Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2022-07"
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- Do surrogates predict patient preferences more accurately after a physician-led discussion about advance directives? A randomized controlled trialPublication . Martins, Catarina Sampaio; Sousa, Iva; Barros, Cláudia; Pires, Alexandra; Castro, Luísa; Santos, Cristina da Costa; Nunes, RuiCaregivers frequently assume the role of surrogate decision-makers but often are unable to accurately predict patients’ preferences. This trial aims to find if the use of the Advance Directives documents as a communication tool, improves the agreement between patients and caregivers. This trial occurred in a palliative care service of a Portuguese hospital center. A prospective, single-blinded, controlled, randomized trial, enrolling patients and caregivers as a dyad was conducted. Participants individually fulfilled an Advance Directive document, in which patients reported their end-of-life preferences and caregivers reported their decisions as patients’ health surrogates. Dyads were randomly assigned to the Intervention or the Control group, in which the physician respectively promoted an open discussion about patients’ Advance Directives or evaluated patients’ clinical condition. Caregivers’ Advance Directives as surrogates were collected one month later. Proportions of agreement and Cohen’s κ were used to access agreement and reliability, respectively, between the dyads. Results from 58 dyads were analyzed. We observed an improvement in agreement between the caregivers’ answers and the patients’ wishes on two-thirds (8/12) of the answers, in the Intervention group, contrasting to one-quarter (3/12) of the answers, in the Control group, despite statistical significance in differences wasn´t obtained. Although not reaching statistical significance, the results suggest that discussions of advance directives with physicians may lead to better prepared surrogates.
- Estratégias de marketing digital na construção de uma marca cidade – o caso de Castelo BrancoPublication . Bernardino, Susana; Matos, Margarida M.; Santos, José de FreitasObjetivo: Com esta comunicação pretende-se compreender em que medida o uso das estratégias de marketing digital influenciam a imagem percebida dos residentes em relação à marca “Castelo Branco, Bordar e Receber”. Metodologia: Foi usado um inquérito por questionário online para recolha de dados dos residentes do município de Castelo Branco, entre Julho e Agosto de 2021. Foram obtidas um total de 745 respostas, que foram depois estatisticamente analisadas. Resultados: Os resultados sugerem que a adoção de estratégias de marketing digital tem um papel positivo sobre a formação das perceções da marca cidade. O estudo indica ainda que os meios de comunicação tradicionais são complementares aos digitais, muito embora as ferramentas digitais, seja através de online branding ou comunidades online, possam ainda ser mais explorados. Limitações: A principal limitação da investigação prende-se com o facto de incidir sobre o estudo da marca cidade de um território específico. Originalidade: A investigação avalia o papel das estratégias de marketing digital na marca cidade “Castelo Branco, Bordar e Receber”, na perspetiva dos seus residentes.
- Coping strategies during the COVID-19 lockdown: A multicultural study on self-related risksPublication . Corazza, Ornella; Dores, Artemisa R.The current COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting the body im age of individuals as well as their practice of physical exercise and their consumption of image- and performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs) in an attempt to boost their appearance.
- Diástase dos retos abdominais e relação com a prática de Atividade Física – Estudo ObservacionalPublication . Pereira, Sílvia Catarina; Costa, Maria José; Mesquita, Cristina; Lopes, Sofia; Vieira, Ana Isabel; Santos, Paula ClaraA positive correlation has been presented between health literacy and physical activity which assume a central focus in public health issues as well as several benefits, namely for abdominal diastases. Determine the levels of Health Literacy related to Abdominal Diastasis in 18 to 65 years old Portuguese Women, residing in Portugal; verify the relationship between the domains of Literacy and the characteristics of the sample; and analyse the influence of Health Literacy on compliance with the WHO recommendations for the practice of Physical Activity. This is an observational, analytic, and transversal study, where the non-probabilistic sample, by convenience, is composed by 318 participants. For the collection of data, we used two digital self-fill questionnaires (QNLDRA e o IPAQ-short-version). The health literacy presents hit rates between 50%-75% (Sufficient). In addition, they also indicate that functional and interactive literacy appear to be the domains with the lower rates 25%-50% (Problematic). Whereas critical literacy points out to Excellent hit rates (75%-100%). Finally, the results show the absence of correlation between health literacy and the fulfilment of WHO recommendations as far as physical activity is concerned (p>0,005). Moreover, the analysis of the sample demonstrates the existence of sedentary behaviour and high levels of noncompliance of WHO recommendations (approximately 30%). Conclusion: There is a lack of knowledge as far as interactive and functional literacy are concerned, under the premise in study. High levels of noncompliance of WHO recommendations are noted. Finds show that physical activity is not influenced by health literacy.
- Assessment of cyanobacterial biomass as sustainable agricultural fertilizer: soil experiment with plants in Pot †Publication . Massa, Anabella; Azevedo, Joana; Azevedo, Rui; Pinto, Edgar; Costa, Anabela; Vasconcelos, Vitor; Campos, Alexandre; Freitas, MarisaProviding food to the growing human population in a sustainable way is one of the greatest challenges of modern society. In this context, cyanobacterial biomass (CB) can function as a source of macronutrients to increase soil productivity. These organisms can be collected from the environment in considerable amounts, since they tend to grow in large blooms. However, some of these cyanobacterial strains produce toxins that need to be carefully monitored to avoid food accumulation. The objective of this work was to evaluate the possible use of toxic and non-toxic strains of CB as fertilizer supplement in the growth of economically relevant vegetables. One-month old Raphanus sativus (radish) and Spinacia oleracea (spinach) plants were grown in pots in indoor controlled conditions. Six experimental conditions were set: (1) a control with no nutrient addition, (2) a recommended dose of a NK commercial fertilizer (CF), 0.6g of lyophilized CB of (3) a non-toxic strain of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, (4) a toxin-producing strain of C. raciborskii, (5) Microcystis aeruginosa, and (6) Anabaena sp. Several variables were estimated: in CB, this included the NPK dose addition, and in plants, the height, dry weight (dw) of the shoot and root, and the mineral content of plant edible parts. The mineral content in CB was estimated and compared with the recommended dose of CF, according to the information given by the fabricant label. We found no significative differences in N composition; nevertheless, there was a significative higher content in P and significative lower content in K in the CB. In the plants, we found no significative statistical differences between the treatments for the dw of radish root and spinach height. In spinach, the dw of the shoot in the M. aeruginosa treatment was significantly lower than the control, CF, and both the toxic and non-toxic C. raciborskii biomass. Additionally, in radish, the plant height and dw of the shoot M. aeruginosa treatment were significantly lower than in the toxic strain of C. raciborskii treatment. When analyzing mineral content in edible parts, we found that spinach treated with control and CF showed a higher content of Ca, Mo, N, P, and K, while in radish, the same two treatments plus the C. raciborskii toxic had higher Co and Fe content. M. aeruginosa amendment seems to impair shoot growth in both plant species. On the contrary, the toxic C. raciborskii CB seems to have a beneficial effect on growth and in mineral uptake on radish plants.
- Literacia em Saúde - Conhecimento sobre diástase dos músculos retos abdominais e a sua relação com as disfunções do pavimento pélvicoPublication . Pereira, Sílvia Catarina; Costa, Maria José; Mesquita, Cristina; Lopes, Sofia; Vieira, Ana Isabel; Santos, Paula ClaraA Literacia em Saúde (LS) é definida como um conceito relacionado com o conhecimento em saúde. O facto de a mulher ter mais literacia pode levar à adoção de comportamentos mais saudáveis, bem como à identificação de fatores de risco, sinais e sintomas que poderão levar à procura de solução numa fase mais precoce. Ao longo do ciclo de vida da mulher ocorrem eventos como a gravidez, parto e menopausa que representam profundas mudanças físicas, nomeadamente na integridade da parede abdominal, podendo levar ao aparecimento de diástase dos músculos retos abdominais (DRA), e consequentemente afetar o desempenho da musculatura do pavimento pélvico, podendo levar ao desenvolvimento de disfunções do pavimento pélvico (DPP). Sabemos então que existem relações anatómicas, mas será que existem também relações entre os níveis de LS sobre DRA e a presença de DPP?
- Risks & Challenges Program: Preventing behavioural addictions and dependenciesPublication . Dores, Artemisa R.; Rendo, Gizela; Rocha, CarlaThe literature supports the importance of prevention of psychoactive substances in college students, namely among first-year students. Although, few programs aim the intervention in behavioural addictions, such as gambling and gaming disorders. The purpose of this work is to present a Portuguese program, Risks & Challenges, and the experience of its implementation in the School of Health, Polytechnic of Porto.
- Teacher bureaucracy in Portugal: Knowing to actPublication . Alonso, Raul; Romão, Paula; Delgado, PauloExcessive bureaucracy in schools is a recurring theme in conversations between teachers and recent research confirms that, from the perspective of Portuguese teachers, it is the main constraint for the development of better quality education and a healthy work environment. In view of the diagnosis, a nationwide study was designed, aiming to collect the perceptions and expectations of change regarding the bureaucratic procedures of the profession. Questionnaire surveys were applied, collecting responses from statistically representative samples of 2434 teachers, 107 directors and 49 presidents of the General Council. After categorization and analysis, a set of results was found with implications for practice. Teachers detect bureaucratic dysfunctions, point out the waste of time with useless and redundant processes, failures in the communication channels and understand that their professional time should be refocused in class instead of filling in documents. The directors and presidents of the General Council understand that bureaucratic administration is important, but it must be adapted to the specificities of school organizations. This investigation points out ways to change procedures that simplify and streamline processes, overcoming the detected dysfunctionalities, while continuing to comply with legal requirements.
- Exploratory and confirmatory Bayesian analysis of the nosographic structure of Internet Gaming DisorderPublication . Cardoso, Joana Beatriz; Ferreira, Tiago Bento; Dores, Artemisa RochaThe diagnosis of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) remains controversial. This study aimed to contribute to the stabilization of the nosographic structure of IGD by specifying the network of interactions between the symptoms of IGD and uncovering the causal paths between them.
- The role of anxiety about appearance on the practice of physical exercise and use of image- and performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs) during the COVID-19 lockdown: A multicultural studyPublication . Dores, Artemisa R; Carvalho, Irene P.; Burkauskas, Julius; Barbosa, Fernando ; Corazza, OrnellaThe literature has been showing evidence about the impact of restrictive mea sures during the COVID-19 pandemic on different psychological variables and behaviours. This study aims to assess the contribution of anxiety about appearance on the practice of physical exercise and use of image- and performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs) during the COVID-19 lockdown.