Does Mandala Art Therapy Improve Psychological Well-Being of Gynecological Cancer Patients During the Perioperative Period? A Quasi-Experimental Study.

BACKGROUND: Women with gynecological cancer often experience psychological distress, particularly in response to surgical procedures. The impact of mandala art therapy (MAT) during the perioperative period for gynecological cancer patients remains uncertain. We aimed to examine the effects of the MAT program in women with gynecological cancer. METHODS: Employing a quasi-experimental design, we recruited 126 gynecological cancer patients from a university hospital through convenience sampling. Participants were assigned to either receive the MAT program or standard perioperative care. The interventions comprised a three-session MAT program guided by a team of trained mandala psychologists. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were employed to analyze the effects of MAT over time. RESULTS: A total of 126 patients were enrolled, and 118 completed the entire study. Over 90% of participants completed the perioperative MAT interventions, reporting relatively high satisfaction with the program (7.70 out of 10). Individuals in the MAT group exhibited improved therapeutic effects on STAI-S, VASS, and vital signs over time. Notably, significant group*time interaction effects were noted in STAI-S scores at both the first evaluation, T1 (ß = -4.220, P < .005) and the third evaluation, T3 (ß = -3.797, P < .05), and VASS scores at T1 (ß = -11.186, P < .005), T2 (ß = -9.915, P < .05) and T3 (ß = -9.831, P < .05). Regarding vital signs, the multivariate GEE model revealed significant interaction effects in systolic blood pressure values at both T1 (ß = -7.102, P < .05) and T3 (ß = -10.051, P < .005), diastolic blood pressure values at T3 (ß = -6.441, P < .005), and pulse values at T1 (ß = -6.085, P < .005). No significant differences were observed between groups for pain, hope, or self-acceptance. CONCLUSION: This study posited that MAT could serve as a valuable complementary approach in perioperative care for addressing the psychological needs of women with gynecological cancer. Subsequent research employing more robust methodologies and larger, more diverse participant samples will be necessary to validate these conclusions.

Trends in nutritional status and factors affecting prognostic nutritional index in ovarian cancer patients during chemotherapy: a prospective longitudinal study based on generalized estimating equations.

PURPOSE: Numerous studies have investigated the relationships between nutritional status and the prognosis of ovarian cancer (OC). However, the majority of these studies have focused on pre-chemotherapy malnutrition, with limited attention given to dynamic changes in nutritional status during chemotherapy and the associated risk factors affecting the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) in OC women. This study aims to explore the variation trend in the nutritional status of OC women over time during chemotherapy and assess its predictive factors. METHODS: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted from January 2021 to August 2023. Body mass index (BMI), PNI, Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS) 2002, serum albumin, and prealbumin measurements were utilized to assess the nutritional status of OC women. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews before initial chemotherapy (T0) and during the first (T1), third (T2), and fifth (T3) cycles of chemotherapy. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) were employed for the analysis of potential predictive factors. RESULTS: A total of 525 OC women undergoing chemotherapy completed the study. Significantly varied levels of BMI, PNI, and serum concentrations of hemoglobin, albumin, prealbumin, potassium, sodium, magnesium, and calcium were observed in these patients (p < 0.05). The prevalence of nutritional risk decreased over time during chemotherapy (p < 0.05). Nutritional parameters, including BMI, PNI, and the serum concentrations of albumin and prealbumin, exhibited an upward trend in nutritional status throughout the chemotherapy cycles (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis indicated that higher levels of BMI, serum albumin, prealbumin, absolute lymphocyte count, and hemoglobin ≥ 110 g/L at admission were associated with elevated PNI after chemotherapy (ß = 0.077, p = 0.028; ß = 0.315, p < 0.001; ß = 0.009, p < 0.001; ß = 1.359, p < 0.001; ß = - 0.637, p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: Patients consistently demonstrated improvements in nutritional risk and status from the initiation to the completion of chemotherapy cycles. Nutritional monitoring of OC women, particularly those exhibiting abnormalities at the commencement of chemotherapy, is crucial. Targeted nutritional support programs should be developed to enhance the prognosis of OC women.

Effect of an extension speech training program based on Chinese idioms in patients with post-stroke non-fluent aphasia: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Chinese idioms have potential to act as preliminary training material in studies on post-stroke aphasia. OBJECTIVE: To explore an extension speech training program that takes Chinese idioms as context and expands them into characters, words, sentences and paragraphs and evaluate the effects of this program in patients with post-stroke non-fluent aphasia. METHODS: This was a randomized controlled trial. We recruited patients with post-stroke non-fluent aphasia from the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from January 2021 to January 2022. Participants were randomly assigned to group I and group II. Patients in group I had treatment with extension speech training based on Chinese idioms, and those in group II had treatment with conventional speech rehabilitation training. The training period in both groups was 40 min daily for 2 weeks. RESULTS: A total of 70 patients (group I, n = 34; and group II, n = 36) completed the trial and were analyzed according to protocol. There were no significant differences in baseline values between both groups. After intervention, the scores of oral expression, comprehension, and reading in the Aphasia Battery Of Chinese scale and the scores of the Comprehensive Activities of Daily Living questionnaire significantly improved in both groups (P <0.05), with group I benefiting more (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: This extension speech training program based on Chinese idioms can improve the language function and daily communication ability of the patients with post-stroke non-fluent aphasia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2000031825.