Advances in cardiac surgery techniques and early diagnosis have enabled the increased survival of individuals with congenital heart disease. The investigation of the quality of life in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease provides complementary information to clinical data that can assist in decision making on the part of health professionals. Although many studies have been conducted to investigate the quality of life of children and adolescents with congenital heart disease, the results prove to be contradictory; while some studies show that congenital heart disease can impact the quality of life, others describe a better perception of quality of life among children and adolescents who suffer from the disease when compared with healthy control subjects. The purpose of this study is to review the literature on the assessment of health related quality of life in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease, in order to systematize the existing knowledge on this topic today. It is observed that research seeks to investigate aspects of personality in cardiac patients, their coping strategies used and perceived social support, aiming at better understanding the association of these variables with the level of quality of life in this population.

Type of congenital heart disease and initial diagnosis did not seem to affect the perception of health-related quality of life, corroborating findings of several studies. Surgical interventions and the use of medication can improve previous clinical status, and therefore it seems to be beneficial in terms of Psychological Well-Being. The presence of clinical symptoms was the variable that caused the largest impact on the perception of health-related quality of life, possibly because of the impairment they bring to the daily lives of these patients.

A imagem corporal é um tema que sempre está em evidência quando se aborda a dança em suas diferentes modalidades. A busca da imagem corporal ideal em bailarinas vai além dos parâmetros da população em geral e, na medida em que elas se tornam profissionais, a necessidade de manter o peso adequado vai aumentando. Este estudo tem como objetivo verificar o nível de satisfação de bailarinas de balé clássico e de dança jazz com sua imagem corporal, identificando as diferenças e semelhanças entre os dois grupos. Pretende-se ainda identificar semelhanças e diferenças no nível de satisfação com a imagem corporal de bailarinas clássicas de países diferentes. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de campo descritiva. A amostra foi composta por 15 bailarinas adultas profissionais de balé clássico e 16 bailarinas de dança jazz de Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil, e por nove bailarinas adultas profissionais radicadas em Nova Iorque, Estados Unidos. O instrumento utilizado para avaliar o nível de satisfação com a imagem corporal foi o Questionário de Imagem Corporal - BSQ, que mede o grau de preocupação com a forma do corpo, a autodepreciação devido à aparência física e a sensação de estar gordo. Os dados foram analisados com auxílio do programa estatístico SPSS 15.0. Para a comparação dos dados foram aplicados os testes Qui-quadrado e Anova, sendo considerados significativos valores de p < 0,05. Os resultados encontrados mostram que as bailarinas, independente de sua modalidade de escolha, apresentam níveis de insatisfação e distorção de sua imagem corporal. Não houve diferenças estatisticamente significativas (p = 0,96) entre os três grupos avaliados. Destaca-se, em conclusão, a importância de estudos sobre imagem corporal em grupos considerados de risco, visando a identificação de distúrbios graves em concomitância com transtornos do comportamento alimentar, que trazem consequências nocivas para a saúde de bailarinas.

Background: Bariatric surgery has been considered one of the main interventions for patients with morbid obesity. Body image has been a relevant variable to access the patient's level of satisfaction and weight loss expectations. This systematic review has the aim of verifying the most used measures to evaluate body image of bariatric surgery patients, as well as the main results regarding body image changes after surgery. Materials and Methods: This study followed the PRISMA standards, and the search was made on Medline, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases, using ''body image'' AND ''bariatric surgery'' as descriptors. Results: The Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) was the most used instrument. Studies revealed a lack of measures that investigate relevant topics for the bariatric patient, for instance, excess skin. A negative perception of body image was associated with the presence of psychopathology, while the improvement of body image perception was related to a better quality of life after surgery. Conclusions: For multidisciplinary teams, it is important to use measures of body image evaluation, both specific and generic, to understand whether aesthetic motivations are such an important aspect of surgery expectations and eventually identify body image distortions that should be treated with psychological counseling.

Suggested citation: Bordignon S, Aparício MJ, Bertoletti J, Trentini CM. Personality characteristics and bariatric surgery outcomes: a systematic review. Trends Psychiatry Psychother. 2017;39(2):124-134. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2237-6089-2016 Abstract Introduction: Numerous studies have focused on psychological assessment of bariatric surgery candidates, aiming to identify which psychological variables, including personality characteristics, are related to successful surgical prognosis. Objective: To analyze, by means of a systematic literature review, longitudinal studies that investigated personality traits and disorders as possible predictors of outcomes in bariatric surgery. Method: PsycInfo, PubMed, and Scopus databases were searched for studies published between 2005 and 2015, using the keywords "bariatric" AND "personality." Quantitative longitudinal studies in English, Portuguese, or Spanish were selected for review if they assessed personality as an outcome predictor of BS in people aged 18 years or older. Results: Sixteen articles were analyzed. The results of this review suggest that externalizing dysfunctions might be associated with less weight reduction, while internalizing dysfunctions appear to be associated with somatic concerns and psychological distress. The persistence dimension (of temperament in Cloninger's model) was positively associated with greater weight loss, while neuroticism (Five Factor Model) and the occurrence of personality disorders were not predictive of weight loss. Furthermore, the results indicate a tendency towards a reduction in personality disorders and neuroticism scores, and an increase in extroversion scores, after BS. Conclusions: Assessment of personality characteristics, whether to identify their predictive power or to detect changes during the BS process, is important since it can provide grounds for estimating surgical prognosis and for development of interventions targeting this population.