicológico, mental, emocional e espiritual dos pacientes, variáveis discutidas e medidas na área de investigação de Qualidade de vida, pretende-se fazer um estu do dos dados para estabelecer correlações com dados laboratoriais, farmacêuticos, socioeconómicos, entre outros, obtendo conhecimento a nível de padrões comportamentais de doentes crónicos, alcançando uma série de dados confiáveis e de fácil acesso, capazes de potenciar o processo de tomada de decisão por parte das equipas médicas especializadas, na procura de melhorar os tratamentos e consequentemente a qualidade de vida relacionado com a Saúde de doentes crónicos.
- Sleep quality of heavy vhicles’ professional drivers: an analysis based on self-perceived feedbackPublication . Faria, Brígida Mónica; Lopes, Tatiana; Oliveira, Alexandra; Pimenta, Rui; Gonçalves, Joaquim; Carvalho, Victor; Faria, Brigida Monica; Pimenta, Rui; Oliveira, AlexandraSleep is a crucial biological need for all individuals, being reparative on a physical and mental level. Driving heavy vehicles is a task that requires constant attention and vigilance, and sleep deprivation leads to behavioral and physiological changes that can develop sleep disorders which can put lives at risk The main objectives of this study are to describe and evaluate sleep quality, excessive daytime sleepiness, circadian preference, and risk of suffering from obstructive sleep apnea in a population of Portuguese professional drivers. To fulfill the objectives, 43 Portuguese professional drivers, between 23 and 63 years old, answered validated questionnaires: Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Morningness–Eveningness, Stop-Bang Questionnaire, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Results indicated that older drivers tend to experience higher daytime sleepiness (11 ± 3.4; p = 0.002) and obstructive sleep apnea risk (4.5 ± 1.5; p = 0.03). Regarding sleep quality, the majority of drivers were classified with poor sleep quality (74.4%). It was possible to infer statistical differences between groups based on body mass index (p = 0.037), the type of route (p = 0.01), and physical activity (p = 0.005). Drivers have an indifferent circadian preference and small-course drivers have a worse sleep health perception. Therefore, it is essential to implement prevention programs, promoting the basic rules for better sleep quality as well as identifying sleep disorders to minimize possible road accidents.