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Brain Sciences
Special Issues
Neuropsychological Impact and Quality of Life in Chronic Illness
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Neuropsychological Impact and Quality of Life in Chronic Illness

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Neuropsychology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2025 | Viewed by 583

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Nicoletta Ciccarelli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, eCampus University, Como, Italy
Interests: CNS and HIV; neuropsychological examination; cognitive screening and quality of life after stroke; dementia; Parkinson’s disease

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

People with chronic diseases may experience poor cognitive functions and a significant reduction in quality of life due to advanced age, the disease itself, or comorbid conditions. The prevalence of chronically ill persons is increasing as our population gets older and thanks to the continuous implementation of new therapeutic options. Chronic diseases include a lot of different conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers in long-term follow up, HIV infection, autoimmune, and degenerative diseases. There is active research within this perspective and an increasing interest in accruing data that examine the person-centered care strategy.

This Special Issue aims to collect the latest evidence about cognitive functioning and quality of life in all kinds of chronic diseases, focusing on the early screening of symptoms, new tools for neuropsychological evaluation, and measuring different domains of quality of life, and the role of individual differences and social support. These findings may help to develop guidelines and effective interventions to manage cognitive symptoms and improve the quality of life in the long-term care of patients.

We cordially invite original clinical works as well as review articles regarding the above-mentioned cutting-edge topics for contribution in this Special Issue of Brain Sciences.

Dr. Nicoletta Ciccarelli
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • chronic disease
  • HIV
  • cancer
  • cardiovascular disease
  • neurodegeneration
  • aging
  • cognitive impairment
  • cognitive evaluation
  • quality of life
  • patient reported outcome (PRO) measures

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 277 KiB  
Article
Sleep Disorders Are Associated with Mental Health, Quality of Life and Stigma in an Italian Cohort of People Living with HIV
by Valentina Massaroni, Valentina Delle Donne, Francesca Lombardi, Arturo Ciccullo, Valentina Iannone, Pierluigi Francesco Salvo, Daniela Pia Rosaria Chieffo, Valentina Arcangeli, Nicoletta Ciccarelli and Simona Di Giambenedetto
Brain Sci. 2025, 15(4), 332; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15040332 - 23 Mar 2025
Viewed by 309
Abstract
Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess sleep quality in people living with HIV (PLWH), and to examine how the sleep sphere interacts with mental health, quality of life and internalized stigma. Methods: A total of 250 PLWH were consecutively [...] Read more.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess sleep quality in people living with HIV (PLWH), and to examine how the sleep sphere interacts with mental health, quality of life and internalized stigma. Methods: A total of 250 PLWH were consecutively enrolled during routine outpatient visits. Each participant completed a 67-item questionnaire. Sleep disturbances were measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used to measure the mental health status. The Short Form 12 (SF-12) questionnaire was used to measure participants’ quality of life. Internalized HIV-related stigma was evaluated using the modified six-item internalized AIDS-related stigma scale. Results: Many of the PLWH were male (69.2%) and the time between HIV diagnosis and first antiretroviral therapy (ART) was over 10 years (69.2% and 64%, respectively). The PSQI component most-cited as problematic by PLWH was habitual sleep efficiency (52.4%). In multivariate analysis models, a higher mean in the PSQI total score was significantly associated with internalized stigma (mean change 1.10), depression (mean change 6. 20), anxiety (mean change 12.15), stress (mean change 6.24), physical (mean change 7.54) and mental (mean change 3.56) quality of life, health status (mean change −6.04), ART adherence (mean change −5.08) and physical activity (mean change −6.20). Conclusions: Our results confirm the role of sleep quality in both mental and physical health and suggest that sleep disorders might also be a significant indicator of psychosocial challenges faced by PLWH. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neuropsychological Impact and Quality of Life in Chronic Illness)
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