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Health Scale (health + scale)
Selected AbstractsThe health status of family caregivers in Taiwan: an analysis of gender differencesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 9 2005Chii-Jun Chiou Abstract Background Many studies have assessed the impact of caregivers' work activities on the caregiver. There is growing concern about the ever-increasing problems, both physical and physiological, faced by health care workers who provide care for the ill and incapacitated. Aim The aim of the study was to examine what, if any, differences exist between male and female caregivers. This study primarily focused on caregivers who were taking care of a family member. Method Three hundred and eighty-eight caregivers (280 females and 108 males) were recruited from 16 randomly selected home-care agencies in Southern Taiwan. The participants completed the Chinese Health Questionnaire-12 and the Self-Rated Health Scale. They also completed questionnaires drawn up specifically for the purpose of this study. Results Compared to the male caregivers, the female caregivers more often reported they suffered from symptoms of lack of well being, a decrease in psychosocial health and overall self-rated health. Conclusion The results reiterate the importance of considering gender differentiation in the caregiving role. Major differences were found in the extent to which negative health consequences were experienced by the male and female caregivers. The results suggest that caregivers, especially female caregivers, urgently require adequate professional health care assistance in order to reduce the negative physical and physiological effects of caregiving on the health caregiver. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Spiritual health, clinical practice stress, depressive tendency and health-promoting behaviours among nursing studentsJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 7 2010Ya-Chu Hsiao hsiao y.-c., chien l.-y., wu l.-y., chiang c.-m. & huang s.-y. (2010) Spiritual health, clinical practice stress, depressive tendency and health-promoting behaviours among nursing students. Journal of Advanced Nursing,66(7), 1612,1622. Abstract Title.,Spiritual health, clinical practice stress, depressive tendency and health-promoting behaviours among nursing students. Aim., This paper is a report of an exploration of the association of spiritual health with clinical practice stress, depressive tendency and health-promoting behaviours among nursing students. Background., Several studies in western countries have demonstrated an association between spirituality and health. Spirituality-related research in eastern countries, however, is still in its infancy. Methods., A cross-sectional design was adopted and structured questionnaires were used for data collection. We adopted the Probability Proportional to Size cluster sampling method to recruit nursing students in senior grades. Data were collected in 2005 using the Spiritual Health Scale, Perceived Clinical Practice Stress Scale, Beck Depression Inventory-II and Health Promotion Behaviours Scale. Results., A total of 1276 nursing students with an average age of 20·1 years (sd = 1·6 years) participated in the study. Spiritual health was negatively associated with clinical practice stress (r = ,0·211, P < 0·001) and depressive tendency (r = ,0·324, P < 0·001) and positively associated with health-promoting behaviours (r = 0·611, P < 0·001). Using hierarchical regression analysis to control for demographic factors, spiritual health was found to be an important predictive factor for clinical practice stress, depressive tendency and health-promoting behaviours. Conclusion., These results are consistent with research findings from western countries. Educators should develop strategies to address nursing students' spiritual health. This may help nursing students to manage their stress, to reduce depressive symptoms and to enhance health-promoting behaviours. [source] Health-related quality of life and intellectual functioning in children in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukaemiaACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 9 2007Trude Reinfjell Abstract Aim: To evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and intellectual functioning of children in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Methods: Children and adolescents treated for ALL (n = 40; mean age 11.8 years, range 8.5,15.4) and healthy controls (n = 42; mean age 11.8, range 8.11,15.0) were assessed through a cross-sectional approach using the Pediatric Quality of Life inventory (PedsQLÔ) 4.0 and the Wechsler Intelligent Scale for children-III (WISC-III). Results: Children and adolescents treated for ALL reported on average significantly lower HRQOL compared to healthy controls: the mother's proxy-report showed significantly lower HRQOL for their children, as did the father's proxy-report, measured by the PedsQLÔ 4.0 Total Scale and Psychosocial Health Scale. Intellectual functioning as measured by the WISC-III Full Scale IQ was below that of the control group, but still within the normal range. Conclusions: Significant differences found between children treated for ALL and their control group for the PedsQL Psychosocial Health Scale may indicate that the complex illness-treatment experience can make children more vulnerable with regard to psychosocial sequels, in spite of otherwise satisfactory physical and intellectual functioning. Follow-up programs that target the psychosocial health of children in remission from ALL should be implemented. [source] Nursing attitudes towards acute mental health care: development of a measurement toolJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 5 2005John A. Baker BNurs MSc MPhil RN Aim., This paper reports the development, piloting and validation of a tool to measure attitudes for use with nursing staff working in acute mental health care units. Background., The quality of care provided for service users in acute mental health care has come under both scrutiny and severe criticism. The attitudes of staff working in these environments have been cited as a contributory factor in poor care. No measure of attitudes specific to acute mental health has been reported. Methods., A 64-question measure was constructed and distributed to a sample of qualified and unqualified nurses drawn from seven mental health care units in the North of England. Exploratory factor analysis and a number of other statistical tests were performed to validate the questionnaire. Results., Preliminary analysis reduced the original 64 questions to 37. Five components were retained, accounting for 42% of the variance, and the five rotated factors were identified. The resultant ,Attitudes Towards Acute Mental Health Scale' (ATAMHS) achieved good internal reliability, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0·72. Conclusion., The construction and validation of the ATAMHS measure will enable improved understanding of the attitudes of nursing staff working in acute mental health care settings to occur. This measure is available for use in a clinical area of nursing in which attitude change is of fundamental importance for future development of care. [source] Self-Esteem and Socioeconomic Disparities in Self-Perceived Oral HealthJOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DENTISTRY, Issue 1 2009David Locker Abstract Objective: To determine if psychosocial factors explain the socioeconomic disparities in self-perceived oral health that persist after controlling for oral status variables. Methods: Data came from the participants in the Canadian Community Health Survey 2003 who were residents in the city of Toronto. Oral health variables included self-rated oral health, a 13-item oral health scale, denture wearing, and having a tooth extracted in the previous year. The last two measures were regarded as proxy indicators of tooth loss. Psychosocial variables included a self-esteem scale, a depression scale, and single items measuring life satisfaction, life stress, and sense of cohesion. Socioeconomic status was assessed using total annual household income. Results: Interviews were completed with 2,754 dentate persons aged 20 years and over. Bivariate analyses confirmed that there were income gradients in self-rated oral health and scores on the oral health scale. Linear regression analyses confirmed that these persisted after controlling for age, gender, denture wearing, and having a tooth extracted in the previous year. In the model predicting self-rated oral health self-esteem, life satisfaction, stress, a sense of cohesion, and depression also contributed to the model, increased its explanatory power, and reduced the strength of but did not eliminate the association between income and self-rated oral health. Broadly, similar results were obtained when the oral health scale score was used as the dependent variable. In both analyses and all models, denture wearing had the strongest and most enduring effect. Conclusion: Psychosocial factors partly but do not wholly explain the socioeconomic disparities in self-perceived oral health in this population after controlling for tooth loss and denture wearing. Other variables need to be added to the models to increase their explanatory power. [source] Mental Health and Wellbeing and UnemploymentTHE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 2 2000Paul Flatau This article examines the relationship between mental health and wellbeing and unemployment utilising the 1995 National Health Survey (1995 NHS) and the 1997 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing of Adults (1997 SMHWB) data sets. Three indicators of mental health and wellbeing are adopted. The first is a psychological wellbeing measure derived from responses to questions included in the 1995 NHS on time felt down, happy, peaceful, and nervous (the SF-36 mental health scale). The second indicator relates to diagnoses of mental disorders including substance use disorders, affective disorders and anxiety disorders. Our final indicator relates to suicidal thoughts and plans and (unsuccessful) suicide attempts. On the basis of these measures, unemployed persons exhibit poorer mental health and wellbeing outcomes than the full-time employed. [source] Stress and well-being in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack: The continuing effects of a communitywide disasterJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2005Richard E. Adams In this study, we examine the relationship between exposure to the World Trade Center disaster (WTCD) and the well-being of adults living in New York City (NYC) at the time of the attacks by using a stress process model. One year after the attacks, we conducted a telephone survey of a cross-sectional random sample of city residents with an oversample of residents who had received mental health treatment since the attacks (N = 2,368). The survey gathered information about respondents' demographic characteristics, exposure to the WTCD, other stressful events, and social psychological resources. The dependent variable (health status) was measured by using the Short Form-12 (SF-12) mental health and physical health scales. Overall, the greater the exposure to the events surrounding the WTCD, the poorer the person's psychological well-being, even after controlling for demographic characteristics, other stressors, and social psychological resources. Exposure was only weakly related to physical well-being, once other factors were taken into account. The findings clearly show that individuals who experienced greater exposure to the WTCD have more psychological problems than those who had less exposure 1 year after the attacks. Exposure did not seem to have such severe consequences for physical well-being. Thus, our study supports the continuation of mental health services to survivors of a community disaster well beyond the first year post disaster. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 33: 175,190, 2005. [source] | ||||||||||