Carmen Rodriguez-Blazquez

Instituto de Salud Carlos III | ISCIII · Center National of Epidemiology (CNE)

Objectives This study aims to estimate the impact of the co-occurrence of behavioural risk factors on mortality in the Spanish adult population. Design Population-based cohort study based on data from the 2011–2012 Spanish National Health Survey and the 2014 European Health Survey (n=35 053 participants ≥15 years of age) both linked to mortality d...

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic was a global public health crisis with an unparalleled impact worldwide, presenting a significant challenge for both physical and mental health. The main objective of this study was to analyze the risk of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic and how this was affected by sociodemographic factors, pandemic fatigue...

Older adults are increasingly stepping into informal caregiving roles, primarily due to the inadequacy of formal care services to meet their growing demands. We aimed at identifying profiles of older caregivers according to their quality of life (QoL), and describing the factors characterizing them. A cross-sectional analysis of a cohort study was...

Background Spasticity is a common feature in patients with disruptions in corticospinal pathways. However, the term is used ambiguously. Here, spasticity is defined as enhanced velocity‐dependent stretch reflexes and placed within the context of deforming spastic paresis encompassing other forms of muscle overactivity. Objective This scoping revie...

Sexual dysfunction (SD) is a common non-motor symptom in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) yet underreported and undertreated specifically in many ethnic PD groups because of religious, social and personal perceptions. We conducted the first single-centre cross-sectional study in the United Arab Emirates of SD in 513 consecutive patients who agr...

Background Health outcomes of patients with multimorbidity are associated with the satisfaction with the care received. The objective of this study is to describe and compare the needs, adequacy of and satisfaction with the received healthcare in patients with complex chronic diseases in Spain. Methods Data from a convenience sample of patients pa...

Introduction Informal care is crucial in Spain’s care system, with a rising number of caregivers aged 75 or older, yet studies on its health effects are lacking. This study aims to determine the differential impact of age and care-related variables on the health of older caregivers. Materials and methods This is a cross-sectional, national study w...

Sexual dysfunction (SD) is common non-motor symptom in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) yet underreported and undertreated specifically in many ethnic PD groups because of religious, social and personal perceptions. We conducted the first single-centre cross-sectional study in the United Arab Emirates of SD in 513 consecutive patients who agree...

Background During the first epidemic wave, COVID-19 surveillance focused on quantifying the magnitude and the escalation of a growing global health crisis. The scientific community first assessed risk through basic indicators, such as the number of cases or rates of new cases and deaths, and later began using other direct impact indicators to condu...

Background The extensive and continuous reuse of sensitive health data could enhance the role of population health research on public decisions. This paper describes the design principles and the different building blocks that have supported the implementation and deployment of Population Health Information Research Infrastructure (PHIRI), the stre...

Background During the first epidemic wave, COVID-19 surveillance focused on quantifying the magnitude and the escalation of a growing global health crisis. The scientific community first assessed risk through basic indicators, such as the number of cases or rates of new cases and deaths, and later began using other direct impact indicators to condu...

Aim This exploratory study evaluates rating scale usage by experts from the European Reference Network for Rare Neurological Diseases (ERN-RND) for paediatric MD, considering factors like diagnosis, intellectual disability, age, and transition to adult care. The aim is to propose a preliminary framework for consistent application. Methods A multic...

Background Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) is a well-established treatment for motor complications in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, its effects on neuropsychiatric symptoms remain disputed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of STN-DBS on neuropsychiatric symptoms in PD. Methods We retrospectively assessed...

The Covid pandemic has yielded new insights into psychological vaccine acceptance factors. This knowledge serves as a basis for behavioral and communication interventions that can increase vaccination readiness for other diseases.

Advanced Parkinson’s Disease (APD) is complicated by the emergence of motor and non-motor fluctuations, which are initially predictable and eventually become unpredictable, in part due to erratic gastric absorption and short half of oral levodopa. Attempts to manage such fluctuations with oral dopaminergic drugs often lead to disabling dyskinesias....

Background The European Population Health Information Research Infraestructure (PHIRI) conducted research through use cases of applicability for public health policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study is to present changes in diagnosis of depression or anxiety and the use of health services before and during the COVID-19 crisis....

Background The aim of this study is to present a synthesis of health indicators implemented in policy documents and decision tools to tackle the impact of COVID-19 pandemic across Europe. Methods Two surveys were conducted to collect information on indicators monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic. Data source, strength and limitations of the indicators...

Background The measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially social distancing, had important effects on feelings of loneliness. The objective of this work is to assess the perception of loneliness in older adults living in nursing homes during the pandemic, how it has changed during the pandemic and its explanatory factors. Methods Th...

Objective: This study aimed to describe the change in knowledge, attitudes, concerns, perceptions, preventive practices, and vaccination intention at two key time points of the COVID-19 pandemic and to assess whether these changes varied by level of pandemic fatigue. Methods: Data included in this study came from the third and the ninth round of th...

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, and the condition is complicated by the emergence of wearing off/motor fluctuations with levodopa treatment after a variable period. COMT inhibitors when used as adjunct therapy to levodopa tend to smoothen out these wearing off fluctuations by enhancing delivery of levo...

Background/Objectives: Fear of COVID-19 is a feeling whose perception can influence mental health and behavior, as has been shown in recent literature. The objective of the research is to analyze conditioning factors of fear of COVID-19 and its influence on compliance with protection measures of elderly people living in residences. Methods: The sur...

Aim: To investigate the occurrence of traumatic stress symptoms (TSS) among healthcare workers active during the COVID-19 pandemic and to obtain insight as to which pandemic-related stressful experiences are associated with onset and persistence of traumatic stress. Methods: This is a multicenter prospective cohort study. Spanish healthcare work...

Aim: Societal ageing increases the need for correct and healthy ageing to ensure the well-being of older adults. Practical strategies are needed to acquire healthy habits for the ageing process. This study aims to analyse the lifestyle habits of subjects who are retired or close to retirement and identify factors that could influence their perceiv...

Objective To evaluate the long-term, real-life effects on non-motor symptoms (NMS) of opicapone compared to entacapone in levodopa-treated people with Parkinson’s disease (PwP). Methods A retrospective data analysis, with pre- and post-opicapone initiation data of 17 PwP with motor fluctuations compared to a comparable group of 18 PwP introduced o...

En la pandemia de COVID-19, tanto el comportamiento individual como el colectivo son determinantes en el control de la propagación de la enfermedad, pero las restricciones adoptadas para atajar esta crisis de salud pública han afectado al bienestar físico y mental de la población. Conocer las percepciones y actitudes de los ciudadanos ayuda a ident...

Introduction The present study explores the reasons of those who have not been vaccinated in the later stage of the vaccine rollout in Spain and its associated determinants. Methods Cluster and logistic regression analyses were used to assess differences in claimed reasons for vaccine hesitancy in Spain using two samples of unvaccinated people (18...

Introduction The protection of children is a major driver of behavior among those in charge of their care. We evaluated whether compliance with preventive measures against SARS-CoV-2 infection among adults living with children was different from that of those not living with them, in 2020. Methods We used the COSMO-SPAIN (N = 867) and the national...

Nurses’ attitudes toward families play an important role in improving relationships with patients’ families. It is essential to have valid and reliable instruments to assess nurses’ attitudes toward involving families. The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the refined Spanish version of the Families’ Importance in Nurs...

Nursing homes for the elderly in Spain have experienced high rates of infection and mortality from COVID-19, although rates have varied from one region to another. Madrid is the region where most institutionalized older adults have died from the coronavirus. However, there is little known about the psychosocial and environmental factors involved in...

The most vulnerable residential settings during the COVID-19 pandemic were older adult’s nursing homes, which experienced high rates of incidence and death from this cause. This paper aims to ascertain how institutionalized older people assessed their residential environment during the pandemic and to examine the differences according to personal a...

Fear of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one of the main psychological impacts of the actual pandemic, especially among the population groups with higher mortality rates. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) has been used in different scenarios to assess fear associated with COVID-19, but this has not been done frequently in people living in...

This study aims at describing the evolution of Spanish population preventive practices during the COVID-19 pandemic of the between January and June 2021, and differences by age group. Data was drawn from the COSMO-Spain online survey, rounds (R) 4, 5 and 6. Multiple linear regression models with preventive practices as dependent variable were perfo...

Purpose: Regular light cigarette consumption (light smoking) is increasing in many countries; however, few studies have assessed its impact on mortality. The main aim of this study is to estimate the association between number of cigarettes consumed and all-cause mortality in Spain while focusing on light smoking. Methods: Longitudinal study based...

Background The COVID-19 pandemic, and its consequences in terms of control measures and restrictions to normal life, has affected the population mental health. One of the four case studies from the Population Health Information Research Infrastructure (PHIRI) for COVID-19 is focused on mental health with the objective to measure changes in incidenc...

Background The Joint Action Population Health Information Research Infrastructure (PHIRI) seeks to create infrastructures to generate quality data on the COVID-19 pandemic between European countries. The aim of this study is to present a synthesis of health indicators used to evaluate the direct impact of COVID-19 Methods Scoping review using a co...

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted older people. The disease and the measures to combat it have had a differential impact according to gender, with higher mortality rates in men and worse psychological and social consequences in women. The objective of this work is to analyze the changes in perceived health of older people in Eu...

Population ageing in most Western countries has attracted great attention in the knowledge on quality of life (QoL) in old age. QoL is a multidimensional construct, dynamic and centred on the person, which includes important dimensions such as health, psychological aspects, social relationships and activities, autonomy, and living circumstances. Th...

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of health literacy to make informed preventive decisions. A specific COVID-19 health literacy questionnaire (CHL-Q) is included in the COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring WHO initiative to conduct behavioral insights studies related to COVID-19. The objective was to assess the psychometric pr...

•The literature reporting on rural-urban health status disparities remains inconclusive.•We analyzed data from a longitudinal population-based study using individual observations.•Our results show that the risks of all-cause and cancer mortality are greater in large cities than in other municipalities, with no clear urban-rural gradient.•Not differ...

Objectives. To analyze factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in Spain, over time. Methods. We used data from a national study that included 5 online surveys carried out every 2 months from September 2020 to May 2021. Each round recruited a sample of 1000 participants aged 18 years or older. We performed a multivariable logistic regres...

Background Following the active ageing model based on the Health, Lifelong Learning, Participation and Security pillars, this research has a twofold objective: i) to classify older adults according to active ageing profiles, taking into account the four pillars, and ii) to ascertain the relationship between the profiles and personal and contextual...

Previous work identifying determinants of co-occurrence of behavioral risk factors have focused on their association with individuals' characteristics with scant attention paid to their relationship to contextual factors. Data came from 21,007 individuals ≥15 years of age who participated in the cross-sectional 2011–2012 Spanish National Health Sur...

Behavioural sciences have complemented medical and epidemiological sciences in the response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. As vaccination uptake continues to increase across the EU/EEA - including booster vaccinations - behavioural science research remains important for both pandemic policy, planning of services and communication. From a behavioural p...

The violence - without the apparent “Gender Peace”, if data and households are examined - occurs against adult and older women, is beginning to become apparent, but there is only information from recent years. The objective is demonstrate that social isolation can be a key factor in gender peace in the case of adult and older women, even more so in...

Aims: Longitudinal data on the mental health impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic in healthcare workers is limited. We estimated prevalence, incidence and persistence of probable mental disorders in a cohort of Spanish healthcare workers (Covid-19 waves 1 and 2) -and identified associated risk factors. Methods: 8996 healthc...

Introduction Social relationships (SR) are an important aspect in the healthy ageing process. The study aimed to describe SR in over-50s in Spain and analyse their association with physical/emotional, functional and cognitive/sensory health variables. Methods The study sample was formed by 5583 people representing the Spanish population aged 50 an...

Background: Sexism results in a number of attitudes and behaviors that contribute to gender inequalities in social structure and interpersonal relationships. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Lights4Violence, an intervention program based on promoting health assets to reduce sexist attitudes in young European people....

Non-motor Parkinson's Disease is a burgeoning area of the movement disorders field, as patients increasingly live longer and encounter more late-stage symptoms. The spectrum of non-motor manifestations spans much of the body, with non-motor features occurring in all stages of the disease. Identification of symptoms is key for preserving quality of...

Aim: The Memory Failures of Everyday (MFE) is a widely used instrument for assessing memory failure. The aim of the study was to analyze the MFE items using the Rasch model in a sample of cognitively older adults in Spain. Methods: A cross-sectional validation study in a sample of 214 healthy people aged ≥60 years who used centers for older peop...

This paper investigates positive perceptions of ageing in rural people aged 65 and over as a key predictor of the self-assessment of one’s health. Method: The sample covers a total of 3389 people from the ‘Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement’ (SHARE), wave 6 (W6, 2015). This research analyses men and women who live in a rural environment. A lin...

Healthcare workers (HCW) are at high risk for suicide, yet little is known about the onset of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) in this important segment of the population in conjunction with the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a multicenter, prospective cohort study of Spanish HCW active during the COVID-9 pandemic. A total of n = 4809 HCW par...

Sexual dysfunction is a very frequent non-motor symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, patients are often reluctant to declare their sexual problems and many clinicians do not inquire about them during routine visits. The use of validated rating scales and questionnaires allows overcoming these difficulties, characterizing the nature and cau...

Aim To analyze the responsiveness and interpretability of the Living with Chronic Illness Scale in patients with Parkinson's disease (LW-CI-PD). Methods Longitudinal, international study, with a convenience sample of 153 PD Spanish and Latin-American patients assessed at baseline and one year later. The LW-CI-PD and other clinical measures were ap...

Background. Following the active ageing model based on the Health, Lifelong Learning, Participation and Security pillars, this research has a twofold objective: i) to classify older adults according to active ageing profiles, taking into account the four pillars, and ii) to ascertain the relationship between the profiles and personal and contextual...

Identification of Parkinson’s disease subtypes may help understand underlying disease mechanisms and provide personalized management. Although clustering methods have been previously used for subtyping, they have reported generic subtypes of limited relevance in real life practice because patients do not always fit into a single category. The aim o...

The main objective was to identify sociodemographic characteristics of the population at risk for a greater clustering of unhealthy behaviors and to evaluate the association of such clustering with self-rated health status and disability. Data come from the 2017 Spanish National Health Survey with a sample of 21,947 participants of 15 years of age...

Introduction In epidemics such as COVID-19, major changes need to be made to the population's behavior to prevent infection and stop disease transmission. The three most recommended preventive measures are wearing a mask, washing hands with soap or hydroalcoholic gel, and watching an interpersonal distance of at least two meters (3W) from other peo...

Background: Pandemic fatigue is defined as feelings of demotivation to follow preventive measures against COVID-19, together with decrease of trust in government and frequency of information seeking behavior. Objective: To analyze the psychometric properties of the COVID-19-specific pandemic fatigue scale according to classical test theory (CTT)...

Background PHIRI WP5 aims at identifying the research approaches, data uses, pathways, indicators, and new methodologies to assess the impact of COVID-19 on Population Health. Methods Based on a collaborative work of researchers from 20 European institutions, several literature reviews were planned using automatized strategies to map the research...

Background Wide variations in COVID-19 infection and outcomes exist across Europe and within countries. PHIRI will look at COVID-19 impacts in specific subgroups by conducting research through use cases of immediate relevance for public health policies focusing on indirect effects of the pandemic related to healthcare and other policies to contain...

It is essential that healthcare and social professionals understand the daily lives of people with chronic diseases, and the variables that influence them. The aim of this study was to identify the determinants influencing the process of living with long-term conditions. To investigate this, an observational, international, cross-sectional study wa...

Background The Living with Chronic Illness (LW‐CI) Scale is a comprehensive patient‐reported outcome measure that evaluates the complex process of living with long‐term conditions. Objective This study aimed to analyse the psychometric properties of the LW‐CI scale according to the classic test theory and the Rasch model among individuals living w...

Identification of Parkinson’s disease subtypes may help understand underlying disease mechanisms and provide personalized management. Although clustering methods have been previously used for subtyping, they have reported generic subtypes of limited relevance in real life practice because patients do not always fit into a single category. The aim o...

Background Constipation is regarded as one of the prodromal features of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and there is emerging evidence linking gastrointestinal dysfunction and cognitive impairment (CI) in PD. Objective We explored whether constipation is associated with development of CI in two independent cohorts of de novo PD patients (n = 196 from the...

This chapter aims to know the psychosocial impact and social behaviours and related to the perception of technological needs in adults and older persons with diseases, health problems and/or sensory or motor disabilities. This work delves into this reality from a gender, inclusive and, at the same time, technological, biotechnological and/or virtua...

Background: The ageing of today's society intensifies the need for the correct and healthy ageing of the elderly, in order to ensure their overall well-being. Practical strategies are needed to acquire healthy habits at this stage of life. The aim of this study is to analyse the life habits of subjects close to retirement age and the factors that c...