nfluence of Occupational Status on the Quality of Life o Chinese Adult Patients with Epilepsy

Background： Epilepsy is one of the most common serious neurological disorders. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of occupational status on the quality of life of Chinese adult patients with epilepsy. Methods： This study surveyed 819 subjects clinically diagnosed with epilepsy for more than 1 year in 11 hospitals in Beijing; 586 were employed （71.55%）. All subjects completed the case report form with inquiries on demographic data, social factors, and illness. The patients＇ quality of life was assessed using the quality of life in patients with epilepsy-31 items （QOLIE-31） questionnaire. Results： The QOLIE-31 score in the employed group was significantly higher than that in the unemployed group. Furthermore, the scores in all the sections （overall quality of life, energy/fatigue, emotional well-being, seizure worry, cognition, social function, and medication effects） of the employed group were higher than those of the unemployed group. Both the employed and unemployed groups achieved the highest difference in social function. The QOLIE-31 score of students was higher than those of farmers and workers. Both the students and workers scored higher in the quality of life compared with the adult peasants living with epilepsy. The students and farmers showed significant differences in QOL1E-31 score, cognition, emotional well-being, overall quality of life, energy/fatigue, and social function. In contrast, no significant difference was noted in seizure worry and medication effects across the three different kinds of occupation. Conclusion： Occupational status might affect the quality of life of Chinese adult patients with epilepsy, and social function is the most important contributing factor.

SPECIAL ISSUE： LANGUAGE STUDIES AND METHODS FROM THE CROSS-DISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE Semantic Transfer of Chinese Kinship Terms to Occupational Address Forms since the Economic Reform

Semantic transfer of kinship terms in address forms to nonkin has always been an intriguing topic to researchers from different fields, anthropologists and sociolinguists alike, whose investigations involve data from various cultures. This study focuses on eight Chinese kinship terms used in twenty-one address forms for addressing nonkin in newly created occupations and practices during the recent economic reform in China, in an attempt to identify the driving force behind such transfer. By examining the use of these kinship terms in addressing nonkin in the economic reform, this study compares its findings to those from earlier studies and has found surprisingly that except gender, the other distinctive features, such as consanguinity, affinity, seniority, and generation, have all become neutralized in the semantic transfer, driven chiefly by the nonkin＇s occupational status. The results from this study demonstrate that the ＂categorical falsity＂ evidenced in the semantic transfer of kinship terms in address forms to nonkin is in essence a manifestation of performing an attitudinal ＂speech act＂ by the general public about how the nonkin＇s occupational status is evaluated in the economic reform.