METHOD: Participants completed a questionnaire battery, which included the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, Beck's Depression Inventory, the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Satisfaction With Life Scale.
RESULTS: Life satisfaction was negatively and significantly correlated with suicidal attitudes, loneliness and depression; and positively with health, which was negatively and significantly correlated with depression and loneliness. Self-concept was negatively correlated with loneliness and depression, depression was positively and significantly correlated with loneliness. Mediational analyses showed that the effects of loneliness and life dissatisfaction on depression were fully mediated by health.
CONCLUSION: Even though less satisfied, and particularly lonelier, individuals are more likely to report higher levels of depression, this is only the case because both higher loneliness and life dissatisfaction are associated with poorer health. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders in developing nations.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six focus groups were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide on 40 informants (employed multiethnic survivors). Survivors were stratified into three groups for successfully RTW, and another three groups of survivors who were unable to return to work. Each of the three groups was ethnically homogeneous. Thematic analysis using a constant comparative approach was aided by in vivo software.
RESULTS: Participants shared numerous barriers and facilitators which directly or interactively affect RTW. Key barriers were physical-psychological after-effects of treatment, fear of potential environment hazards, high physical job demand, intrusive negative thoughts and overprotective family. Key facilitators were social support, employer support, and regard for financial independence. Across ethnic groups, the main facilitators were financial-independence (for Chinese), and socialisation opportunity (for Malay). A key barrier was after-effects of treatment, expressed across all ethnic groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Numerous barriers were identified in the non-RTW survivors. Health professionals and especially occupational therapists should be consulted to assist the increasing survivors by providing occupational rehabilitation to enhance RTW amongst employed survivors. Future research to identify prognostic factors can guide clinical efforts to restore cancer survivors to their desired level/type of occupational functioning for productivity and wellbeing.
METHODS: The 70-item QOLQA measuring five QOL domains (physical, psychological, independence, social and environmental) was administered to a random sample of 1363 school-children aged 10-15 years, representative of the ethnic composition of Singapore adolescents (Chinese 72%, Malays 20% and Indians 8%).
RESULTS: Indians reported the highest overall QOL (mean 3.71 +/- SD 0.54) compared to Chinese (3.59 +/- 0.43), p < 0.05, and Malays (3.58 +/- 0.44), p < 0.05. In particular, Indians had significantly higher psychological QOL scores (3.73 +/- 0.61) compared to Chinese (3.55 +/- 0.54), p < 0.01. On the other hand, Chinese scored highest on physical and independence domains (3.97 +/- 0.54), p < 0.01 compared to Malays (3.82 +/- 0.55). There were no statistically significant gender differences in QOL scores. QOL declined significantly from age 10 to 15 for overall score, psychological, physical (p < 0.01) and environmental (p < 0.05). Lower socio-economic status and the self-report of a significant health problem were significantly associated with lower overall QOL and most domains. These ethnic differences persisted after adjusting for differences in socio-economic and health status. Psychometric properties and known group construct validity appeared to be similar across different ethnic groups, but compared to Chinese (r = 0.39) or Malays (r = 0.39), Indians showed a higher correlation of psychological scores with physical score (r = 0.59) and with other domain scores.
CONCLUSION: Significant ethnic differences in reported adolescent quality of life among Chinese, Malays and Indians in Singapore that are independent of socioeconomic and health status suggest important cultural differences.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sexually active females at least 21 years old with or without stress urinary incontinence and their partners were recruited for study. To assess sexual function the couples completed GRISS (Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction) and a 1-item question on overall sexual experience, "Over the past 4 weeks, how satisfied have you been with your overall sexual life?" Additionally, females completed ICIQ-LUTSqol (International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Quality of Life) to assess quality of life.
RESULTS: For sexual function assessment 66 of 134 couples with (49.3%) and 95 of 176 without (54.0%) stress urinary incontinence were recruited. Females with stress urinary incontinence had lower overall sexual function, lower frequency of sexual intercourse, less satisfaction (each p <0.001) and higher avoidance behavior (p = 0.026). Partners of females with stress urinary incontinence had more problems with erectile dysfunction (p = 0.027), less satisfaction (p = 0.006) and lower frequency of sexual intercourse (p = 0.001) but no difference in overall GRISS score (p = 0.093). Couples with stress urinary incontinence had poorer overall sexual experience (p <0.05). Females with stress urinary incontinence had poorer quality of life than those without stress urinary incontinence (120 of 134, response rate 89.6% vs 145 of 176, response rate 82.4%, p <0.001). Sexual function and quality of life did not significantly correlate (r = 0.001, p = 0.997).
CONCLUSIONS: Stress urinary incontinence in females is negatively associated not only with female quality of life and sexual function but also with partner sexual function.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey study. Oncology practitioners were recruited from a major cancer center in Singapore and through two regional cancer meetings that took place in Singapore and Malaysia in 2013.
RESULTS: A total of 126 oncology practitioners from various Southeast Asian countries, mostly nurses (58.7 %) and physicians (37.3 %), were recruited. The majority of the respondents agreed that fatigue (78.4 %) and anxiety (69.1 %) were the most common physical and psychosocial problems experienced by BCS. Monitoring for physical and treatment-related adverse effects (80.7 %) and reviewing patients' noncancer medical history (65.3 %) were the most practiced aspects of follow-up care. Compared with the other practitioners, the physicians were more likely to communicate with other healthcare professionals (adjusted OR = 4.24, 95 % CI 1.54 to 11.72; p = 0.005). Most of the respondents also agreed that patient-specific barriers were the main impediments to follow-up care.
CONCLUSION: This study provides insights into the various aspects of breast cancer survivorship care from the perspectives of oncology practitioners and shows that survivorship care is relatively inadequate in Asia. There is a need for new survivorship care models to meet the needs of Asian BCS and to complement the unique healthcare systems of Asia.