Aims
To investigate the effect of sensory impairment on quality of life in older adults and to assess the role of physical function as a mediator of the effect of the sensory impairment on quality of ...life.
Design
A cross‐sectional study.
Methods
Older adults aged ≥65 years (N = 600) were recruited from January 2019 to May 2020. Hearing and visual function were measured with pure‐tone audiometry and Snellen visual acuity tests, respectively. Quality of life (World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Brief Version), physical function (Multidimensional Functional Assessment Questionnaire) and sociodemographic characteristics were reported by participants using interviewer‐administered questionnaires. Propensity score weighting analysis was conducted based on generalized propensity scores via multinominal logistic regression for age, gender, education, income, and comorbidities. The difference in the quality of life was tested by applying a one‐way analysis of variance. Multiple mediation analysis was conducted to explore the direct, indirect, and total effects of sensory impairment on quality of life through physical function.
Results
After propensity score weighting adjustment, when compared with participants with no sensory impairment, participants with dual sensory impairment had the worst quality of life, followed by visual impairment and then hearing impairment. Physical function statistically significantly mediated the effect of hearing impairment, visual impairment and dual sensory impairment on quality of life in older adults.
Conclusion
Our findings demonstrated that the negative effect of the sensory impairment on quality of life in older adults was mediated through physical function.
Impact
The convergence of an increasing ageing population and the prevalence of sensory impairment presents a significant global health burden. This study demonstrated that physical function was a mediator of quality of life in older adults. Designing appropriate physical activity interventions for older adults with sensory impairment could serve to enhance physio‐psychological health and improve quality of life.
liu c.‐c., chen y.‐c., yeh y.‐p. & hsieh y.‐s.
(2011) Effects of maternal confidence and competence on maternal parenting stress in newborn care. Journal of Advanced Nursing 68(4), 908–918.
Aim. ...This paper is a report of a correlational study of the relations of maternal confidence and maternal competence to maternal parenting stress during newborn care.
Background. Maternal role development is a cognitive and social process influenced by cultural and family contexts and mother and child characteristics. Most knowledge about maternal role development comes from western society. However, perceptions of the maternal role in contemporary Taiwanese society may be affected by contextual and environmental factors.
Methods. A prospective correlational design was used to recruit 372 postpartum Taiwanese women and their infants from well‐child clinics at 16 health centres in central Taiwan. Inclusion criteria for mothers were gestational age >37 weeks, ≥18 years old, and healthy, with infants <4 months old. Data were collected between August 2007 and January 2008 using a self‐report questionnaire on mothers’ and infants’ demographic variables, maternal confidence, maternal competence and self‐perceived maternal parenting stress.
Results. After controlling for maternal parity and infant temperament, high maternal confidence and competence were associated with low maternal parenting stress. Maternal confidence influenced maternal parenting stress both directly and indirectly via maternal competence.
Conclusion. To assist postpartum women in infant care programmes achieve positive outcomes, nurses should evaluate and bolster mothers’ belief in their own abilities. Likewise, nurses should not only consider mothers’ infant care skills, but also mothers’ parity and infant temperament. Finally, it is crucial for nurses and researchers to recognize that infant care programmes should be tailored to mothers’ specific maternal characteristics.
Abstract
The longitudinal associations between Facebook use and well-being have received limited exploration with mixed results. We argue that the transition pattern of an individual’s social ...grooming style based on five social grooming behaviors at different times—referred to as the social grooming transition pattern—is the key to exploring this issue. Based on the social grooming style framework, we employed latent transition analysis through a nationally representative, three-year panel survey (N = 710) in Taiwan. We found that active users remained active in social grooming behavior and had options to shift, and inactive users largely remained inactive in terms of Facebook social grooming style. The results indicated that persistent social image managers gained the most social capital and well-being, greater than persistent social butterflies and those who transitioned from image managers to social butterflies, indicating that adopting strategic social grooming styles in the long-term delivered the best social outcomes.
Lay Summary
The long-term interaction between Facebook use and well-being has received limited attention with mixed results. One way to examine this is to study changes in the way that we “groom” one another in Facebook. That is, how we socially interact with others by discussing different topics with various styles and strategies. Based on the social grooming framework, we provide the first study employing latent transition analysis (i.e., to track how people change or maintain their social grooming style across time) to examine this issue using a nationally representative, three-year panel survey from Taiwan. Our study shows that most people maintain a stable user style over time. However, some become less active (e.g., they become “maintainers” or “lurkers”). Thus, the majority of Taiwanese users often do not create their own postings, but rather comment on, or simply view, the content of other Facebook users. By contrast, users who actively groom (e.g., those who are persistent “social butterflies” or “image managers”) continue to create online posts. Our analysis shows that users who are highly social benefit from greater bridging social capital. However, the strategically active social groomer is the winner as they benefit by gaining greater bridging social capital, social connectedness, and social life satisfaction.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is highly prevalent, recurrent, and associated with functional impairment, morbidity, and mortality. Herein, we aimed to identify disruptions in functional ...connectomics among subjects with MDD by using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Sixteen subjects with MDD and thirty health controls completed resting-state fMRI scans and clinical assessments (e.g., Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)). We found higher amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF) bilaterally in the hippocampus and amygdala among MDD subjects when compared to healthy controls. Using graph theoretical analysis, we found decreased clustering coefficient, local efficiency, and transitivity in the MDD patients. Our findings suggest a potential biomarker for differentiating individuals with MDD from individuals without MDD.
AIM: To retrospectively establish the diagnostic criteria of gallstone ileus on CT, and to prospectively apply these criteria to determine the diagnostic accuracy of CT to confirm or exclude ...gallstone ileus in patients who presented with acute small bowel obstruction (SBO). Another purpose was to ascertain whether the size of ectopic gallstones would affect treatment strategy.METHODS: Fourteen CT scans in cases of proved gallstone ileus were evaluated retrospectively by two radiologists for the presence or absence of previously reported CT findings to establish the diagnostic criteria. These criteria were applied in a prospective contrast enhanced CT study of 165 patients with acute SBO, which included those 14 cases of gallstone ileus. The hard copy images of 165 CT studies were reviewed by a different group of two radiologists but without previous knowledge of the patient's final diagnosis. All CT data were further analyzed to determine the diagnostic accuracy of gallstone ileus when using CT in prospective evaluation of acute SBO. The size of ectopic gallstone on CT was correlated with the clinical course.RESULTS: The diagnostic criteria of gallstone ileus on CT were established retrospectively, which included:(1) SBO; (2) ectopic gallstone; either rim-calcified or total-calcified; (3) abnormal gall bladder with complete air collection, presence of air-fluid level, or fluid accumulation with irregular wall. Prospectively, CT confirmed the diagnosis in 13 cases of gallstone ileus with these three criteria. Only one false negative case could be identified. The remaining 151 patients are true negative cases and no false positive case could be disclosed. The overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of CT in diagnosing gallstone ileus were 93%, 100%, and 99%, respectively. Surgical exploration was performed in 13 patients of gallstone ileus with ectopic stones sized larger than 3 cm. One patient recovered uneventfully following conservative treatment with an ectopic stone sized 2 cm in the long axis.
Regular breakfast eating (RBE) is an important contributor to a healthy lifestyle and health status. The aims of the present study were to evaluate the relationships among irregular breakfast eating ...(IRBE), health status, and health promoting behavior (HPB) for Taiwanese adolescents.
A cross-sectional, descriptive design was used to investigate a cluster sample of 1609 (7th-12th grade) adolescents located in the metropolitan Tao-Yuan area during the 2005 academic year. The main variables comprised breakfast eating pattern, body weight, and health promoting behaviors. Data were collected by a self-administered questionnaire.
A total of 1609 participants were studied, 64.1% in junior high school and 35.9% in high school, boys (47.1%) and girls (52.9%) ranging in age from 12-20 years. Of the total participant population, 28.8% were overweight and nearly one quarter (23.6%) reported eating breakfast irregularly during schooldays. The findings indicated that adolescents with RBE had a lower risk of overweight (OR for IRBE vs. RBE = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.12, 2.04), and that the odds of becoming overweight were 51% greater for IRBE than for RBE even after controlling for demographical and HPB variables. IRBE also was a strong indicator for HPB. However, the profile of the high-risk IRBE group was predominantly junior high schoolchildren and/or children living without both parents.
This study provides valuable information about irregular breakfast eating among adolescents, which is associated with being overweight and with a low frequency of health promoting behavior. School and family health promotion strategies should be used to encourage all adolescents to eat breakfast regularly.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Understanding the usage of the geographic information system (GIS) among geography teachers is a crucial step in evaluating the current dissemination of GIS knowledge and skills in Taiwan's ...educational system. The primary contribution of this research is to further our understanding of the factors that affect teachers' GIS usage. The structural equation model was employed to analyze the data collected from 725 senior high school geography teachers. This was done using a survey questionnaire inspired by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which postulates the importance of how teachers perceived the usefulness and ease of use of GIS. Further, this study investigates the direct effect of GIS workshop attendance on actual GIS usage and assesses whether GIS workshop attendance mediates the relationship between perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and actual usage. Structural equation modeling results suggest that the perceived usefulness of adopting GIS is vital as it directly affects teachers' attendance at GIS training, and can further prompt their application of GIS in lectures. The perceived ease of GIS use does not influence actual usage directly, but does affect teachers' GIS usage in teaching through perceived usefulness and workshop attendance. Finally, workshop attendance can increase teachers' usage of GIS and mediate the association between perceived usefulness and actual usage.
► The perceived usefulness of adopting GIS directly affects teachers' attendance at GIS training. ► The perceived usefulness of adopting GIS can prompt teachers' application of GIS in lectures. ► GIS workshop attendance can increase teachers' usage of GIS.
Numerous scholars have emphasised the importance of providing participatory landscape ecology (PLE) that local residents deem acceptable. However, the complexity of PLE may require promoting the ...understanding of settlement types and community participation in PLE of residents. Our empirical study contributes to the critical PLE by adopting physical and social environments to determine the community participation of residents. The physical environments are classified into four settlement types: high-rise/urban, low-rise/urban, high-rise/rural and low-rise/rural. Survey data collected from 495 residents in the Taipei metropolitan area revealed the typology of physical environments, which can be used to substantially explain community participation. Perceived residential satisfaction (PRS) and neighbouring behaviour (NB), derived from the social environment, were tested for describing community participation. We observed an indirect relationship between settlement typology and community participation through the two intervening roles of PRS and NB. This affirms the importance of social environment to the relationship between settlement types and community participation.
Two empirical studies were conducted to test the facilitating effect of need-supportive parenting (NSP) on Taiwanese adolescents' individuating autonomy (IA) and relating autonomy (RA) as well as to ...investigate the mediating effect of IA and RA on the relationship between NSP and adaptation. Study 1 adopted a cross-sectional design and found that (1) NSP was positively related to adolescents' IA and RA capacity; and (2) the positive effects of NSP on intrapersonal adaptation (i.e., self-esteem and happiness) and interpersonal adaptation (i.e., empathy and reciprocal filial piety) were superiorly mediated by IA and RA, respectively. Study 2 used a longitudinal design and added negative criteria (i.e., anxiety and depression for intrapersonal maladaptation, and hostility and delinquent behavior for interpersonal maladaptation). Hierarchical linear modeling analyses indicated that (1) NSP not only positively contributed to Taiwanese adolescents' IA and RA, but also facilitated the change rate of IA and RA; (2) the changes in IA and RA within individuals over time were related to the changes in intrapersonal and interpersonal criteria, respectively; and (3) IA primarily mediated the effects of NSP on both intrapersonal adaptation and maladaptation, while RA mediated the effects of NSP on both interpersonal adaptation and maladaptation. Limitations and future directions are discussed.
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