Public health crises, such as the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) since Dec. 2019, are widely acknowledged as severe traumatic events that impose threats not only because of physical concerns but also because of the psychological distress of infected patients. We designed an internet-based integrated intervention and evaluated its efficacy on depression and anxiety symptoms in patients infected by SARS-CoV-2.
Adult ; Anxiety ; therapy ; Betacoronavirus ; Cell Phone ; China ; Coronavirus Infections ; psychology ; Depression ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Internet ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mindfulness ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; psychology ; Prospective Studies ; Psychological Distress ; Relaxation Therapy ; Self Care ; methods

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the effect of counseling on quality of life (QOL) in postmenopausal women conducted in Hamadan, Iran in 2015. METHODS: In this quasi-experimental study, 80 postmenopausal women were randomly selected and allocated to case and control groups (40 per group). Data collection tool included questionnaires of demographic information and QOL during menopause, which were completed by the samples before the intervention. In the case group, training program was run during four sessions in the form of weekly consulting sessions for 45 to 60 minutes. Training program included familiarity with menopause symptoms, confrontation and self-care during this period. The control group, only received routine cares. Three months after intervention, information were collected in both groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows. RESULTS: Before the intervention, mean ± standard deviation for QOL in case group was 101.2 ± 31.4 and it was significantly decreased to 96.9 ± 27.0 after intervention (P < 0.05). While no significant change was observed in the control group (from 98.9 ± 35.5 to 102.3 ± 35.0, P = 0.443). Symptoms of physical (P = 0.033) and sexual (P < 0.001) dimensions significantly decreased in the case group. While significant increase was observed in terms of psychosocial (P = 0.049) and sexual symptoms in control group. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggested impact of consulting on improvement of QOL during menopause. Supportive consulting can be a suitable approach for improving women's health, reducing problems and enhancing QOL in menopause period.
Counseling* ; Data Collection ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Iran* ; Menopause ; Non-Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Quality of Life* ; Recognition (Psychology) ; Referral and Consultation ; Self Care ; Women's Health

Little is known about the risk factors for the fear of falling in elderly Korean individuals. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the risk factors for fear of falling in a representative elderly population of over 10,000 individuals aged 65 years and older. A multivariate multinomial analysis revealed that the risk factors associated with a severe fear of falling were being female [odds ratio (OR)=4.396], older age (OR=5.550 for those aged ≥85 years), lower level of education (OR=0.719 for those with ≥13 years of schooling), chronic illness (OR=2.788 for those with more than three chronic illnesses), poor subjective health (OR=6.268), functional impairments (OR=2.340), a history of falling (OR=7.062), and depression (OR=1.774). The ORs for each of these risk factors were particularly high in participants with a severe fear of falling. Particularly, a history of falling and/or poor subjective health status had strong independent associations with the fear of falling. The present findings may help health care professionals identify individuals that would benefit from interventions aimed at reducing the fear of falling.
Accidental Falls* ; Aged* ; Chronic Disease ; Delivery of Health Care ; Depression ; Diagnostic Self Evaluation ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Korea* ; Psychology* ; Risk Factors*

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to analyze the effects of self-care behavior, empowerment, and social support on glycosylated hemoglobin in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: The data were collected during the period of July 1 to July 31, 2016. In total, 172 participants were recruited from outpatients who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at a health care center, a health promotion center at National Health Insurance Corporation, and a tertiary hospital. Statistical data were analyzed with SPSS 20.0 using frequency analysis, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffé test, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and hierarchical regression analysis. RESULTS: The study results showed that self-care behavior (β=−.34, p<.001), empowerment (β=−.34, p<.001), and social support (β=−.20, p=.018) were found to be influential factors affecting glycosylated hemoglobin, with an overall descriptive power of 69%. CONCLUSION: Self-care behavior, empowerment, and social support are considered to be important factors in blood glucose management for the patients with type 2 diabetes. Therefore, self-caring blood glucose programs and internal synchronizing education through social support and empowerment need to be improved.
Blood Glucose ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Education ; Health Promotion ; Hemoglobin A ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated* ; Humans ; National Health Programs ; Outpatients ; Power (Psychology)* ; Self Care* ; Tertiary Care Centers

PURPOSE: The purpose of this review was to identify the current status of nursing studies on heart failure (HF) patients in South Korea and to suggest future study direction. METHODS: A literature review of databases such as KoreaMed, KERIS and nursing and allied health journal were searched with key terms ‘heart failure’ and ‘nursing’ for the period from January 2000 to February 2017. A total of 35 studies including 28 articles and 7 theses met the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Twenty-seven out of 35 studies were observational studies on outpatients and most of the studies did not mention the ejection fraction and New York Heart Association functional classification class (NYHA class) in the inclusion criteria. Self-care and health-related quality of life as psychological factors, and physical activity as a biological factor, were used as main variables. However, we found it difficult to understand how much score indicates better quality of life because of an inconsistent and wide score. In quality assessment, 8 intervention studies had no serious flaws. CONCLUSION: Further studies should consider more biological and social factors influencing HF. The quality assessment with respect to nursing intervention studies in HF showed that randomized and double-blind trials are needed.
Biological Factors ; Classification ; Heart Failure* ; Heart* ; Humans ; Korea* ; Motor Activity ; Nursing* ; Outpatients ; Psychology ; Quality of Life ; Self Care

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to develop an Empowerment Education Program (EEP) for kidney transplant patients and to test the program's effects on uncertainty, self-care ability, and compliance. METHODS: The research was conducted using a nonequivalent control group with a pretest-posttest design. The participants were 53 outpatients (experimental group: 25, control group: 28) who were receiving hospital treatment after kidney transplants. After the pre-test, patients in the experimental group underwent a weekly EEP for six weeks. The post-test was conducted immediately after, and four weeks after the program's completion in the same manner as the pre-test. For the control group, we conducted a post-test six and ten weeks after the pre-test, without and program intervention. A repeated measure ANOVA was performed to compare the change scores on main outcomes. RESULTS: Uncertainty was significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group, both immediately after (t=-3.84, p=<.001) and 4 weeks after (t=-4.51 p=<.001) the program, whereas self-care ability (t=5.81, p=<.001), (t=5.84, p=<.001) and compliance (t=5.07, p=<.001), (t=5.45, p=<.001) were significantly higher. CONCLUSION: Kidney transplant patients who underwent an EEP showed a decrease in uncertainty and an improvement in self-care ability and compliance. Thus, our findings confirmed that an EEP can be an independent intervention method for improving and maintaining the health of kidney transplant patients.
Compliance ; Education* ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Kidney* ; Methods ; Outpatients ; Patient Compliance ; Power (Psychology)* ; Self Care ; Uncertainty

PURPOSE: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a condition characterized by the gradual loss of kidney function over time. Self-management programs have been widely applied to chronic disease education programs, which are designed to delay deteriorating kidney functions, preclude depression, and improve quality of life. This study aims to analyze effectiveness of self-management programs in bettering CKD patients' eGFR, mitigating depression symptoms and improving quality of life in randomized control or clinical trials. METHODS: Using key terms, a search was conducted in English-language, peer-reviewed journals on CKD that were published between 2002 and 2014 on databases including CINAHL, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE. The measurable variables included CKD patients' eGFR, depression, and quality of life. Random and fixed effects meta analysis were applied with standard error and correlation based measure of effect size. RESULTS: Eight studies met the inclusion criteria. A self-management program significantly impacted CKD patients' depression and mental quality-of-life dimensions, with an effect size of .29 [95% confidence interval (CI) (0.07, 0.53)] and −.42 [95% CI (−0.75, −0.10)]. However, the intervention of a self-management program had no significant effect on patients' eGFR as well as physical quality-of-life dimensions, with effect sizes of .06 [95% CI (−0.69, 0.81)] and −.16 [95% CI (−0.81, 0.50)]. CONCLUSIONS: Self-management programs of patients with chronic kidney disease can improve the depression and mental quality of life. Aside from providing more objective evidence-based results, this study provides a reference for clinical health care personnel who tend to patients with CKD.
Cognitive Therapy/methods ; Depressive Disorder/*etiology/therapy ; Glomerular Filtration Rate/*physiology ; Humans ; *Quality of Life ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic/physiopathology/psychology/*therapy ; Self Care/*methods

PURPOSE: We aim to introduce the predictive value of a quantitatively described formula model in a multicenter prospective analysis using the EuroQol-5 dimensions (EQ-5D) health scale to anticipate postoperative improvement in patients with degenerative lumbar spine disease (DLSD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Quality of life was evaluated in 376 patients from 17 tertiary hospitals before and after spinal decompression and fusion surgery. The five items of the EQ-5D, mobility (M), self-care (S), usual activities (A), pain/discomfort (P), and anxiety/depression (D), were checked as level 1, 2, or 3, with 3 being the worst. A minimal significant change in the calculated EQ-5D (cEQ-5D) was set as 0.05. Logistic regression analysis was performed to predict the highest successful outcome (cEQ-5D improvement after operation >0.05) with the given sets of 5 items of the EQ-5D. RESULTS: In the cEQ-5D analysis, among patients with a formula score of S+A+2×P+D≤8, 18/68 (27%) showed significant improvement in the cEQ-5D at 1 year postoperatively (p<0.05). However, in patients with a formula score of ≥9, 265/308 (86%) demonstrated significant improvements in the cEQ-5D at 1 year postoperatively (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: We suggest that S+A+2×P+D≥9 in the EQ-5D can quantitatively describe the better surgical outcome predictors for DLSD. With a definite DLSD lesion confirmed by an imaging study, patients who meet the formula scores of 9 or over and have refractory symptoms to non-operative treatment could be better surgical candidates resulting in satisfactory surgical outcomes of over 86%, than those who scored 8 or lower.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Decompression, Surgical/adverse effects ; Female ; *Health ; Humans ; Lumbar Vertebrae/*surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications/etiology/psychology ; Postoperative Period ; Prognosis ; Prospective Studies ; *Quality of Life ; Self Care ; Spinal Diseases/diagnosis/*surgery ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: Health literacy has been attracting increasing attention because low health literacy is considered an important predictor of adverse health outcomes in many chronic conditions, including diabetes. However, it is unclear how health literacy is associated with health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to formulate a hypothetical structural equation model linking health literacy to self-efficacy, self-care activities, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: cross-sectional survey design was employed, and 459 patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited from outpatient clinics in two university hospitals. The patients completed a pack of questionnaires. The hypothetical model was tested using structural equation modeling analysis. RESULTS: The values of multiple fit indices indicated that the proposed model provided a good fit to the data. Health literacy exerted not only a direct effect on self-care activities, but also an indirect effect on self-care activities via self-efficacy. However, health literacy exerted only an indirect effect on HRQOL. This structural model was invariant across hemoglobin-A1c-controlled and hemoglobin-A1c-uncontrolled groups. Based on R2 values, the final model accounted for 20.0% of the variance in selfefficacy, 61.0% of the variance in self-care activities, and 16.0% of the variance in HRQOL. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that self-care activities are crucial to the link between health literacy and HRQOL. Both health literacy and self-efficacy need to be considered in clinical practice for enhancing self-care activities in patients with type 2 diabetes. This approach may ultimately improve HRQOL in these patients.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/*nursing/*psychology ; Female ; *Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; *Health Literacy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Models, Theoretical ; Quality of Life/*psychology ; Republic of Korea ; Self Care/*psychology ; *Self Efficacy ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: The project was to test a structural equation model in which self-efficacy, self-care health behaviors, and modifiable risk factors predict the quality of life (QOL) of individuals with coronary artery disease. METHODS: The data set from the intervention study with 130 patients with coronary artery disease before the intervention was included in the secondary analysis for this study. The following parameters were measured: self-efficacy, self-care health behaviors with the subscales of health responsibility, exercise, consumption of a healthy diet, stress management, and smoking cessation; modifiable risk score; and QOL (assessed using the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey instrument). RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 66.1 years. The following evaluation parameters indicated that the proposed model provided a good fit to the data: comparative fit index at .87, goodness of fit index at .91, adjusted goodness of fit index at .84, standardized root mean square residual at .06, root mean square error of estimation at .09, and confidence interval at 0.06-0.13. Self-efficacy, self-care health behaviors, and modifiable risk factors had significant effects on QOL and explained 64.0% of the variance, with modifiable risk factors mediating between self-care health behaviors and QOL. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that self-efficacy, self-care health behaviors, and modifiable risk factors play an important role in QOL in adults with coronary artery disease. Patients could be more confident in performing self-care health behaviors, leading to a better QOL, by more effectively managing their cardiovascular risk factors. Nursing strategies to improve QOL in this population should include motivating them to perform self-care health behaviors.
Adult ; Aged ; Cardiovascular Diseases/etiology ; Coronary Artery Disease/psychology/*therapy ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; *Health Behavior ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Models, Theoretical ; *Quality of Life ; Risk Factors ; Self Care/*methods/psychology ; Self Efficacy