Mean Quality Score Research Articles

Mobile Applications for Hemodialysis: Evaluation Using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS).

Mobile applications (apps) and social media could be useful in improving the condition of patients on hemodialysis. Despite the rise of mobile health apps in hemodialysis management, no research has evaluated the quality of these apps with reliable tools. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of apps designed for the self-care of patients on hemodialysis. A review of Google Play and App Store mobile platforms was carried out to evaluate the mobile apps used for hemodialysis. These apps were assessed using the mobile application rating scale (MARS), which includes criteria for overall quality, engagement, functionality, aesthetics, and information. Search keywords included "Dialysis," "Kidney Dialysis," "Hemodialysis," "Haemodialysis," and "Peritoneal Dialysis." Eligibility criteria included being related to dialysis, being designed specifically for patients, being free, being available in English, and being developed for Android and iOS platforms. The included apps were independently evaluated and rated by two reviewers using MARS. Initially, 177 apps were identified, and after the screening and review processes, six apps were selected for qualitative evaluation. The overall scores on MARS varied from 2.33 to 3.67. The "KidneyPal: Kidney Disease Mgmt" app received the highest scores in most MARS items. Moreover, the maximum app quality mean score belonged to "KidneyPal: Kidney Disease Mgmt" (4.26 out of 5). The findings showed a limited number of apps available for hemodialysis, the majority of which were of low quality. The reviewed apps performed well in functionality but obtained lower scores in terms of app subjective quality. Future studies should focus on developing and testing mobile apps using assessment tools, such as MARS, as well as evaluating their impact on health behaviors and outcomes.

Assessment of occupational hazards in midwifery setting and impact of occupational stress and job satisfaction on midwives’ quality of work-life: multicenter study in IRAN

BackgroundMidwifery is one of the key professions in maintaining community health and is important in providing maternal and child healthcare. As a high-risk profession, it involves numerous occupational hazards and challenges that can affect the quality of work life. This study investigated the occupational hazards and factors related to midwives’ quality of work life.MethodThis cross-sectional study was conducted in 2023 in Iran, involving midwives working in hospitals (teaching and non-teaching) and health centers. Sampling was done in multiple stages in two large cities, Tabriz and Ahvaz. All midwifery staff meeting the inclusion criteria participated in the study. Data were collected using demographic and social information, occupational stress, work-related quality of life, Minnesota job satisfaction, and occupational hazards questionnaires. The analysis was performed using an independent t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation, and linear regression test by SPSS version 24. P-values < 0.05 were considered significant.ResultsFinally, the information of 580 participants was analyzed. The mean (± SD) age was 39.21 (± 9.09), with 83% of participants holding a bachelor’s degree in midwifery, and the majority were hospital employees. The mean (± SD) occupational hazard score was 3.76 (± 0.87), with ergonomic and biological hazards having the highest mean scores, 4.22 and 4.10, respectively, making them the most significant occupational hazards. The preliminary results showed that the mean scores for job stress, job satisfaction, and quality of work life were 232.35 (high), 41.09 (moderate), and 95.34, respectively. In the regression model, job satisfaction, age, and work experience were significantly associated with quality of work life, with job satisfaction having the strongest influence (β = 0.376, P < 0.0013). As job satisfaction increased, the quality of work life also improved. However, work experience had a negative impact, indicating that as work experience increased, the quality of work life decreased (β=-0.296, P < 0.001).ConclusionRegular assessment of working conditions and the quality of work life is essential, and special attention should be paid to reducing occupational hazards. Given the high levels of job stress and dissatisfaction, there is a need for planning and policy-making to provide psychological support to manage stress, increase professional support, optimize the work environment, and manage physical demands.

Challenge Faced by Horticulturists in Orange Cultivation with Special Reference to Madhya Pradesh, India

The study was conducted in Madhya Pradesh to examine the factors limiting citrus production and challenges faced by orange growers in the Agar Malwa and Pandhurna districts. A total of 183 respondents were selected using a proportional stratified sampling approach. The findings revealed several critical challenges affecting citrus farmers, with pest and disease outbreaks being the most significant constraint, impacting yield and fruit quality (mean score 4.26). Second major challenge was inadequate subsidies (mean score 4.19), followed by climate change effects, including temperature fluctuations, frosts, and irregular rainfall (mean scores 3.96 and 3.89, respectively). Other concerns included the high cost and unavailability of disease-free rootstock, a shortage of trained labor, market fluctuations, and post-harvest losses. These issues highlight the need for targeted policy, extension and research interventions to enhance pest and disease management, improve access to disease-free rootstock. Additionally, there is a need for market stabilization mechanisms and strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change on citrus farming.

Health literacy and its relationship with mental health and quality of life in freshmen students

IntroductionHealth literacy is an effective indicator of people’s health level. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate health literacy and its relationship with mental health and quality of life in first-year medical sciences students.Methods and materialsThe cross-sectional study was conducted on freshmen- students of Babol University of Medical Sciences, Iran. 311 students were selected using a multi-stage sampling method. Data was collected by 4 questionnaires including demographic, health literacy questionnaire, General health questionnaire (GHQ-12), and quality of life (short form) (SF-12). Analysis of the data was done using SPSS version 22.ResultsThe subjects were 45.5% female and 54.5% male. Almost 60% had adequate/excellent health literacy. A significant relationship between health literacy and the variables of gender and place of residence was found. The results indicated that health literacy, age, educational level, and residential place were predictors of students’ mental health. The regression test results showed that the variables of health literacy, age, educational program, and residential place were predictors of students’ mental health. The students’ mean score of quality of life was 68.81 ± 16.56. The regression test indicated that health literacy, educational level, and residential place were predictors of students’ quality of life.ConclusionThis study emphasizes the central role of health literacy in shaping the mental health and quality of life of freshmen students.

Quality of Life of Rural People and Associated Socio-Demographic Factors: A Cross Sectional Study in Noakhali, Bangladesh

Background: A large number of people in Bangladesh are live in rural areas, these areas considered difficult to get modern facilities so the facilities are very much desired object of them. Though Bangladesh is now a developing country but the rural people of this country still income less than 1 US dollar per day (World Bank 2006). More than 170 million people of Bangladesh crowded in the area of 1, 47,570 square km, 1.41% annual growing rate of population with 85% of them draws the economic sustenance directly or indirectly from agriculture. Objective: The objective of this study was to find out the factors associated with the quality of life among rural people. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Noakhali district. The study sample was 384 adults selected by convenient sampling technique. Results: The study revealed that, the mean age was 40.91 and the mean score of quality of life was 70.54. From the linear regression model, it has been found that those who have completed SSC, HSC, graduation, post-graduation has higher scores as compared to illiterate person (β = 5.80, CI 2.988-8.618, p-value = &lt;0.001), (β = 7.58, CI 5.257-9.917, p-value = &lt;0.001), (β = 11.90, CI 6.997-16.803, p-value = &lt;0.001), (β = 15.82, CI 12.932-18.710, p-value = &lt;0.001). Conclusion: The mean score was 70.54 (± 10.079) for quality of life among rural people of Noakhali district. Being educated were positively associated with quality-of-life scores.

Ultrafast MRI for Pediatric Brain Assessment in Routine Clinical Practice.

To assess the feasibility of ultrafast brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in pediatric patients. We retrospectively reviewed 194 pediatric patients aged 0 to 19 years (median 10.2 years) who underwent both ultrafast and conventional brain MRI between May 2019 and August 2020. Ultrafast MRI sequences included T1 and T2-weighted images (T1WI and T2WI), fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), T2*-weighted image (T2*WI), and diffusion-weighted image (DWI). Qualitative image quality and lesion evaluations were conducted on 5-point Likert scales by two blinded radiologists, with quantitative assessment of lesion count and size on T1WI, T2WI, and FLAIR sequences for each protocol. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) analyses were used for comparison. The total scan times for equivalent image contrasts were 1 minute 44 seconds for ultrafast MRI and 15 minutes 30 seconds for conventional MRI. Overall, image quality was lower in ultrafast MRI than in conventional MRI, with mean quality scores ranging from 2.0 to 4.8 for ultrafast MRI and 4.8 to 5.0 for conventional MRI across sequences (P < 0.001 for T1WI, T2WI, FLAIR, and T2*WI for both readers; P = 0.018 [reader 1] and 0.031 [reader 2] for DWI). Lesion detection rates on ultrafast MRI relative to conventional MRI were as follows: T1WI, 97.1%; T2WI, 99.6%; FLAIR, 92.9%; T2*WI, 74.1%; and DWI, 100%. The ICC (95% confidence interval) for lesion size measurements between ultrafast and conventional MRI was as follows: T1WI, 0.998 (0.996-0.999); T2WI, 0.998 (0.997-0.999); and FLAIR, 0.99 (0.985-0.994). Ultrafast MRI significantly reduces scan time and provides acceptable results, albeit with slightly lower image quality than conventional MRI, for evaluating intracranial abnormalities in pediatric patients.

Impact of Exercise on Pain Management in Fibromyalgia Patients

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a structured exercise program on pain management, sleep quality, fatigue and overall daily functioning in women with fibromyalgia. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was employed, with 100 women with fibromyalgia diagnosed according to the 2010 American College of Rheumatology criteria. All of the participants undergone 12-week home-based exercise program. Pre and post-exercise program, sleep quality, pain status, fatigue and overall quality were evaluated. Results: Total of 100 women were studied with mean age of 42.7 ± 5.8 years. More than half of participants were employed (55%). Before undergoing 12 weeks home based exercise program, mean score for sleep quality, pain, fatigue and overall quality of life was 6.8 ± 1.1, 7.6 ± 1.0, 7.4 ± 0.9 and 4.2 ±1.5 respectively. After 12 weeks of attending program there was significant reduction in average score of sleep quality (4.1 (1.3)), pain (5.4 (1.1), fatigue (4.9 (1.2) whereas increase was seen in mean score of overall quality of life (6.7 (1.4)). Conclusion: The findings showed that a structured exercise program can improve pain relief, sleep quality, muscle strength, and functional ability in women with fibromyalgia and that such a program should be incorporated into routine care for the condition.

The Effects of Multimodal Exercise Program on Functional Capacity and Quality of Life in Elderly Patients with Parkinson's Disease

Introduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a degenerative neurological illness characterized by various motor and non-motor symptoms that can lead to varying degrees of functional impairment. This study aims to investigate the effects of a multimodal exercise program (MEP) on functional capacity and quality of life in elderly patients with PD. Methods: Thirty elderly patients with PD were randomly divided into two equal groups of MEP and control, with no significant differences in age, weight, and height. The variables of Functional Factors and Quality of Life were assessed in pre- and post-tests. MEP was performed five days a week for twelve weeks. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA at a significance level of p &lt; 0.05. Results: The study observed significant differences in quality of life, static balance, dynamic balance, wrist strength, and walking performance between the two groups of PD patients (p &lt;0.001). The mean scores of quality of life, static balance, dynamic balance, and wrist strength in the MEP group were significantly higher compared to the control group (p &lt;0.001). Additionally, after the intervention, the walking speed in the MEP group showed a significant improvement, with a lower completion time compared to the control group (p &lt;0.001). Conclusion: MEP can be used as a useful and effective method to improve quality of life, static balance, dynamic balance, wrist strength and walking performance of PD patients. Therefore, MEP (resistance, aerobic, and balance) is recommended as the most effective complementary therapeutic strategy for PD.

The analysis of generative adversarial network in sports education based on deep learning

The importance of mental health is increasingly emphasized in modern society. The assessment of mental health qualities among college and university students as the future workforce holds significant significance. Therefore, this study, aiming to streamline the process of writing quality evaluations and enhance the fairness of assessment comments, explores the use of Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) technology in deep learning to evaluate the mental health qualities of college and university students through the unique avenue of sports. Firstly, GAN and Sequence Generative Adversarial Network (SeqGAN) models are introduced. Secondly, GAN is employed to construct a model for generating evaluation texts, encompassing the construction of a generator and discriminator, along with the introduction of a reward function. Finally, the constructed model is utilized to train on evaluation texts related to the mental health qualities of college and university students engaged in sports, validating the effectiveness of the model. The results indicate: (1) The pre-training of the generator in the constructed text generation model stabilizes after the 10th epoch. In contrast, the pre-training of the discriminator gradually stabilizes after the 35th epoch, demonstrating overall good training effectiveness. (2) When the generator’s update speed surpasses that of the discriminator, the model’s loss does not converge. However, with a reduction in the ratio of rounds between the two, there is a noticeable improvement in the convergence of the model. (3) The mean score of adaptability quality is the highest among the four indicators, suggesting a strong correlation between comment generation and adaptability quality. The results validate the effectiveness of the proposed text generation model in semantic control. This study aims to advance the level of mental health education among college and university students in the sports domain, providing theoretical references for enhancing the effectiveness of quality education assessments in other subjects as well.

Patient satisfaction with synchronous telehealth care after strabismus surgery

BackgroundTo measure patient satisfaction with synchronous telehealth care, we administered the Telemedicine Satisfaction Questionnaire (TSQ) to assess the quality of care provided, its similarity to face-to-face meetings, and patients’ perception of the interaction. MethodsThe Portuguese version of the TSQ was administered during 2022 to patients who received postoperative synchronous telehealth care after strabismus surgery in Curitiba, Brazil, from 2020 to 2022. The interval between the questionnaire application and teleconsultation ranged from 2 to 22 months after the telehealth encounter. All patients received synchronous telehealth care from the same surgeon (LMH) between postoperative days 7 and 10 and attended an in-person consultation on postoperative day 30 6 months after surgery, and yearly thereafter. ResultsWe analyzed the data for 53 patients, of whom 26 (49%) were male and 28 (53%) were <18 years of age. Synchronous telehealth care was considered an excellent experience, with an overall average TSQ rating of 4.3 on a scale of 1-5. The mean score for quality of care provided was 4.1; for similarity of care to face-to-face meetings, 4.5; and for patients’ perception of the interaction, 4.5. ConclusionsRatings of the synchronous telehealth care were strongly associated with the 30-day postoperative evaluation, and patient perceptions of the quality of care in the telehealth encounter were positive.

A CORRELATIONAL STUDY TO ASSESS SLEEP QUALITY AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG NURSING STUDENTS IN A SELECTED COLLEGE OF NURSING, JALANDHAR, PUNJAB

A correlation study was undertaken to assess the relationship between Sleep Quality and Academic Performanceamong nursing students in selected collages of Nursing, Jalandhar, Punjab. Objectives 1. To assess the quality of sleep among nursing students. 2. To evaluate the academic performance of nursing students. 3. To determine the relationship between quality of sleep and academic performance among nursing students. 4. To find out the association between quality of sleep among nursing students and their selected socio-demographic variables. Methodology:A quantitative research approach with Correlational research design was used in this study. Research setting was M.H.R DAV Institute of Nursing Jalandhar, Punjab. Total 60 samples were selected with Non probability purposive sampling technique. Verbal consent taken from the students who were currently enrolled in a nursing programme (students of B.Sc. Nursing) in the nursing college and who have passed the previous academic session successfully. Self-structured sleep quality scale was used to assess sleep quality among nursing students. Result and Conclusion: The mean score of sleep quality and academic performance was 54.70 with mean percentage of 68.30% and standard deviation of +7.64. The maximum frequency percentage of academic performance among nursing students was 25 with mean percentage 41.70%. Hence, the correlation was found to be statistically non-significant. Hence, it can be said that there is no relation between sleep quality and academic performance. Recommendation: The study can be done on large sample to validate and generalized its findings. It can be conducted to assess the sleep quality and its influence on academic performance among Nursing Students.

A CORRELATIONAL STUDY TO ASSESS SLEEP QUALITY AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG NURSING STUDENTS IN A SELECTED COLLEGE OF NURSING, JALANDHAR, PUNJAB

A correlation study was undertaken to assess the relationship between Sleep Quality and Academic Performance among nursing students in selected collages of Nursing, Jalandhar, Punjab. Objectives 1. To assess the quality of sleep amongnursing students. 2. To evaluate the academic performance of the nursing students. 3. To ascertain how nursing students academic performance and sleep quality relate to one another. 4. To determine the relationship between nursing students chosen sociodemographic factors and their sleep quality. Methodology: A quantitative research approach with Correlational research design was used in this study. Research setting was M.H.R DAV Institute of Nursing Jalandhar, Punjab. Total 60 samples were selected with Non probability purposive sampling technique. Verbal consent taken from the students who were currently enrolled in a nursing programme (students of B.Sc. Nursing) in the nursing college and who have passed the previous academic session successfully. Self-structured sleep quality scale was used to assess sleep quality among nursing students. Result and Conclusion: The mean score of sleep quality and academic performance was 54.70 with mean percentage of 68.30% and standard deviation of +7.64. The maximum frequency percentage of academic performance among nursing students was 25 with mean percentage 41.70%. Hence, the correlation was found to be statistically non-significant. Hence, it can be said that there is no relation between sleep quality and academic performance. Recommendation: The study can be done on large sample to validate and generalized its findings. It can be conducted to assess the sleep quality and its influence on academic performance among Nursing Students.

Quality of life and its related predictors among acute coronary syndrome patients with coronary stents in Ho Chi Minh City, 2022

The health-related quality of life (HRQOL) assessment after coronary stents insertion to issue a very crucial tool for evaluating outcomes. Therefore, we investigated the associations between healthy affect, resilience to improve their health status and the quality of life of patient is improving. A cross-sectional design involving patients with having acute coronary syndrome (ACS) after coronary stents insertion (CSI) and being treated in the hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. The patients (N =210) who came to Tam Duc Heart Hospital for pre- examination during treatment were asked to answer questionnaires which included SF-36 and resilience-25. The t-test and ANOVA was applied to identify the factors related to quality of life and resilience. Result showed the mean score of resilience is 70.2 ± 8.1. The score of physical components summary (PCS) was range from 32.37 to 61.6 and the mean score was 51.0 ± 8.7. For the mental component summary (MCS) was range from 39.6 to 60.0 with the mean score was 51.0±5.7. Factors including age, gender, marital status, working status, education, duration after stent treatment, experience of hospitalization for stent treatment, number of stents in patients and regularly take medication were associated with patients’ quality of life. The mean score of quality of life was significantly different between patients’ resilience level (p &lt; 0.05).

Health-related quality of life and associated factors in breast cancer patients in Abidjan (Ivory Coast)

ObjectiveThe main objective of this study was to assess health-related quality of life, and to investigate associated factors in breast cancer patients living in Ivory Coast. MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study that took place from August 1, 2022 to October 31, 2022 in the Medical Oncology Department of the Treichville University Hospital. Seventy-six breast cancer patients participated in the study. Quality of life was assessed using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 EORTC questionnaires. ResultsThe mean score for overall quality of life was 69.3 ± 21.9. Among the functional scales, emotional functioning, social functioning, sexual functioning, and sexual pleasure were the most affected, with 21.1 respectively; 23.7; 78.9, and 86.8 % of patients who had a bad score. Nausea/vomiting, loss of appetite, and hair loss are the symptoms that most affected the QoL of our patients with respectively 19.7; 21.1, and 52, % of patients who had a bad score. Financial difficulties also negatively affected the QoL of our patients (55.3 % had a poor score). The factors significantly associated with QoL deterioration were the metastatic stage, the presence of anemia, and the triple-negative immunohistochemical subtype. ConclusionThe overall quality of life of our patients was good. The psychosocial factors that were most affected in our patients were emotional functioning, social functioning, sexual functioning, and financial difficulties. The physical factors that most negatively affected the QoL of our patients were nausea/vomiting, loss of appetite and hair loss, presence of anemia, metastatic stage, and triple negative immunohistochemical type.

The Application of Trauma-Informed Care to Health Care for Military-Connected Individuals.

Military families face unique stressors beyond civilian life, such as deployments, frequent relocations, and the potential for combat, all of which can significantly impact well-being. A trauma-informed care (TIC) approach to military medicine is paramount; however, a critical gap exists, with no published curricula to guide practitioners in employing TIC in the care of military-connected individuals. We delivered a 50-minute interactive and virtual session to second-year medical students at the Uniformed Services University (USU) that reviewed the neurobiology of adversity and the relevance of TIC in caring for military-connected populations. Participants completed a 14-question pre- and posttest on perceived knowledge, attitudes, practice, and confidence, as well as posttest questions evaluating session quality. The USU Institutional Review Board approved this evaluation. One hundred sixty medical students participated in the session, with 78 matched pre- and posttest responses. We observed a statistically significant pre-post improvement (p ≤ .05) in all category scores, with the largest changes in knowledge (1.33) and confidence (1.33). On a 5-point Likert scale, with 5 being best, mean scores for overall quality of the session and relevance of the material to participants' learning and future practice were 3.95 and 4.20, respectively. By equipping health care providers with knowledge and confidence to apply TIC in military medicine, we can improve the well-being of service members and their families across both military and civilian health care settings. Broader implementation of this program has potential to improve patient outcomes and overall health care delivery for this population.

The Effect of Fordyce Happiness Training on Life Expectancy and Quality of Life in Hemodialysis Patients: An Intervention Study in Yazd, Iran

Background: Dialysis patients frequently experience issues such as fear, reduced social activity, and hopelessness due to lifestyle changes and treatment requirements. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the effect of Fordyce happiness training on quality of life and life expectancy in hemodialysis patients. Methods: This quasi-experimental intervention study involved 48 hemodialysis patients who were referred to Shahid Rahnemoun Hospital in Yazd, Iran, and selected through simple random sampling. Data collection tools included the Quality-of-Life Questionnaire for Kidney Patients (KDQOL-36) and the Miller Life Examination Questionnaire. Patients participated in ten 60-minute training sessions, held twice weekly. Data were collected at baseline and one month after the intervention and analyzed using SPSS 21 software. Results: Following Fordyce's happiness training, levels of potassium (K), creatinine (Cr), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) in patients significantly decreased. Before the intervention, the mean scores for quality of life and life expectancy in dialysis patients were 51.9 ±28.27 and 169.75 ±11.95, respectively, which increased to 64.66 ±27.17 and 179.95 ±9.37 after the intervention. Paired t-test results indicated that Fordyce happiness training had a statistically significant positive effect on patients' quality of life (P &lt; 0.05) and life expectancy (P &lt; 0.05). Conclusions: The Fordyce happiness training program can improve quality of life and life expectancy in dialysis patients. In other words, happiness training may serve as a preventive strategy against mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, and life dissatisfaction in dialysis patients.

Sexual health counseling improves the sexual satisfaction of breast cancer survivors: a randomized controlled trial.

Breast cancer and its treatments can cause sexual problems both physically and psychologically by the changes it brings. This study aimed to investigate the effect of sexual health counseling based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on the sexual satisfaction of women with chemotherapy-induced menopause (CIM) in breast cancer survivors. Seventy women with CIM were randomly divided into two intervention (N = 34) and control (N = 36) groups. The intervention group attended eight sessions of 90-min sexual health counseling based on ACT. The control group received an educational booklet. The Sexual Satisfaction Scale for Women(SSS-W), the Sexual Quality of Life-Female questionnaire(SQOL-F), and the Menopause Rating Scale(MRS) were used to collect data before, after, and 1month after the intervention in both groups. The mean score of sexual satisfaction (F = 45.67, P < 0.001) and sexual quality of life (F = 33.39, P < 0.001) were significantly higher after the intervention and follow-up than before intervention in the intervention group. Also, the mean score of menopausal symptoms was significantly lower after the intervention and follow-up than before intervention in the intervention group (F = 11.80, P < 0.001). However, the mean score of sexual satisfaction (F = 0.02, P = 0.98), sexual quality of life (F = 0.05, P = 0.94), and menopausal symptoms (F = 0.08, P = 0.92) did not show significant differences before, after, and 1month after the intervention in the control group. Therefore, sexual health counseling based on ACT seems to have salutary effect on sexual satisfaction, sexual quality of life, and menopausal symptoms of women with breast cancer who experience CIM. This randomized control trial has been approved by Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials, IRCT20230105057055N1 at 2023-01-29.

Written discharge instruction evaluation for mild traumatic brain injury from emergency departments Evaluating written discharge instructions from emergency departments for mild traumatic brain injury

Aim of studyThis study aimed to evaluate the completeness and quality of information in written discharge instructions for patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) discharged from the emergency department (ED). MethodsCopies of written discharge instructions provided to patients with mTBI from academic EDs in South Korea were collected in May 2023. We assessed the completeness of the content based on the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines, which categorize discharge instructions into four parts: general advice, emergencies, common post-concussion symptoms and signs, and advice for recovery, with one point for each item. The quality of information was evaluated using DISCERN, a validated 16-item questionnaire assessing reliability (eight questions), quality of information (seven questions), and overall quality (one question) on a 5-point Likert scale. Completeness and quality of discharge information were analyzed by ED level and annual ED visits as proxies for hospital resources. ResultsTwenty-two (44%) written discharge instructions were collected from the 55 EDs contacted, with a mean (standard deviation) content completeness score of 10.1 (2.7) out of a maximum of 30. The mean scores for each section were as follows: general advice, 0.1 (0.23) out of 2; emergencies, 6.0 (1.39) out of 10; common post-concussion symptoms and signs, 0.4 (0.9) out of 8; and advice for recovery, 3.2 (1.9) out of 10. Regarding the quality of information, the mean reliability score was 3.5 (0.3), and the mean information quality score was 1.8 (0.7), with both assessed on a scale from 1 ("very poor") to 5 ("excellent"). Significant differences were found in content completeness for emergency features and in the general scores for quality of information between different ED levels (p = 0.04 and p = 0.01, respectively). However, no significant differences were observed by the number of annual ED visits. ConclusionThe completeness and quality of written discharge instructions for mTBI patients in South Korean EDs were low and varied across hospitals, suggesting a potential association to hospital resources.

The Effect of Mother's Breastsleeping Behavior on Attachment and Postpartum Sleep Quality.

Nowadays, the increasing importance of mother-infant contact, the significant impact of mother and baby's sleep quality, and the positive effects on breastfeeding are factors that make breastfeeding sleep important. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of mothers' breastsleeping behavior on attachment and postpartum sleep quality. This study is cross-sectional. The research was conducted with 202 mothers. The data of the study were collected using a descriptive information form, the Maternal Attachment Scale (MAS), and the Postpartum Sleep Quality Scale (PSQS). Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 22.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.) for Windows 22.0 software. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of the MAS score and PSQS score of mothers who breastsleep and mothers who did not. No statistically significant difference was found when the mothers' socio-demographic characteristics, breastsleeping-related characteristics, maternal attachment, and sleep quality mean scores were compared (P > 0.05). The literature is very limited in assessing the effects of breastsleeping on mothers' sleep quality and attachment. This study found that breastsleeping did not affect maternal sleep quality and attachment.

Health-related Quality of Life among Patients with Type II Diabetes Mellitus

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that causes considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide, resulting in an impaired quality of life in affected people. Aim: To assess health-related quality of life among patients with type II diabetes mellitus and its associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was conducted from January to July 2022 at Ribat University Hospital in Khartoum and Abdallah Khalil Diabetic Centre in Omdurman. A total of 400 patients with type II diabetes who visited the referred clinics were enrolled in the study. Data was collected by face-to-face interview using the revised Diabetes Quality of Life instrument to assess the health-related quality of life. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 23.0 and summarized using tables and charts. The association between health-related quality of life and sociodemographic characteristics, clinical factors and lifestyle factors was obtained using chi-square test. Results: The mean score for overall health-related quality of life was 29.3 ± 11.5 while each domain of “satisfaction”, “impact” and “worry” had mean scores of 13.7 ± 4.9, 8.5 ± 4.4 and 7.1 ± 3.7, respectively. Since the scores obtained were only approximately half of the possible range of scores for quality of life, the overall health-related quality of life is considered to be moderate. This study also revealed that 40% of the participants have poor health-related quality of life. The relationship between HbA1c level &amp; health-related quality of life was statistically significant (P value = 0.044) in which high glycosylated hemoglobin levels was associated with poor quality of life. Gender, age, education level, marital status, duration of diabetes and the presence of comorbidities and complications had statistically significant association with health-related quality of life. Conclusion: This study demonstrates a moderate overall health-related quality of life among patients with T2DM. Besides, it also demonstrates a low quality of life among 40% of patients with T2D, suggesting that quality of life should be included in any modality used for treating diabetic patients.