Conectar
Informal caregivers are of utmost importance in providing sufficient care for palliative outpatients, yet are at risk for psychological burden themselves which might limit their capability to maintain their support.
This project aims to identify structural and psychological factors that are associated with the psychological burden of informal caregivers.
The prospective observational study recorded illness-related and structural data. Multiple logistic regressions were performed to identify relevant factors for increased psychological burden.
This monocentric study recruited 250 adult patients of a specialised outpatient palliative care team and 152 caregivers between April 2021 and August 2022.
Of 250 patients screened for participation, 152 caregiver–patient dyads were included in this study. Above-threshold depressivity was reported by 31%, anxiety by 33% and an elaborated psychological distress was stated by 82% of informal caregivers. Multivariate analyses revealed a significant association of above-threshold depressivity with higher daily caregiving time (OR: 3.215; p=0.026) and being highly burdened by COVID-19 (OR: 1.142; p=0.048). Perceived higher burden from COVID-19 seemed to be protective concerning elevated anxiety (OR: 0.859; p=0.024). High distress was non-significantly associated with higher education (p=0.056) and support by a professional nursing service (p=0.069). The statistical models explain 19% (anxiety, depressivity) and 21% (distress) of the total variance.
As the psychological burden of informal caregivers in an outpatient setting remains high, it tends to be slightly below those strains reported by informal caregivers in inpatient or curative settings. This project adds to the scarce knowledge about associated factors. Further research could address how to implement these results into daily clinical practice, for example, accounting for risk-factors in discharge routine.
Tinnitus is the perception of sound without an external source, often considered a phantom percept similar to phantom limb sensations, resulting from maladaptive plasticity in the brain. The condition lacks an established biomarker for diagnosis but recent studies have linked it to neural changes. The Tinnitus Detection consortium aims to identify and validate potential biomarkers for tinnitus presence and intensity.
This multicentre prospective case–control study will recruit 560 adults (280 chronic tinnitus; 280 controls). Participants will complete standardised audiological and questionnaire assessments and then undergo 64-channel electroencephalography (and magnetoencephalography at one site) to record event-related potentials during (1) a cortical gap prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle (GPIAS) paradigm assessing gap-related inhibition of the N1 response and (2) an omission auditory oddball paradigm quantifying mismatch negativity and P300 as candidate biomarkers of tinnitus presence and loudness.
The identification of a biomarker for tinnitus is crucial for developing personalised diagnosis and treatment: There is a need for updated guidelines and more effective tinnitus treatments, as existing interventions often rely on subjective measures. The success of biomarkers like GPIAS and oddball paradigms could significantly improve the reliability of tinnitus diagnosis and treatment, marking a transformative step in the field.
FreshRSS 