MATERIALS: Focus group and individual interviews with patients, carers, healthcare staff, religious authorities, traditional healers and community members.
DISCUSSION: Four stages of help seeking were identified: (1) noticing symptoms and initial labelling, (2) collective decision-making, (3) spiritual diagnoses and treatment and (4) psychiatric diagnosis and treatment.
CONCLUSION: Spiritual diagnoses have the advantage of being less stigmatising, giving meaning to symptoms, and were seen to offer hope of cure rather than just symptom control. Patients and carers need help to integrate different explanatory models into a meaningful whole.
METHODS: This qualitative study interviewed 12 Malaysian parents and 10 Malaysian teachers comprising of Malay (82%), Chinese (9%) and Indian (9%) races in an online focus group discussion. Sampling is purposive to parents of adolescents and teachers at secondary school only. Data were analyzed thematically to determine the culturally sensitive SEL constructs for Malaysian adolescents.
RESULTS: All themes and sub-themes of SEC regarded as crucial for Malaysian adolescents are aligned with CASEL's five domains of competencies. Our findings extended the conceptualization of subskills under CASEL's relationship skills and responsible decision-making domains, which reflect Asian cultural values. The main themes of social competency: (a) preserving interpersonal relationships, (b) utilizing intrapersonal skills, and (c) communicating effectively, are shared with the established CASEL constructs. However, the underlying subthemes denote the unique cultural manifestation of social competency in Malaysia. Two of the emotional competency themes represent the established CASEL constructs: (a) practicing self-regulation, (b) demonstrating help-seeking behavior, and the other two themes signify Asian values: (c) upholding altruism, and (d) maintaining cultural display rules.
DISCUSSIONS: This formative study revealed the habitual use of experiential and expressive suppressions as adaptive emotion regulation strategies in Malaysian collectivist culture and offered a potential alternative emotion regulation pathway suitable for Malaysian adolescents. It also informed the feasibility of implementing SEL modules developed based on the CASEL framework in Malaysia and suggested two key lessons to enhance the cultural sensitivity of SEL in Malaysia: effective, respectful communication and expressive writing.
METHODS: Electronic medical records (EMR) were reviewed and phone surveys performed with parents of CDH survivors who underwent repair at our institution from 2010 to 2019. They completed the following Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ (PedsQL™) questionnaires: Generic Core Scales 4.0 (parent-proxy report) and Family Impact (FI) Module 2.0. Age-matched and gender-matched healthy controls from an existing database were used for comparison. Subgroup analysis of CDH patients alone was also performed. Appropriate statistical analysis was used with p
METHOD: The present study examined psychological factors (i.e., depression, anxiety and stress) as predictors for suicidal ideation among adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 190 students (103 males and 87 females), aged 15 to 19 years old from two different schools in Kuala Lumpur. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21-item version (DASS-21) was used to measure depression, anxiety and stress among the students, and the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS) to measure suicidal ideation. The data were analysed using Pearson's correlation and multiple regression analysis.
RESULTS: The results show that 11.10%, 10.00%, and 9.50% of the students reported that they were experiencing severe depression, anxiety and stress, respectively. There were significant correlations between depression, anxiety, and stress with suicidal ideation. However, only depression was identified as a predictor for suicidal ideation.
CONCLUSION: Hence, this study extends the role of depression in predicting suicidal ideation among adolescents in the Malaysian context. The findings imply that teenagers should be assisted in strengthening their positive coping strategies in managing distress to reduce depression and suicidal ideation.
METHOD: A large group of adult participants (N = 1897), recruited from eight administrative divisions in Bangladesh, completed an online survey in May and June 2021 when the Movement Control Order was in place. We used the Beck Anxiety Inventory, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Perceived Stress Scale-4 to assess the participants' anxiety, depression, and stress. We also gave the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale and Life-Orientation Test-Revised to assess mindfulness and optimism.
RESULTS: The results revealed that the prevalence rates for anxiety and depression were 62.5% and 45.3%, respectively. Multivariate analyses showed that several nonmodifiable factors, such as those who were students, unmarried and females, and those living in the Northern region (Rajshahi and Mymensingh division) and dwelling in the rural areas, suffered from worse mental health (accounted for 5%-23% of the variances in the mental health outcome scores). Modifiable factors accounted for an additional 10%-25% of the variances in the same outcome variables. Adults with higher mindfulness and optimism, living in the country's Southern region (Chattogram division) and those who took both vaccine doses and had no history of mental illness reported better mental health.
CONCLUSION: Anxiety, depression, and stress remained high in Bangladeshi adults after one year of the pandemic. The community-based interventions should aim to increase the mindfulness and optimism levels among the sufferers. More accelerated vaccination programs across the country could protect people from suffering from overall mental distress.
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 exploratory phenomenology qualitative study was conducted whereby subjects were purposively selected based on previous experience in observing Ramadan fasting. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted, and study data were analyzed thematically and iteratively coded using a constant comparison method.
RESULTS: Four major themes emerged from the data, namely: (i) "fasting experiences", (ii) "perceived side effects of fasting", (iii) "health-seeking behavior" and, (iv) "education and awareness needs". Patients expressed the significance of Ramadan fasting as well as the perceived impact of fasting on their health. Additionally, there is lack of health-seeking behaviour observed among patients thus, raising needs for awareness and education related to Ramadan fasting.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings of this study shed light on patients' experiences and perceptions regarding Ramadan fasting which warrants the needs for an effective communication between patients and health care practitioners through a structured-Ramadan specific education program.
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.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The scoping review will be conducted based on the methodology developed by Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review methodology, and Levac et al 's methodological enhancement. An experienced information specialist (HM) searched the following databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature. The search terms were both keywords in the title and/or abstract and subject headings (eg, MeSH, EMTREE) as appropriate. Search results were downloaded, imported and stored into a 'Refworks' folder specifically created for reference management. The preliminary search was conducted between 7 December 2017 and 14 December 2017. Quantitative methods using content analysis will be used to categorise study findings on factors associated with trust between patients, clients and healthcare providers. The collection of studies will be also examined for heterogeneity. Qualitative analysis on peer reviewed articles of qualitative interviews and focus group discussion will be conducted; it allows clear identification of themes arising from the data, facilitating prioritisation, higher order abstraction and theory development. A consultation exercise with stakeholders may be incorporated as a knowledge translation component of the scoping study methodology.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval will be obtained for the research project from the Institutional Review Board. The International Medical University will use the findings of this scoping review research to improve the understanding of trust in healthcare, in its endeavour to improve health services delivery in its healthcare clinics and hospitals, and in its teaching and learning curriculum. The findings will also help faculty make evidence based decisions to focus resources and research as well as help to advance the science in this area. Dissemination of the results of the scoping review will be made through peer-reviewed publications, research reports and presentations at conferences and seminars.
OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study was to explore the efficacy of internet-based mindfulness interventions on the physical symptoms of people living with cancer, where physical symptoms are defined as distressing somatic experiences (eg fatigue, insomnia, and pain) regardless of the underlying cause. The secondary aim was to investigate interventions for the quality of life (QoL).
METHODS: This study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Relevant articles were systematically searched using electronic databases, namely Scopus, Medline through PubMed, Cumulated Index in Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) through EBSCOhost, and Cochrane Central Database. Randomized controlled and pilot trials involving adults and/or older adults with cancer and using remote-based mindfulness interventions compared to usual care were included. The quality of the trials included in this study was assessed using the revised Cochrane risk of bias, version 2.0. This study estimated the standardized mean difference (SMD) and mean difference (MD) with 95% CI. The I2 test was used to identify potential causes of heterogeneity. Publication bias was assessed using contour-enhanced funnel plots and the Egger linear regression test to reveal a small study effect.
RESULTS: The initial search yielded 1985 records, of which 13 studies were ultimately included. After treatment, remote-based mindfulness significantly reduced fatigue (SMD -0.94; 95% CI: -1.56 to -0.33; P=.002), sleep disturbance (SMD -0.36; 95% CI: -0.60 to -0.12; P=.004), and improved physical function (SMD .25; 95% CI: 0.09 to 0.41; P=.002) compared to that observed before treatment. However, compared with usual care, remote-based mindfulness showed a statistically significant reduction only in sleep disturbance (SMD: -0.37; 95% CI: -0.58 to -0.16; P=.0006) after treatment. Moreover, remote-based mindfulness was not statistically significant in reducing pain both within and between groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Remote-based mindfulness shows promise in reducing sleep disturbances; however, its impact on fatigue, pain, and physical function may be limited.