PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess the suitability and readability of printed educational materials for patients with hypertension in Korea. METHODS: A total of 33 written educational materials related to hypertension were collected from public health centers, hospitals, and internet web site. Among them, we analyzed 19 materials which fit the inclusion criteria: leaflets (n=9), booklets (n=3), and guide book (n=7). Two trained nurses evaluate the materials using suitability assessment tool (SAM; Doak, Doak, & Root, 1996a) and graded lexical items for teaching Korean (Kim, 2003). RESULTS: Overall, 14 (73.7%) of 19 materials scored adequate, and 5 (26.3%) scored inadequate. On the average, the education materials contained 36.1% to 50.5% of 1st grade reading level words and 12.9% to 21.6% of 4th grade level and over. CONCLUSION: The reading level of the materials was higher than a 6th grade reading level. It is proposed that the written educational materials should be developed by health professionals according to suitability and quality by taking the target group's literacy capacity into consideration.
Cultural Diversity ; Humans ; Hypertension/*prevention & control/psychology ; Needs Assessment ; *Pamphlets ; Patient Education as Topic/*methods/standards ; Reading ; Teaching Materials/*standards

Nowadays, there is a trend of HIV prevalence transmitting from high-risk group to average-risk group in China. Rural China is the weak link of HIV prevention, and rural areas of Henan province which is one of the most high-risk regions in China have more than 60% of the AIDS patients in the province. Thus, improving the HIV awareness and implementing health education become the top-priority of HIV/AIDS control and prevention. A multistage sampling was designed to draw 1129 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) and 1168 non-PLWHAs in 4 prevalence counties of Henan province. A health promoting and social-psychological support model was constructed to improve the health knowledge of participants. Chi-square tests and unconditional logistic regression were performed to determine the intervention effect and influencing factors. All groups had misunderstandings towards the basic medical knowledge and the AIDS transmission mode. Before the intervention, 59.3% of the HIV/AIDS patients and 74.6% of the healthy people had negative attitudes towards the disease. There was statistically significant difference in the improvement of knowledge, attitude and action with regards to HIV prevention before and after intervention (P<0.05). PLWHAs who were males (OR=1.731) and had higher education level (OR=1.910) were found to have better HIV/AIDS health knowledge, whereas older PLWHAs (OR=0.961) were less likely to have better HIV/AIDS health knowledge. However, the intervention effect was associated with the expertise of doctors and supervisors, the content and methods of education, and participants' education level. It was concluded that health education of HIV/AIDS which positively influences the awareness and attitude of HIV prevention is popular in rural areas, therefore, a systematic and long-term program of HIV control and prevention is urgently needed in rural areas.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; prevention & control ; Adult ; Aged ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care) ; Patient Education as Topic ; methods ; standards ; Rural Population

Child ; Common Cold ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Communicable Disease Control ; methods ; organization & administration ; standards ; Communicable Diseases ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Humans ; Patient Education as Topic ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; therapy ; Risk Factors ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Virus Diseases ; diagnosis ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of education on self-evaluation and control level in patients with bronchial asthma.

METHODSSeventy-five asthmatic patients with the initial diagnosis in line with the American Thoracic Society criteria, including 46 with junior high school education or below (group A) and 29 with senior high school education or above (group B), were asked to complete a survey to assess their symptoms and asthma attacks. Asthma control test (ACT) and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) evaluation were performed 8, 12 and 24 weeks after salmeterol/fluticasone therapy. Step-down treatment was administered according to GINA guidelines. The self-evaluation of the patients was assessed according to ACT score, physical signs and pulmonary function. An ACT score over 19 indicate well controlled condition. The effect of education on the self-evaluation and control level of bronchial asthma was assessed.

RESULTSThe two groups had similar basal level of pulmonary function (FEV1). Eight weeks after the therapy, 29 patients in group A had ACT score over 19, including 11 with high control level; in group B, 17 had ACT score over 19, of whom 4 showed high control level. There was no significant difference between the two groups in control levels and self-evaluation (P>0.05). At 12 weeks, 37 patients in group A had ACT score over 19, with 17 having high control level; 22 patients in group B had ACT score over 19, 4 showing high control level; the two groups were similar in the control levels (P>0.05) but showed significant difference in self-evaluation (P<0.05). At the time of 24 weeks, 42 and 26 patients had ACT score over 19 in the two groups, with 19 and 5 having high control level, respectively. The two groups differed significantly in the control levels (P<0.05) and self-evaluation (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe patients' education level may play a role in self-evaluation and control level of bronchial asthma, but its impact differs in the course of the treatment.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Albuterol ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Androstadienes ; therapeutic use ; Anti-Asthmatic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Asthma ; therapy ; Educational Status ; Female ; Fluticasone ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Patient Education as Topic ; methods ; standards ; Salmeterol Xinafoate ; Self Care ; methods ; Young Adult

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) has been rapidly developing by combining several techniques with evidence-based adjustments, including preoperative education, preoperative carbohydrate loading, epidural or regional anesthesia, early initiation of enteral nutrition, ambulation and multi-modal pain management. The core part of ERAS is to reduce and reverse surgical stress and therefore greatly improve clinical outcome. Under the guidance of ERAS, perioperative management of robotic gastric cancer operation should follow the basic principles of ERAS and clinical pathway to maximize the advantages of the robotic surgery. ERAS protocol is safe and feasible for patients undergoing robotic radical gastrectomy and it can reduce surgical stress, shorten hospital stay, improve quality of life and does not increase complications, whose mechanism may be associated with the reduction of inflammation and insulin resistance, the decrease of resting energy exposure, and the protection of mitochondria function. It is worth emphasizing that it is very important to fully understand the changes of pathophysiology during perioperative period, to strictly implement the ERAS pathway based on optimized evidence-based medicine, to cooperate closely with the multidisciplinary team, to observe and manage the postoperative complications dynamically by systemic classification. The improvement of ERAS program on the outcome of patients should be summarized regularly and the new interventional strategies should be evaluated further according to the international standard.
Anesthesia, Epidural ; Anesthesia, Local ; Convalescence ; Critical Pathways ; Enteral Nutrition ; Gastrectomy ; instrumentation ; methods ; rehabilitation ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Pain Management ; Patient Education as Topic ; Postoperative Care ; methods ; standards ; Postoperative Complications ; prevention & control ; Preoperative Care ; Quality of Life ; Recovery of Function ; Robotic Surgical Procedures ; rehabilitation ; Stomach Neoplasms ; surgery