‘I believe high blood pressure can kill me:’ using the PEN-3 Cultural Model to understand patients’ perceptions of an intervention to control hypertension in Ghana

Objectives: Currently in Ghana, there is an on-going task-shifting strategy in which nurses are trained in hypertension management. While this study will provide useful information on the viability of this approach, it is not clear how patients in the intervention perceive hypertension, the task-shifting strategy, and its effects on blood pressure management. The objective of this paper is to examine patients’ perceptions of hypertension and hypertension management in the context of an on-going task-shifting intervention to manage blood pressure control in Ghana.

Design: Forty-two patients participating in the Task Shifting Strategy for Hypertension program (23 males, 19 females, and mean age 61. 7 years) completed in-depth, qualitative interviews. Interviews were transcribed, and key words and phrases were extracted and coded using the PEN-3 Cultural Model as a guide through open and axial coding techniques, thus allowing rich exploration of the data.

Results: Emergent themes included patients’ perceptions of hypertension, which encompassed misperceptions of hypertension and blood pressure control. Additional themes included enablers and barriers to hypertension management, and how the intervention nurtured lifestyle change associated with blood pressure control. Primary enabling factors included the supportive nature of TASSH nurses, while notable barriers were financial constraints and difficulty accessing medication. Nurturing factors included the motivational interviewing and patient counseling which instilled confidence in the patients that they could make lasting behavior changes.

Conclusions: This study offers a unique perspective of blood pressure control by examining how patients view an on-going task-shifting initiative for hypertension management. The results of this study shed light on factors that can help and hinder individuals in low-resource settings with long-term blood pressure management.     

The Health Belief Model in predicting healthcare workers' intention for influenza vaccine uptake in Jordan

BackgroundTheories of health behavior change are being inadequately adopted to understand the reasons behind low influenza vaccination rates among healthcare workers (HCWs). The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is being used to predict intention-behavior relationship while the Health Belief Model (HBM) is being employed to predict actual behavior. The purpose of this study was to test a conceptual model based on the HBM’s constructs to predict Jordanian HCWs’ intentions for influenza vaccine uptake as an alternative to the TPB.MethodA cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted in 2016 in a tertiary teaching hospital in Amman-Jordan including a convenience sample of 477 HCWs with direct patient contact. The study instrument was tested for validity and reliability. A conceptual regression model was proposed incorporating the constructs of the primary HBM with some modifications in the threat construct as well as an additional variable about explicit past vaccination behavior (in the past year and/or any previous history of influenza vaccine uptake).ResultsAlmost all the constructs of the HBM demonstrated significant differences between participants intending and those who did not intend to vaccinate against influenza. After adjusting for the confounding variables in the final conceptual regression model, past vaccination behavior (OR= 4.50, 95%Confidence Interval 3.38–6.00, P< 0.0005) and the perceived benefit scale (OR= 1.19, 95% Confidence Interval 1.11–1.28, P< 0.0005) were the only significant predictors of intentions to vaccinate against influenza in the next season.ConclusionTaking into consideration the altruistic beliefs of HCWs and their explicit past vaccination history augments the utility of the original HBM tool in predicting HCWs’ intentions to vaccinate against influenza in a way that is consistent with the predictive ability of the Theory of Planned Behavior.     

从武汉抗疫看中医药文化认同与新的医学模式

从武汉抗疫中医药的投入使用情况,反思现代临床和国人所呈现出的中医药文化认同和就医习惯,探索其历史文化根源及社会因素与医学发展的内在关联。回顾历史,中医屡次临危受命,不负重托,如今大疫当前,中医药再次发挥了重要作用。故新时代探讨如何遵循中医药发展规律,传承精华、守正创新,坚持中医药原创优势,形成中医药学科优势整体化呈现的新模式医学,对提升全社会的中医药认知度具有重要意义。     

中华传统文化视角下疾病终末期患者尊严模型解析

目的:解析加拿大Chochinov疾病终末期患者尊严模型在中华文化情境下的适用性,并基于此对模型进行调适。方法:采用内容分析法,按照选定分析范围、抽取样本、确定分析单位和分析框架、资料分析四步完成。首先检索中、英文数据库中以中华文化背景下临终尊严为主题的文献,然后以尊严模型为框架对文献内容进行编码、归纳和分析。结果:尊严模型包含的多数主题符合我国临终患者的认知,如身体功能、医疗不确定性、死亡焦虑、隐私界限、照护要旨、他人负担、后事担忧等。但也出现了矛盾的主题,如忍受痛苦、自主性等,以及新的主题,包括家庭支持、病耻感和财务担忧。结论:加拿大版疾病终末期患者尊严模型并不完全符合中国文化,调适后的尊严模型更具我国文化特色,但仍需实证研究对模型进行验证。     

Difference in Survival in Early Kidney after Liver Transplantation Compared with Simultaneous Liver-Kidney Transplantation: Evaluating the Potential of the “Safety Net”

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Increasing Perceptions of Self-Worth in Preadolescents Diagnosed with ADHD

Purpose: To test the effectiveness of a school-based, nurse-facilitated support group in increasing perceptions of scholastic competence, social acceptance, behavioral conduct, perceived athletic competence, perceived physical appearance, and perceived global self-worth in preadolescents diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Design: A quasi-experimental design with 65 preadolescents diagnosed with ADD or ADHD in an upper-middle class community in the United States.
Methods: Participants randomly assigned to either the control or experimental group completed Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Children instrument at the beginning of the study and 4 weeks later. Students in the experimental condition participated in a school-nurse facilitated support group which met twice weekly for 4 weeks.
Findings: Participants in the support group had increased scores on each of the six subscales, with significant increases on four of the subscales, including perceived social acceptance, perceived athletic competence, perceived physical appearance, and perceived global self-worth.
Conclusion: Participation in a school-based, nurse-led support group was positively associated with perception of self-worth in preadolescents diagnosed with ADD or ADHD.     

一种双侧供肾大鼠肾移植模型的建立

目的 探讨同时取大鼠双侧肾脏分别移植的可行性，其目的是节省实验费用、缩短手术时间。方法 以近交系Brown-Norway大鼠为供者，同时取其双肾作为供肾，原位灌洗；近交系Lewis大鼠为受者，切除其左肾，移植供肾1只。以冠状动脉造影支架为支撑行供肾静脉与受者肾静脉端端吻合，供肾动脉与受者的腹主动脉行端侧吻合，供肾输尿管膀胱瓣与受者的膀胱吻合。受者术中预置右侧肾脏血管体外结扎线，术后3d结扎。结果 每只供鼠手术耗时约40min，热缺血时间约10S，冷缺血时间约20min。40次实验均获成功，移植肾功能正常，在不用免疫抑制剂的情况下，受者存活时间均超过7d。结论 同时取双侧肾脏分别移植给2个受者是可行的，可降低实验成本；要获得相同数量的供肾，同时取双肾的耗时较仅取单侧肾脏大大缩短。     

汉语失写症的神经心理学研究及其意义

目的 探讨汉语失写症的神经心理语言学机制以及该研究对于汉语失写症病理行为的康复学意义。方法 采用汉语失语检查法和汉语失写检查法测试口语和书写能力，详细记录患者的书写、失写行为特征，区分言语障碍类型；运用计算机图像处理技术对病灶CT／MRI图像进行标准化、二维叠加、三维重建等处理，并与非失写对照组相减，显示不同失写类型病变的集中趋势。结果 左侧半球损害48例，其中失语30例，失写32例，后者中纯失写1例，失读并失写1例；右侧半球损害15例，其中失语失写3例。具体的资料分析表明：不同的失写类型有不同的病理行为特点。计算机图像处理结果显示：失语性失写病灶较集中的区域为左额顶叶深部白质。惰性失写主要集中在左外侧裂的前方、从额中下回向后部延伸。镜像书写则分散于左丘脑、基底节附近。结论 汉语失写症的病理行为特点与病损定位有密切的关系；双通道理论有可能符合汉语语言学机制；汉语失写症的神经心理学研究对汉语失写康复模式的制定有重要意义。     

Endogenous vasopressin and baroreflex mechanisms

This article reviews the anatomical and functional evidence for ascending pathways from specific brain regions to the PVN and SON which could influence AVP release. The majority of evidence favours the main projection being from a region in the caudal VLM which may coincide with the noradrenergic neurons of the A₁ cell group. However, the transmitter(s) involved have yet to be identified, and whether the pathway is excitatory and/or inhibitory remains to be fully resolved.Anatomical and functional evidence is reviewed for descending projections from the SON and PVN to specific brain regions involved in cardiovascular control, and their possible involvement in baroreflex mechanisms is discussed. However, there is little unequivocal evidence that AVP is the main neurotransmitter utilized by descending projections from PVN to NTS and DMX. While, in some situations, circulating endogenous AVP exerts cardiovascular effects, details of its putative influences on baroreflex mechanisms are lacking.     

护理健康教育模式的研究及应用

借鉴国外先进护理模式，研制适合我国医疗制度改革需要的护理健康教育工作模式，推行高质量、高效率工作方法，建立标准化护理健康教育工作程序、管理及评价体系、工作职责条文、记录表格等，并选择5家省、市级医院作为主要试点对象，对全国10个省、市、地区医院的3000名护理人员进行随机抽样调查。结果 93％省级医院和84％市级医院护士对研制的护理健康教育模式满意，80％地区级医院护士认为模式中的主要项目可以应用。结论：研制的护理健康教育模式可以在不同等级医院和社会应用推广。