scholarly journals Development and Usability Testing of a Finger Grip Enhancer for the Elderly

Robotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Dominic Wen How Tan ◽  
Poh Kiat Ng ◽  
Ervina Efzan Mhd Noor ◽  
Adi Saptari ◽  
Chee Chen Hue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Significance ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Everyday Objects ◽  
Pinch Force ◽  
Paired Samples ◽  
Finger Flexion ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Muscle Nerve ◽  
Brain Degeneration

As people age, their finger function deteriorates due to muscle, nerve, and brain degeneration. While exercises might delay this deterioration, an invention that enhances elderly people’s pinching abilities is essential. This study aims to design and develop a finger grip enhancer that facilitates the day-to-day pinching activities of elderly people. This research is an extension of a previous study that conceptualised a finger grip enhancer. The device facilitates finger flexion on the thumb and index finger, and weighs 520 g, allowing for improved portability and sufficient force exertion (13.9 N) for day-to-day pinching. To test for usability, eleven subjects aged 65 years and above performed a pinch-lift-hold test on various household objects. The pinch force before and after utilising the device was measured. Using Minitab 18, the statistical significance of using this device was analysed with a paired-samples t-test. With this device, the elderly people’s pinching abilities significantly improved in both pinch force and pinch force steadiness (p < 0.05). The proposed device has the potential to enhance elderly people’s quality of life by supporting a firm pinch in the handling of everyday objects. This research has applicational value in developing exoskeleton devices for patients who require rehabilitation.

scholarly journals The Effects of Patients' and Care-Givers' Knowledge, Attitude, & Practice (KAP) on Quality of Life Among Thalassemia Major Patients' in Damascus-Syrian Arab Republic

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 308
Author(s):  
Yaser Adnan Abo Jeesh ◽  
Magda El-hadi Ahmad Yousif ◽  
Moauya Al-Balal Al-Haboub
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Thalassemia Major ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Attitudes And Practices ◽  
Teaching Guide ◽  
Care Givers ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Before And After

Background: Thalassemia is the most common autosomal abnormality in Syria. Its complications have an important effect on education; time off school; sport; difference from friends/ siblings; social interactions; and stigmatization. Knowledge of factors associated with quality of life in thalassemia patients is necessary for forming appropriate clinical programs, social support, and improving treatment outcomes. Purpose: The study was to assess the effects of Patients' and Care-givers' Knowledge, Attitude, & Practice (KAP) with Quality of Life among Thalassemia Major Patients' in Syria. Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive analytical design was conducted at the national thalassemia center in Damascus. WHOQOL-BREF and a questionnaire developed by the researcher were used to measure the participants’ knowledge, attitudes and practices of thalassemia. Results: Total of 238 thalassemia patients participated in the study. A statistical significance was found regarding improvement of skill and knowledge scores among caregivers and thalassemia patients before and after receiving the teaching guide from 12.52±1.77 to 14.07±1.01, t=11.447, p=0.000 and from 34.12±4.50 to 37.43±4.61, t=-8.58, p= .000 respectively. Stigmatization was significantly noticed among families caring for thalassemic patients. There were a significant differences in the mean score regarding nutritional status before and after teaching guide paired t test= 12.11, p= 0.000. A statistical significance was found in females regarding social domain p=0.04. However, mean scores for overall quality of life were better in females rather than males, but these mean scores were statistically insignificant p>0.05. A statistical significant difference in ferritin levels and patient’s age was found. Results also revealed that no statistical significant differences was observed between overall quality of life of the four domains in relation to the two treatment groups (subcutaneous vs oral) and age groups. Conclusion: Thalassemia is a socio-economic problem. The most efficient way to reduce risks of having affected patients is by increasing the knowledge through training of parents regarding the disease. Our findings highlighted that there was lack in patients’ knowledge and skills regarding the disease, but a remarkable improvement in both knowledge and performance was found after patients received the teaching guide, which lead to an increase in overall patient's quality of life.

scholarly journals Lack of accessibility in public transport and inadequacy of sidewalks: effects on the social participation of elderly persons with functional limitations

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Didone dos Santos ◽  
Marcela Fernandes Silva ◽  
Leonardo Antunes Velloza ◽  
José Eduardo Pompeu
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Participation ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Elderly Persons ◽  
Mobility Impairment

Abstract Objective: To analyze the association between the decline in the mobility of community dwelling elderly persons in São Paulo, Brazil and their capacity to use public transportation, and its impact on their quality of life and social participation. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted of 32 community dwelling elderly persons, of both genders (59% female), with an average age of 75.5 years (±9.2). The participants were evaluated by functional mobility, risk of falls, fear of falls and independence in activities of daily living. In addition, the perception of the elderly persons of their mobility on public transport and its impact on their social participation was evaluated. The elderly persons were divided into two groups: with mobility impairment and without mobility impairment. The groups were compared using the Fisher's Exact, Chi-Squared and Mann-Whitney tests, and the unpaired Student's t-test. An alpha level of 0.05 was adopted as a level of statistical significance. Result: Elderly persons with greater mobility impairment exhibited greater difficulty accessing public transport and a greater number of falls during their use of the same. Elderly persons who reported difficulty accessing public transport suffered greater impact on their social participation and quality of life. Conclusion: Elderly persons with greater mobility impairment had a greater number of complaints related to public transport. Additionally, they suffered a greater impact on their social participation, characterized by limitations in their capacity for independent movement around the city, limiting their social activities.

scholarly journals The improvement of elderly sleeping quality with progressive muscle relaxation therapy

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 1684
Author(s):  
Emira Apriyeni ◽  
Helena Patricia
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Quality ◽  
Sleep Disorders ◽  
Muscle Relaxation ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Nursing Intervention ◽  
Progressive Muscle Relaxation ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Relaxation Therapy ◽  
Before And After

Background: Sleep is one part of physiological needs and it is a basic need which is needed by all humans to be able to function optimally. However, the elderly will often experience sleep disorders. Sleep disorders in the elderly will affect the quality of sleep. One of nursing intervention that can improve the elderly sleeping quality is progressive muscle relaxation therapy. This study aims to determine the differences of sleep quality before and after having progressive muscle relaxation therapy toward the elderly with sleep disorders.Methods: This research was conducted at the Tresna Werdha Sabai Nan Aluih Social Home, Sicincin in 2019. The research was conducted for 2 weeks with one-week intervention. This research is a Quasy experiment using one group pre-test and post-test without control group design approach. This study used the sample of 16 respondents taken by purposive sampling. The analysis of data uses dependent T-test with a significance level of 95% (α 0.05).Results: The results of the study found that the average sleep quality of the elderly before being given the intervention was 13.63 and after the intervention it became 8.44 with p value of 0.000.Conclusions: The results showed that there were significant differences before and after the intervention. For this reason, it is recommended for the elderly with sleep disorders to be able to do progressive muscle relaxation therapy to improve sleep quality.  

scholarly journals Notification and Communication Technology: An Observational Study of Call Light Systems in Nursing Homes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haneen Ali ◽  
Huiyang Li
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Home ◽  
Nursing Homes ◽  
Observational Study ◽  
Standard Procedure ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Nursing Home Staff ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Long Time ◽  
To Come

Abstract Background and Objectives: The call light system is one of the major communication technologies that links the nursing home staff to the needs of the residents. By providing residents with the ability to request assistance, the system becomes an indispensable resource for patient-focused healthcare. However, there is little known about how the call light systems are being used in nursing homes and how the system contributes to the safety and the quality of care for seniors. Therefore, the aims of this study are to understand the nursing home staff experience while using the call light systems and to uncover the usability issues associated with the implemented systems. Method: A mix of 150 hours of hypothetic-deductive (unstructured) and 90 hours of standard-procedure (structured) observational study were conducted in four different nursing homes. The data collected includes insights into the nursing homes work system and the process of locating and responding to call lights. Results: The data shows that the highest alarm rate is before and after meal times. The nursing staff exceeded the allotted time set by administration 50% of the time. Additionally, the staff canceled 10% of the call lights and did not immediately assist residents due to high workloads. Further, the staff forgot to come back to assist residents over 3% of the time. Usability issues such as broken parts, lack of feedback, lack of prioritization, and low/no discriminability are contributing to the long response time. More than 8% of the time, residents notified the staff about call lights after they waited for a long time, as these residents were left unattended. Conclusion: Nursing homes that are still using old call light systems risk the continuation of usability issues that can affect performance of the staff and contribute to a decline in staff and resident outcomes. While the healthcare industry has been at the forefront of technological advancements and implementation, it is important to recognize the influence of technology in the quality of service delivery for the elderly population in nursing homes and to the nursing homes staff working conditions.

Creating a universal questionnaire based on the protocols for assessing the severity of dysphagia

2021 ◽  
pp. 26-33
Author(s):  
Alexey Viktorovich Shapovalov ◽  
Sergey Grigoryevich Tereshchenko ◽  
Anton Pavlovich Bogdanov ◽  
Pavel A. Krieger ◽  
Alexey Sergeevich Shapovalov
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Aspiration Pneumonia ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Timely Manner ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Basic Functions ◽  
Dysphagia Therapy ◽  
Almost All

Dysphagia affects our most basic functions — the ability to eat and drink. It negatively affects the quality of life of patients, especially in the elderly, which can lead to exhaustion, dehydration, aspiration pneumonia and, ultimately, death. Dysphagia and its severity should be assessed accurately and in a timely manner. Many questionnaires have been proposed to monitor the severity and effectiveness of dysphagia therapy. This paper analyzes ten different self-assessment questionnaires for quality of life. Almost all currently available questionnaires need to be finalized. Based on the DHI (Dysphagia Disability Index) questionnaire, we proposed a special questionnaire that has a number of advantages over the others, it takes into account the age of patients, is universal, and is also suitable for assessing dysphagia, both before and after treatment.

scholarly journals Quality Of Life Of Patients With Breast And Gynecological Cancer Faced With Anticancer Chemotherapy

10.3823/2503 ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrícia Afonso Regino ◽  
Thaís Cristina Elias ◽  
Caroline Freitas Silveira ◽  
Gilberto De Araújo Pereira ◽  
Cristina Wide Pissetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Gynecological Cancer ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
World Health ◽  
World Health Organization Quality ◽  
Anticancer Chemotherapy ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Student’S T ◽  
Health Organization

Quality of life of patients with breast and gynecological cancer faced with anticancer chemotherapy  Backgroud: the evaluation of quality of life in cancer patients is of interest to researchers due to its impact on health policies. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life of patients with breast and gynecological cancer, undergoing chemotherapy.  Methods and Findings: this was a quantitative, descriptive and longitudinal study, conducted in the Clinical Hospital of the Triangulo Mineiro Federal University. To assess the quality of life, the Portuguese brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) instrument was applied. The paired Student’s t-test was used for the analysis of the means of/ the scores of the domains. The study included 14 women. The lowest means were observed in the physical domain, 51.78±15.89 and 50.25±15.37, respectively before and after treatment. There was also a compromise of the psychological and environment domains, however, the data analyzed did not show statistical significance. The main limitation of this study is the sample size.  Conclusion: quality of life presents itself as an important factor for the measurement of results in clinical studies. Keywords: Quality of Life; Breast Neoplasms; Genital Neoplasms, Females; Chemotherapy.

scholarly journals Assessment of reliability and validity of Montenegrin version of the oral health impact profile for use among the elderly in Montenegro

2019 ◽  
Vol 147 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 534-540
Author(s):  
Zorica Popovic ◽  
Mirjana Djurickovic ◽  
Agima Ljaljevic ◽  
Snezana Matijevic ◽  
Kosovka Obradovic-Djuricic
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Oral Health Impact Profile ◽  
Significance Level

Introduction/Objective. The quality of life of elderly individuals has an active function in oral health; it is of great importance to learn that elders over the age of 65 years demonstrate an increase in seeking dental services. Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) is especially suitable for use in the elderly. The aim of this study is to examine the reliability and validity of OHIP-14 in the Montenegrin population aged 65 and over and to determine the influence of oral health on the quality of their life. Methods. The research was conducted from September to December 2016 in the central region of Montenegro, at the Medical University in Podgorica and in the nursing homes of the elderly. The study covered 170 individuals, both sexes, with an average age of 72.32 ? 6.85. The research instrument is OHIP-14 index. Standard statistical tests were used. The statistical significance level is 0.05. Results. The OHIP-14is linguistically and culturally adapted for the Montenegrin population. The value of the Cronbach Alpha Index is 0.892. The relationship between correlations for individual issues and total correlations ranges from 0.21 to 0.69. The value of OHIP-14 is 19.24 ? 7.49. Listed by domains: functional constraints 3.31 ? 1.75; physical pain 4.19 ? 1.31; psychological discomfort 2.52 ? 1.46; physical fitness 4.38 ? 1.40; mental incompetence 1.42 ? 1.23; social incapacity 1.18 ? 1.27 and handicap 2.21 ? 1.32. Conclusion. The OHIP-14 index is reliable and valid and is recommended for use in the Montenegrinspeaking area, for the elderly. There is a significant impact of oral health on the quality of life of the elderly in the central part of Montenegro.

scholarly journals The quiet revolution: Reporting of health outcomes in general medical journals

1997 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
Janelle Seymour ◽  
David Newell ◽  
Alan Shiell
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
New England ◽  
Comparison Group ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Health State ◽  
The Past ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Comparison Groups ◽  
Before And After Study

This study reviews the extent of evaluation of health outcomes in three general medicaljournals over the past decade by examining papers published in the original researchsection of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), The Lancet, and theMedical Journal of Australia (MJA) in 1982 and 1992. Evaluations were identifiedand classified according to the type of comparison group and the type of outcomemeasures employed. They were divided into three categories: those employing acomparison group; those employing a before-and-after study design (or owncomparison group); and those with no comparison group. The categories of outcomemeasures were mortality, clinical or intermediate measures of health state, and finaloutcome measures (quality of life). Results show that the proportion of papersevaluating a health services intervention remained stable over the period. However,the MJA published considerably fewer evaluations than the other journals. In theNEJM and The Lancet, 75- per cent of evaluations incorporated comparison groups,in the MJA, less than 40- per cent. Overall, the proportion of papers reporting finaloutcome measures increased significantly between 1982 and 1992 (p = 0.04) butthe change in each journal individually did not reach statistical significance. Thisstudy indicates that the reporting of health outcomes evaluations has remainedconstant but there has been some change in the use of comparison groups and finaloutcome measures over time.

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