Filling in the gaps: Sociodemographic and medical predictors of sexual health and other supportive care needs, and desire for help in gynecological cancer survivors.

PURPOSE: The goal of the present study was to evaluate predictors of unmet supportive care needs and readiness for help among gynecological cancer patients. METHODS: A sample of 113 gynecological cancer survivors completed a measure of needs and desire for help. Regression analyses identified sociodemographic and medical predictors of patient needs and desire for help. RESULTS: Younger age and shorter time since treatment were the strongest predictors of many unmet needs. Younger age and chemotherapy predicted greater unmet sexual health needs. Shorter time since treatment predicted readiness for help with informational needs. CONCLUSIONS: Post-treatment unmet needs are diverse and may be greater in younger and recently treated survivors. Chemotherapy treatment may contribute to greater sexual health needs.

Supportive care needs after gynecologic cancer: where does sexual health fit in?

DESIGN: Descriptive, cross-sectional study. SETTING: Follow-up clinic of a gynecologic oncology program in a regional cancer center. SAMPLE: 113 women treated for gynecologic cancer. METHODS: Data were collected using standardized instruments and analyzed through descriptive and correlation statistics. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Supportive care needs, sexual health needs, vaginal changes, desire for help, and socio-demographic and medical factors. FINDINGS: Forty percent of the sample was worried about the status of their sex life and many wished to meet one-on-one with a health professional or to receive written information. Younger age, premenopausal status at diagnosis, and lower sexual satisfaction and more vaginal changes after treatment were associated with greater sexual health needs and desire for help. CONCLUSIONS: Several sexual health needs were among the highest reported supportive care needs. Certain subgroups may report higher needs and desire for help; this domain merits additional research. Needs were extremely diverse, reflecting the use of an individual approach to screening for and meeting survivor needs. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Personal perceptions of the implications and meaning of sexual health and vaginal changes create the subjective experience of a need. Discussions of the women's perceptions of their needs and their views of healthy sexuality will help develop effective treatment plans.

School readiness and later achievement: replication and extension using a nationwide Canadian survey.

In this article we replicate and extend findings from Duncan et al. (2007). The 1st study used Canada-wide data on 1,521 children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) to examine the influence of kindergarten literacy and math skills, mother-reported attention, and mother-reported socioemotional behaviors on 3rd-grade math and reading outcomes. Similar to Duncan et al., (a) math skills were the strongest predictor of later achievement, (b) literacy and attention skills predicted later achievement, and (c) socioemotional behaviors did not significantly predict later school achievement. As part of extending the findings, we incorporated a multiple imputation approach to handle missing predictor variable data. Results paralleled those from the original study in that kindergarten math skills and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised scores continued to predict later achievement. However, we also found that kindergarten socioemotional behaviors, specifically hyperactivity/impulsivity, prosocial behavior, and anxiety/depression, were significant predictors of 3rd-grade math and reading. In the 2nd study, we used data from the NLSCY and the Montreal Longitudinal-Experimental Preschool Study (MLEPS), which was included in Duncan et al., to extend previous findings by examining the influence of kindergarten achievement, attention, and socioemotional behaviors on 3rd-grade socioemotional outcomes. Both NLSCY and MLEPS findings indicated that kindergarten math significantly predicted socioemotional behaviors. There were also a number of significant relationships between early and later socioemotional behaviors. Findings support the importance of socioemotional behaviors both as predictors of later school success and as indicators of school success.