Objectives:to present currently available evidence to verify the association between metabolic syndrome and quality of life. Method:Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Medline and LILACS databases were studied for all studies investigating the association with metabolic syndrome and quality of life. Two blinded reviewers extracted data and one more was chosen in case of doubt. Results:a total of 30 studies were included, considering inclusion and exclusion criteria, which involved 62.063 patients. Almost all studies suggested that metabolic syndrome is significantly associated with impaired quality of life. Some, however, found association only in women, or only if associated with depression or Body Mass Index. Merely one study did not find association after adjusted for confounding factors. Conclusion:although there are a few studies available about the relationship between metabolic syndrome and quality of life, a growing body of evidence has shown significant association between metabolic syndrome and the worsening of quality of life. However, it is necessary to carry out further longitudinal studies to confirm this association and verify whether this relationship is linear, or only an association factor.

BackgroundLifestyle intervention programs can reduce the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and, therefore, reduce the risk for cardiac disease, one of the main public health problems nowadays.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to compare the effects of three types of approach for lifestyle change programs in the reduction of metabolic parameters, and to identify its impact on the quality of life (QOL) of individuals with MetS.MethodsA randomized controlled trial included 72 individuals with MetS aged 30-59 years. Individuals were randomized into three groups of multidisciplinary intervention [Standard Intervention (SI) - control group; Group Intervention (GI); and Individual Intervention (II)] during 12 weeks. The primary outcome was change in the metabolic parameters, and secondarily, the improvement in QOL measures at three moments: baseline, 3 and 9 months.ResultsGroup and individual interventions resulted in a significant reduction in body mass index, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure at 3 months and the improvement of QOL, although it was significantly associated with the physical functioning domain. However, these changes did not remain 6 months after the end of intervention. Depression and anxiety were significantly associated with worse QOL, although they showed no effect on the response to intervention.ConclusionMultidisciplinary intervention, especially in a group, might be an effective and economically feasible strategy in the control of metabolic parameters of MetS and improvement of QOL compared to SI, even in a dose-effect relationship.

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Objective: To investigate the prevalence of anxiety and depression in patients admitted for acute coronary syndrome to a university hospital and to examine associations with use of psychotropic drugs. Methods: Ninety-one patients who had had an acute coronary event were enrolled on this cross-sectional prevalence study. Characteristics of the study population and the prevalence rates of depression and anxiety in the sample were assessed using the Hospital São Lucas da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) psychiatric consultation protocol, which includes clinical and sociodemographic data, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results: The prevalence of symptoms of anxiety was 48.4% (44 patients) and the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 26.4% (24 patients). Of these, 19 patients (20.9% of the whole sample) had scores indicative of both types of symptoms concomitantly. Considering the whole sample, just 17 patients (18.7%) were receiving treatment for anxiety or depression with benzodiazepines and/or antidepressants. Conclusions: Anxiety and depression are disorders that are more prevalent among patients with acute coronary syndrome than in the general population, but they are generally under-diagnosed and under-treated. Patients with anxiety and depression simultaneously had higher scores on the HADS for anxiety and depression and therefore require more intensive care.

Depression was not associated with mortality of patients with kidney disease when controlling for gender, age, and treatment modality. Transplantation was the main factor associated with lower mortality. Depression was, however, a strong predictor of quality of life. Number of depressive symptoms was directly associated with lower quality of life in most of the items of the SF-36.

This study suggested that anxiety, especially depressive symptoms, are significantly associated with SAH and had a significant effect on hypertensive patients' worse quality of life.

Os autores realizaram uma revisão bibliográfica sobre a depressão e outros fatores psicossociais que poderiam influenciar a evolução dos pacientes renais. Avaliaram trabalhos relativos a depressão, idade, gênero, raça, suporte social e status marital/suporte familiar. Ao final, ficou demonstrado que não existem resultados definitivos nas pesquisas realizadas sobre esses fatores. A idade parece ser um fator que influencia a evolução, mas os fatores de confusão não foram contemplados nos trabalhos examinados, e surgiram evidências fortes de que o gênero não estaria associado à evolução desses pacientes.

Depressive symptoms are more prevalent among cancer patients than in the general population, but they are generally under-diagnosed and under-treated. Simultaneous use of antidepressant and antineoplastic agents is common and so, in order to reduce the number of harmful adverse effects, possible drug interactions must be identified before antidepressants are prescribed to cancer patients.