bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Women’s perceptions of chemotherapy‐induced cognitive side affects on work ability: a focus group study
Authors: Munir Fehmidah , Burrows Jodie , Yarker Joanna , Kalawsky Katryna , Bains Manpreet 
Published: April 2010

Aims and objectives.  To investigate women’s awareness of chemotherapy‐induced cognitive changes, their perception of cognitive limitations in carrying out daily tasks and subsequent return to work decisions and perceptions of work ability.Background.  Evidence suggests that women diagnosed with breast cancer experience cognitive changes as a consequence of chemotherapy treatment. Although these changes tend to be subtle deficits in memory, concentration and the ability to organise information, there has been no published research identifying how they can impact patient’s ability to work and subsequent employment decisions.Design.  This was a qualitative study.Method.  Data were collected from breast cancer survivors using semi‐structured interviews with two focus groups (n = 6, n = 7). Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using template analysis.Results.  Data were categorised into four main themes: (1) awareness of cognitive changes during and following chemotherapy, (2) cognitive ability and confidence in return to work, (3) impact of cognitive changes on work ability and (4) information on the cognitive side effects of chemotherapy.Conclusions.  The views and experiences of breast cancer survivors towards returning to work and subsequent work ability were affected by chemotherapy‐induced cognitive impairment. More specifically the appraisal of returning to work and ability to manage work were influenced by three interrelated factors: (1) actual cognitive ability following chemotherapy, (2) awareness of cognitive failures by the women and their families and (3) the subsequent impact on their confidence in carrying out daily tasks including work tasks.Relevance to clinical practice.  More information and support is needed to help patients with cancer to manage chemotherapy‐induced cognitive impairments in home and workplace. Nurses are increasingly asked about the impact of cancer and its treatment on work and are therefore well positioned to offer this advice. Subsequently, nurses require additional knowledge and guidance to provide this information and support.
Night admission to the emergency department: a factor delaying time to surgery in patients with head injury
Authors: Kim Young‐Ju 
Published: April 2010

Aim.  To investigate factors influencing time from patient’s arrival at the emergency department to surgery in patients with head injury.Background.  A better understanding of factors influencing variation in time from patient’s arrival at the emergency department to surgery for patients with head trauma could reduce mortality and morbidity associated with injury.Design.  A cross‐sectional study of secondary data.Methods.  The sample represented 493 patients with head injury requiring surgery from the 17 level I and II trauma centres. Data were extracted from the National Trauma Data Bank version 4.0. Two‐level hierarchical models were used to analyse data at the patient level while incorporating a unique random effect for each trauma centre. Factors entered in the models included patient characteristics and trauma centre characteristics.Results.  Patients with a Glasgow coma scale score of 3–8 in the first ED assessment had earlier time to surgery compared with those with a Glasgow coma scale of 13–15 (β = −0·31, 95% CI = −0·43–0·18). Patients who arrived at the hospital during the nighttime (6pm–8am) had a significantly delayed time to surgery than those who arrived during the daytime (8am–6pm) (β = −0·15, 95% CI = −0·26 to −0·04).Conclusions.  The more severely the injured patients were the faster surgery was performed. The time, when patients arrived to the emergency department was found to be a significant factor influencing time to surgery. Patients who arrived at emergency department at night had longer time to surgery than those who arrived during daytime, despite they were more severely head injured than those who arrived during the day.Relevance to clinical practice.  When surgical intervention in head‐injured patients is anticipated, especially during the night shift, time from patient’s arrival at emergency department to surgery should be consistently assessed to identify opportunities for improvement in the structure and process of trauma care.
The lifestyle behaviours and psychosocial well‐being of primary school students in Hong Kong
Authors: Lee Regina LT , Loke Alice Yuen , Wu Cynthia ST , Ho Amy PY 
Published: April 2010

Aims.  To examine the lifestyle behaviours and psychosocial well‐being of primary school students in Hong Kong.Background.  The establishment of healthy lifestyle habits and maintenance of psychosocial well‐being during early adolescence can prevent the morbidity and mortality caused by unhealthy practices.Design.  A cross‐sectional study.Methods.  A questionnaire was used to solicit information on primary school students’ lifestyle behaviours and psychosocial well‐being using the Chinese version of the Adolescent Lifestyle Questionnaire (C‐ALQ).Results.  Out of 249 primary school students, 241 returned their questionnaires (a response rate of 96·8%). Results on the lifestyle behaviours of students indicated that nearly half of them ‘play sports at least three times a week’ (n = 111, 46·1%), ‘try not to eat foods high in fats/salt’ (n = 112, 46·5%), ‘report unusual bodily changes to nurses, parents, friends or physician’ (n = 136, 56·4%) and ‘avoid doing drugs’ (n = 186, 77·2%). Results for the psychosocial well‐being of students showed that nearly half ‘use helpful strategies to deal with stress’ (n = 104, 43·2%), are ‘confident about [their] own beliefs and values in life’ (n = 143, 59·3%) and ‘enjoy spending time with friends’ (n = 169, 70·1%). Male students were found less likely than females to demonstrate ‘health awareness’ (t = 4·87, p = 0·028) and ‘social support’(t = 4·17, p = 0·042) and to have better overall psychosocial well‐being (t = 5·43, p = 0·021).Conclusions.  Primary school students have various health education needs related to lifestyle behavioural choices and the maintenance of psychosocial well‐being. Lifestyle choices are formed in early adolescence; therefore, health education must begin as early as possible to influence healthy behaviours.Relevance to clinical practice.  School nurses should assess health needs across the school‐age population and develop programmes to address these overall needs. School nurses are needed to cater for the needs of students, particularly boys, to establish health programmes for lifelong healthy lifestyles and psychosocial well‐being and to monitor their health status.
Adolescents’ perceptions of quality of life: what it is and what matters
Authors: Helseth Sølvi , Misvær Nina 
Published: April 2010

Aim.  The aim of this study is to explore and describe adolescents’ own perceptions of quality of life; what it is and what matters.Background.  Quality of life has become an important concept in evaluating health care, in both child and adult populations. As nurses concerned with quality of life and well‐being, it is important for us to identify the main factors that contribute to the promotion and sustenance of young people’s well‐being.Design.  A qualitative hermeneutic design was chosen.Method.  The method was in‐depth interviews with 31 healthy adolescents (14–15 years) in the school health service. The interviews were taped, transcribed and analysed as text according to Kvale’s three contexts of interpretation: self‐understanding, critical common sense and theory.Results.  According to the adolescents, quality of life is about the positive cycles of life. Feeling good, being satisfied with oneself and having an overall positive attitude are in most cases described as the starting points of a positive cycle. To get into and stay in the positive cycle, a positive self‐image, good friends and good family relations are important. Consequently, adolescents’ quality of life is threatened when these factors are negative. Friends seem to be the most significant factor. It is extremely difficult to be without friends and none of the adolescents would admit that they were, not even to themselves, although it was rather obvious in some cases. Self‐image and popularity are factors associated with the ability to get friends.Conclusions.  Understanding the adolescents’ view of quality of life emphasises the importance of focusing on their psychosocial health and in particular their peer relations, to promote and sustain their quality of life.Relevance to clinical practice.  Knowledge about the factors most significant to adolescents’ quality of life is applicable to all clinical settings where nurses meet adolescents; i.e., hospitals, outpatient clinics and school health services.
The effectiveness of a programme of enhancing resiliency by reducing family boundary ambiguity among children with epilepsy
Authors: Mu Pei‐Fan , Chang Kai‐Ping 
Published: April 2010

Aim and objectives.  The aim of the study was to examine the effect of a programme designed to reduce family boundary ambiguity in families who care for children with epilepsy.Background.  When parents are caring for an epileptic child, they may experience unclear perceptions about whether the child is psychologically included in the family and develop unclear expectations regarding role performance in the family. Some studies have identified boundary ambiguity as a possible antecedent to relationship problems that are associated with negative outcomes in the areas of parental well‐being and family functioning. There is a need to develop family nursing interventions that will reduce family boundary ambiguity when the family is caring for children with epilepsy.Design.  A pretest, post‐test, one group, quasi‐experimental design was used in this study.Methods.  This study was made up of three phases: first, the establishing of a parental needs checklist and the development of a parental education information handbook; second, the carrying out of a family assessment including the analysis of the meaning of their experiences and needs and the construction of an educational dialogue and finally, an outcomes evaluation after three months. Seventeen mothers participated in the study.Results.  The study found that there were statistically significant improvements in family boundary ambiguity and maternal depression was reduced.Conclusions.  This study illustrates nursing intervention that involves the integrating of phenomenological principles into the nursing care process. Specifically, Husserlian phenomenology is able to be helpful to nursing practice, especially the concepts of intentionality, intersubjectivity, empathy and bracketing.Relevance to clinical practice.  This study supported the conceptual framework involved in the construction of the meaning of the situation, the enhancement of mastery over the situation and reconstruction of identity. These items are resiliency factors that provided a mechanism that helps to reduce boundary ambiguity when a family is caring for a child with epilepsy.
In the know: cognitive and social factors in mental health nursing assessment
Authors: MacNeela Padraig , Scott Anne , Treacy Pearl , Hyde Abbey 
Published: April 2010

Aims and objectives. To develop an integrated cognitive and social understanding of assessment in mental health nursing.Background. Assessment is a vital component of nursing care for mental health service users, largely driven by a tacit, experiential model of assessment; this approach is at variance with an evidence‐based approach to assessment.Design. A qualitative design was employed in the study, with a thematic analysis carried out on transcripts of focus groups with mental health nurses.Method. Ten focus groups were carried out, guided by questions on nurses’ contribution to care and the problems patients present with. Fifty‐nine registered mental health nurses were sampled from eight acute and community mental health services across urban and rural regions in Ireland.Results. References to assessment were identified (how nurses acquired information, how it was made sense of and used in the system of care). Assessment talk was characterised by reliance on a experientially based clinical schema and recognition of the task environment’s shaping influence. Nurses’ clinical knowledge was a pragmatic tool that permitted nurses to assess risk, promote patient engagement and work with doctors.Conclusions. Nurses strived to ‘know the patient’, while having to ‘work the system’, with implications for patient care and decision‐making quality. Reliance on experiential knowledge is a professional trait, but one that renders nursing assessment ‘invisible’ in significant ways.Relevance to clinical practice. Cognitive and social aspects of nursing decision‐making have been considered apart from one another, whereas cognitions about mental health conditions are, in fact, applied in a pragmatic, task‐oriented organisational system. Nurses believed that spending time with the service user led to a privileged position of knowledge in comparison with doctors (‘knowing the person’), but this knowledge is frequently applied to the task of ‘knowing the patient’, assessing the person as a source of risk and danger.
The impact of psychosocial factors on adherence to compression therapy to prevent recurrence of venous leg ulcers
Authors: Finlayson Kathleen , Edwards Helen , Courtney Mary 
Published: April 2010

Aims. To identify self‐care activities undertaken and to determine relationships between self‐efficacy, depression, quality of life, social support and adherence to compression therapy in a sample of patients with chronic venous insufficiency.Background. Up to 70% of venous leg ulcers recur after healing. Compression hosiery is a primary strategy to prevent recurrence; however, problems with adherence to this strategy are well documented and an improved understanding of how psychosocial factors influence patients with chronic venous insufficiency will help guide effective preventive strategies.Design. Cross‐sectional survey and retrospective medical record review.Method. All patients previously diagnosed with a venous leg ulcer that healed between 12–36 months prior to the study were invited to participate. Data on health, psychosocial variables and self‐care activities were obtained from a self‐report survey and data on medical and previous ulcer history were obtained from medical records. Multiple linear regression modelling was used to determine the independent influences of psychosocial factors on adherence to compression therapy.Results. In a sample of 122 participants, the most frequently identified self‐care activities were application of topical skin treatments, wearing compression hosiery and covering legs to prevent trauma. Compression hosiery was worn for a median of four days/week (range 0–7). After adjustment for all variables and potential confounders in a multivariable regression model, wearing compression hosiery was found to be significantly positively associated with participants’ knowledge of the cause of their condition (p = 0·002), higher self‐efficacy scores (p = 0·026) and lower depression scores (p = 0·009).Conclusion. In this sample, depression, self‐efficacy and knowledge were found to be significantly related to adherence to compression therapy.Relevance to clinical practice. These findings support the need to screen for and treat depression in this population. In addition, strategies to improve patient knowledge and self‐efficacy may positively influence adherence to compression therapy.
Cardiac risk factors and quality of life in patients with coronary artery disease
Authors: Sevinç Sibel , Akyol Asiye D 
Published: April 2010

Aims.  The study aimed to determine the quality of life and the relationship between cardiac risk factors and the quality of life in subjects diagnosed with coronary artery disease.Background.  Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of adult deaths. The main goal of the therapy is to stop the progression of atherosclerotic coronary disease, ensure its regression and protect individuals from possible complications, increase quality of life and survival period by providing optimal physical, psychological and social conditions.Design and method.  The sample population was 270 outpatients who were diagnosed Coronary artery disease at the Cardiology Policlinics of State Hospital during 21 May–20 July 2007.Socio‐demographic information and risk factors were inquired during the period of data collection with two forms as the ‘Demographic Characteristics Questionnaire’ and ‘Mac New Quality of Life Scale’.Results.  According to the results of the study, it was found that 22·2% of the patients were under the age of risk group, 27·8% had diabetes, 47·5% had hypertension, 36·7% were smokers, and 40·7% had hyperlipidemia. It was established that 31·1% had four risk factors, no patients were risk‐free, and the mean number of risk factors was 3·7 (SD 1·28). For the scores of the quality of life scale domains of the patients, the physical field, emotional field, social field and total quality were estimated to be 60·85, 69·34, 68·31 and 130·42, respectively.Conclusions.  It was found that there was a negatively statistically significant relation between the quality of life and hypertension and early familial Coronary artery disease history and that quality of life declined as the risk factors increased.Relevance to clinical practice.  Risk‐factor modification and organisation of training programmes with ensured participation of patients and their relatives are of critical importance in improving their quality of life.
Gender‐specific differences in birthweight and the odds of puberty: NHANES III, 1988–94
Authors: Olivo‐Marston Susan , Graubard Barry I. , Visvanathan Kala , Forman Michele R. 
Published: April 2010

SummaryOlivo‐Marston S, Graubard BI, Visvanathan K, Forman MR. Gender‐specific differences in birthweight and the odds of puberty: NHANES III, 1988–94. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 2010; 24: 222–231.The association between birthweight and the odds ratio (OR) of pubertal status in girls aged between 8 and 11 and in boys aged between 8 and 12 was examined using the 1988–94 Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). Girls (n = 956), and boys (n = 1199), who had data on birthweight and Tanner staging were included. Maternal‐reported birthweight, smoking in pregnancy and other information were provided in a home interview, while Tanner staging to assess pubertal status was part of a medical examination. Multiple logistic regression models were computed for the endpoints of the OR [95% confidence interval (CI)] of being Tanner Stage 2+ vs. 1 or being 2+ vs. 1 in an asynchronous pubertal pathway after adjustment for the complex sampling design of NHANES, age, race, height and body mass index (BMI).Birthweight was not associated with the OR of Tanner stage 2+ among girls; however, boys who were low birthweight (<2500 g) and boys born higher than average birthweight (3500–3999 g) were more likely to be Tanner stage 2+ than 1. Childhood BMI was associated with the OR of having entered puberty among girls, but not boys. In an analysis of asynchronous maturation, girls born at high birthweight (>4000 g) were more likely to have breast development 3+ than girls of normal birthweight, OR = 3.18 [95% CI 1.39, 8.25]. Thus, the birthweight–puberty association varies by gender and by pubertal pathway. Our findings need replication in prospective longitudinal studies, and research to understand the mechanisms underlying the relation of early life exposures to cancer risk.
The utility of neonatal dried blood spots for the assessment of neonatal vitamin D status
Authors: Eyles Darryl W. , Morley Ruth , Anderson Cameron , Ko Pauline , Burne Thomas , Permezel Michael , Mortensen Preben B. , Nørgaard‐Pedersen Bent , Hougaard David M. , McGrath John J. 
Published: April 2010

SummaryEyles DW, Morley R, Anderson C, Ko P, Burne T, Permezel M, Mortensen PB, Nørgaard‐Pedersen B, Hougaard DM, McGrath JJ. The utility of neonatal dried blood spots for the assessment of neonatal vitamin D status. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 2010; 24: 303–308.Evidence suggests that low concentrations of 25‐hydroxyvitamin D3 (25OHD3) during gestation may be associated with a range of adverse health outcomes in later life. Retrospective estimation of perinatal vitamin D status using questionnaires is extremely unreliable and stored serum samples are rarely available. We aimed to validate the use of dried blood spots (DBS) to estimate perinatal vitamin D status and to determine whether inter‐group differences in cord serum 25OHD3 are reflected in DBS. We examined 25OHD3 in 4‐year‐old frozen cord sera and matched DBS from neonates born at a hospital in Melbourne, Australia (n = 100). We examined the correlation between these values and also investigated whether the expected seasonal (winter/spring vs. summer/autumn) difference in serum 25OHD3 was reflected in DBS values. 25OHD3 was assayed in triplicate using tandem mass spectroscopy in both a 3 µL sample of cord serum and in matched 3 mm punches from archived DBS.25OHD3 concentrations in neonatal cord serum and DBS were highly correlated (r = 0.85, P < 0.0001). As expected, serum 25OHD3 concentrations were higher in neonates born in summer/autumn (December to March) vs. winter/spring (April to November) (median 46.6 vs. 23.7 nmol/L, P < 0.0001). A comparable difference was seen in DBS values (17.8 vs. 10.5 nmol/L, P = 0.0001). Archived DBS samples provided a valid measure of perinatal vitamin D status and identified inter‐seasonal differences in perinatal 25OHD3 concentrations. They could be used for case–control studies investigating the association between perinatal vitamin D status and later health outcomes.
Neighbourhood food environment and gestational diabetes in New York City
Authors: Janevic Teresa , Borrell Luisa N. , Savitz David A. , Herring Amy H. , Rundle Andrew 
Published: April 2010

SummaryJanevic T, Borrell LN, Savitz DA, Herring AH, Rundle A. Neighbourhood food environment and gestational diabetes in New York City. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 2010; 24: 249–254.The association between neighbourhood characteristics and gestational diabetes has not been examined previously. We investigated the relationship between the number of healthy food outlets (supermarkets; fruit/vegetable and natural food stores), and unhealthy food outlets (fast food; pizza; bodegas; bakeries; convenience, candy/nut and meat stores) in census tract of residence, and gestational diabetes in New York City. Gestational diabetes, census tract and individual‐level covariates were ascertained from linked birth‐hospital data for 210 926 singleton births from 2001 to 2002 and linked to commercial data on retail food outlets. Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) were estimated using a multilevel logistic model.No association between food environment measures and gestational diabetes was found, with aORs ranging from 0.95 to 1.04. However, an increased odds of pre‐pregnancy weight >200 lbs for women living in a given neighbourhood with no healthy food outlets [aOR = 1.14, 95% CI 1.07, 1.21] or only one healthy food place [aOR = 1.10, 95% CI 1.04, 1.18] relative to two or more healthy food outlets was found. Due to probable misclassification of neighbourhood food environment and pre‐pregnancy obesity results are likely to be biased towards the null. Future research, including validity studies, on the neighbourhood food environment, obesity during pregnancy and gestational diabetes is warranted.