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Background/Aims: The aim of this study is to explore the validity and reliability of the health-related quality of life SF-36 questionnaire in patients undergoing renal replacement therapy. Methods: A multicenter descriptive transversal study was carried out in Galicia, Spain, with patients undergoing renal replacement therapy. The tool used to measure the health-related quality of life was the authorized Spanish version of the ‘SF-36’ generic health questionnaire. The internal consistency of this survey was determined by means of interscale correlations and Cronbach’s α statistic. Validity was examined with a principal component exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation. Results: A total of 213 patients waiting for a kidney transplant and 72 recipients with a functioning renal transplant were studied. All the interscale correlations were positive and significant. The overall statistical value for Cronbach’s α was equal to 0.91 (95% CI: 0.91–0.94) and in all domains this value ranged from 0.7 to 0.92. The factor analysis identified 8 factors that explain 66.6% of the variance, 5 of which consisted of the same structure as 5 factors (domains) of the theoretical model. Conclusion: The SF-36 questionnaire is also a reliable and valid tool when used to measure the quality of life of patients undergoing renal replacement therapy.

Objectives We investigated whether an intervention mainly consisting of a signed agreement between patient and physician on the objectives to be reached, improves reaching these secondary prevention objectives in modifiable cardiovascular risk factors six-months after discharge following an acute coronary syndrome. Background There is room to improve mid-term adherence to clinical guidelines' recommendations in coronary heart disease secondary prevention, specially non-pharmacological ones, often neglected. Methods In CAM-2, patients discharged after an acute coronary syndrome were randomly assigned to the intervention or the usual care group. The primary outcome was reaching therapeutic objectives in various secondary prevention variables: smoking, obesity, blood lipids, blood pressure control, exercise and taking of medication. Results 1757 patients were recruited in 64 hospitals and 1510 (762 in the intervention and 748 in the control group) attended the six-months follow-up visit. After adjustment for potentially important variables, there were, between the intervention and control group, differences in the mean reduction of body mass index (0.5 vs. 0.2; p < 0.001) and waist circumference (1.6 cm vs. 0.6 cm; p = 0.05), proportion of patients who exercise regularly and those with total cholesterol below 175 mg/dl (64.7% vs. 56.5%; p = 0.001). The reported intake of medications was high in both groups for all the drugs considered with no differences except for statins (98.1% vs. 95.9%; p = 0.029). Conclusions At least in the short term, lifestyle changes among coronary heart disease patients are achievable by intensifying the responsibility of the patient himself by means of a simple and feasible intervention.

In Galicia in 2009 there would be 96 400 women aged 16-64 years infected with HR-HPV. It is possible to estimate HR-HPV prevalence in a population starting from a volunteer sample.