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BACKGROUND: Anxiety and stress are common mental health conditions reported by university workers. Practices of mindfulness represent one promising approach as an effective and feasible means to reduce stress, improve mental health and promote well-being; however, there are no clinical trials that have combined long-term stress biomarkers (hair cortisol) and psychometric assessments in a sample of university workers. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based program on long-term stress, by measuring hair cortisol concentration and perceived stress and anxiety among workers who were undergoing high levels of stress. METHOD: We conducted a randomized clinical trial at work among the employees of a public university. We compared a group that received the eight-week mindfulness intervention with the wait list group who received no intervention. RESULTS: A total of 30 participants were included in the study, with n = 15 subjects in the intervention group and n = 15 in the control group. Hair cortisol, perceived stress and anxiety significantly reduced after the intervention compared to the control group, which had no appreciable decline in the measured variables. CONCLUSION: This clinical trial showed the effectiveness of a mindfulness program on mental health psychometric measures (perceived stress and anxiety) and on a long-term stress biomarker (hair cortisol). It can be concluded that an eight-week mindfulness program could be implemented as an effective strategy to reduce stress biomarkers (hair cortisol) as well as perceived stress and anxiety, improving the mental health of university workers.

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ABSTRACT Background/Aim: Chronic kidney failure is frequently related to malnutrition. This research aimed to assess the nutritional status of hemodialysis patients by assessing their biochemical and anthropometric parameters and determining whether the disorders suffered stemmed from nutritional deterioration directly related to time on dialysis. Materials and Methods: This research monitored 90 patients of both genders with chronic kidney failure who regularly received hemodialysis at the kidney unit of our Hospital in Granada (Spain) over five years. The patient's blood was tested quarterly for plasma albumin (Alb), total cholesterol (TC), and total proteins (TP) and monthly for transferrin (Tr). Anthropometric measurements were taken of the patient's weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) and, based on the patient's BMI, classified as established by the World Health Organization. Results: During the five years of our study, patients experienced a statistically significant decrease in total protein (0.941g/dl), plasma albumin (0.9382g/dl), total cholesterol (23.77mg/dl), and transferrin (78.17. g/dl) p < 0.0001. On the contrary, the mean BMI values did not show statistically relevant differences (p < 0.805). However, all patients remained in the WHO category of overweight. The body volume values did not show statistically significant differences either. Conclusions: In conclusion, the nutritional deterioration of these patients was not reflected in their BMI but mainly in their serum chemistry.

RESUMEN Antecedentes/Objetivo: La insuficiencia renal crónica está relacionada frecuentemente con la malnutrición, afectando aproximadamente a un tercio de los pacientes con enfermedad renal avanzada, lo que contribuye a su morbilidad y mortalidad. El objetivo de esta investigación fue evaluar el estado nutricional de los pacientes en hemodiálisis valorando sus parámetros bioquímicos y antropométricos y determinar si los trastornos que padecían se debían al deterioro nutricional directamente relacionado con el tiempo en diálisis. Materiales y Métodos: Es esta investigación realizó un seguimiento de 90 pacientes de ambos sexos con insuficiencia renal crónica, que recibían hemodiálisis periódicamente en la unidad renal de nuestro Hospital en Granada (España) durante un período de cinco años. La sangre de los pacientes se analizó trimestralmente para albúmina plasmática (Alb), colesterol total (TC) y proteínas totales (TP), y mensualmente para transferrina (Tr). Se tomaron medidas antropométricas de peso, talla e índice de masa corporal (IMC) de los pacientes y se les efectuaron mediciones antropométricas de peso, altura e índice de masa corporal calculado mediante la formula peso/talla², y agrupada según la clasificación de la OMS en IMC < 18.50 infrapeso, 18.50 a 24,99 normal, 25 a 29,99 sobrepeso y >30 del IMC s/OMS y se consideró para el estudio como desnutrición un en IMC < 23 kg/m2 y niveles de albumina <3,8 g/dl según el consenso del panel de expertos de la International Society for Renal Nutrition and Metabolism. Resultados: Durante los cinco años de nuestro estudio, los pacientes experimentaron una disminución estadísticamente significativa de proteínas totales (0,941 g/dl), albúmina plasmática (0,9382 g/dl), colesterol total (23,77 mg/dl) y transferrina (78,17. g /dl) p < 0,0001. Por el contrario, los valores medios del IMC no mostraron diferencias estadísticamente relevantes (p < 0,805). Sin embargo, todos los pacientes permanecieron en la categoría de sobrepeso de la OMS. Los valores de volumen corporal tampoco mostraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas. Conclusiones: La desnutrición de los pacientes en diálisis es un hecho patente, el IMC no se corresponde con los parámetros bioquímicos observados, por lo que el deterioro nutricional de estos pacientes se manifiesta principalmente mediante los parámetros bioquímicos estudiados.