Life satisfaction in patients with chest pain subsequently diagnosed as coronary heart disease – connection through depressive symptoms?

The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with life dissatisfaction in symptomatic patients (n = 144) with chest pain subsequently diagnosed as coronary heart disease (CHD) by coronary angiography. Life dissatisfaction was assessed with a four-item life satisfaction scale (LS), depression with the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and other psychiatric symptoms with the symptom check list (SCL). DSM-III-R Axis I and Axis II psychiatric diagnoses were performed by means of the Structured Clinical Interview. All assessments took place one day before angiography. Twenty-four per cent of CHD patients were dissatisfied with their lives. Life dissatisfaction was associated with being unmarried. Dissatisfied patients had Axis I mental disorders and Axis II personality disorders more frequently than others. Psychiatric and depressive symptoms according to the SCL and BDI, respectively, were also higher among dissatisfied patients. In multiple logistic regression analyses, mental disorders were related to life dissatisfaction when age, sex, employment status, New York Heart Association class, duration of chest pain symptoms and work load were controlled in the model. Married subjects had a lower probability of being dissatisfied with their lives than other subjects (Odds Ratio, OR: 0.23). When BDI scores were included in the model, the only factor independently associated with life dissatisfaction was the severity of depressive symptoms (OR: 1.81). To conclude, life dissatisfaction is not primarily determined by the severity of CHD but by the existence of depressive symptoms.     

Psychiatric nurses' satisfaction: the effects of closure of a hospital

A survey by questionnaire was carried out to examine the level of nursing staff satisfaction with the acute psychiatric services. Comparisons were made between views of older psychiatric hospitals and newer district general hospital units, and before and after the closure of Friern Barnet Hospital, London, England when the service was reorganized to include fewer beds. The importance of nurses having their say is emphasized, and areas in which improvements can be made are suggested.     

Ethical Reasoning Among Registered Nurses Experienced in Dementia Care

Abstract. Registered nurses regarded as “experienced and good” in dementia care were interviewed about the feeding of a severely demented patient who showed refusal-like feeding behaviour. Not one of the twenty nurses could see herself using force against her patients. Most interviewees justified their decisions to feed a severely demented patient and answered questions about whether they would change their minds if there were certain circumstances in terms of words that could be interpreted as referring to the ethical principle of beneficence. The nurses stressed the difficulty to understand the meaning of severely demented patients' feeding behaviour and decide when force-feeding occurs. When asked to rank ethical principles of importance for the decision, however, the most common answer was that they would give priority to the ethical principle of autonomy. The nurses did not see the ethical principles as separate entities, that could be applied one by one, but tried to integrate them into a whole. The findings of this study were interpreted as indicating that principled ethics is not an adequate model to describe experienced nurses' ethical reasoning.     

'Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted'– towards a critical exploration of modes of satisfaction measurement in sheltered housing

This paper reflects on a research project funded by a consortium of leading sheltered housing (SH) providers and their regulatory body, the Housing Corporation. The project aimed to ascertain which aspects of SH older people perceived to be central to their satisfaction and the methods they judged most appropriate to measuring this. We outline key policy developments of importance to SH (specifically the development of performance measurement regimes), and changes in the nature of SH, which are driving providers to re‐evaluate how they measure user satisfaction. We discuss the aims of the project, our methodology and findings, and conclude by raising critical questions about the process of measuring satisfaction within an increasingly managerialised housing system. We argue that this favours standardised methods of information gathering (such as questionnaires) rather than engage with clients in order to develop methods and systems capable of eliciting qualitative issues of concern to them. Our conclusions are, we believe, applicable to health and social care provision, where similar tensions exist around performance measurement and user satisfaction.     

Patient satisfaction with and recommendation of a hospital: effects of interpersonal and technical aspects of hospital care.

OBJECTIVES: To examine patient satisfaction with and recommendation of a hospital, with a special focus on the correlation of these measures to patient ratings of interpersonal and technical performance of the hospital. DESIGN: Telephone survey of patients with four specific conditions after their discharge from hospitals. SETTING: Accredited district teaching hospitals and above, nationwide in Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 4945 patients from 126 hospitals diagnosed with or undergoing procedures related to stroke, diabetes mellitus, Caesarean section, or appendectomy were interviewed by telephone. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Overall patient satisfaction and recommendation were measured by single-item questions. Interpersonal skills were measured by three items: doctors' explanation, attitude, and caring. Technical skills were measured by another three items: hospital equipment, clinical competence, and outcome of treatment. RESULTS: Interpersonal skills were as influential or more influential than clinical competence on patient satisfaction for three of the four disease categories. In contrast, technical competence was a more influential predictor for recommendation for patients in all four disease categories. CONCLUSION: The preliminary results imply that a hospital with high percentage of patient satisfaction does not necessarily receive a high level of recommendation. This finding provides new insights for researchers and for hospital managers who devote resources exclusively for achieving the highest possible levels of patient satisfaction.     

Pea术式治疗中高位肛门直肠畸形的并发症及对策

目的探讨Pena术式治疗中高位肛门直肠畸形的并发症及预防治疗措施。方法回顾性分析行Pena肛门成形术的58例中高位肛门直肠畸形患儿的临床资料及肛门排便功能情况、并发症，采用肛门功能临床评分标准进行评价。结果58例中优良者45例（83．3％），差者9例（偶有污粪6例，大便失禁1例，便秘2例），有并发症者8例（14．8％），其中直肠黏膜脱垂3例，粪便潴留2例，大便失禁1例，尿漏1例，直肠回缩1例。结论真正理解Pena的“无血、解剖式”手术技术的精髓，提高手术技巧和精细操作，加强术后康复训练是减少并发症的关键。     

化痰通络法治疗脊髓炎后遗症

介绍魏品康教授治疗脊髓炎后遗症一则,以化痰通络法贯穿始终。     

Unemployment and health impairments: Longitudinal analyses for the Federal Republic of Germany

In recent years many studies of unemployment and health haveshown that unemployed persons are in poorer health. However,one question remained unanswered: is the poorer health of theunemployed caused by unemployment Itself (causation hypotheses)or is it a result of selection processes, whereby people inpoor health are more likely to lose their job and less likelyto be re-employed (selection hypothesis)? Findings from a studybased on the longitudinal data of the German Socio-economicPanel (1984–1988, N=5, 516 persons, 18–64 years)are presented. All health indicators (health satisfaction, chronicillness, handicaps in fulfilling daily life tasks, disability)showed poorer outcomes for the unemployed persons, even aftercontrolling for the possible confounding effects of sodo-demographicvariables. Unemployed persons also consulted a physician morefrequently and were hospitalized more often. But longitudinalanalyses (of becoming unemployed and of re-employment) did notlend much support to the causation hypothesis. Instead, a constantlevel of health satisfaction for persons losing their job andfor the re-employed compared to their initial ratings supportedthe selection hypotheses. This means that in the Federal Republicof Germany persons in poorer health are more likely to losetheir jobs and persons in better health are more likely to bere-employed.     

Mortality among female registered nurses and school teachers in British Columbia

The mortality profile of female nurses and teachers in British Columbia (BC) was examined using age-standardized proportional mortality ratios (PMRs) calculated for the period 1950–1984. Lowered overall mortality among nurses was seen for degenerative heart disease and for cerebrovascular accidents. Significantly elevated PMR values were observed for cancer of the breast and ovary in nurses of age 20–65 years. PMRs were significantly elevated for cancer of the pancreas and leukemia among those age 20 years and older. Elevated values were also observed for motor vehicle accidents and suicide among nurses in both age groups. Lower than expected mortality from degenerative heart disease and cerebrovascular accidents was seen in working age teachers (age 20–65 years). However, elevated PMRs were detected for carcinoma of the colon, breast, endometrium, brain, and melanoma. Among those 20 years and over, significantly elevated PMRs were also observed for cancers of the ovary and other digestive organs. Elevated PMRs were found for motor vehicle and aircraft accidents. Mortality from cirrhosis of the liver was lower than anticipated in both teachers and nurses. A number of significant PMRs declined when deaths of “homemakers” were withdrawn from the comparison group used to generate PMR values, suggesting that risk of death from various causes among women working outside the home differ from those seen in women who are predominantly in the home.