IntroductionThe DASS is a self administered questionnaire which principally measures anxiety stress and depression as a feature of the general population with 42 items.AimsTo create an easy to use and valid measurement, for primary care and during treatment assessment in patients with anxiety or depression disorders.MethodsTranslation was performed using the multiple forward and backward translation protocol. STAI state and trait along with BDI were also administered to check construct validity of DASS.Results537 adults participated, 178 (33.6%) male, 349 (64.6%) female. The total scale of the DASS-42 had a coefficient alpha of .968. Subscale coefficient alphas also were high (αdepression = ,941; αanxiety = ,906 ; αstress = ,942). Mean score for stress was 12,46 (SD = 9,82), for anxiety 7,19 (SD = 7,7) and for depression 8,05 (SD 9,6). Both subscales and total score were significantly correlated with STAI and BDI (r = .60 to.73, p < .01).Principal Components Analysis revealed the presence of 3 factors explaining 56% of the total variance. 14 items loaded in the stress subscale, 14 in the depression factor, but only 12 in the anxiety factor. ANOVAs found significant differences in all subscales between healthy adults and psychiatric outpatients. (p < ,001).ConclusionsThe results of the current validation study suggest that the Greek translation of the DASS is both reliable and valid, with psychometric properties close to those reported in the international literature.

There is increased serum CRH with decreased lesional skin CRHR-1 gene expression in psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, suggesting possible involvement in stress-induced worsening of symptoms.

The aim of this study was to translate the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale into the Greek language and validate its psychometric properties in a sample of advanced cancer patients treated in a palliative care unit. The scale was translated into Greek with the "forward-backward" procedure. It was administered twice, with a 3-day interval, to 82 patients with advanced cancer. Patients completed the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale and the Greek Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The scale had an overall Cronbach alpha of 0.89. Overall test-retest reliability was satisfactory at P<.0005. Satisfactory construct validity was supported between the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale subscales and Hospital Anxiety and Depression subscales. Interscale and interitem correlations were found satisfactory at P<.0005. These results support that the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale is an instrument with satisfactory psychometric properties and is a valid research tool for spirituality in advanced cancer patients.

Addressing spiritual needs in palliative care among the dying needs to be a priority and could be a crucial aspect of psychological functioning, especially when considering certain demographic and clinical characteristics.

This review article provides an overview of published data regarding the involvement of music in anesthesia practice. Music is an important topic for research in different fields of anesthesiology. The use of music preoperatively is aimed at reducing anxiety, stress, and fear. However, the effect of music on perception of pain intraoperatively is controversial, according to studies of both adults and children undergoing various surgical procedures under general and/or regional anesthesia. In postoperative pain management, postanesthesia care, and neonatal intensive care, music can be a complementary method for reducing pain, anxiety, and stress. Music is a mild anxiolytic, but it is relatively ineffective when a pain stimulus is severe. However, music is inexpensive, easily administered, and free of adverse effects, and as such, can serve as complementary method for treating perioperative stress and for acute and chronic pain management, even though music's effectiveness depends on each individual patient's disposition and severity of pain stimulus.

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Chronic daily headache (CDH) is a challenging condition that significantly affects functionality and quality of life. We wish to examine how patients suffering from persistent CDH respond to sound, in order to explore Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) as an alternative psychotherapeutic approach to pain. This is a mixed-methods study combining a quasi-experimental design with a matched comparison group and a case-series design. Initially, nine patients suffering from CDH and nine chronic pain patients received an individual, structured GIM session. Six CDH patients proceeded to receive eight GIM therapy sessions within 4–6 months. Levels of pain, depression, stress, and psychopathology traits were assessed pre- and postintervention. Patients suffering from CDH perceived music differently and had different types and qualities of imagery, compared with the comparison group. CDH patients post-intervention showed notable clinical improvement in anxiety and depression levels, overall distress and psychopathology symptoms, and number and duration of crises and frequency of visits to the Pain Clinic, 6 months postintervention. GIM therapy as an adjacent form of treatment can have a positive impact on psychological comorbidity, number and duration of pain episodes, and patient dependency on the Pain Clinic staff. It is suggested by the findings that (a) music and sound may instigate different paths of neural activation in patients suffering from CDH and that (b) GIM can be a powerful therapeutic tool for personal growth and self-actualization. With this pilot study, we hope to inform future research on CDH and introduce GIM as a way of achieving neuromodulation.

Objective: A pelvic surgery can cause erectile dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate erectile function at various times after pelvic surgery in male patients; to search the non-modifiable risk factors associated with the presence and intensity of sexuality in these patients. This prospective study used the erectile dysfunction IIEF scale. Results: The study population comprised of 106 male patients who had undergone minor pelvic surgery at least 9 months before and during the 2010–2016 period in the 4th Surgical Clinic. A control group of healthy males (N=106) who underwent no pelvic surgery matched for age was also used for reference values. The main age of the participants was 66.16 ±13.07 years old. A history of colectomy was present in 36.8%, 18.9% had undergone sigmoidectomy, and 33% inguinal hernia repair. The percentage of severe erectile function increased from 38.7% before surgery to 48.1% (25% increase) after surgery, at the end of the follow-up period (p<0.05). In the multivariate analysis model, age emerged as an independent predictor of erectile function (p<0.001). Age was the most important determinant of the IIEF score, which was aggravated by 25% from the first to the last assessment of patients.