Psychosocial Predictors of Anxiety in Nursing Home Staff

Objectives: Although research shows that nursing home staff experience significant levels of stress and burnout, studies analyzing the relationship of psychosocial variables on their feelings of anxiety are scarce. This study aims to analyze the relationship between psychosocial variables and levels of anxiety among staff.

Method: Participants were 101 nursing home professionals. In addition to anxiety, socio-demographic variables, depersonalization, burden, relationship with families of the residents, and guilt about the care offered to the residents were assessed. A hierarchical regression analysis was carried out to analyze the contribution of the assessed variables to staff anxiety levels.

Results: The obtained model explained 57% of the variance in anxious symptomatology. Guilt about the care offered and poor quality of the relationship with residents’ family were associated with anxiety. Further, working at nursing homes where the staff report higher levels of anxiety symptoms, the presence of depersonalization and burden were also associated with anxiety.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that in addition to work-related variables (burden and burnout), problems with family members and guilt about the care offered are relevant variables for understanding staff’s anxious symptomatology.

Clinical Implications: Interventions that address issues of guilt about the quality of care, and problematic relationships with family members of residents, may have potential to reduce staff anxiety and promote their well-being.     

贵州省肺结核病患者家庭经济负担现状分析

摘要：目的　了解贵州省肺结核病患者家庭疾病经济负担情况,为制定结核病防控措施提供科学依据。方
法　采用分层抽样法抽取２０１１年６月～２０１２年６月贵州省１０个样本县区登记的４００例肺结核病患者进行
问卷调查,内容包括结核病患者的基本情况、家庭经济状况及结核病费用支出情况等。共发放问卷４３０份,
回收有效问卷４００份（回收率９３．０２％）。采用ＳＰＳＳ１９．０统计软件计算结核病家庭的直接、间接和总费用
支出等疾病经济负担指标,并用非参数检验方法对不同人群结核病经济负担指标进行比较。结果　患者例
均家庭疾病费用支出为８５６７．８０元（中位数５５７３．８８元）,其中例均家庭疾病直接费用支出为５７６９．３１元
（中位数２６８０．００元）,例均家庭疾病间接费用支出为２７９８．５０元（中位数２２９０．２０元）;经非参数检验不
同年龄组、职业、文化程度、医疗保险对象家庭间接费用支出和总费用支出差异有统计学意义（犘＜
０．０５）。结论　贵州省肺结核病患者家庭经济负担较重,其中中青年、农民工、高中以下学历、自费医疗的
患者是负担较重群体,应重点加强对该类人群的监管和补偿力度,以降低肺结核患者的疾病经济负担。
关键词：肺结核;结核病患者;家庭经济状况;疾病经济负担
中图分类号：Ｒ１９５．４　　文献标识码：Ａ　　文章编号：１００９ ６６３９ （２０１４）０２ ０１１４ ０４     

Molecular Detection of Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense in Humans,China

The cause of diphyllobothriosis in 5 persons in Harbin and Shanghai, China, during 2008–2011, initially attributed to the tapeworm Diphyllobothrium latum, was confirmed as D. nihonkaiense by using molecular analysis of expelled proglottids. The use of morphologic characteristics alone to identify this organism was inadequate and led to misidentification of the species.     

Influenza-Associated Hospitalizations,Singapore, 2004–2008 and 2010–2012

Studies of influenza-associated hospitalizations in tropical settings are lacking. To increase understanding of the effect of influenza in Singapore, we estimated the age-specific influenza-associated hospitalizations for pneumonia and influenza during 2004–2008 and 2010–2012. The rate of hospitalization was 28.3/100,000 person-years during 2004–2008 and 29.6/100,000 person-years during 2010–2012. The age-specific influenza-associated hospitalization rates followed a J-shaped pattern: rates in persons >75 years of age and in children <6 months of age were >47 times and >26 times higher, respectively, than those for persons 25–44 years of age. Across all ages during these 2 study periods, ≈12% of the hospitalizations for pneumonia and influenza were attributable to influenza. The rates and proportions of hospitalizations for influenza, particularly among the very young and the elderly, are considerable in Singapore and highlight the importance of vaccination in protecting populations at risk.     

Few colonies of the host Bombus terrestris disproportionately affect the genetic diversity of its parasite,Crithidia bombi

Sex and recombination have long been considered as necessary means for hosts to keep up with and resist to their faster reproducing parasites. On the other hand, comparatively little attention has been paid to potential benefits of recombination for the parasites. Using as model organisms the bumblebee Bombus terrestris and its genetically highly variable trypanosomatid parasite Crithidia bombi we analysed the infection dynamics as well as the relative frequency of parasite recombinants over time, in colonies that were either immune-challenged with heat-killed bacteria or sham-inoculated. In addition, we used infective cells from a given colony to infect workers from other, untreated colonies, to investigate whether recombinant parasite strains may have a competitive advantage over the parental strains to infect the surrounding host population. We show that in our experimental setup the host immune status does not influence the proportion of recombinant parasite cells in the infection. Neither do recombinant parasite strains have an advantage over the parental ones at infecting workers unrelated to the host colony the infection originally came from. However, we found that the prevalence of recombinants was highly variable among colonies, with one particular colony producing significantly more recombinant strains than others. As the successful infection of daughter queens – the only individuals surviving the winter to the next year – is proportional to the number of circulating parasite strains in the colony, we suggest that such “super-producing” colonies may be responsible for most of the infections happening in the next year.     

Caregiver stress during the first year after diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Disorder

Caregiver burden and marital adjustment of mothers of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) were assessed at baseline, i.e., within six months of diagnosis (n = 79), and again 12 months later (n = 65), using predictors from the double ABCX family adaptation model, e.g., life demands, social support, appraisal, coping. Although there were no changes over time in burden or marital adjustment, participants reported increased positive appraisals of having a child with autism, increased support from providers and decreased use of problem focused coping. Cross-sectionally at Time 2, hypothesized predictors of marital adjustment and caregiver burden derived from the literature and from stress and coping theory (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) were largely confirmed. Longitudinally, after adjusting for baseline levels in the multiple regressions, better marital adjustment at 12 months was associated with changes over time in three predictor variables: decreased negative appraisal, decreased pile-up stress, and increased general social support. Predictors of increased caregiver burden at 12 months, after adjusting for baseline levels, were increased negative appraisal, increased avoidant coping and decreased problem focused coping.     

我国不同地区阿片类镇痛药物在癌痛治疗中的使用情况及个人经济负担

摘 要 目的：了解我国不同地区阿片类镇痛药的使用情况与趋势,评估癌痛治疗吗啡临床需要量及满足临床需要的程度,评价个人药费可负担性,为我国合理使用阿片类镇痛药,提高癌痛控制水平和患者生活质量提出政策建议。方法：采用回顾性分析方法,分析2006~2016年我国7个片区的阿片类镇痛药使用强度（MUD）及其各阶段年复合增长率（CAGR）。基于我国7个片区肿瘤登记数据和国际疼痛标准治疗指南,测算2015年不同地区的吗啡需要量。将药品价格以DDD值标化为限定日费用(DDC),采用改进后的WHO/HAI标准调查法评价阿片类镇痛药用于癌痛治疗的个人药费可负担性。结果：全国MUD从2006年的1.45DDD/10万人天增长至2016年的6.93DDD/10万人天,整体增长率呈现为前高后低。不同地区间MUD差异较大,且MUD极差有逐年加大趋势。2016年MUD最大地区为华南（9.67DDD/10万人天）,最小为西北（3.28DDD/10万人天）。2015年,全国吗啡等效当量实际使用量仅占癌痛治疗吗啡需要量的21.5%,华东（26%）和华南（36%）等地区高于西南（11%）和西北（12%）。各类阿片类镇痛药的DDC范围为10.80～848.88元,除吗啡注射剂外,其余药品的疗程自付费用均大于1 d的日均可支配收入。结论：我国阿片类镇痛药用于癌痛治疗整体使用不足,且不同经济水平的地区使用差异较大,癌痛患者长期使用镇痛药物治疗的个人药费负担较重。应全面加快推行癌痛规范化治疗示范病房和疼痛门诊,完善相应保障体系,合理引导广大城乡居民可负担的癌痛治疗药品价格,降低个人费用负担,提高癌症患者生存质量,使更多癌痛患者得到经济有效的治疗。     

Types,frequency and impact of asthma triggers on patients’ lives: a quantitative study in five European countries

Objective: To identify the types, frequency and impact of asthma triggers and the relationship to asthma control among adults with asthma in Europe. Methods: Adults with self-reported physician-diagnosed asthma receiving maintenance asthma treatment and self-reported exposure to known asthma triggers completed an online questionnaire; a subset completed a diary over 3–4 weeks. Information on asthma control (Asthma Control Test? [ACT]), asthma triggers, frequency of exposure and behaviours in response or to avoid asthma triggers and the perceived impact on daily life was captured. A post-hoc analysis evaluated the impact of high trigger burden on the frequency of severe asthma exacerbations, hospitalisations and days lost at work/study. Results: A total of 1202 adults participated and 177 completed the diary. Asthma was uncontrolled for the majority (76%) of participants and most (52%) reported exposure to 6–15 asthma triggers. As trigger burden increased, behavioural changes to manage trigger exposure had a significantly increased impact on daily life (p?p?=?0.002). Participants reporting a high trigger burden (>16) were more likely to report uncontrolled asthma than those with a low trigger burden (1–5). Participants with a high trigger burden had previously experienced on average two more severe asthma attacks during a lifetime (p?p?p?Conclusions: Adults with asthma reporting a high trigger burden (>16 different triggers) experience more severe asthma attacks than those reporting lower trigger burdens.