Health Services

Research group

Group Leader

Jordi Alonso Caballero

Our research focuses on psychometric and epidemiologic methods for measuring perceived health, disability, and patient-reported outcomes (PROs).  Our main lines of research apply these methods to assessing the burden of mental disorders and to researching the comparative effectiveness of interventions in chronic diseases, in particular cancer and asthma. Our research is carried out in collaboration with several international research networks.  Knowledge transfer is also an important focus of the group, with a leading role in BiblioPRO, the online library of PROs in Spanish, including more than 1,350 instruments. We develop a number of educational and mentoring activities, in particular the Master’s program in Public Health, and the degree in Medicine, as well as other official education programs form both Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), and the PSMAR Teaching Unit of specialists in Preventive Medicine and Public Health. Our team comprises 25 professionals with different backgrounds such as life sciences, psychology, statistics, and others, and is  part of the CIBER in Epidemiology and Public Health (Instituto de Salud Carlos III), and it is recognized as a Consolidated Research Group by AGAUR (DIUE, Generalitat de Catalunya).

 

Members

Itxaso Alayo Bueno (Technician)

Alfonso Antón López (Researcher)

Laura Ballester Coma (PhD Student)

Purificación Barbas López (Research Assistant)

Mercedes Montserrat Bayo Romero (Research Assistant)

María Jesús Blasco Cubedo (Researcher)

Pere Castellví Obiols (Researcher)

Montserrat Ferrer Forés (Researcher)

Carlos García Forero (Researcher)

Olatz Garín Boronat (Researcher)

Carme Gasull Planes (Research Assistant)

María Gimena Hernández  Pombo (Technician)

David John Macfarlane Self (Technician)

Marcos Martí Pastor (Researcher)

Luisa Aurea Martín Morris (Research Assistant)

Yolanda Pardo Cladellas (Researcher)

Àngels Pont Acuña (Technician)

Gemma Vilagut Saiz (PhD Student)

 

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Main Publications

• Arnau A, Espaulella J, Méndez T, Serrarols M, Canudas J, Formiga F, Ferrer M. Lower limb function and 10-year survival in population aged 75 years and older. Fam Pract 2016; 33(1): 10-16. IF 2.022. Q1.

• Auerbach RP, Alonso J, Axinn WG, Cuijpers P, Ebert DD, Green JG, Hwang I, Kessler RC, Liu H, Mortier P, Nock MK, Pinder-Amaker S, Sampson NA, Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Al-Hamzawi A, Andrade LH, Benjet C, Caldas-de-Almeida JM, Demyttenaere K, Florescu S, de Girolamo G, Gureje O, Haro JM, Karam EG, Kiejna A, Kovess-Masféty V, Lee S, McGrath JJ, O'Neill S, Pennell BE, Scott K, ten Have M, Torres Y, Zaslavsky AM, Zarkov Z, Bruffaerts R. Mental disorders among college students in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. Psychol Med 2016; 46(14): 2955-2970. IF 5.491. Q1.

• Benjet C, Bromet EJ, Karam EG, Kessler RC, McLaughlin KA, Ruscio A, Shahly V, Stein DJ, Petukhova M, Hill ED, Alonso J, Atwoli L, Bunting B, Bruffaerts R, Caldas de Almeida JM, de Girolamo G, Florescu S, Gureje O, Huang Y, Lépine JP, Kawakami N, Kovess-Masféty V, Medina-Mora ME, Navarro-Mateu F, Piazza M, Posada-Villa J, Scott KM, Shalev AY, Slade T, ten Have M, Torres Y, Viana MC, Zarkov Z, Koenen KC. The epidemiology of traumatic event exposure worldwide: results from the World Mental Health Survey Consortium. Psychol Med 2016; 46(2): 327-343. IF 5.491. Q1.

• Lee JY, Daignault-Newton S, Health G, Scarlett S, Sanda MG, Chang P, Regan MM, Michalski JM, Sandler HM, Feng FY, Kuban DA, Zietman AL, Ciezki JP, Kaplan ID, Crociani C, McLaughlin WP, Mantz CA, Finkelstein SE, Suy S, Collins SP, Garin O, Ferrer M, Hamstra DA, Spratt DE. Multinational prospective study of patient-reported outcomes afeter prostate radiation therapy: Detailed assessment of rectal bleeding. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2016; 96(4):770-777. IF  4.495. Q1.

• McGrath JJ, Saha S, Al-Hamzawi AO, Alonso J, Andrade L, Borges G, Bromet EJ, Oakley Browne MA , Bruffaerts R, Caldas de Almeida JM, Fayyad J, Florescu S, de Girolamo G, Gureje O, Hu C, De Jonge P, Kovess-Masféty V, Lépine JP, Lim CC, Navarro-Mateu F, Piazza M, Sampson N, Posada-Villa J, Kendler KS, Kessler RC. Age of Onset and Lifetime Projected Risk of Psychotic Experiences: Cross-National Data From the World Mental Health Survey. Schizophrenia Bull 2016; 42(4): 933-941. IF 7.757. Q1 .

• Monleón-Castelló S, Ferrer M, Tejero M, Pont A, Piqueras M, Belmonte R. Shoulder Strength Changes One Year after Axillary Lymph Node Dissection or Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Breast Cancer Patients. Arch Phys Med Rehab 2016; 97(6): 953-963. IF 3.045. Q1.

• Pavasini R, Guralnik J, Brown JC, di Bari M, Cesari M, Landi F, Vaes B, Legrand D, Verghese J, Wang C, Stenholm S, Ferrucci L, Lai JC, Bartes AA, Espaulella J, Ferrer M, Lim JY, Ensrud KE, Cawthon P, Turusheva A, Frolova E, Rolland Y, Lauwers V, Corsonello A, Kirk GD, Ferrari R, Volpato S, Campo G, Vaes B, Legrand D, Verghese J, Wang C, Stenholm S, Ferrucci L, Lai JC, Bartes AA, Espaulella J, Ferrer M, Lim JY, Ensrud KE, Cawthon P, Turusheva A, Frolova E, Rolland Y, Lauwers V, Corsonello A, Kirk GD, Ferrari R, Volpato S, Campo G. Short Physical Performance Battery and all-cause mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Med 2016; 14: 215. IF 8.005. Q1

• Santacana M, Arias B, Mitjans M, Bonillo A, Montoro M, Rosado S, Guillamat R, Valles V, Pérez V, Forero CG, Fullana MA. Predicting Response Trajectories during Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy for Panic Disorder: No Association with the BDNF Gene or Childhood Maltreatment. PLoS ONE 2016; 11(6): e0158224. IF 3.057. Q1.

• Scott KM, Lim C, Al-Hamzawi A, Alonso J, Bruffaerts R, Caldas de Almeida JM, Florescu S, de Girolamo G, Hu C, De Jonge P, Kawakami N, Medina-Mora ME, Moskalewicz J, Navarro-Mateu F, O'Neill S, Piazza M, Posada-Villa J, Torres Y, Kessler RC. Association of Mental Disorders With Subsequent Chronic Physical Conditions: World Mental Health Surveys From 17 Countries. JAMA Psychiatry 2016; 73(2):150-158. IF 14.417. Q1

• Vilagut G, Forero CG, Barbaglia G, Alonso J. Screening for Depression in the General Population with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D): A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. PLoS ONE 2016; 11(5): e0155431. IF 3.057. Q1

Ongoing Research Projects

• ASTRO-LAB: Assessment of the safety of LABAs in asthma in routine care by combining health-care databases and direct patient follow-up

− European Commission HEALTH-F5-2011-282593

− From 2011 to 2016

− Principal investigator: Ferrer Forés, Montserrat

 

• EQ-5D: Coordinated study on the new version of EuroQol (EQ-5D) for use in Spain. Subproject 1: Evaluation of the metric benefits of the new EQ-5D-5L and reference standards

− Instituto de Salud Carlos III FEDER (PI12/00772)

− From 2013 to 2016

− Principal investigator: Ferrer Forés, Montserrat

 

• UNIVERSAL: University and Mental Health. Predictive Models for Suicidal Ideation and Behaviour in Spanish University Students

− Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria. ISCIII (PI13/00343)

− From 2014 to 2017

− Principal investigator: Alonso Caballero, Jordi

 

• PROMIS.es Mental Health: calibration and validation of a computerized Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System for mental health diagnosis and monitoring

− Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria. ISCIII (PI13/00506)

− From 2014 to 2017

− Principal investigator: Vilagut Sanz, Gemma

 

• CaPROST10: Long-term effectiveness: 10 years follow-up of the “Spanish multicentric study of localized prostate cancer” cohort

− Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria. ISCIII (PI13/00412)

− From 2014 to 2018

− Principal investigator: Garin Boronat, Olatz

 

• Alcohol-use disorder and other substances in university students: risk factors, incidence, and impact in the "Universal-University and Mental Health" cohort

− Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad (2015I015)

− From 2016 to 2018

− Principal investigator: Alonso Caballero, Jordi

 

• ARCA: Assessment of treatment with Long Acting Bronchodilators in children with asthma: an observational prospective study

− Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria. ISCIII (PI15/00449)

− From 2016 to 2018

− Principal investigator: Ferrer Forés, Montserrat

 

• Assessment of diagnostic precision, costs and utility of glaucoma screening based on image based detection, automated image analysis and telemedicine

− Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria. ISCIII (PI15/00412)

− From 2016 to 2018

− Principal investigator: Antón López, Alfonso

Participation in Research Networks

• CIBERESP: Epidemiología y salud pública

− Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria. ISCIII (CB06/02/0046)

− Principal investigator: Alonso Caballero, Jordi

Group’s Recognitions

• Officially recognised as a consolidated research group by the Generalitat de Catalunya: Grup de Recerca en Serveis Sanitaris (2014-2017)

− Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (SGR 748)

− Principal investigator: Alonso Caballero, Jordi

Theses

• Olariu E. Using Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) to improve recognition of common mental disorders in primary care. Pompeu Fabra University

− Directors: García Forero, Carlos; Alonso Caballero, Jordi

− Date of defense: 12/01/2016

 

• Arnau A. Functional Status and Survival of persons aged 75 years or more without serious dependency. Autonomous University of Barcelona

− Director: Ferrer Forés Montserrat

− Date of defense: 03/02/2016

 

• Becerra V. Economic Evaluation of Treatments for Patients with Localized Prostate Cancer. Pompeu Fabra University

− Directors: Ferrer Forés, Montserrat; Cots, Francesc

− Date of defense: 08/02/2016

Other

• J. Alonso has been one of the researchers highly cited around the world in 2016 in the field of Psychiatry/Psychology (ranking in the 1% most cited works in this field, according to the Clarivate Analytics/Thomson Reuters yearly report).

 

• Our senior researchers achieved high cumulative citations (SCOPUS H): 94 (J. Alonso), 40 (M. Ferrer), 38 (G. Vilagut), 12 (O. Garin) and 10 (C. García Forero).

Our group has organized and carried out two webinars and a course in international settings:

− WEBINAR: Evaluaciones estandarizadas de resultados percibidos por los pacientes (PRO): Método EMPRO (in Spanish, June 20th, 2016), organized by M. Ferrer,  J. Alonso, G. Vilagut, O. Garin and C. G. Forero

− WEBINAR: Standardized Evaluations of Patient Reported Outcomes (PRO): the EMPRO methodology (in English, July 21st, 2016), organized by M. Ferrer,  J. Alonso, G. Vilagut, O. Garin and C. G. Forero

− COURSE: New Methods in Questionnaire Assessment: Applying IRT and Computerized Adaptative Testing using R and Concerto, organized C. García Forero with Chris Gibbons PhD, of the Psychometric Centre of University of Cambridge (28-29 June 2016), as the invited professor.

 

• M. Ferrer’s team was chosen to participate in the first research study led by the Global Prostate Cancer Outcomes Network and funded by Movember Foundation. The study entitled "Prostate Cancer Outcomes Global Initiative to Compare and Reduce Variation in Localised Prostate Cancer (PCO-CRV)" will run from January 2017 to December 2019.

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08003 Barcelona

(+34) 93 316 04 00

info@imim.es