Andrea Calderone

Dr. Andrea Calderone


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

2Years (2025-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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2 July 2025 in Healthcare
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
DLDesiree Latella
Desiree Latella
GMGiulia Marafioti
Giulia Marafioti
CFCaterina Formica
Caterina Formica
ACAndrea Calderone
Andrea Calderone
EFElvira La Fauci
Elvira La Fauci
GFGiuseppa Filippello
Giuseppa Filippello
Background and Objectives: Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) enhances psychological flexibility by fostering acceptance of thoughts and emotions, promoting mindfulness practices, and encouraging engagement in value-based actions. These processes have been associated with improvements in mental health and social functioning, with accumulating evidence supporting ACT’s efficacy across various psychiatric disorders. This systematic review aimed to evaluate current evidence on ACT interventions for reducing psychiatric symptoms and enhancing social functioning and interpersonal relationships in adults with psychiatric conditions. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and Embase for studies published between 2014 and 2024. The review protocol was registered on the Open Science Framework (OSF; registration ID: 2ZAGT). Results: Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria; however, the evidence base remained fragmented, with most psychiatric diagnoses represented by only one or two studies. The reviewed studies exhibited several methodological limitations, including small sample sizes, lack of randomization and blinding, high risk of bias, reliance on subjective outcome measures, and inadequately designed or absent control groups. Despite these limitations, ACT was associated with beneficial effects in conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), insomnia, psychosis, and autism spectrum disorder, particularly in reducing experiential avoidance, enhancing mindfulness, and promoting long-term improvements in emotional regulation and life satisfaction. Conclusions: Due to the limited number of studies per diagnosis, significant methodological weaknesses, and the lack of high-quality controlled trials, this review cannot provide strong evidence for the efficacy of ACT in improving social functioning among adults with psychiatric disorders. The heterogeneity and overall low quality of the available literature highlight the urgent need for further large-scale well-controlled studies.

Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
DLDesiree Latella
Desiree Latella
CSChiara Scorza
Chiara Scorza
MBMirjam Bonanno
Mirjam Bonanno
ACAndrea Calderone
Andrea Calderone
Angelo QuartaroneAngelo Quartarone
Angelo Quartarone
Rocco Salvatore Salvatore CalabròRocco Salvatore Salvatore Calabrò
Rocco Salvatore Salvatore Calabrò
Background: Pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) is frequent in neurological disorders, but it is often approached as a secondary urological or gynecological problem rather than a functional rehabilitation target. Neurological disease can disturb cortical, pontine, spinal, sacral, autonomic, somatic, and sensory pathways that regulate bladder storage, voiding, bowel evacuation, sexual function, and pelvic pain modulation. Methods: This narrative review synthesized biomedical evidence identified through PubMed searches from database inception to 2 May 2026. Search concepts included neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction, urinary and bowel dysfunction, sexual dysfunction, pelvic pain, pelvic floor rehabilitation, biofeedback, electrical stimulation, neuromodulation, telerehabilitation, robotics, and major neurological disorders. The review was oriented according to the Scale for the Assessment of Narrative Review Articles (SANRA) and was not designed as a systematic review or meta-analysis. Results: Evidence from multiple sclerosis, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, spinal cord injury, and fibromyalgia or nociplastic pain syndromes supports a phenotype-based framework in which pelvic floor muscle training, bladder and bowel training, biofeedback, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, posterior tibial nerve stimulation, sacral neuromodulation, telerehabilitation, robotics, and multidisciplinary care are considered complementary rather than interchangeable strategies. Conclusions: PFD in neurological disorders may be more appropriately conceptualized as a multidimensional neurorehabilitation target. Effective care depends on disease-informed phenotyping, individualized rehabilitation goals, attention to cognition and adherence, and standardized outcome measurement. Future studies should test phenotype-specific pathways that integrate bladder, bowel, sexual, pain, participation, safety, and caregiver outcomes.

29 October 2025 in Brain Sciences
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
RLRosaria De Luca
Rosaria De Luca
FIFederica Impellizzeri
Federica Impellizzeri
FCFrancesco Corallo
Francesco Corallo
ACAndrea Calderone
Andrea Calderone
RCRosalia Calapai
Rosalia Calapai
Rocco Salvatore Salvatore CalabròRocco Salvatore Salvatore Calabrò
Rocco Salvatore Salvatore Calabrò
Background: Emotionally salient music may enhance attention-focused rehabilitation, yet concurrent music plus virtual-reality programs in chronic stroke are largely untested. We assessed whether personalized emotional music stimulation (EMS) layered onto a standardized virtual reality rehabilitation system (VRRS) augments cognitive, affective, physiological, and functional outcomes. Methods: In a quasi-randomized outpatient trial, 20 adults ≥ 6 months post-ischemic stroke were allocated by order of recruitment to VRRS alone (control, n = 10) or VRRS+EMS (experimental, n = 10). Both groups performed 45 min of active VRRS cognitive training (3×/week, 8 weeks), while the EMS group received approximately 60 min sessions including setup and feedback phases. Primary outcomes were cognition and global function; secondary outcomes were intrinsic motivation, depression, anxiety, and heart rate. Non-parametric tests with effect sizes and Δ-scores were used. Results: The experimental group improved across all domains: cognition (median +4.5 points), motivation (median +54 points), depression (median −3.5 points), anxiety (median −4.0 points), heart rate (median −6.35 beats per minute), and disability (median one-grade improvement), each with large effects. The control group showed smaller gains in cognition and motivation and a modest heart-rate reduction, without significant changes in mood or disability. At post-treatment, the music group outperformed controls on cognition, motivation, and disability. Change-score analyses favored the music group for every endpoint. Larger heart-rate reductions correlated with greater improvements in depression (ρ = 0.73, p < 0.001) and anxiety (ρ = 0.58, p = 0.007). Conclusions: Adding personalized emotional music to virtual-reality attention training produced coherent, clinically relevant gains in cognition, mood, motivation, autonomic regulation, and independence compared with virtual reality alone.

10 January 2026 in Medical Sciences
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
AMAlfredo Manuli
Alfredo Manuli
ACAndrea Calderone
Andrea Calderone
DLDesiree Latella
Desiree Latella
FQFabrizio Quattrini
Fabrizio Quattrini
GPGianluca Pucciarelli
Gianluca Pucciarelli
Rocco Salvatore Salvatore CalabròRocco Salvatore Salvatore Calabrò
Rocco Salvatore Salvatore Calabrò
Background/Objectives: Sexual dysfunction (SD) and broader sexual health problems are common after neurological disorders, yet interventional evidence is fragmented across conditions and outcomes. This umbrella review mapped and appraised systematic review-level evidence on interventions targeting SD and sexual health in neurological populations and qualified conclusions using certainty of evidence. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, PsycINFO, EBSCOhost, and Scopus were searched from inception to 27 November 2025. Two reviewers screened records, extracted data, assessed review quality with AMSTAR 2, and rated certainty across intervention–outcome pairings using a GRADE-informed approach that integrated review confidence and primary-study risk-of-bias as reported by the source reviews. Results: Twenty-six systematic reviews were included. Overall confidence was frequently limited (17/26 critically low and 6/26 low), with only a small subset rated moderate or higher. Evidence was most coherent for phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors improving erectile function in men with spinal cord injury, whereas most other interventions and outcomes were supported by low or very low certainty. Women were represented in 16/26 reviews, yet validated female sexual function outcomes were synthesized in 6/26 reviews and relationship/couple outcomes in 3/26; furthermore, 10/26 reviews restricted inclusion to men, and no review synthesized pediatric intervention trials. Conclusions: Evidence supports PDE5 inhibitors for improving erectile function in men with spinal cord injury, while evidence for other interventions and sexual health domains remains limited. Methodological limitations highlight the need for more inclusive trials, broader standardized outcomes, and longer follow-up within neurorehabilitation pathways.

14 July 2026 in Nursing Reports
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
AMAlfredo Manuli
Alfredo Manuli
Maria Grazia MaggioMaria Grazia Maggio
Maria Grazia Maggio
ACAndrea Calderone
Andrea Calderone
Lilla BonannoLilla Bonanno
Lilla Bonanno
PTProvvidenza Tomasello
Provvidenza Tomasello
Rocco Salvatore Salvatore CalabròRocco Salvatore Salvatore Calabrò
Rocco Salvatore Salvatore Calabrò
Background/Objectives: Sexual health is frequently under-addressed after stroke, despite its relevance to intimacy, identity, relationships, and rehabilitation. This convergent mixed-methods study integrated sex-specific screening with descriptive narrative material to examine sexual functioning and patient-reported concerns in clinical rehabilitation. Methods: Twenty-six adults were assessed: ten with the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), sixteen with an International Index of Erectile Function six-item field (IIEF-6), and ten with analyzable semi-structured interview responses. The sex-specific measures were analyzed separately. Continuous variables were summarized by median and interquartile range; nonparametric correlations and group comparisons underwent Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate correction. Quantitative and qualitative findings were integrated in a participant-level joint display. This integration yielded case-level meta-inferences rather than inferential mixed-methods testing in this sample. Results: Nine of ten FSFI profiles and nine of sixteen IIEF-6 profiles met the respective exploratory threshold for possible dysfunction. No association or group comparison remained statistically significant after correction. Six of eighteen threshold-positive profiles had analyzable interviews, twelve represented narrative silence, and four interviewed participants were threshold-negative. Narratives documented fear, embarrassment, reduced desire or sexual frequency, relational or communication change, support needs, clinical sequelae, and positive or neutral adaptation. Screening and narratives showed convergence, complementarity, and divergence: low scores did not establish personal distress, whereas concerns could occur above a threshold. Conclusions: Responsive sexual rehabilitation should combine confidential, permission-based, patient-led screening and narrative inquiry with individualized information, optional support, appropriate referral, and reassessment according to readiness. These preliminary, hypothesis-generating findings do not validate an intervention or support confirmatory inference.

2 September 2026 in Medical Sciences
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Amelia RizzoAmelia Rizzo
Amelia Rizzo
Maria Grazia MaggioMaria Grazia Maggio
Maria Grazia Maggio
ACAndrea Calderone
Andrea Calderone
FIFederica Impellizzeri
Federica Impellizzeri
GPGiulia Pistorino
Giulia Pistorino
Rocco Salvatore Salvatore CalabròRocco Salvatore Salvatore Calabrò
Rocco Salvatore Salvatore Calabrò
Background/Objectives: Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects motor, cognitive, psychological, and social functioning that impairment-based scales do not fully capture. This systematic review evaluated the measurement properties and applications of the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0 in adults with MS across research and clinical contexts. Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to 25 May 2026. Eligible peer-reviewed studies reported extractable WHODAS data in adults with MS. Evidence was organized into measurement, clinical-association, participation/employment, intervention, digital-monitoring, and longitudinal streams. Design-appropriate critical-appraisal tools and outcome-specific certainty assessments were applied; quantitative pooling was assessed but was not justified. Results: Of the 677 records identified, 28 reports were included. Five reports evaluated measurement properties; moderate-certainty evidence supported reliability and construct validity, although precision differed among 12-, 32-, and 36-item forms. Associations with quality of life and clinical severity were supported by low-certainty evidence. Evidence concerning fatigue, mood, cognition, participation, and employment was of low or very low certainty because most studies were cross-sectional, used heterogeneous metrics, or involved overlapping cohorts. Intervention evidence was of very low to low certainty: WHODAS was secondary, and interventions, time points, and scoring methods were not comparable. Eight reports arose from one overlapping research program. Conclusions: WHODAS 2.0 provides a multidimensional patient-reported account of functioning in MS and may complement, but not replace, the Expanded Disability Status Scale. Evidence supports measurement use more strongly than prognostic, treatment-response, or benefit-determination claims. Standardized version selection, scoring, domain reporting, and prespecified longitudinal endpoints are required.