Effects of high-quality nursing care on psychological outcomes and quality of life in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

This article reports on the journey of a child with an inoperable hypothalamic-origin pilocytic astrocytoma causing hydrocephalus, which was refractory to treatment with shunts, and required a new approach. With multidisciplinary support, excellent nursing care and parental education, the child's hydrocephalus was managed long term in the community with bilateral long-tunnelled external ventricular drains (LTEVDs). This article describes the patient's journey and highlights the treatment protocols that were created to achieve this feat. Despite the difficulties in initially setting up these protocols, they proved successful and thus the team managing the patient proposed that LTEVDs are a viable treatment option for children with hydrocephalus in the context of inoperable tumours to help maximise quality of life.

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Health-Related Quality of Life of Elderly Women with Fall Experiences

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18157804 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (15) ◽

pp. 7804

Author(s):

Jiyoung Song ◽

Eunwon Lee

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Elderly Women ◽

The Elderly ◽

Basic Data ◽

Health Related Quality ◽

High Quality ◽

Related Quality ◽

Health Related ◽

The Impact

This study aimed to describe the health-related quality of life of elderly women with experience in fall treatment as well as to prepare basic data for the development of interventions to improve the quality of life for this group. The study was based on raw data from the 2019 Korea Community Health Survey. Using the SPSS program, the characteristics of the subjects were tested by frequency, percentage, and chi-square test. To establish the impact of fall experience on the health-related quality of life of elderly women, the OR and 95% CI were calculated using multiple logistic regression analysis. Of the 4260 people surveyed, 44.7% of the elderly women said they had a high quality of life, whereas 55.3% of the elderly women said they had a low quality of life. A younger age was associated with a better-rated health-related quality of life. Those who lived in a city and had a high level of education tended to describe a high quality of life. The quality of life was considered high by those who exercised, but low by those who were obese or diabetic. The results of this study can lead to a better understanding of the experiences of elderly women who have experienced falls, and they can be used as basic data for the development of related health programs.

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Determining the psychometric properties of a novel questionnaire to measure “preparedness for the future” (Prep FQ)

Health and Quality of Life Outcomes ◽

10.1186/s12955-021-01759-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Daren K. Heyland ◽

J. Paige Pope ◽

Xuran Jiang ◽

Andrew G. Day

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Construct Validity ◽

Health Behaviors ◽

Psychometric Properties ◽

Well Being ◽

High Quality ◽

The Future ◽

Quality Of Death ◽

Test Retest Reliability

Abstract Background People are living longer than ever before. However, with living longer comes increased problems that negatively impact on quality of life and the quality of death. Tools are needed to help individuals assess whether they are practicing the best attitudes and behaviors that are associated with a future long life, high quality of life, high quality of death and a satisfying post-death legacy. The purpose of paper is to describe the process we used to develop a novel questionnaire (“Preparedness for the Future Questionnaire™ or Prep FQ”) and to define its psychometric properties. Methods Using a multi-step development procedure, items were generated, for the new questionnaire after which the psychometric properties were tested with a heterogeneous sample of 502 Canadians. Using an online polling panel, respondents were asked to complete demographic questions as well as the Prep-FQ, Global Rating of Life Satisfaction, the Keyes Psychological Well-Being scale and the Short-Form 12. Results The final version of the questionnaire contains 34 items in 8 distinct domains (“Medico-legal”, “Social”, “Psychological Well-being”, “Planning”, “Enrichment”, “Positive Health Behaviors”, “Negative Health Behaviors”, and “Late-life Planning”). We observed minimum missing data and good usage of all response options. The average overall Prep FQ score is 51.2 (SD = 13.3). The Cronbach alphas assessing internal reliability for the Prep FQ domains ranged from 0.33 to 0.88. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) used to assess the test–retest reliability had an overall score of 0.87. For the purposes of establishing construct validity, all the pre-specified relationships between Prep FQ and the other questionnaires were met. Conclusion Analyses of this novel measure offered support for its face validity, construct validity, test–retest reliability, and internal consistency. With the development of this useful and valid scale, future research can utilize this measure to engage people in the process of comprehensively assessing and improving their state of preparedness for the future, tracking their progress along the way. Ultimately, this program of research aims to improve the quality and quantity of peoples live by helping them ‘think ahead’ and ‘plan ahead’ on the aspects of their daily life that matter to their future.

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