Objective: The objective of this study was to gain greater insight into individuals’ quality of life (QOL) definitions, appraisals, and adaptations following spinal cord injury (SCI).
Design: A mixed-methods design, applying the Schwartz and Sprangers response shift (RS) model. RS is a cognitive process wherein, in response to a change in health status, individuals change internal standards, values, or conceptualization of QOL
Setting: Community-dwelling participants who receive medical treatment at a major Midwestern medical system and nearby Veterans’ Affairs hospital.
Participants: A purposive sample of participants with SCI (N?=?40) completed semi-structured interviews and accompanying quantitative measures.
Interventions: Not applicable.
Outcome Measures: Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis to identify themes. Analysis of variance were performed to detect differences based on themes and QOL, well-being, and demographic and injury characteristics.
Results: Four RS themes were identified, capturing the range of participant perceptions of QOL. The themes ranged from complete RS, indicating active engagement in maintaining QOL, to awareness and comparisons redefining QOL, to a relative lack of RS. Average QOL ratings differed as a function of response shift themes. PROMIS Global Health, Anxiety, and Depression also differed as a function of RS themes.
Conclusion: The RS model contextualizes differences in QOL definitions, appraisals, and adaptations in a way standardized QOL measures alone do not. 相似文献
AbstractThis study was undertaken to compare the concentrations of pro- and anti-angiogenic growth factors, nitric oxide (NO) stable metabolites in maternal serum and embryonic left ventricular (LV) isovolumic relaxation time (IRT, ms) during the first trimester in two groups of women: with pregnancy conceived by assisted reproductive technologies (ART, n?=?39) and normally conceived (control group, n?=?68) pregnancy. The concentration of vasoconstrictor endothelin 1 was 45.5 times more in ART than in control group. On the contrary, the concentrations of NO stable metabolites in ART were 1.9 times less than in control women. The assessment of angiogenic suppressors in ART women demonstrates the decrease in s-endoglin concentration was 1.6 times and in soluble receptor to vascular endothelial growth factor concentration was 2.0 times in comparison with control group. There was a significant increase in LV IRT in ART embryos in comparison to control ones. These data suggest significant changes in pro- anti-angiogenic factors balance and increase in vascular impedance in ART-conceived embryos. 相似文献
It is not known whether non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a risk factor for diabetes in non obese, non centrally-obese subjects. Our aim was to investigate relationships between fatty liver, insulin resistance and a biomarker score for liver fibrosis with incident diabetes at follow up, in subjects who were neither obese nor centrally-obese.
Methods and results
As many as 70,303 subjects with a body mass index (BMI) < 25 kg/m2 and without diabetes were followed up for a maximum of 7.9 years. At baseline, fatty liver was identified by liver ultrasound, insulin resistance (IR) by homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) ≥2.0, and central obesity by waist circumference (waist circumference ≥90 cm (men) and ≥85 cm (women). The Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4 score) was used to estimate extent of liver fibrosis. Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for confounders were used to estimate hazard ratios (aHRs) for incident diabetes. As many as 852 incident cases of diabetes occurred during follow up (median [IQR] 3.71 [2.03] years). Mean ± SD BMI was 22.8 ± 1.8 and 21.7 ± 2.0 kg/m2 in subjects with and without diabetes at follow up. In subjects without central obesity and with fatty liver, aHRs (95% CI) for incident diabetes at follow up were 2.17 (1.56, 3.03) for men, and 2.86 (1.50,5.46) for women. Similar aHRs for incident diabetes occurred with fatty liver, IR and the highest quartile of FIB-4 combined, in men; and there was a non significant trend toward increased risk in women.
Conclusions
In normal weight, non-centrally obese subjects NAFLD is an independent risk factor for incident diabetes. 相似文献
To investigate the effect of 1% tropicamide on anterior chamber aqueous flare (ACAF) measurements acquired with laser flare meter in patients with pseudoexfoliation. 相似文献
The nature of community pharmacy is changing, shifting from the preparation and distribution of medicines to the provision of cognitive pharmaceutical services (CPS); however, often the provision of traditional services leaves little time for innovative services. This study investigated the time community pharmacists spend on the tasks and activities of daily practice and to what extent they are able to implement CPS-related services in daily practice.
Methods
Self-reporting work sampling was used to register the activities of community pharmacists. A smartphone application, designed specifically for this purpose, alerted participants to register their current activity five times per working day for 6 weeks. Participants also completed an online survey about baseline characteristics.
Results
Ninety-one Dutch community pharmacists provided work-sampling data (7848 registered activities). Overall, 51.5% of their time was spent on professional activities, 35.4% on semi-professional activities, and 13.1% on non-professional activities. The proportion of time devoted to CPS decreased during the workweek, whereas the time spent on traditional task increased.
Discussion and conclusion
This study shows it is feasible to collect work-sampling data using smartphone technology. Community pharmacists spent almost half of their time on semi-professional and non-professional activities, activities that could be delegated to other staff members. In practice, the transition to CPS is hampered by competing traditional tasks, which prevents community pharmacists from profiling themselves as pharmaceutical experts in daily practice. 相似文献
The purpose of this study was to evaluate trends in demographics and outcomes of pediatric breast cancer in a United States population-based cohort.
Methods
The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was utilized to identify all pediatric patients with malignant breast tumors between 1973 and 2014. Analysis was performed using Stata Statistical Software version 13.1. Associations between categorical variables were made using X2 test. Log-rank test was used for univariate survival analysis. Kaplan–Meier analysis investigated five-year survival rates across several variables. Adjusted analysis was performed using a Cox Proportional-Hazards regression.
Results
134 patients with breast malignancies were identified. Carcinoma was the most prevalent histology (48.5%), followed by fibroepithelial tumors (FETs) (35.1%), and sarcoma (14.2%). FETs were twice as common in black compared to nonblack patients (56.3% vs. 29.0%, p?<?0.01). Analyzing histology by stage revealed that 100% of FETs were early stage disease (p?<?0.0001). 46.7% of the tumors tested were ER/PR negative, more than twice as many compared to the published adult estimate of 20.0%. Unadjusted survival analysis revealed worse survival for patients with adenocarcinoma/sarcomas, advanced stage, and high grade disease, without a survival difference between races.
Conclusion
Breast cancer remains a rare malignancy among pediatric patients. Although black patients were found to have more noncarcinomatous tumors with less advanced disease, this did not confer a survival advantage.
The Latin American population has a double way of immigration, one toward the United States by proximity and another toward Spain by sociocultural affinity. This population increase is affecting organ donation and transplantation in receiving countries.
Objective
To analyze the brain death (BD) concept knowledge in the Dominican Republic immigrant population in Florida (United States) and Spain.
Method
Population under study: Population born in the Dominican Republic, resident in Florida (United States) and in Spain. Inclusion criteria: Population older than 15 years stratified by age and sex. Assessment instrument: Donation attitude questionnaire PCID-DTO-Ríos. Fieldwork: Random selection based on stratification. Immigration support association collaboration in Florida and Spain was needed to locate potential respondents. Completion was anonymous and self-administered, with verbal consent.
Results
A total of 123 respondents, 57 residents in Spain and 66 in Florida, have been included in the study. The 27% (n = 33) of the respondents knowledgeable of the BD concept consider it the death of an individual. Of the remainder, 52% (n = 64) do not know about it, and the remaining 21% (n = 26) believe it does not mean the death of a patient. No differences were observed regarding migration countries (P > .05). There was no association of the BD concept with other psychosocial factors analyzed or with the attitude toward organ donation.
Conclusions
Knowledge of the BD concept among the Dominican immigrant population is similar in Spain and Florida, and, unlike most studies, there is no objective association with the attitude toward organ donation. 相似文献