The current use of the EORTC QLQ-NMIBC24 and QLQ-BLM30 questionnaires for the assessment of health-related quality of life in bladder cancer patients: a systematic review.

PURPOSE: Investigating the use of the EORTC bladder cancer (BC) modules by evaluating: (a) study contexts/designs; (b) languages/countries in which the modules were administered; (c) their acceptance by patients/investigators; and (d) their psychometric properties. METHODS: A systematic review was performed with studies from 1998 until 20/10/2021 in five databases. Articles/conference abstracts using the EORTC-QLQBLM30 (muscle invasive BC) and the EORTC-QLQNMIBC24 (previously referred to as QLQ-BLS24; non-muscle invasive BC) were included. Two authors independently screened titles/abstracts/full-texts and performed data extraction. RESULTS: A total of 76 eligible studies were identified. Most studies included the BLM30 (n = 53), were in a urological surgery context (n = 41) and were cross-sectional (n = 35) or prospective (n = 30) in design. The BC modules were administered in 14 languages across 19 countries. Missing data were low-moderate for all non-sex related questions (< 1% to 15%). Sex-related questions had higher rates of missing data (ranging from 6.9% to 84%). Most investigators did not use all scales of the questionnaires. One validation study for the original BLS24 led to the development of the NMIBC24, which adopted a new scale structure for which good structural validity was confirmed (n = 3). Good reliability and validity was shown for the NMIBC24 module, except for malaise and bloating/flatulence scales. Psychometric evidence for BLM30 is lacking. CONCLUSION: These results provide insight into how the EORTC BC quality of life modules could be further improved. Current work is ongoing to update the modules and to determine if the two modules can be combined into a single questionnaire that works well in both the NMIBC and MIBC settings.

Cancer care for Ukrainian refugees: Strategic impact assessments in the early days of the conflict.

BACKGROUND: The invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022 has resulted in destruction of healthcare infrastructure and triggered the largest wave of internally displaced populations and refugees since World War Two. Conflicts in transitioned countries such as Ukraine create new non-communicable disease (NCD) challenges, especially for cancer care for refugees and humanitarian assistance in host countries. In the early days, rapid attempts were made to model possible impacts. METHODS: By evaluating open source intelligence used in the first three months of the conflict through snowball search methods, we aimed to address: (i) burden of cancer in Ukrainian population, specifically considering translating to the refugees population, and its cancer care capacity; ii) baseline capacity/strengths of cancer systems in initial host countries. Moreover, using a baseline scenario based on crude cancer incidence in Ukraine, and considering data from UNHCR, we estimated how cancer cases would be distributed across host countries. Finally, a surveillance assessment instrument was created, intersecting health system's capacity and influx of internally displaced populations and refugees. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS: The total new cancer patients per month in pre-conflict Ukraine was estimated as 13,106, of which < 1 % are paediatric cases. The estimated cancer cases in the refugee population (combining prevalent and incident), assuming 7.5 million refugees by July 2022 and a female:male ratio of 9:1, was 33,121 individuals (Poland: 19284; Hungary: 3484; Moldova: 2651; Slovakia: 2421; Romania: 5281). According to our assessments, Poland is the only neighbouring country classified as green/yellow for cancer capacity, i.e. sufficient ablility to absorb additional burden into national health system; Slovakia we graded as yellow, Hungary and Romania as yellow/red and Moldova as red.

Supervisor support training effects on veteran health and work outcomes in the civilian workplace.

This randomized controlled trial involved the development and evaluation of a supervisor support training intervention in the civilian workforce called VSST: Veteran-Supportive Supervisor Training. A theoretically based intervention in the workplace is critical to ensuring a smooth transition for service members and their families to civilian life, leading to improved psychological and physical health and improved work outcomes among service members. Thirty-five organizations were recruited and randomized to the VSST training program or a waitlist control group. Within those organizations, 497 current or former (post 9/11) service member employees were asked to complete baseline and 3- and 9-month follow-up surveys covering work, family, and health domains. The computerized 1-hr training, and the behavior tracking that followed were completed by 928 supervisors from the participating organizations. Intervention training effects were evaluated using an intent-to-treat approach, comparing outcomes for service members who were in organizations assigned to the training group versus those who were in organizations assigned to the control group. Moderation effects revealed the intervention was effective for employees who reported higher levels of supervisor and coworker support at baseline, demonstrating the importance of the organizational context and trainee readiness. The results did not show evidence of direct effects of the intervention on health and work outcomes. Qualitative data from supervisors who took the training also demonstrated the benefits of the training. This study affirms and adds to the literature on the positive effects of organizational programs that train supervisors to provide social support, thereby improving health and work outcomes of employees who receive more support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Work-Hour Trajectories and Depressive Symptoms among Midlife and Older Married Couples.

Life course theories highlight the importance of understanding psychological health of aging individuals in context. Work and marriage are influential contexts in later life that are increasingly relevant because both spouses of many households work and individuals are delaying retirement. Although there is extensive literature on predictors of depressive symptoms, incorporating life course histories of work and social contexts has been a critical omission in the aging and health field. This study identifies couples' work trajectories as a function of husband's and wife's weekly work hours and examines the link between couple work-hour trajectory membership and individual depressive symptoms. Data are from 1641 married couples who participated in the 1998-2012 waves (ages 51-89) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Findings revealed six distinct subgroups of work-hour trajectories among couples and that membership in these subgroups was associated with depressive symptoms. Retiring husbands with wives who continued to work and wives who worked minimally throughout the years (regardless of whether their husbands worked or retired) reported more depressive symptoms than other subgroups. These results suggest that work trajectories themselves, beyond current health status, may carry differential psychological health risk. Moreover, several sociodemographic and life course factors in 1998 were significant predictors of trajectory membership. These findings provide insight into midlife factors that may influence work trajectories (and the potential health risk) through to older adulthood. They suggest that a life course examination of work and social contexts is needed for a greater understanding of individual and couple health development.

The development of marital tension: Implications for divorce among married couples.

Marriages are often characterized by their positive and negative features in terms of whether they elicit feelings of satisfaction and happiness or conflict and negativity. Although research has examined the development of marital happiness, less is known about the development of negativity among married couples. We examined how marital tension (i.e., feelings of tension, resentment, irritation) develops within couples over time and whether marital tension has unique implications for divorce. Specifically, we examined marital tension among husbands and wives within the same couples from the first to the sixteenth year of marriage, as well as links between marital tension and divorce. Participants included 355 couples assessed in years 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 16 of marriage. Multilevel models revealed that wives reported greater marital tension than husbands. Marital tension increased over time among both husbands and wives, with a greater increase among husbands. Couples were more likely to divorce when wives reported higher marital tension, a greater increase in marital tension, and greater cumulative marital tension. Findings are consistent with the emergent distress model of marriage, but indicate that despite the greater increases in marital tension among husbands, wives' increased marital tension over the course of marriage is more consistently associated with divorce. (PsycINFO Database Record

Going the extra mile and feeling energized: An enrichment perspective of organizational citizenship behaviors.

Scholars have voiced concerns about the potential dark side of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), arguing that OCB consumes energy, which contributes to a depletion of personal resources and results in poorer well-being. Drawing from research on the meaningfulness of work, we propose a pattern opposite to depletion: that OCB enhances energy, which contributes to an enrichment of personal resources and results in better well-being. This idea was tested over the course of a workweek with 224 day-level ratings from 67 employees and 30 managers working in a service management firm. Three-level hierarchical linear modeling indicated that supervisor-rated daily OCB was positively associated with employees' vigor at the end of the workday, and multilevel structural equation modeling analyses showed that this relationship was mediated by meaningfulness of work. Moreover, we found that the association between OCB and work meaningfulness was stronger for employees with greater role ambiguity. Exploratory analyses revealed that daily in-role performance and daily OCB interacted to predict meaningfulness of work, such that the association between daily OCB and meaningfulness of work was more prominent among those who exhibited high levels of daily in-role performance. We discuss implications of these findings, limitations, and directions for future research.

Spousal social support and strain: impacts on health in older couples.

Using a nationally representative sample of couples aged 51+ in the United States (N = 1,923 couples), the current study investigated whether both partners' perceptions of relationship support and strain are associated with an individual's self-rated health and functional limitations. The sample had an average age of 67.17 years (SD = 9.0; range 50-97). Actor-Partner Interdependence Models adjusting for couple interdependencies were applied using multilevel models. After accounting for age, education, gender, race, and couple differences in length of marriage, results indicate that individual perceptions of support were significantly associated with higher self-rated health and fewer functional limitations. These individual-level benefits increased if the spouse also perceived positive support and low strain. Finally, the negative association of an individual's perceived support on functional limitations was greater in those with a spouse reporting low levels of perceived strain. Findings are discussed relative to theory on behavioral and psychological pathways between partners' perceptions of support and health.

Separation and identification of photodegradation products of benzoic acid by capillary zone electrophoresis.

A capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method was developed for separation and identification of photodegradation products of benzoic acid under irradiation at a wavelength of 300 nm. Parameters such as run buffer, applied voltage and injection time were optimized for the separation of benzoic acid and its photodegradation products. Linearity, limit of detection, and repeatability of migration time as well as peak area of the method were examined. Four reaction products, including salicylic acid, 3-hydroxybenzoic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid have been separated and identified by spiking the known compounds into the irradiated samples using the CZE method developed. The confirmation of the reaction products is one of the key steps for proposing the possible reaction mechanisms involved in the photodegradation of benzoic acid.

Sialylation lessens the infectivity of Neisseria gonorrhoeae MS11mkC.

In a human challenge experiment, the infectivity of gonococci with sialylated lipooligosaccharide (LOS) was compared with the infectivity of gonococci with unsialylated LOS. Volunteers were intraurethrally inoculated with approximately 5000 sialylated or unsialylated piliated, non-opaque (P+Opa-, transparent) colony type gonococci, strain MS11mkC. Five (83%) of 6 volunteers inoculated with unsialylated gonococci became infected; however, only 1 of 5 volunteers became infected with sialylated gonococci. The unsialylated gonococcal infections, with a median incubation time of 62 h (range, 32-98), were similar to previously described experimental infections. Gonococci shed by infected volunteers showed a transition from the P+Opa- phenotype of the inoculation strain to the P+Opa+ (piliated, opaque) phenotype 12-60 h before onset of disease. The subject with sialylated gonococcus infection had an extended incubation period, showing a progressive increase in the number of organisms shed until he became symptomatic on day 6 after inoculation. These results show that gonococci with sialylated LOS are less infective than gonococci with unsialylated LOS.

How do we measure consumer opinions of outpatient clinics?

Consumer opinion of care in outpatient departments is increasingly seen as an important measure in the process of quality assurance. However, there are many ways of measuring consumer opinion. The aim of this series of studies was to compare different methods so as to throw light on when and where to use them. What is revealed is that there is no one right answer; instead, a combination of methods will allow the development of a balanced view of consumer opinion and an agenda for action.

An effect of pharmacotherapy on the psychoanalytic process: case report of a modified analysis.

A woman who had appeared suitable for psychoanalysis was persistently unable to develop an analyzable transference. Her history, as it unfolded during analysis, suggested a form of atypical depression linked to a neurochemical abnormality, which appeared to be related to her reluctance to take the emotional risk involved in examining transference phenomena. The analysis was modified by a trial of phenelzine. Changes within the analysis and in the patient's private life after the drug trial ended support the hypothesis that her affective vulnerability had inhibited her ability to engage in analysis of transference before the administration of the drug.

The older analysand: countertransference issues in psychoanalysis.

The apparent reluctance among analysts to begin an analysis with a patient beyond his or her fifth decade, a view first articulated by Freud, is examined as an instance of counter-transference resistance. Although there is no greater consensus among analysts than the continuing necessity of self-analysis irrespective of age, it is an attitude which does not appear to be so readily extended to the older prospective analysand. This report examines counter-transference issues within the context of a seven year classical analysis of an older female who began an analysis at the end of her sixth decade. The case illustrates the timelessness of psychological conflicts at all levels and the particular character of the analyst's counter-transferences that surfaced listening to the material of this older analysand.