Validation of the Brazilian Version of the Screening Tool for Psychosocial Distress (Stop-D) for Cardiac Patients

Abstract

Background: Distress has a potentiating effect on complications of heart disease. Early identification of distress and psychosocial management could help patients to deal with the disease and improve their quality of life. However, in Brazil, there is no specific instrument for evaluation of distress in cardiac patients.Objectives: To describe the validation process of the Screening Tool for Psychosocial Distress (STOP-D) for the Brazilian population.Methods: Cross-sectional, observational study with a quantitative approach. A total of 144 patients (including outpatients and inpatients) were interviewed at the waiting room of the outpatient cardiology clinic or in cardiology wards. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected, and distress was assessed using two instruments -the Brazilian version of the STOP-D and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). First, we performed an exploratory factor analysis and analysis of the accuracy of the STOP-D score by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curvet. Results:The factorability analysis of the correlation matrix did not detect any factor that made the factorial solution unfeasible. The instrument showed a single-factor nature, confirmed by the criterion of eigenvalues, with an 85% accuracy in predicting distress. A cut-off point of 15.5 was chosen for distress using the ROC curve. Conclusions:The Brazilian version of the STOP-D is an adequate instrument for the screening of heart disease patient for distress. It can be easily used by any health professional and would contribute to the promotion of a comprehensive support to cardiac patients.

Impacto de uma abordagem de dança sobre a ansiedade, estresse e depressão em universitários

“…Na literatura, observam-se outras classificações para o estresse, como o estresse adaptativo e o estresse de esgotamento mental(SILVA, 2015;GONTIJO et al, 2019). A etiologia do estresse está centrada na capacidade de adaptação e percepções do indivíduo acerca do agente estressor.…”

Anxiety, Depression, Stress and the Heart: When Measurement Matters

“…4 In the current issue of the International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciences, Gontijo and colleagues report the validation process of the Screening Tool for Psychosocial Distress (STOP-D) for the Brazilian population. 5 Originally developed as an alternative to assess depression, anxiety, stress, anger and low social support in a single and brief 5-item instrument, STOP-D had demonstrated adequate psychometric properties in three outpatients cardiac clinics from Canada. 6 Its validation in a Brazilian sample of cardiological patients is an important step towards the implementation of routine psychological evaluation in a poor country such as Brazil.…”