Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Family Impact Module (PedsQL FIM)

Randomized community trial to assess nutritional, socioeconomic, and health outcomes of a food forest initiative in Santa Elena Province, Ecuador: a study protocol

Malnutrition is an escalating concern in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs), including Ecuador, particularly within rural settings. To address this issue, food forests emerge as a promising intervention. This research protocol outlines a controlled intervention in the province of Santa Elena, aiming to evaluate the efficacy of a food forest in enhancing nutritional outcomes, with potential implications for broader replication. The study will be conducted in the Colonche Parish of Santa Elena Canton, where one commune will be randomly selected to receive the food forest intervention. In contrast, another similarly characterized commune, also randomly selected through cluster-based sampling, will serve as a control group, receiving no intervention. This randomized, comparative approach will enable a more precise assessment of the food forest's impact. Data collection will occur at three intervals: baseline, 6 months, and 12 months post-intervention. Comprehensive questionnaires will be employed to measure the food forest's influence on the communities' nutritional, economic, and health metrics, distinguishing between the intervention and control communes to elucidate the intervention's specific effects.

Mental health impact on primary and secondary Prader-Willi syndrome caregivers

INTRODUCTION

Caring for individuals with rare diseases can be challenging and represent a burden. Nevertheless, this has been scarcely explored in Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). Therefore, we sought to explore the psychological impact of caregiving, as well as the differences between main caregivers and other family members.

METHODS

Different evaluation tools and scales were used taking into consideration the impact on caregivers. The scales were administered to those relatives who are immersed in the usual dynamics of the patient, differentiating between the main caregiver and other relatives living in the family home.

RESULTS

A total of 33 families of patients with genetic confirmation of PWS were included. In this survey, 32% of primary caregivers reported a high probability of anxiety, compared with 19% of non-primary caregivers (p = 0.27). Concerning depression, 40% of primary caregivers related possible or probable cases of depression compared with non-primary caregivers 13% (p = 0.04). Regarding caregiver burden evaluated using the Zarit scale, 61% of the main caregivers presented high levels of overload, compared with 29% of the other relatives (p = 0.005). Family functioning evaluated using the APGAR scale showed a total lower response from primary caregivers, but no statistically relevant results were found [25.4 ± 6.7 vs. 26.0 ± 8.2 (p = 0.72)].

CONCLUSION

In this study, we observed that caring for people with PWS can have a significant effect on the mental health, burden and quality of life of caregivers, with a greater impact among primary caregivers compared with the other living relatives.