Around 25,000 war veterans in Portugal suffer posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This clinically controlled study evaluates virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) as an alternative procedure to reduce PTSD symptoms. Ten patients were assigned to three groups: VRET, exposure in imagination (EI), and waiting list (WL). The patients were Portuguese veterans from a series of wars fought in former African colonies more than 30 years ago. While the EI group participated in traditional imagination therapy, the VRET group was exposed to a virtual reality (VR) war scenario. Cues such as ambush, mortar blasting, and waiting for rescue were used in the VR. Patients enrolled in the VRET group showed statistical reduction of PTSD-associated disorders like depression and anxiety. Far from being conclusive, this pilot study nonetheless presents some promising data on the use of VRET on old war veteran populations.

This study aims at assessing an online portal where patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) can carry on memory and attention exercises outside clinic premises. The training took place in a virtual reality (VR) setup where one TBI patient had to complete a set of 10 online VR sessions. The neuropsychological evaluation was carried out with the PASAT (Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task) at pre-, during and post-treatment assessments. The results showed an increase in working memory and attention levels from the fi rst to the fi nal assessment, which can suggest that VR applications may promote the autonomy and increase in overall quality of life of these patients. The average time for task conclusion was 5 min.

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The goal of this study was to adapt, improve and validate a short, self-administered health literacy assessment tool for European Portuguese-speaking adults. Health literacy tools are of great importance to health authorities and professionals, as low or inadequate health literacy, that is, a limited capacity to handle health-related information, is associated with higher morbidity and mortality. The 18-item Short Assessment of Health Literacy for Brazilian Portuguese-speaking adults (SAHLPA-18) was adapted into European Portuguese. The European Portuguese tool (SAHLPA-23) includes five additional items. The SAHLPA-23 was tested in a convenience sample of 503 participants from two Portuguese regions. Socio-demographic data, literacy and cognitive indicators were collected. Participants also completed a questionnaire on comprehension of written health materials. Construct validity was assessed through correlations between SAHLPA-23 scores and education, literacy, and cognitive variables and score on the comprehension questionnaire. The psychometric properties of the new tool were compared with those of the SAHLPA-18. The mean SAHLPA-18 and SAHLPA-23 scores were 13.9 (77.2%; SD=2.9) and 18.3 (79.6%; SD=3.8), respectively. Both tools showed adequate reliability (Cronbach's α>0.7). SAHLPA-23 was more highly correlated with all study variables than SAHLPA-18. Although both instruments displayed acceptable discriminative power, SAHLPA-23 had better accuracy than SAHLPA-18 (DeLong's method: ΔAUC=0.09, Z=3.36; P<0.001). The SAHLPA-23 is an independent, feasible and innovative tool for estimation of health literacy in the Portuguese adult population.