These data suggest that caregivers need psychological assessment and support in order to keep under control the level of burden and to help themselves be a better resource for their relatives.

Introduction Among the elderly, the availability of tool assessing psychosomatic syndromes is limited. The present study aims at testing inter‐rater reliability and concurrent validity of the semi‐structured interview for the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR‐R‐SSI) in the elderly of the general population. Method One hundred eight subjects were recruited. Participants received a clinical assessment which included the DCPR‐R‐SSI, the Illness Attitude Scale (IAS), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), the Psychosocial Index (PSI), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale‐20 (TAS‐20). Analyses of inter‐rater reliability of DCPR‐R‐SSI and concurrent validity between DCPR‐R‐SSI and self‐administered questionnaires were conducted. Results DCPR‐R‐SSI showed excellent inter‐rater reliability with a percent of agreement of 90.7% (K Cohen: 0.856 [SE = 0.043], 95% CI: 0.77–0.94). DCPR‐R demoralization showed fair concurrent validity with GDS; concurrent validity was also fair between DCPR‐R Alexithymia and TAS‐20, and between DCPR‐R allostatic overload and PSI allostatic load, while the concurrent validity between DCPR‐R Disease Phobia and IAS was moderate. Conclusion DCPR‐R‐SSI represents a reliable and valid tool to assess psychosomatic syndromes in the elderly. DCPR‐R is in need of being implemented in the elderly clinical evaluation.

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The literature about the care givers of patients with Disorders of Consciousness (DOCs) has highlighted the impact on both mental and physical dimensions of quality of life. This study aimed to: (1) describe emotional burden, quality of life, and coping styles in care givers of hospitalized patients with DOCs, compared to Italian normative data; (2) explore the relationships between these variables and their associations with socio-demographic features; and (3) describe their changes over time.Fifteen care givers of patients with DOCs, mostly middle-aged women, were assessed using the Family Strain Questionnaire, the SF-36 Health Survey, and the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced – Nuova Versione Italiana. Eleven subjects were also assessed after 6 and 12 months. Data were analysed through descriptive statistics, correlations, and nonparametric tests of group differences.Compared to the Italian normative data, our sample showed a worse outcome in mental health, social functioning, global mental component, and emotional role functioning. Furthermore, subjects with high emotional burden had more thoughts of death compared to subjects with low emotional burden. Follow-up analyses revealed no variables changed over time.These results highlight the need for psychological interventions and support, since care givers represent an important part of an all-embracing support and care network for patients with DOCs.

Introduction:Stroke is a complex event on both behavioral and neuronal grounds. Recent investigations evidence the central role of subcortical damage on the post-stroke brain and behavior reorganization. We have conducted an exploratory study combining anatomical lesion analysis, functional analysis of resting state fMRI, and behavioral assessment with focus on exploration as represented by SEEKING. Method: 24 stroke inpatients were studied immediately after their clinical stabilization post-stroke; neuronal variability in fMRI along with behavioral outcomes were assessed. These outcomes were compared with a control group of 22 healthy subjects. Results: First, we observed predominant subcortical lesions in our sample with all stroke patients showing subcortical lesions and only some exhibiting additional cortical lesions. Second, we observed significantly reduced neuronal variability in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) that did not show any structural damage. Third, our stroke subjects showed reduced SEEKING which was related to reduced PCC neuronal variability in an abnormal way (compared to healthy subjects). This last outcome was assessed by considering the subset of 11 stroke subjects for which fMRI and behavioral outcomes were jointly measured. Conclusions: Taken together, our findings suggest that damage in subcortical regions may play a central role in abnormalities in both cortical activity (PCC) and associated behavior of post-stroke reorganization. Accounting for these aspects may have significant implications to optimize multidisciplinary rehabilitation processes, particularly during the early steps of recovery, reducing the impact of stroke on the patient and caregiver quality of life.