A surveillance study of patterns of reirradiation practice using external beam radiotherapy in Japan

The aim of this study was to survey the present status and patterns of reirradiation (Re-RT) practice using external beam radiotherapy in Japan. We distributed an e-mail questionnaire to the Japanese Society for Radiation Oncology partner institutions, which consisted of part 1 (number of Re-RT cases in 2008–2012 and 2013–2018) and part 2 (indications and treatment planning for Re-RT and eight case scenarios). Of the 85 institutions that replied to part 1, 75 (88%) performed Re-RTs. However, 59 of these 75 institutions (79%) reported difficulty in obtaining Re-RT case information from their databases. The responses from 37 institutions included the number of Re-RT cases, which totaled 508 in the period from 2009 to 2013 (institution median 3; 0–235), and an increase to 762 cases in the period from 2014 to 2018 (12.5; 0–295). A total of 47 physicians responded to part 2 of the survey. Important indications for Re-RT that were considered were age, performance status, life expectancy, absence of distant metastases and time interval since previous radiotherapy. In addition to clinical decision-making factors, previous total radiation dose, volume of irradiated tissue and the biologically equivalent dose were considered during Re-RT planning. From the eight site-specific scenarios presented to the respondents, >60% of radiation oncologists agreed to perform Re-RT. Re-RT cases have increased in number, and interest in Re-RT among radiation oncologists has increased recently due to advances in technology. However, several problems exist that emphasize the need for consensus building and the establishment of guidelines for practice and prospective evaluation.     

Community-living older people’s interpretation of the Norwegian version of older people’s quality of life (OPQOL) questionnaire

The aim of this study is to investigate how community-living older people interpret the Norwegian version of Older People's Quality of Life (OPQOL) questionnaire. The original OPQOL questionnaire was translated based on guidelines for cross-cultural translation. The Three-Step Test-Interview instrument was adopted to investigate how community-living older people interpreted the questionnaire. Data were collected from 14 participants (72–89 years). The questionnaire was filled in under observation. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted to clarify the observational data and elicit the participants’ experiences and opinions. Lastly, data were analysed using a hermeneutic interpretation approach. Our findings indicate that most of the participants managed to complete the OPQOL questionnaire without problems. The data analysis resulted in four primary themes: relevance & applicability, formulation, consistency & accuracy and subjectivity. The questionnaire covered all aspects related to the participants’ quality of life. However, statements related to religion were found to be irrelevant to their quality of life. Most of the participants thought that religion, philosophy and culture should be separate rather than included in the same statement. The participants missed the option of ‘not applicable’ when the statements were irrelevant to them. The statements are formulated in both positive and negative ways, which was sometimes confusing to them. The participants perceived phases such as “around me” “local,” and “things” as ambiguous, and thus they raised concerns about whether the OPQOL questionnaire could capture consistent data regarding their quality of life. The results of this study pinpoint the issues that community-living older people faced when interpreting and answering the Norwegian version of OPQOL questionnaire. These issues were mostly caused by sociocultural differences. Our work provides an overview of the changes that must be made in the questionnaire in order to address these sociocultural differences while using the OPQOL questionnaire in the Norwegian context.     

A multi-institutional survey of the quality of life after treatment for uterine cervical cancer: a comparison between radical radiotherapy and surgery in Japan

This study aimed to research the post-treatment quality of life (QOL) between radiotherapy (RT)- and operation (OP)-treated early cervical cancer survivors, using separate questionnaires for physicians and patients. We administered an observational questionnaire to patients aged 20–70 years old with Stages IB1–IIB cervical cancer who had undergone RT or OP and without recurrence as outpatients for ≥6 months after treatment. We divided 100 registered patients equally into two treatment groups (n = 50 each). The average age was 53 and 44 years in the RT and OP groups, respectively. The RT group included 34 and 66% Stage I and II patients, respectively, whereas the OP group included 66 and 34% Stage I and II patients, respectively. The OP group included 58% of patients with postoperative RT. Combination chemotherapy was performed in 84 and 48% of patients in the RT and OP groups, respectively. On the physicians’ questionnaire, we observed significant differences in bone marrow suppression (RT) and leg edema (OP). On the patients’ questionnaire, significantly more patients had dysuria and leg edema in the OP group than in the RT group, and severe (Score 4–5) leg edema was significantly higher in the post-operative RT group than in the OP only group. The frequency of sexual intercourse decreased after treatment in both groups. On the patients’ questionnaire, there were no significant differences between the two groups regarding sexual activity. These findings are useful to patients and physicians for shared decision-making in treatment choices. The guidance of everyday life and health information including sexual life after treatment is important.     

湘西地区高校大学生性心理健康状况及其影响因素

目的 了解湘西地区高校大学生性心理健康状况及其影响因素,为高校性教育提供理论依据。方法 采用青春期性心理健康量表对随机整群抽样的2 187名大学生进行问卷调查。结果 调查的大学生性心理健康总均分为(3.58±0.39)分,性认知评分为(3.51±0.65)分,性价值观评分为(3.77±0.55)分,性适应评分为(3.53±0.39)分。男生性认知得分为(3.61±0.63)分,高于女生的(3.43±0.65)分,(t=6.441,P<0.001),性价值得分为(3.72±0.57)分,低于女性的(3.82±0.53)分,(t=-4.297,P<0.001);本科生性心理健康各维度得分均高于专科生(t总=7.139,t性认知=6.099,t性价值=3.055,t性适应=6.870;P值均<0.01);医学生性心理健康各维度得分均高于非医学生(t总=48.746,t性认知=65.119,t性价值=52.402,t性适应=11.782;P值均<0.001);父母赞同子女恋爱性健康总分、性认知、性适应分高于反对者(t总=6.058,t性认知=6.477,t性适应=6.793;P值均<0.001);接受性健康教育时间越早各维度得分越高(F总=11.338,F性认知=10.075,F性价值=8.265,F性适应=6.483;P值均<0.01)。多元线性逐步回归分析显示,影响性心理健康总分前三位因素是:专业类别、最早接受性健康教育的时间、父母对子女谈恋爱的态度。结论 湘西地区高校大学生性心理健康状况仍待进一步提高,影响大学生性心理健康的因素是多方面的,应根据学生的不同特征及需求开展针对性的教育。     

大学生自我表露及其与主观幸福感的关系

目的:探讨大学生自我表露、主观幸福感现况及二者的关系.方法:根据浙江大学164名学生的问卷调查结果对Jourard SM自我表露问卷进行修订,用修订的自我表露问卷和幸福感指数量表对浙江大学的356名学生进行问卷调查.结果:不同信息类别的自我表露评分差异显著(F=50.24,P＜0.001),其中品味和兴趣(1.85±0.41)、学习(工作)(1.87±0.43)的自我表露评分均高于态度和看法(1.70±0.32)(t=7.870、8.256)、金钱(1.60±0.41,t=10.517、11.429)、个性(1.70±0.39)、身体(1.71±0.42)(P均＜0.001).目标人的主效应显著(有男/女朋友者、无男/女朋友者的自我表露问卷评分差异均有显著性,F=21.14、13.88,P＜0.001),信息类别和目标人的交互作用显著(F=76.15,P＜0.001).在金钱、身体、学习或工作方面大学生向父母表露多于向男、女性朋友(如金钱上:母亲1.81±0.59、父亲1.73±0.58,男朋友1.42±0.44,女朋友1.40±0.44;F=116.84,P=0.000).女性的表露程度高于男性(1.79±0.31/1.71±0.32,t=2.03,P=0.044).自我表露与主观幸福感呈正相关(r=0.16,P=0.003).分层回归显示自我表露对预测主观幸福感作出了新的贡献(△R2=0.021,P=0.006).结论:信息类别、目标人、被试性别会影响自我表露的程度,提升表露水平有助于改善主观幸福感.     

Validity of observed differences in dietary surveys by two self-administered questionnaires over a 5-year period: Concordance with self-reported change

Differences observed by comparing the responses to two surveys taken 5 years apart were compared with self-reported changes in dietary habits in the second survey to examine the construct validity of dietary change. That is, when an observed difference about a certain food was consistent with a self-reported change, these two methods seemed to show a high validity regarding dietary change. Both surveys used the same self-administered food intake frequency questionnaire, and subjective changes in food intake were evaluated at the second survey (self-reported change). Eight hundred fifty-five males and one thousand females aged 30-69 years were analyzed. Since results by both methods showed a higher frequency of increased intake of green-yellow vegetables in general, pale- colored vegetables in general, carrots, and squash, these results were thought to be of high validity. However, cabbage, lettuce, and seaweeds showed inconsistent results regarding higher frequencies of intake. Changes among quintiles of lower frequency seemed to show lower validity because the results obtained by the two methods were often inconsistent for dairy foods and some other foods. Thus, self-reported changes may reflect respondents’ attitudes toward foods, not their actual behavior.     

A questionnaire to assess the generic and disease-specific health outcomes of patients with chronic hepatitis C

A 69-item questionnaire measuring generic functioning and well-being and disease-specific health outcomes was developed and tested using the pre-treatment data from patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) participating in two randomized trials of interferon -2b (n = 157). The questionnaire included all eight scales from the SF-36 and measures of nine other generic and disease-specific health concepts. Psychometric tests confirmed the assumptions underlying the construction and scoring of all generic and disease-specific scales. Cross-sectional tests of known groups validity showed that CHC patients scored worse on the generic scales than patients with other chronic conditions and worse than a healthy general population. The generic and disease-specific scale scores were lower in the presence of physical findings of CHC, as hypothesized, but only the physical functioning and bodily pain scales were linked to cirrhosis or extreme alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratios. This instrument will be useful in studies of health outcome among patients with CHC, a condition whose health burden appears to have been underestimated in studies to date.     

Convergent and Discriminant Validity of the Perinatal PTSD Questionnaire (PPQ): A Preliminary Study

We evaluated the validity of the Perinatal Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Questionnaire (PPQ) as a measure of posttraumatic stress symptomatology. Mothers of high-risk infants (N = 91) and healthy, full-term infants (N = 51) answered the PPQ and two other convergent measures of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, the Impact of Event Scale (IES) and the Penn Inventory (PI). The Need for Cognition Scale (NCS) was used as a divergent measure. Correlations among the convergent measures were significantly greater than the correlation between the PPQ and NCS. High-risk mothers also scored higher than normal mothers on the PPQ and IES. The results support the validity of the PPQ.     

Repeatability and validity of an upper limb and neck discomfort questionnaire: the utility of the standardized Nordic questionnaire

The repeatability and validity of a questionnaire for upper limb and neck complaints were assessed in a population of 105 hospital outpatients with a range of upper limb and neck disorders (including cervical spondylosis, adhesive capsulitis, lateral epicondylitis, carpal tunnel syndrome and Raynaud's phenomenon). Subjects were asked to complete a modified Nordic-style upper limb and neck discomfort questionnaire on two occasions closely spaced in time. The repeatability of their responses was assessed by calculating a kappa coefficient (kappa), and the sensitivity and specificity of component items in the questionnaire were determined for specific diagnostic categories of upper limb and neck disorder. Symptom reports for pain in the upper limb and neck, pain interfering with physical activities, neurological symptoms and blanching were all found to be highly repeatable (kappa = 0.63-0.90). A number of regional pain reports proved to be very sensitive in relation to specific upper limb disorders, but, with the exception of reported finger blanching in patients with Raynaud's phenomenon, none proved to have a good specificity (range = 0.33-0.38). We conclude that a modified Nordic-style questionnaire is repeatable and sensitive, and is likely to have a high utility in screening and surveillance. However a complementary examination schedule of adequate specificity and repeatability is essential to establish a clinical diagnosis.     

A Kiswahili version of the SF-36 Health Survey for use in Tanzania: translation and tests of scaling assumptions

The objective of the study was to translate and adapt the SF-36 Health Survey for use in Tanzania and to test the psychometric properties of the Kiswahili SF-36. A cross-sectional study was conducted as part of a household survey of a representative sample of the adult population of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The IQOLA method of forward and backward translation was used to translate the SF-36 into Kiswahili. The translated questionnaire was administered by trained interviewers to 3,802 adults (50% women, mean (SD) age 31 (13) years, 50% married and 60% with primary education). Data quality and psychometric assumptions underlying the scoring of the eight SF-36 scales were evaluated for the entire sample and separately for the least educated subgroup (n=402), using multitrait scaling analysis. Forward and backward translation procedures resulted in a Kiswahili SF-36 that was considered conceptually equivalent to the US English SF-36. Data quality was excellent: only 1.2% of respondents were excluded because they answered less than half of the items for one or more scales; ninety percent of respondents answered mutually exclusive items consistently. Median item–scale correlations across the eight scales ranged from 0.47 to 0.81 for the entire sample. Median scaling success rates were 100% (range 87.5–100.0). The median internal consistency reliability of the eight scales for the entire sample was 0.81 (range 0.70–0.92). Floor effects were low and ceiling effects were high on five of the eight scales. Results for n=402 people without formal education did not differ substantially from those of the entire sample. The results of data quality and psychometric tests support the scoring of the eight scales using standard scoring algorithms. The Kiswahili translation of the SF-36 may be useful in estimating the health of people in Dar es Salaam. Evidence for the validity of the SF-36 for use in Tanzania needs to be accumulated.