title: Quality of Life of Sardinian Immigrants in Buenos Aires and of People Living in Italy and Sardinia: Does the Kind of Care have a Role for People with Depression?
abstract: The aim of the study was to compare the Quality of Life (QoL) of Sardinian immigrants to Argentina with Sardinians residing in Sardinia. The hypothesis was that a different availability of effective treatments for mood disorders may impact the well being of persons with these disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  One out of five families of Sardinian origin was randomly selected. An Italian study (including Sardinia) was adopted as the control. The Mood Disorder Questionnaire was used for screening mania/hypomania; the diagnosis of Current Major Depressive Disorder was conducted by means of the Patient Health Questionnaire in immigrants and by means of a clinical interview in the control study and in an immigrant subsample (to verify comparability); the Short-Form Health Survey-12 was applied to measure QoL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Sardinian immigrants showed a higher QoL than Italians in Italy (but not with Sardinians residing in Sardinia). On the contrary, the attributable burden worsening QoL due to lifetime manic/hypomanic episodes, as well as to current depressive episodes, was found higher among Sardinian immigrants with respect to both Sardinian residents in Sardinia and the total Italian sample. The use of effective treatment for mood disorder was higher in Italy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study found that in a sample of Sardinian immigrants in Buenos Aires the impact of a mood disorder affects QoL more incisively than in Sardinians residing in Sardinia. The suggested hypothesis of a possible role of beliefs guiding the search for treatments will be verified in future studies.
authors.affiliation: University of Cagliari, Department of Medicine and Public Health, Italy.
authors.forename: Mauro Giovanni
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Carta
authors.affiliation: University of Cagliari, Department of Medicine and Public Health, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: D'Oca
authors.affiliation: University of Cagliari, Department of Medicine and Public Health, Italy.
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Atzeni
authors.affiliation: University of Cagliari, Department of Medicine and Public Health, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perra
authors.affiliation: University of Cagliari, Department of Medicine and Public Health, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Francesca
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Moro
authors.affiliation: University of Cagliari, Department of Medicine and Public Health, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sancassiani
authors.affiliation: Universidad del Museo Social Argentino, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mausel
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Antonio Egidio
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Nardi
authors.affiliation: University of Cagliari, Department of Medicine and Public Health, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Minerba
authors.affiliation: Universidad del Museo Social Argentino, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brasesco
keywords: Community survey; Immigration; Major depressive disorder; Mood disorders; Quality of life; Treatment