No abstract available.
Health Status Indicators* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVETo further articulate the conceptual framework of sub-health by way of literature review.

METHODSPublished papers and relevant literature about sub-health were collected, the representative publishing about theoretical exploration and practical surveys were focused for analyzing and assessing the category of sub-health, investigative objects, assessing tools, conceptual framework, diagnostic criteria and its operability, foundation support, etc.

RESULTSSub-health conditions were categorized into three kinds in most documents, namely, the somatic, the mental and the social adaptative sub-health, and the relevant symptoms were classified into three levels. However, contents regarding the homogeneous issues, such as meaning and definition of sub-health, its diagnostic criteria and operability, in different documents were discrepant.

CONCLUSIONDiscrepancy exists between the theoretical and practical studies of sub-health. And detailed description is needed to articulate the problems respectively on specific and non-specific sub-health. The perspicuity of conceptual framework is the basis of sub-health researches. The authors recommended that to form the framework the four-level hierarchic structure should be adopted; in developing the assessing tool for sub-health diagnosis, besides the basic assessment on concrete conditions, the differential evaluation on the belonging of overall manifestations, subjective complain or objective symptom, should also be paid attention to.

Viewing from the concept of health and several basic characteristics of health outlook of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), assimilating the thinking and procedure of modern scientific research concerning operationalization, in this paper, the TCM concept of health and its measurement operationalization as well as their relevant things were expounded. And the frame, related domain, indexes and items of health assessment scale based upon TCM theory were tried to be established using opertionalization method.
Health ; Health Status Indicators ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

OBJECTIVETo assess the reliability and validity of the Sub-health Measurement Scale Version 1.0 (SHMS V1.0).

METHODSA spot trial sampling of 2000 individuals was conducted to study the test-retest reliability, Cronbach alpha coefficient, split-half reliability, contract validity, content validity and criterion-related validity of SHMS V1.0.

RESULTSThe spot trial results indicated a test-retest reliability of SHMS V1.0 of 0.644 (P<0.001) with a Cronbach α coefficient of 0.917 and a split-half reliability of 0.831. The results showed a close correlation between each item of SHMS V1.0 and its dimension, but a low correlation between a particular item and other dimensions. The dimension score was significantly correlated to its subscale scores, but not to other subscale scores. The results of factor analysis matched the theoretical conception of SHMS V1.0. The correlation coefficient between SHMS V1.0 and SF-36 was 0.664 (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONSHMS V1.0 has a good reliability and validity, and is a reliable and valid measurement scale for sub-health evaluation.

Assessment of mental health service refers to the process of using the indicator system and methods to reflect the quality or performance of mental health. Mental health evaluation can effectively promote the development of mental health system and service quality. Scientific and comprehensive indicator system is key to assessment. After long-term practice and exploration, there have been many successful assessment schemes in foreign countries, which may be used in establishing the assessment system and screening indicators in China.
China ; Health Status Indicators ; Humans ; Mental Disorders ; rehabilitation ; Mental Health Services ; standards ; Quality Indicators, Health Care ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Health Risk Appraisal(HRA) is usually defined as a process by which we expect of individual's chances of death or acquiring specific diseases within a defined period of time. The concept of worksite as an area of health maintenance and promotion is newly developing. Our movement for health promotion of employees has been increasingly known in the worksite. The aim of this study is to develop health risk appraisal tools about health promotion at the worksite for employees. We performed this study by two steps: one step was to develop a HRA questionnaire of worksites in Korea, another was to evaluate the reliability of the questionnaire. For developing HRA questionnaire, we reviewed scientific examples at first, and then weighted the score by delphi. To evaluate the reliability of developed questionnaire, we carried out survey by test-retest method. A total of 131 employees completed HRA questionnaire on two times. The results are as follows. The total score of health risk in unhealthy workers was higher than that of healthy workers. The range of test-retest reliability of responses to the questionnaire was 0.57-0.94. Therefore it seems that this questionnaire was very suitable to assess the health behavior of workers. In conclusion, the developed HRA questionnaire can be used as a tool for evaluating health behavior and for providing health counseling materials.
Counseling ; Health Behavior ; Health Promotion ; Health Status Indicators* ; Korea ; Questionnaires ; Workplace*

The KIDSCREEN-52 quality-of-life (KIDSCREEN-52-HRQOL) is a relevant, worldwide tool used for assessing the health-related quality of life in children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to define measurement properties of the Korean version of the KIDSCREEN-52 HRQOL. The original questionnaire was translated following international translation guidelines. Analysis regarding psychometric properties showed that the Cronbach-alpha ranged from 0.77 to 0.95. The correlation coefficient between the PedQL and KIDSCREEN-52 dimensions were high for the assessments of similar constructs. Therefore, the Korean version of the KIDSCREEN-52 was found to be suitable for use in Korean adolescents.
Adolescent ; Female ; Health Status ; Health Status Indicators ; *Health Surveys ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Psychometrics ; *Quality of Life ; Questionnaires ; Reproducibility of Results ; *Research Design

PURPOSE: This study examined association of job stress with health-promoting behaviors and objective health status in 129 clinical nurses working at a university hospital. METHODS: A cross-sectional and descriptive design was used. Job stress and health behaviors were measured with Korean Occupational Stress Scale and Heath Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II, respectively. Health status measured with afternoon plasma cortisol, C-peptide, and lipid profiles. RESULTS: The level of job stress among clinical nurses was moderate with 51.41 on average. The mean for health-promoting behavior in the low stress group was significantly higher than that in the high or moderate stress groups (p<.001). The proportions of nurses with high C-peptide and cortisol levels, or low high-density lipoprotein levels, ranged from 14.0% to 35.7%. In particular, the percentage of nurses with high C-peptide levels was significantly higher in moderate and high stress groups than in the low stress group (24.1% versus 11.6%, p<.05). CONCLUSION: The study findings affirmed the associations of job stress with health-promoting behaviors as well as selected health status indicators such as C-peptide in clinical nurses. Job stress management intervention can help clinical nurses to improve their health-promoting behaviors and health status.
C-Peptide ; Health Behavior ; Health Status Indicators ; Hydrocortisone ; Life Style ; Lipoproteins ; Plasma

With improvements in mortality in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the functional status of these patients, assessed using health-related quality of life (HRQoL) instruments, is increasingly being recognised as an important outcome measure in clinical research. Domains of HRQoL of particular importance to SLE patients include fatigue, ability to work, good health, independence, social and family life, learned helplessness (reflecting the unpredictability of lupus), pain and the home environment. The SF-36 currently appears to be the best available generic instrument for the assessment of HRQoL in SLE, and is likely to be complemented by several newly-developed disease-specific HRQoL instruments. It has been shown that SLE patients have poorer functional status than the general population, and that specific manifestations of SLE (disease activity, previous renal involvement and fibromyalgia) may influence HRQoL. HRQoL in SLE patients has been improved by (1) psycho-educational interventions including telephone counselling, a self-help course, group psychotherapy; (2) therapies including Riquent, belimumab, mycophenolate mofetil, dehydroepiandrosterone, oestrogen therapy and a cholesterol- lowering diet. Additional research is needed to identify strategies which can improve HRQoL in SLE patients.
Health Status Indicators ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; psychology ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Quality of Life ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of ambient air pollution on human health and the subsequent disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost in Shanghai.

METHODSWe used epidemiology-based exposure-response functions to calculate the attributable number of cases due to air pollution in Shanghai in 2000, and then we estimated the corresponding DALYs lost in Shanghai based on unit DALYs values of the health consequences.

RESULTSAmbient air pollution caused 103,064 DALYs lost in Shanghai in 2000. Among all the health endpoints, premature deaths and chronic bronchitis predominated in the value of total DALYs lost.

CONCLUSIONThe air pollution levels have an adverse effect on the general population health and strengthen the rationale for limiting the levels of air pollution in outdoor air in Shanghai.