ABSTRACT

The aim of our study was to examine the relationship between the mode of coping and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with migraine. We have also tried to examine the relationship of disease duration and the frequency of attacks with HRQoL and the ways of coping with stress. The research was done on a sample consisting of 106 participants (95 women and 11 men); mean age of 40 years (IQR 28-48) with the migraine lasting for 10 years (IRQ 5-20 years). The average number of attacks, over the last month, was two attacks (IRQ 1-3 attacks). Ways of coping questionnaire were used to estimate the mode of coping with stress and SF-36 questionnaire for HRQoL. The result showed the self-control as the most common way of coping with stress in patients with migraine. They also confirmed the existence of a significant connection of ways of coping with stress and HRQoL in people with migraine. There is a larger number of significant correlations of ways of coping connected with the domains of mental health than with the physical health. Escape/avoidance is significantly negatively correlated with the largest number of HRQoL domains, especially with existence of significant mental health (ρ = -0.447) and role limitation due to the emotional problems (ρ = -0.361). The number of migraine attacks has greater influence on HRQoL in patients with migraine than the disease duration. Our study showed the existence of significant correlations between the ways of coping with stress and HRQoL, especially with mental domains. In some domains, the correlation was even stronger than the one showing the disease duration and the number of attacks. The above-mentioned results suggest the directions in further formulation of psychological interventions that would be helpful for the additional treatment of migraine.

No abstract

This study evaluates the total antioxidant status (TAS) in plasma of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Earlier studies of their relationship showed inconsistent findings. Patients and Methods: We compared TAS between 90 COPD patients and 30 age-and sex-matched controls (mean age 67 ± 7.9, 87 males and 33 females) according to airway obstruction severity, gender, smoking status (current/ former/ non-smoker), smoking-dose, the number of exacerbations in the previous year, nutritional status and hypercapnia. Results: There were no differences in pack-years between COPD and controls, neither in COPD groups. The median time from the last exacerbation was 5 months (interquartile range 3−8.3). TAS was significant higher in COPD than controls (1.68 [1.55−1.80] versus 1.59 [1.54−1.68], respectively; P = 0.03). TAS was significantly higher in COPD men than women (1.7 [1.6−1.8] versus 1.57 [1.5−1.7], respectively; P = 0.001). In COPD groups, there were no significant differences between the severity of airway obstruction and TAS. We found significant positive correlation between pack-years and TAS in all participants (Rho = 0.429, P = 0.004) and COPD patients (Rho = 0.359, P = 0.02), but not in controls. TAS was a significant predictor of COPD (β = 3.26; P = 0.04; OR = 26.01; 95% CI: 1.20 to 570.8). We failed to find significant differences between TAS and smoking status, frequency of exacerbations in the previous year, nutritional status and hypercapnia. Conclusion: TAS was a significant predictor of COPD. TAS was a significantly higher in stable COPD than controls, higher in COPD men than women, but there was no significant correlation between TAS and the airway obstruction severity. Our results suggest that it could be appropriate to include the time from the last exacerbation in the oxidant-antioxidant balance analysis of COPD patients.