[Post-traumatic Stress Disorder,Social Support,and Quality of Life in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury].

Objective To explore the relationship among post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD),social support and quality of life in patients with spinal cord injury(SCI)after a long recovery in China and investigate the factors influencing the quality of life. Methods In this cross-sectional study,206 SCI patients who were hospitalized in 9 hospitals were enrolled.Data collection was performed using general information,the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian version,the social support scales,and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Abbreviated version.The data were statistically analyzed using t test,multivariate linear regression,and adjustment effect analysis. Results PTSD was negatively correlated with quality of life(r=-0.337,P <0.001).Social support was positively correlated with quality of life(r=0.318,P<0.001).Social support showed a positive regulatory role between the heightened sense of threat dimension of PTSD and the overall quality of life(ß=0.324,P=0.032)or its environmental domain(ß=0.227,P=0.004)but showed a negative regulatory effect on the re-experiencing dimension of PTSD and the environmental domain of quality of life(ß=-0.125,P=0.017).PTSD,social support,gender,marital status,and economic status were significant predictors of quality of life. Conclusion Reducing PTSD and improving social support can improve long-term quality of life in SCI patients.

[Translation and Development of the Chinese-Version Patient Privacy Scale].

BACKGROUND: The unauthorized releasing of confidential patient information is a serious problem worldwide. Nurses, the healthcare professionals who are in most frequent contact with patients, have access to a significant amount of confidential patient information and play a key role in protecting patient privacy. However, currently, there is no proper tool to measure the level to which clinical nurses protect the privacy of their patients in China. PURPOSE: To translate the patient privacy scale (PPS) into Chinese and to test the reliability and validity of this Chinese version. METHODS: The original scale was developed by Özturk, Bahcecik, and Özçelik (2014) to identify whether nurses protect or violate patient privacy in the workplace. This study used the "back translation" method to translate the scale. A total of 616 nurses in two tertiary hospitals in the Western region of China were enrolled to test the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity of the translated scale. RESULTS: The Cronbach's coefficients of the total scale and its 5 factors ranged from .84 to .94; the split half reliability was .91; the test-retest reliability was .82; and the content validity index was .95. Explanatory factor analysis revealed that the 5 factors explained 64.98% of the total variance. CONCLUSIONS: The Chinese version of the PPS is reliable and valid, and may be used to reliably assess the behaviors of nurses with regard to protecting the privacy of their patients. The scale may also be used to evaluate the effects of training on patient privacy protection.

Symptom patterns, physical function and quality of life among head and neck cancer patients prior to and after surgical treatment: A prospective study.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate patterns of symptoms, physical function and quality of life (QoL) among patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) prior to, 3-9 days post-surgery, and one month post-surgery. METHODS: A prospective, repeated-measures design with consecutively-identified sampling was used to recruit HNC patients undergoing surgical treatment. Data collected included demographic and clinical characteristics, symptoms by M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory-Head and Neck Module-Chinese version (MDASI-H&N-C), physical function and QoL by Function Subscales of European Cancer Research Treatment Organization Quality of Life Core Scale (EORTC QLQ C30). RESULTS: 105 HNC patients suffered multiple symptoms prior to and after surgery. Pain, difficulty with voice/speech, disturbed sleep and problems with mucus (30.48%~91.43%) were the most prevalent symptoms prior to and post-surgery. Numbers of symptoms as well as specific symptoms, such as fatigue, dry mouth, problems with mucus, pain and disturbed sleep, were significantly associated with poor physical function (p < 0.05). Tracheostomy, feeding tube and age were also linked with poor physical function and poor QoL (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Findings of our study underscore the importance of managing symptoms in HNC patients to ensure patients' physical function and QoL prior to and after surgical treatment. Further research should focus on developing targeted interventions for symptoms that are linked to HNC patients' poor physical function and QoL.

Study on the Salivary Microbial Alteration of Men With Head and Neck Cancer and Its Relationship With Symptoms in Southwest China.

This study explored the association between oral microbes and head and neck cancer (HNC) as well as symptoms related to patients with HNC before surgical treatment. Fifty-six patients with HNC and 64 matched healthy controls were recruited from West China hospital in Southwest China. The demographic, clinical, and symptom data were collected. Salivary samples were collected to determine the microbial characteristics using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Patients with HNC presented increased Capnocytophaga abundances. The oral microbial markers as Capnocytophaga (area under the curve=0.81) achieved a high classification power between the HNC patients and healthy controls. Moreover, using Capnocytophaga in conjunction with symptom of voice/speech difficulty achieved an overall predicting accuracy of 92.5% comparing with using Capnocytophaga alone (79.2% accuracy) in distinguishing the HNC patients from healthy controls. Salivary microbial profiles and HNC symptoms may be potential biomarkers for HNC screening.