METHODS: This study was a two-arm parallel randomized controlled trial. Twenty-eight patients with coronary heart disease were randomly assigned to either the intervention group, receiving a 12-week technology-assisted intervention (n = 14), or the control group (n = 14), receiving usual care. Guided by the Health Belief Model, the intervention group received three center-based, supervised exercise training sessions, a fitness watch that served as a cue to action, six educational videos, and a weekly video call. The Self-efficacy for Exercise, exercise capacity, and Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II were assessed at baseline and immediately post-intervention (12-weeks).
RESULTS: Among the 28 patients who participated in this study, 85.7% completed the program, with a relatively low attrition rate (14.3%). The number of exercise training sessions accomplished by the participants in the intervention group was 51.27 ± 19.41 out of 60 sessions (85.5%) compared to 36.46 ± 23.05 (60.8%) in the control group. No cardiac adverse events or hospitalizations were reported throughout the study. Participants in the intervention group showed greater improvement in health-promoting behaviors when compared with the control group at 12 weeks. Within-group effects demonstrated improvement in exercise self-efficacy and exercise capacity among participants in the intervention group. A participant satisfaction survey conducted immediately post-intervention revealed that participants were "very satisfied" (23.1%) and "satisfied" (76.9%) with the technology-assisted intervention.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings demonstrated that technology-assisted intervention in a hybrid cardiac rehabilitation program was feasible and suggested to be beneficial in improving exercise self-efficacy, exercise capacity, and health promoting behavior among patients with coronary heart disease. A full-scale study is needed to determine its effectiveness in the long term.
TRIAL AND PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04862351. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04862351.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among all (n = 361) consented dental undergraduate students of our dental school. A twenty-item Lay's Procrastination Scale for student population and a ten-item General Self-Efficacy Scale were used for the study after getting institutional ethical approval. The quantitative data were explained using descriptive statistics. Independent sample t-test and ANOVA were used to determine the association between self-efficacy, academic procrastination, and genders and academic years. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine the association between self-efficacy and procrastination. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to determine the related factors to academic procrastination.
RESULTS: High procrastination (score ≥62) was seen among 28.5% of students. The mean self-efficacy score was 29.5. There was no significant difference between genders for procrastination scores (P = 0.835) and between academic years (P = 0.226). Males showed significantly more self-efficacy (P < 0.001), and self-efficacy did not show any significant difference (P = 0.204) between academic years though a tendency for year 5 students to have lower self-efficacy scores was observed. Academic procrastination was negatively correlated with self-efficacy (r = -0.238 and P < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: For dental undergraduates who have cognitive load as well as work associated with patients, procrastination and self-efficacy are negatively correlated.
Methods: A randomized controlled trial (RCT) for 12 months was carried out on patients diagnosed with stroke at Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The RCT recruited up to 216 eligible patients who were requested to return for two more follow-ups within six months. Consented patients were randomized to either standard care or intervention with video narratives. The control of potential confounding factors was ensured, as well as unbiased treatment review with prescribed medications, only obtained onsite.
Results and Discussion: A repeated measure of MUSE mean score differences at T0 (baseline), T2 (6th month) and T4 (12th month) for antithrombotic, antihypertensive, and all medication categories indicated significant within and between groups differences in the intervention group (p<0.05). Moreover, this impact was reflected upon continuous blood pressure (BP) monitoring compared to the control group (F (1214) =5.23, p=0.023, ƞ2=0.024). Though BP measure differences were non-significant between the groups (p=0.552), repeated measure analysis displayed significant mean differences between intervention and control group on BP control over time (F (1.344, 287.55) =8.54, P<0.001, ƞ2=0.038). Similarly, the intervention's positive impact was also present with similar trends for knowledge, illness perception, and the belief about medicine. Though significant differences (p<0.05) of all outcome measures gradually decreased between T2 and T4 in the intervention group; nevertheless, these positive findings confirmed that personalized video narratives were able to motivate and influence MUSE and its associated factors among post-stroke patients. The significant improvement in medication-taking self-efficacy and the sustenance of BP monitoring habits among patients in the intervention group strengthened our conceptual framework's practicality.
OBJECTIVE: The researchers believed that culturally sensitive video narratives, which catered to a specific niche, would reveal a personalized impact on medication adherence. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and validate video narratives for this purpose.
METHODS: This study adapted the Delphi method to develop a consensus on the video scripts' contents based on learning outcomes and HBM constructs. The panel of experts comprised 8 members representing professional stroke disease experts and experienced poststroke patients in Malaysia. The Delphi method involved 3 rounds of discussions. Once the consensus among members was achieved, the researchers drafted the initial scripts in English, which were then back translated to the Malay language. A total of 10 bilingual patients, within the study's inclusion criteria, screened the scripts for comprehension. Subsequently, a neurologist and poststroke patient narrated the scripts in both languages as they were filmed, to add to the realism of the narratives. Then, the video narratives underwent a few cycles of editing after some feedback on video engagement by the bilingual patients. Few statistical analyses were applied to confirm the validity and reliability of the video narratives.
RESULTS: Initially, the researchers proposed 8 learning outcomes and 9 questions based on HBM constructs for the video scripts' content. However, following Delphi rounds 1 to 3, a few statements were omitted and rephrased. The Kendall coefficient of concordance, W, was about 0.7 (Pself-efficacy among patients with stroke. A feasibility and acceptability study in an actual stroke care center is needed.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12618000174280; https://www.anzctr.org.au /Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=373554&isReview=true.
Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with chronic diseases and pharmacists from three public hospitals in Malaysia. The Revised United States Leeds Attitudes toward Concordance (RUS-LATCon) was used to measure attitudes toward concordance in both patients and pharmacists. Patients also rated their perceived level of involvement in decision making and completed the Decision Self-Efficacy scale. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and independent t-test were used to determine significant differences between different subgroups on attitudes toward concordance, and multiple linear regression was performed to find the predictors of patients' self-efficacy in decision making.
Results: A total of 389 patients and 93 pharmacists participated in the study. Pharmacists and patients scored M=3.92 (SD=0.37) and M=3.84 (SD=0.46) on the RUS-LATCon scale, respectively. Seven items were found to be significantly different between pharmacists and patients on the subscale level. Patients who felt fully involved in decision making (M=3.94, SD=0.462) scored significantly higher on attitudes toward concordance than those who felt partially involved (M=3.82, SD=0.478) and not involved at all (M=3.68, SD=0.471; p<0.001). Patients had an average score of 76.7% (SD=14.73%) on the Decision Self-Efficacy scale. In multiple linear regression analysis, ethnicity, number of medications taken by patients, patients' perceived level of involvement, and attitudes toward concordance are significant predictors of patients' self-efficacy in decision making (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Patients who felt involved in their consultations had more positive attitudes toward concordance and higher confidence in making an informed decision. Further study is recommended on interventions involving pharmacists in supporting patients' involvement in medication-related decision making.
BACKGROUND: To extend knowledge, we sought to examine the extent to which indices of positive body image (body appreciation), negative body image (body dissatisfaction, breast size dissatisfaction), and psychosocial factors (body acceptance by others, postpartum partner support) are associated with breastfeeding self-efficacy in sample of mothers from Israel.
HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesised that body appreciation, body dissatisfaction, breast size dissatisfaction, body acceptance by others, and postpartum partner support would each be significantly associated with breastfeeding self-efficacy in Israeli mothers.
METHOD: A total of 352 mothers from Israel, with an infant aged six months or younger, were asked to complete an online survey that measured the aforementioned constructs.
FINDINGS: Correlational and linear model analyses indicated that only body appreciation was significantly associated with breastfeeding self-efficacy. Body acceptance by others was significantly associated with breastfeeding self-efficacy in correlational but not regression analyses. These effects were consistent across primiparous and multiparous mothers.
DISCUSSION: In Israeli mothers, at least, a limited set of body image and body image-related indices appear to be associated with breastfeeding self-efficacy.
CONCLUSION: Overall, these findings suggest that positive body image may be associated with breastfeeding self-efficacy in women from Israel, though more research is needed.
METHOD: An audio-taped focus group interview was undertaken with 14 medical students using a semi-structured interview guide. The recorded discussion was transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was performed.
RESULTS: Initial apprehension about interacting with patients lessened as the students engaged in shared activities. Students described their increased awareness of the normality and competence of psychiatric patients. As future doctors, they reported a greater understanding of the benefits of social inclusion for patients and carers alike. Promoting positive experiences of patient contact … may be important in influencing medical students' attitudes to people with mental illness
DISCUSSION: Medical students' joint participation in a group activity programme for people with mental illness in non-hospital settings may have advantages in promoting positive attitudinal change. Clinical teachers could usefully incorporate this type of experience into the undergraduate psychiatry curriculum.
Methods: The participants were 381 Malay students (188 male; 193 female), aged 10-12 years old, with a mean age of 10.94 (SD = 0.81). The original version of the TTM was translated into the Malay language using forward and backward translation. Certain phrases were adapted based on the local culture and vocabulary suitable for primary school students.
Results: The final measurement models and their fit indices were: processes of change (CFI = 0.939, TLI = 0.925, SRMR = 0.040, RMSEA = 0.030); decisional balance (CFI = 0.897, TLI = 0.864, SRMR = 0.045, RMSEA = 0.038); and self-efficacy (CFI = 0.934, TLI = 0.915, SRMR = 0.042, RMSEA = 0.032).
Conclusion: Care must be taken when using the TTM with children, as it has been prevalently validated with adults. The final version of the TTM questionnaire for Malay primary school children had 24 items for process of changes, 13 items for self-efficacy and 10 items for decisional balance.