METHODOLOGY: The study used a prospective follow-up mix methodology approach with six-month follow-ups of patients. The participants included in the study population were those with chronic kidney disease grade 4 and kidney failure. Pre-validated and translated questionnaires (Kidney Disease Quality of Life-Short Form, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale Urdu Version, and Morisky Lewis Greens Adherence Scale) and assessment tools were used to collect data.
RESULTS: This study recruited 314 patients after an initial assessment based on inclusion criteria. The mean age of the study population was 54.64 ± 15.33 years. There was a 47.6% male and a 52.4% female population. Hypertension and diabetes mellitus remained the most predominant comorbid condition, affecting 64.2% and 74.6% of the population, respectively. The study suggested a significant (p < 0.05) deterioration in the mental health composite score with worsening laboratory variables, particularly hematological and iron studies. Demographic variables significantly impact medication adherence. HRQOL was found to be deteriorating with a significant impact on mental health compared to physical health.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients on maintenance dialysis for kidney failure have a significant burden of physical and mental symptoms, depression, and low HRQOL. Given the substantial and well-known declines in physical and psychological well-being among kidney failure patients receiving hemodialysis, the findings of this research imply that these areas related to health should receive special attention in the growing and expanding population of kidney failure patients.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2021 until April 2022, and SLE patients were recruited to complete the SLEQoL, LupusQoL and Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) in Malay language. Disease activity were recorded using the modified SLE Disease Activity Index (M- SLEDAI) and British Isles Lupus Assessment Group 2004 (BILAG-2004) index. Presence of organ damage was determined using the SLICC Damage index. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to determine internal consistency while exploratory factor analysis was done to determine the construct validity. Concurrent validity was evaluated using correlation with SF-36. Multiple linear regression analysis was deployed to determine the factors affecting each domain of SLEQoL and LupusQoL.
RESULTS: A total of 125 subjects were recruited. The Cronbach's α value for the Malay-SLEQoL (M-SLEQoL) and Malay-LupusQOL (M-LupusQoL) was 0.890 and 0.944 respectively. Exploratory factor analysis found formation of similar number of components with the original version of questionnaires and all items have good factor loading of >0.4. Both instruments also had good concurrent validity with SF-36. M-SLEQoL had good correlations with BILAG-2004 and M-SLEDAI scores. Musculoskeletal (MSK) involvement was independently associated with lower M-SLEQoL in physical function, activity and symptom domains. Meanwhile, MSK and NPSLE were associated with fatigue in M-LupusQoL.
CONCLUSION: Both M-SLEQoL and M-LupusQoL are reliable and valid as disease -specific QoL instruments for Malaysian patients. The M-Lupus QoL has better discriminative validity compared to the M-SLEQoL. SLE patients with MSK involvement are at risk of poor QoL in multiple domains including physical function, activity, symptoms and fatigue.
AIM: The study aimed to understand the experiences of parents of children with thalassemia related to their family, financial, social, treatment, and psychological issues in Pakistan.
METHODS: This descriptive phenomenological study recruited 21 parents of children with thalassemia through purposive sampling until data saturation was achieved. Analysis of transcribed interviews was performed through Colaizzi's method and themes and subthemes revolving around diagnosis, challenges, and treatment issues were extracted.
FINDINGS: A total of 21 Pakistani parents participated in this study. Most of the participants were females (n = 16, 76.19%), housewives/stay-at-home moms (n = 13 (61.90%), and were uneducated (n = 6, 28.57%). Regarding genetic traits, only three (14.28%) parents declared that they had genetic traits of thalassemia. The findings of our study revealed that thalassemia is enormously influenced by psychosocial and economic problems because of this disease in their families.
CONCLUSION: Our findings indicated that parents of these children face multi-faceted challenges, such as physical, socio-emotional, financial, and familial. These findings may lead to an adequate understanding of their individual needs and efficient utilization of supportive and care programs.
PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: An understanding of such experiences, involving those distinctive to Pakistani culture, is especially vital to inform the care of these children and enhance their quality of life.
METHODS: An electronic data search in Web of Science, SCOPUS, and PubMed for relevant papers; those written in English; those reporting quantitative data; and those including more than one hundred patients who received just chemotherapy were included. Studies involving participants that received other kinds of anti-neoplastic therapies were excluded.
RESULTS: A total of 35 papers published between January 2000 and December 2021 were retrieved from the search databases of which (11612 patients) met the inclusion criteria. Findings showed that fatigue negatively affected QOL with a pooled prevalence of 49% (95% CI; 25.00-74.00) and the significant heterogeneity between articles was (I²=98%, P <0.001). Further, breast cancer contributed to the majority of selected articles with about 55 % (95%CI; 9:00- 94:00), followed by cancer (unspecified) 44% (95%CI; 5:00 - 92:00). Most studies (71%) (95%CI; 4:00 - 99:00) used the brief fatigue inventory (BFI) tool to assess severity of fatigue and 39% (95%CI; 17:00 -68:00) employed the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire to evaluate QOL among cancer survivors.
CONCLUSION: The prevalence of fatigue in cancer patients is high and fatigue has a negative impact on QOL of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Directionality, fatigue needs to be addressed and treated properly for better improvement of health status and QOL in cancer patients.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of three-modal exercise on fatigue, sleep, QoL as well as to determine the relationship between age, disease severity, disease stage and working years with women diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD).
METHODS: In this randomized controlled trial, 44 female educators in stages I-II with PD who were between the ages of 40 and 60 volunteered. For a total of 36 sessions over the course of six weeks, Group A received a three-modal fitness program through online video sessions, whereas Group B received Nordic walking. The outcome measures included the Fatigue Severity Scale, Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale, and Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire-39.
RESULTS: Age, Hoehn and Yahr scale, working years, and PD in years did not correlate with each other (p > 0.50). The three-modal exercise experimental Group A showed statistically significant improvement in QoL (p 0.001), sleep (p 0.001), and fatigue (p 0.001).
CONCLUSION: Women in the field of education who participated in a three-modal exercise programme for PD reported a significant improvement in their level of exhaustion, sleep patterns, and quality of life.
AIMS: This study aims to investigate the effect of cosmetic products on users' quality of life in eight Arab countries.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out using an online data collection approach. A validated and specialist instrument tool called BeautyQoL, which consists of five domains and a total of 52 questions, was distributed to a sample of 2219 cosmetic users. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was done using SPSS® version 26.0.
RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 34 ± 11.25 years, and more women were represented in the sample (71%) than men. The majority of respondents had oily skin type (39.6%) and tan skin tone (30.4%). QoL through cosmetic use is computed with a mean score of 51 out of 100. The users' mean score satisfaction from cosmetic use is centred on attractiveness (56.1), followed by self-confidence (51.8). Cosmetics have a statistically significant effect on participants who are young adults, women, single, and employed with high income. As the respondents' skin tone deepens from very fair to dark, the mean score for each domain significantly increases, whereas when skin type changes from very oily to dry, the mean score for each domain decreases.
CONCLUSION: The effect of cosmetics on the users' QoL is limited, contrary to the narrative commonly portrayed in cosmetics' advertisements. Therefore, the use of cosmetics among the Arab population should be from an informed perspective of their specific needs instead of conforming to the viral trends pedaled by influencers and bloggers on social media, which might be irrelevant for them.
METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted using a convenience sample technique. The translation procedure included five stages: forward translation, revision of translation, backward translation, refinement of translation, and a final test of the pre-final version. The final sets of questionnaires were constructed using an online JotForm platform. The online platform was chosen to automatically calculate the questionnaire's final overall score. Overall, 260 participants were instructed to fill out the English and the Arab-OSDI version twice to conduct the reliability of the translated version and repeatability evaluation.
RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 33.45 ± 11.74 years old. Cronbach's alpha for all items was greater than 0.80, except for the "blurred vision" and "deteriorating vision" items (0.77 and 0.74, respectively). The mean overall score difference between the English-OSDI and Arab-OSDI was 0.86 based on the Bland-Altman chart. For repeatability, no significant difference in the overall scores between the two repeats of the Arab-OSDI (p = 0.632). The Arab-OSDI overall score (sessions 1 and 2) has a clinical difference (bias) of 0.21. Using the varimax rotation method, only three factors (ocular symptoms, vision-related function, and environmental triggers) had eigenvalues greater than one in the structure of the Arab-OSDI.
CONCLUSION: The Arab-OSDI is an appropriate, reliable, and repeatable tool for the determination of dry eye symptoms, ocular discomfort, and quality of life in the Gazan population. This version could remove the language barrier in answering OSDI items more easily.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on T2DM patients at a tertiary hospital outpatient using the Malay and English version of the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire. Health utility values were derived using the Malaysian EQ-5D-5L value set. Ordinary least squares (OLS) multivariable regression model was used to estimate the health utility decrements associated with T2DM-related complications and clinical characteristics.
RESULTS: A total of 513 T2DM patients were recruited. Overall, pain was the most affected of all five EQ-5D-5L dimensions. Patients with foot ulcer, amputation, severe heart failure and frequent hypoglycemia reported more problems collectively in all EQ-5D-5L dimensions. Older age, lower education level, longer duration of T2DM, urine protein creatine index (UPCI) > 0.02 g/mmol, and injection therapy were significantly associated with lower EQ-5D-5L utility values (p
METHODS: A cross-sectional design was employed. Data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire containing demographic characteristics, asthma symptoms, knowledge on asthma, and QoL.
RESULTS: Data from 2891 asthmatic schoolchildren aged 13-14 years old from secondary schools in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, were analyzed. According to the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) scoring for asthma prevalence, the number of children who exhibited signs and symptoms of asthma was 9% (n=260). The mean score for total knowledge indicated a low knowledge level (82.7%). No significant relationship was found between knowledge level and QoL. Only the race factor was associated with asthma knowledge.
CONCLUSION: This study has provided valuable information on asthma prevalence among Malaysian adolescents and their knowledge on asthma condition. Further research should explore the correlation factors of asthma knowledge and QoL.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze xerostomia, ageusia and the oral health impact in coronavirus disease-19 patients utilizing the Xerostomia Inventory scale-(XI) and the Oral Health Impact Profile-14.
METHODS: In this cross-sectional survey-based study, data was collected from 301 patients who suffered and recovered from COVID-19. Using Google Forms, a questionnaire was developed and circulated amongst those who were infected and recovered from coronavirus infection. The Xerostomia Inventory (XI) and Oral Health Impact Profile-14 were used to assess the degree and quality of life. A paired T-test and Chi-square test were used to analyze the effect on xerostomia inventory scale-(XI) and OHIP-14 scale scores. A p-value of 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
RESULTS: Among 301 participants, 54.8% were females. The prevalence of xerostomia in participants with active COVID-19 disease was 39.53% and after recovery 34.88%. The total OHIP-14 scores for patients in the active phase of infection was 12.09, while 12.68 in recovered patients. A significant difference was found between the mean scores of the xerostomia inventory scale-11 and OHIP-14 in active and recovered COVID patients.
CONCLUSION: A higher prevalence of xerostomia was found in COVID-19 infected patients (39.53%) compared to recovered patients (34.88%). In addition, more than 70% reported aguesia. COVID-19 had a significantly higher compromising impact on oral function of active infected patients compared to recovered patients.
METHODOLOGY: 88 university students with migraine symptoms are the target participants. 4 of 5 on the Migraine Screen Questionnaire, 5 of 7 on the International Classification of Headache Disorders 3rd edition (ICHD-3), and both genders aged 18-40 years will be included. The participants with a score of more than or equal to 5 on the visual aura rating scale, diagnosed with a secondary headache, pregnancy, medication for neurological and cardiorespiratory conditions, and unwilling to participate will be excluded. Based on the disability questionnaire, the participants will be randomly assigned to either of the three groups. The primary outcome is resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) brain, and the secondary outcomes are sleep quality, quality of life, and migraine pain level. The post-test assessments will be performed at week 6.
RESULT: After the primary EEG analysis using MATLAB, the amplitude, frequency, frequency band ratio, and power spectrum density will be analysed. Mixed design analysis and intention-to-treat analysis will be used to assess the efficacy of aerobic training.
DISCUSSION: Migraines can be unpredictable, sometimes occurring without symptoms. If underdiagnosed or over-looked, it encompasses a serious of long-term effects. Hence with appropriate intervention, the symptoms can be prevented from worsening. But there is an unmet need for evidence-based non-pharmacological approaches to complement pharmacotherapy in migraine prevention. Moreover, an exercise intervention may be more suitable for people with migraine considering their tendency toward inactivity. Although some studies developed exercise programs for untrained patients with migraine, the outcome was primarily in terms of exercise capacity rather than the primary characteristics and secondary brain wave/ sleep quality changes, indicating the need for this study.
METHODS: An international cross-sectional study was conducted in 30 countries across six World Health Organization regions from July 2020 to August 2021, with 16 512 adults self-reporting changes in 18 lifestyle factors and 13 interim health outcomes since the pandemic.
RESULTS: Three networks were computed and tested. The central variables decided by the expected influence centrality were consumption of fruits and vegetables (centrality = 0.98) jointly with less sugary drinks (centrality = 0.93) in the lifestyles network; and quality of life (centrality = 1.00) co-dominant (centrality = 1.00) with less emotional distress in the interim health outcomes network. The overall amount of exercise had the highest bridge expected influence centrality in the bridge network (centrality = 0.51). No significant differences were found in the network global strength or the centrality of the aforementioned key variables within each network between males and females or health workers and non-health workers (all P-values >0.05 after Holm-Bonferroni correction).
CONCLUSIONS: Consumption of fruits and vegetables, sugary drinks, quality of life, emotional distress, and the overall amount of exercise are key intervention components for improving overall lifestyle, overall health and overall health via lifestyle in the general population, respectively. Although modifications are needed for all aspects of lifestyle and interim health outcomes, a larger allocation of resources and more intensive interventions were recommended for these key variables to produce the most cost-effective improvements in lifestyles and health, regardless of gender or occupation.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study design was carried out in Selangor, Malaysia. A total of 1380 Malaysian adults (≥18 years old) participated in a structured and validated questionnaire survey. TANITA body scale and SECA 206 body meter were used to measure the respondents' weight and height, from which measurements of their body mass index (BMI) were calculated.
RESULTS: The overall prevalence of obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) among adults in Selangor, Malaysia, was 18.6%. Factors significantly associated with increased risk of obesity were: being female (OR = 1.61, 95% CI [1.20-2.17]), aged between 30 to 39 years old (OR = 1.40, 95% CI [1.04-1.88]), being Indian (OR = 1.55, 95% CI [1.13-2.12]), married (OR = 1.37, 95% CI [1.03-1.83]), and having only primary school education (OR = 1.80, 95% CI [1.17-2.78] or secondary school education (OR = 1.37, 95% CI [1.04-1.81]). In the multiple linear regression analysis (stepwise method), perceived stress (B = -0.107, p = 0.041), suicidal ideation (B = -2.423, p = 0.003), and quality of life in the physical health domain (B = -0.350, p = 0.003) inversely and significantly contributed to BMI among males. Among females, stressful life events contributed positively to BMI (B = 0.711, p < 0.001, whereas quality of life in the psychological domain had a negative effect (B = -0.478, p < 0.001) in this respect.
CONCLUSION: There is an urgent need to integrate psychological approaches to enhance the effectiveness of obesity prevention strategies and weight-loss programs.
METHOD: A total of 210 respondents who were already enrolled in a formal MMT program in Myanmar were recruited from five cities through stratified random sampling for this cross-sectional study. The addiction severity index (ASI) was used to objectively assess respondents social functioning in the last 30 days. Higher ASI scores denote poorer social functioning.
RESULT: Respondents total ASI scores in the respective domains were: employment (47.4%), alcohol (44.4%), drug use (7.2%), legal (49.2%) and social-family relationship (10.7%). Those reported to have never injected drugs in the last 30 days had lower ASI total scores than those who reported injection drug use (p = 0.01). After identifying the differences in ASI total scores, we found there were significant associations in the clients' hepatitis C status, age category, frequency of heroin injection, quality of life score, marital status, current leisure status with family/friend, current history of injection in the last 30 days, income status, satisfaction with current marital status, as well as reported drug and alcohol use (p
METHODS: A qualitative design, using semi-structured in-depth interviews with 10 young women with breast cancer who underwent mastectomy, was conducted between June to December 2022.
RESULTS: Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data, and five main themes were identified: (1) psychological and emotional well-being (altered self-esteem and femininity, impact on sexual life and relationships, psychological distress associated with mastectomy, mirror trauma and the need for psychological care); (2) body image and breast reconstruction (the dilemma over reconstruction decision, body image and clothing and lack of access to prosthetic information/services); (3) social and interpersonal factors (lack of marriage choices and society's view and stigma); (4) coping mechanisms with mastectomy effects (family support; faith in god almighty; comparing their situation to others and use of prosthetics) and (5) physical health and functioning (physical effects on mobility and function).
CONCLUSION: Mastectomy has significant physical, emotional, and social consequences on young women with breast cancer, particularly in crisis-affected Syria where access to breast reconstruction is limited. It is crucial for healthcare professionals to understand these impacts, to raise awareness, encourage early detection, and promote less aggressive treatments to improve women's quality of life.
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the extent to which accessibility and use of 11 specific family-friendly work conditions were associated with physical health, anxiety and depression in Malaysian women with young children.
DESIGN: A cross-sectional design using a retrospective self-complete, anonymous, online survey was conducted between March and October 2021.
METHODS: Women with a child aged 5 years or less (N = 190) completed an online survey measuring their exposure (availability and use) to 11 specific family-friendly work conditions, and their physical health, anxiety, and depression. The sample included women who were currently and recently working and with both formal and informal employment.
RESULTS: After accounting for potential confounders, women who used paid maternity leave have a lower likelihood of having anxiety symptoms.
CONCLUSION: Future research is needed to extend the findings from this study by over-sampling women who are informally employed and not currently working. Policy creation and development processes, including research and decision-making, should be led by and inclusive of women. For example, research funding could be allocated to 'lived experience' research that privileges the co-design of research with consumers. Based on these findings, the extent to which family-friendly work conditions fulfill their intent to improve the well-being for working women requires further critique.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS: All observational studies, including descriptive, descriptive-analytic, case-control, and cohort studies published between 1990 and 2019, will be included in the study. Review articles, case studies, case reports, letter to editors, pilot studies, and editorial will be excluded from the study. The search will be conducted in the Cochrane Central Register, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, EMBASE, ProQuest, Scopus, WOS, and CINAHL databases. Eligible studies should assess at least one of the sexual dysfunction symptoms in pregnant women or in the first year postpartum. Quality assessment of studies will be performed by two authors independently based on the NOS checklist. This checklist is designed to assess the quality of observational studies. Data will be analyzed using Stata software ver. 11. Considering that the index investigated in the present study will be the level of sexual disorder, standard error will be calculated for each study using binomial distribution. The heterogeneity level will be investigated using Cochran's Q statistic and I2 index in a chi-square test at a significance level of 1.1. Predictable limitations of this study included a small number and unacceptable quality of studies.
DISCUSSION: This systematic review addresses the factors associated with sexual dysfunction during pregnancy and postpartum. Considering the high prevalence of sexual dysfunction among women, the treatment of this problem has been highly sought after by the World Health Organization in recent years. The results of this study can help discover new strategies by introducing factors affecting women's sexual dysfunction, thereby eliminating or diminishing these factors, and play an important role in improving the quality of life of women during pregnancy and postpartum periods.
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42018083554.