Life＆

鲜花成就美人计 哈佛大学最新的一项研究证明：鲜花让我们变得更快乐,更精神。科学实验：研究人员安排了50位女性在清晨接受调查,安排其中一半女性坐在鲜花周围,询问她们对于当天工作安排的感受。没坐在鲜花周围的参与者,她们的答案大都是焦虑和紧张,而且完全忽略当时正处于朝气蓬勃的早上。而坐在鲜花周围的女性则恰恰相反,她们的情绪明显高涨,对于接下来的工作也是充满信心,抱有希望。研究人与员解释：花香能刺激大脑皮层的活动,透过调节人的神经功能而缓解紧张的情绪,保持快乐的心情,从而振奋精神,提高工作效率。     

Life＆Health

独一无二的“头发”钻石，只为你和他 俄罗斯的科学家最近宣布：他们已经成功地用头发做出了和天然钻石看上去毫无分别的人工钻石!而且，最让恋人们心动的是，由于头发具有像指纹一样的特异性，不同的头发合成出的钻石在光线下的特性就不同     

Life,自宅玩乐去水肿！

高温季节，你总担心被暇黛，于是定时涂上厚厚的防晒霜，尽量不出门将自己保护得很好，在日光下依然白皙透亮。正在骄傲之时，却不曾想——面部的水肿却出现了。     

有关Quality of Life一词的中文表达

有关ＱｕａｌｉｔｙｏｆＬｉｆｅ一词的中文表达陈和年１胡孟璇２方积乾２ＱｕａｌｉｔｙｏｆＬｉｆｅ（ＱＯＬ）一词自１９７５年才在医学文献中以关键词出现。世界卫生组织从１９９１年开始研制世界卫生组织ＱＯＬ量表，并成立了世界卫生组织ＱＯＬ研究组。国际学术界于...     

什么是PQLI(Physial Quality of Life Index)

用于衡量国家或地区的人民营养、卫生保健和国民教育水平的综合指标。是美国海外开放协会(Overseas Development Council)于1975年编制的。     

Life Story Work: Optional Extra or Fundamental Entitlement?

In Aotearoa New Zealand the importance of life story books is outlined in the policy of our statutory care and protection agency Child, Youth and Family. Many children in care do not have access to such a resource, however, suggesting that social workers view this as an optional extra or “nice to have” rather than integral to good practice. This article begins with an outline of practice in Aotearoa New Zealand. The function and purpose of life story work and theoretical underpinnings are explored in order to address the question posed in the article's title. I argue that life story work is a fundamental entitlement which is often overlooked in practice. The article concludes with a discussion of dilemmas and challenges before identifying changes needed in the New Zealand context.     

人与环境Healfh Life“园艺疗法”悄然兴起

园艺疗法是指人们在从事园艺活动时,在绿色的环境里得到情绪的平复和精神的安慰,在清新的空气和浓郁的芳香中增添乐趣,从而达到治病、健康和长寿的目的。国外不少医院和有条件的家庭利用园艺疗法,让病人特别是一些老年病人、残疾人及精神病患者从事园艺活动,以争取早日恢复健康。据研究,合理利用植物的多种颜色进行园艺治疗,是园艺疗法的重要内容。实验证明,浅蓝色的花朵对发高烧     

Trends in Disability-Free Life Expectancy in Japan, 1995–2004

Background

In Japan, life expectancy at birth is currently the highest in the world. However, recent trends in disability-free life expectancy in Japan have not been examined.

Methods

We used data from Japanese national surveys for the period 1995–2004. These surveys included information on activity status measured by common self-reported instruments. The numbers of expected years with and without activity limitation were estimated by using the Sullivan method.

Results

The numbers of expected years of life without activity limitation, at birth, in 1995 and 2004 were 68.5 and 69.7, respectively, in males and 72.1 and 73.0 in females. As a proportion of total life expectancy, at birth, these values represent a decrease from 89.7% to 88.6% in males and from 87.1% to 85.3% in females. The proportion of expected years with a limitation of some activities except activities of daily living (ADL) increased in males and females. The proportion of those with an ADL limitation increased in females, but not in males.

Conclusions

The trends in expected years with and without activity limitation suggest that the duration of life with a light or moderate disability increased in Japanese males and females during the period 1995–2004.Key words: disability-free life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, health statistics     

Women’s Quality of Life in the Premenopausal and Postmenopausal Periods

Purpose The purpose of this research was to determine the relationship between menopausal symptoms and quality of life in women in the pre and postmenopausal periods.Methods and instruments All 171 women in the climacteric period who registered at the Pamukkale University Education and Research Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic between January and July 2001 were included in the study. A questionnaire asking for sociodemographic information, complaints related to the climacteric period, and HRT use, as well as the WHOQOL brief, were used in order to obtain data.Findings One hundred of the women who participated in the study were premenopausal and 71 were postmenopausal and the mean age was 47.39 (SD=6.65). No significant difference was found in pre and postmenopausal women in the comparison of their quality of physical life, psychological, social relationships and environment scores (p>0.05). The physical quality of life scores for those without vasomotor complaints in the pre and postmenopausal periods were significantly higher in those with a high educational level and women who had been menopausal between 1–5 years and more than 10 years (p<0.05). Age and HRT use in postmenopausal women were not found to affect quality of life scores (p>0.05).Result We did not find any significant difference in the quality of life of pre and postmenopausal women.     

Sexual Well-Being and Quality of Life Among High-Functioning Adults with Autism

The current research addresses the effect that being in an intimate relationship has on quality of life and well-being among high-functioning young adults on the autism spectrum (HFA). The research included 31 participants: 14 involved in intimate relationships (HFA-R) and 17 not (HFA-NR). In this integrated (quantitative and qualitative) research, participants completed on-line questionnaires on demographics, quality of life and sexuality. We hypothesized that HFA-R will report higher quality of life and sexual well-being than HFA-NR. Further, a correlation was predicted between quality of life (including: satisfaction, productive capacity, social belonging/community inclusion and independence and empowerment) and sexual well-being (including: self-esteem, sexual depression and sexual preoccupation/sexual worries), especially among HFA-R. Despite the lack of significant differences in quality of life, differences were found in the indices’ content areas. There was a higher sense of social belonging/community inclusion among HFA-R, and a positive correlation between sexual well-being and productive capacity among this group. A correlation was found between high productive capacity and low sexual worries among HFA-R, but not among HFA-NR. Contrary to expectations, a positive correlation was found between sexual well-being and satisfaction among HFA-NR, while no such correlation was found among HFA-R. The findings are discussed in the context of healthy sexuality and social development and acclimation of people with HFA. The results highlight the importance of promoting social dialogue and research on the subject.     

Time on my side? Life course trajectories of poverty and health

This study examines the relationship between poverty and health in time. Following the argument that time is significant for shaping the experience of being poor or not poor and growing evidence of heterogeneity in long-term patterns of poverty, we investigate whether different kinds of poverty have distinct consequences for long-term health. Using data from the 1968-1996 annual waves of the United States Panel Study of Income Dynamics Data, we estimate a general growth mixture model to assess the relationship between the longitudinal courses of poverty and health. The model allows us to first estimate latent poverty classes in the data and then determine their effects on latent self-rated health. Four types of long-term poverty patterns characterized as stable nonpoor, exiting poverty, entering poverty and stable poor were evident in the data. These different kinds of poverty affected self-rated health trajectories in distinct ways, but worked in concert with age, education and race to create gaps in initial health status that were constant over time.     

Norwegians’ Opinions of a Healthy Diet in Different Stages of Life

The purpose of this study was to contribute to a deeper understanding of Norwegian consumers’ opinions of food and health and to discuss this in the light of nutritional guidelines. The data were collected through personal interviews and a precoded questionnaire on a random sample of 1048 persons representative of the Norwegian population. The results show that vegetables, potatoes, fruits, and fish have a strong position in the notion of a healthy diet. Even though the opinions about these foods were quite uniform, older consumers were more inclined than younger consumers to emphasize these foods (p < .01).The official advice to reduce dietary fat was less uniformly reflected in the opinions about foods rich in fat. Socioeconomic factors and variables expressing “trust in experts” and “feeling of uncertainty” were related to the opinions about fat- and protein-rich foods. Those who had small children in their households responded more often than others that they failed to buy the foods they considered to be healthy (p < .05).This study shows that it is important that nutritional advice be directed toward the different life situations of consumers, and that a special focus should be directed toward parents of small children.     

Does Rurality Affect Quality of Life Following Treatment for Breast Cancer?

Purpose: The present research examined the extent to which rural residence and social support seeking are associated with quality of life (QOL) among breast cancer patients following chemotherapy. Methods: Female breast cancer patients (n = 46) from communities of varying degrees of rurality in a Midwestern state completed psychological and QOL measures at 1-month postchemotherapy. Analyses assessed the relationships between QOL outcomes, rurality, and social support seeking. Findings: Using age and education as covariates, regression analyses were conducted to determine the extent to which QOL was related to social support seeking and rural/urban residence. Analyses revealed that social support seeking was associated with lower scores on multiple indices of QOL, and it was associated with higher self-reported symptoms of depression. Several significant associations with rural/urban residence were noted as well. Specifically, increasing rurality, as defined by USDA Rural-Urban continuum codes, was associated with lower overall QOL, lower functional well-being, and increased complaints of breast cancer specific symptoms. Conclusions: These findings highlight the relevance of continued efforts to address social support needs among women with a history of breast cancer living in rural and urban communities. They also suggest that individuals in more rural communities may be at risk for lowered QOL in the early period following cancer treatment. Future research is needed to replicate these results with larger and more diverse samples of rural and urban dwelling individuals, and to determine whether these effects may be attributed to identifiable characteristics of rural communities (eg, fewer cancer-related resources).     

Whose Quality of Life? Ethical Implications in Patient-Reported Health Outcome Measurement

Objectives:  Patient-reported health status questionnaires intend to assess illness and therapy from the patients' perspective. To provide fair and valid assessments, they should be equally relevant to major subsets of respondents. Furthermore, disease-specific measures are assumed to be perceived as more relevant than generic ones. This study assessed these assumptions among people with Parkinson's disease.
Methods:  Cross-sectional data from 202 people with Parkinson's disease (54% men; mean age, 70) were analyzed regarding patient-rated relevance and predictors of patient-rated poor relevance of two generic [the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and Nottingham Health Profile (NHP)] and one disease-specific [Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39)] health status questionnaire.
Results:  There were no differences in relevance ratings across the questionnaires. Poorer overall quality of life [odds ratio (OR), 2.459] and mental health (OR, 1.023) were associated with poorer patient-rated relevance of the SF-36, and higher age was associated with poorer patient-rated relevance of the PDQ-39 (OR, 1.040). No significant predictors were found for the NHP.
Conclusions:  The PDQ-39 failed to meet the assumption that disease-specific scales are more relevant than generic ones. Nevertheless, the most important implication of this study is an ethical one. Because the relevance of the SF-36 and PDQ-39 is perceived as poorer by those who fare least well and by older people, these scales may not reflect the perspectives of these groups. This challenges bioethical principles and threatens scientific validity. Perceived relevance of patient-centered outcomes needs to be considered, or the voice of vulnerable groups may be silenced, fair inferences prohibited, and opportunities for improved care lost.