OBJECTIVE: Patients with gynecological cancer commonly use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) methods to cope with the disease. However, despite the existence of treatment strategies, the effect of fear and anxiety caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on attitudes about CAM use is unclear. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of fear and anxiety experienced by patients with gynecological cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic on their attitudes towards the use of CAM. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional and descriptive study that included 177 women with gynecological cancer; participants were recruited from a social networking site for cancer patients in Turkey between June and December 2021. Data were collected using an online survey that included the Personal Information Form, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, and the Attitude Towards Holistic Complementary and Alternative Medicine Scale. Descriptive statistics, t-test, Pearson's correlation test, and simple linear and multiple regression analyses were performed to analyze the data. RESULTS: During the pandemic, 55.4% of the participants reported using CAM methods, but only 22.6% were using CAM before the pandemic. The participants who used CAM during the pandemic also scored higher on the fear of COVID-19 and coronavirus anxiety scales (20.69 ± 5.37 and 13.09 ± 6.29, respectively) compared to the participants who did not use CAM (9.29 ± 2.72 and 6.35 ± 2.06, respectively). Fear of COVID-19 accounted for 52% of the CAM attitude score, while coronavirus anxiety accounted for 15% of the CAM attitude score. Fear of COVID-19 and coronavirus anxiety together accounted for 53% of CAM attitude. CONCLUSION Gynecological cancer patients with high levels of COVID-19-related anxiety and fear during the pandemic used CAM more. Given that the psychological effects of the pandemic will continue in the coming years, CAM use should be evaluated as a coping strategy, especially due to the COVID-19-related anxiety and fear experienced by patients with gynecological cancer. While the rational and effective CAM methods should be supported, strategies should be developed to prevent misuse of CAM and its interference in prescribed medical treatments. Please cite this article as: Uslu-Sahan F, Yesilcınar I, Kurt G, Hancer E, Guvenc G. Effects of COVID-19 fear and anxiety on attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine use in women with gynecological cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Integr Med. 2023; 21(4): 377-384.
Humans ; Female ; COVID-19 ; Pandemics ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Anxiety/psychology* ; Attitude ; Neoplasms ; Fear ; Complementary Therapies/psychology*

PURPOSE: In Korea, most elderly with dementia receive care from family members, yet little research is available on the experience of dementia-related anxiety in middle-aged female caregivers for a family member with dementia. The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experience of dementia-related anxiety in middle-aged female caregivers for family members with dementia. METHODS: A descriptive phenomenological study was conducted. A purposive sampling strategy was used to recruit participants. Twelve middle-aged women (40-59 years, mean age = 51.90 years) who were family caregivers were interviewed from February 2014 to August 2014. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analyzed using Giorgi's method. RESULTS: The essential structure of the phenomenon was a fear of losing self-identity. The main essence was represented by six components: keenly feeling the effects of aging because of memory deficit, continuous comparison of the family member's behavior with that of the participant's, Finding it painful to see a family member with dementia as he/she does not know how this will end, not knowing the conclusion of the disease process, reducing the risk of dementia, and trying to change one's lifestyle from what it used to be in the past. CONCLUSIONS: The study provides the essential structure of the experience on dementia-related anxiety that caregivers of a family member with dementia have. The findings could help healthcare providers and researchers have better understanding of dementia-related anxiety and give more attention to the caregivers to relieve their anxiety
Adult ; Anxiety/*etiology ; Caregivers/*psychology ; Dementia/*psychology ; Family/*psychology ; Family Relations ; Fear ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Self Concept

PURPOSE: This research investigated the daily experiences of patients' lives to develop a formal theory that explains the lives of schizophrenic patients. METHOD: A grounded theory method(Strauss & Corbin, 1998) guided the data collection and analysis. Thirteen patients who were diagnosed with schizophrenia in regional communities participated. RESULT: The experiences of chronic schizophrenic patients are defined as "escaping from a fallen mine" comparing their suffering to that of entrapped miners trying to free themselves from a collapsed mine tunnel with much difficulty and without hope. In observing participant's time lines of having lived with chronic schizophrenia, it advances with "surrender", "collapse", "reaching out", "rising", "preparing to spring up", and "starting anew". CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that the experience of a chronic schizophrenic patient is like that of a miner caught under a fallen mine channel, who, without external help cannot escape the depths of the mine, but at the same time must have conviction and hope of rescue and avert fear to cooperate with outside help. The result indicates that family members, doctors and nurses as well as an institute's persistent and active support is most critical for the patient's adjustment to social life.
Social Support ; *Schizophrenic Psychology ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Humans ; Female ; Fear ; Chronic Disease ; Adult

Pathological anxiety is among the most difficult neuropsychiatric diseases to treat pharmacologically, and it represents a major societal problem. Studies have implicated structural changes within the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and functional changes in the communication of the PFC with distal brain structures in anxiety disorders. Treatments that affect the activity of the PFC, including cognitive therapies and transcranial magnetic stimulation, reverse anxiety- and fear-associated circuit abnormalities through mechanisms that remain largely unclear. While the subjective experience of a rodent cannot be precisely determined, rodent models hold great promise in dissecting well-conserved circuits. Newly developed genetic and viral tools and optogenetic and chemogenetic techniques have revealed the intricacies of neural circuits underlying anxiety and fear by allowing direct examination of hypotheses drawn from existing psychological concepts. This review focuses on studies that have used these circuit-based approaches to gain a more detailed, more comprehensive, and more integrated view on how the PFC governs anxiety and fear and orchestrates adaptive defensive behaviors to hopefully provide a roadmap for the future development of therapies for pathological anxiety.
Anxiety ; Anxiety Disorders/therapy* ; Fear/psychology* ; Humans ; Neural Pathways ; Prefrontal Cortex

INTRODUCTIONThe visual sensations many patients experience during cataract surgery under local anaesthesia have received little attention until recently. This paper reviews the recent studies on this phenomenon, discusses its clinical significance and suggests novel approaches to reduce its negative impact on the surgery.

METHODSLiterature review.

RESULTSMany patients who have cataract surgery under retrobulbar, peribulbar or topical anaesthesia experience a variety of visual sensations in their operated eye during surgery. These visual sensations include perception of light, movements, flashes, one or more colours, surgical instruments, the surgeon's hand/fingers, the surgeon and changes in light brightness. Some patients experience transient no light perception, even if the operation is performed under topical anaesthesia. The clinical significance of this phenomenon lies in the fact that approximately 7.1% to 15.4% of patients find their visual experience frightening. This fear and anxiety may cause some patients to become uncooperative during surgery and trigger a sympathetic surge, causing such undesirable effects as hypertension, tachycardia, ischaemic strain on the heart, hyperventilation and acute panic attack. Several approaches to reduce the negative impact of patients' visual experience are suggested, including appropriate preoperative counselling and reducing the ability of patients to see during surgery.

CONCLUSIONSThe findings that some patients find their intraoperative visual experience distressing have a major impact on the way ophthalmologists manage their cataract patients. To reduce its negative impact, surgeons should consider incorporating appropriate preoperative counselling on potential intraoperative visual experience when obtaining informed consent for surgery.

Anesthesia, Local ; Anxiety ; Cataract Extraction ; psychology ; Counseling ; Fear ; Humans ; Intraoperative Period ; Phacoemulsification ; Vision, Ocular

Animals ; Conditioning, Classical ; Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory ; Fear ; psychology ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Stress, Psychological

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of different tilt angles of head-up tilt test (HUTT) and different responses to HUTT on the psychological fear in children undergoing the test.

METHODSHUTT was performed on children with unexplained syncope or pre-syncope (107 cases: 52 males and 55 females), aged 5.5-17.8 years (mean 12.0±2.8 years). All subjects were randomly assigned to undergo HUTT at an angle of 60°, 70° or 80°; the negative cases underwent sublingual nitroglycerin-provocation HUTT at the same tilt angle. The Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale was used for self-assessment of psychological fear in subjects during HUTT at the end point of the test.

RESULTSThe positive rate, hemodynamic changes and distribution of response types showed no significant differences between children at tilt angles of 60°, 70° and 80° (P>0.05). The greater the tilt angle, the higher the degree of psychological fear in children undergoing the test, but there were no significant differences between them (P>0.05). The degree of psychological fear in children who showed a positive response to HUTT (n=76) was significantly higher than that in children who showed a negative response (n=31) (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSHUTT can cause psychological fear in children undergoing the test, and the degree of psychological fear increases in children tested at tilt angles from 60° to 80°, but the differences have no statistical significance. A positive response to HUTT can significantly increase the psychological fear in children.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Fear ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Tilt-Table Test ; psychology

The AIDS epidemic in men who have sex wlth men (MSM) in recent years showed a sharp upward trend, looking for behavioral intervention strategies should be imperative. Fear appeals by fear prompted intervention received intervention information, provide a new breakthrough to achieve better effect of propaganda and intervention. After over 70 years development, the Fear Appeal generated from the driver model that proposed the fear decided the effectiveness of behavior intervention, to the extended parallel process model theory which integrated protection motivation theory and parallel process theory, both of which believed the fear is just one of the estimators, suggested fear is the key factor. The fear appeal theory is turning to be even more comprehensive and accurate. As an important theoretical basement, the fear appeal is still developing, and need more work to make it perfection.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; prevention & control ; psychology ; Fear ; Health Promotion ; methods ; Homosexuality, Male ; Humans ; Male

OBJECTIVETo observe the psychological experience of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) during hospitalization.

METHODSFrom November 2012 to February 2013, semi-structured interviews were conducted in 10 patients with AMI in the Cardiovascular Department of First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Science and Technology. Grounded theory approach was performed to analyze the collected data.

RESULTSThe 6 themes and 3 secondary themes during their hospitalization were: helplessness and dependence when AMI was diagnosed fear of immediate death induced by AMI, confusion on various problems such as operation time, excretory after PCI and limited knowledge details, the feel of safety after PCI, the fear of AMI, and the worry about overtreatment.

CONCLUSIONSHospitalized AMI patients have complicated psychological responses. Medical staff should provide targeted strategies and timely communication with AMI patients to reduce their psychological burden.

Acute Disease ; Fear ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Internal-External Control ; Myocardial Infarction ; psychology ; Qualitative Research

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among fear of falling, pain, anxiety and depression, and to identify influencing factors in elderly women patients with degenerative arthritis living in the community. METHOD: The subjects of this study were 297 elderly women patients with degenerative arthritis. Data was collected by personal interviews using questionnaires. Data was analyzed by the SPSS(version 12.0) computer program, and it included descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, and Stepwise multiple regression. RESULTS: There was a significant difference (p= .000) in fear of falling according to the level of pain, anxiety, and depression. There was a significant positive correlation among fear of falling, pain, anxiety and depression. Depression, pain, number of medication, age, and anxiety showed significant predictors (43.5%) for fear of falling. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that thoroughly assessing predictors making an impact on fear of falling in the initial nursing assessment is the most important for falls prevention of elderly women patients with degenerative arthritis in the community.
*Accidental Falls/prevention & control ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Anxiety/psychology ; Depression/psychology ; *Fear ; Female ; Frail Elderly/psychology ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Osteoarthritis/*psychology