Tremor in Parkinson's disease (PD) is a fundamental feature used in the determination of disease onset and progression. Traditionally, tremor has been evaluated using frequency domain analysis. However, in many cases, this analysis did not show significant differences comparing healthy elders and individuals with PD. Given its complex nature, recently the interest in nonlinear dynamical analysis for better understanding of tremor has grown. In this paper, we examine the effect of PD on the complexity of the tremor time series of PD patients using the approximate entropy method (ApEn). Tremor was also evaluated in the frequency domain. This study involved 11 healthy and 11 PD patients. The peak frequency was similar in both groups, while the amplitude and power in the peak frequency and the total power were significantly higher in PD patients (p < 0.0001). A significant reduction (p < 0.001) in ApEn was observed in PD. ROC analysis showed that ApEn differentiated physiological tremor from tremor in PD patients with high accuracy. These results are in close agreement with pathophysiological fundamentals, and provide evidence that in PD patients the tremor pattern becomes less complex. Furthermore, our findings also suggest that ApEn has a high clinical potential in assessing PD patients.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) usually affects young adults and has a chronic, relapsing-remitting course, with an impact on patients' quality of life, namely on their health, education, profession, and social and family life. Objectives: To assess the levels of quality of life of patients with IBD and identify the quality of life-related factors. Methodology: A descriptive-correlational, cross-sectional study was conducted with a quantitative approach. The consecutive and convenience sample was composed of 38 participants. An instrument that consisted of sociodemographic variables, clinical variables, and behavioral habits, as well as the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire-Revised (IBDQ-R) was applied. Results: A statistically significant association was found between quality of life, in the Social function dimension, and education level, hospital admissions, and smoking habits. Conclusion: Patients with IBD perceived their quality of life as reasonable (45.80%), with higher scores in the Systemic symptoms dimension (49.50%) and lower scores in the Social function dimension (36.50%). Keywords: inflammatory bowel diseases; quality of life ResumoEnquadramento: A doença inflamatória intestinal (DII) afeta geralmente adultos jovens e tem um curso clínico crónico recidivante, com impacto na qualidade de vida, nomeadamente em aspetos relacionados com a saúde, educação, profissão, vida social e familiar. Objetivos: Avaliar o nível de qualidade de vida das pessoas com DII e identificar os fatores relacionados com a qualidade de vida. Metodologia: Trata-se de um estudo descritivo-correlacional, transversal e de tipo quantitativo. A amostra do estudo foi consecutiva e por conveniência, constituída por 38 participantes, tendo sido aplicado um questionário constituído por variáveis sociodemográficas, clínicas e hábitos comportamentais e pelo instrumento de avaliação Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire -Revised (IBDQ-R). Resultados: Verifica-se relação estatisticamente significativa entre a qualidade de vida, na dimensão Aspetos sociais e o nível de escolaridade, a existência de internamentos e a existência de hábitos tabágicos. Conclusão: As pessoas com DII consideram ter uma perceção da qualidade de vida razoável (45,80%), com valores superiores na dimensão Sintomas sistémicos (49,50%) e inferiores na dimensão Aspetos sociais (36,50%). Palavras-chave: doenças inflamatórias intestinais; qualidade de vidaPalabras clave: enfermedades inflamatorias del intestino; calidad de vida *MSc., Clinical Nurse Specialist in Community Nursing, Hospital Sousa Martins, 6300-035, Guarda, Portugal [luciagil72@sapo.pt]. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1890-2411.