Changes in acute and late toxicity and patient-reported health-related quality of life following radiotherapy in women with breast cancer:A 1-year longitudinal study

Objective:The objective of this study was to investigate the frequency of acute and late toxicities,as well as changes in the quality of life(QOL)for breast cancer patients following radiotherapy(RT).Materials and Methods:A total of 108 breast cancer women were recruited for this prospective study.Data were collected at various intervals;prior to,and 1,3,6 months,and 1 year after radiation therapy.The primary outcomes were toxicity radiation therapy oncology group/European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer(EORTC)criteria.Our secondary outcome was QOL,measured using EORTC QLQ-C30 and Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale.We employed Friedman’s two-way analysis to evaluate the changes in QOL over the course of 1 year.Results:The early toxicities that are most commonly experienced include pharyngeal,skin,and mucous membrane toxicity.Late toxicities frequently involve skin and submucosal toxicity.To measure patient functionality,all functional subscale scores except for the patient’s emotional state increased over time compared to pre-RT.Symptoms of the patients,which were included in the QOL symptom scale,decreased during the follow-up period,except for fatigue;however,changes in pain,insomnia,and loss of appetite did not significantly change.We identified the analogous symptom profiles in Edmonton.Although patients’overall health scores declined in the 1st and 3rd months after radiotherapy(RT),they rebounded at 6 and 12 months.Conclusion:For breast cancer patients,RT did not adversely affect functional capacity or exacerbate symptoms,but persistent fatigue did increase during the observation period.Health-care professionals ought to devise strategies to assist patients with skin toxicity and fatigue.

Associations between Continuing Symptoms and Quality of Life in Post-COVID-19 Patients (2023)

COVID-19 is a multisystem disease that can cause various symptoms which last even after the acute stage and negatively impact the quality of life of patients. It is of utmost importance to comprehensively evaluate how COVID-19 affects not only patients’ physical and mental health, but also their family and social life. This knowledge plays a significant role in the creation of effective ways to assist those suffering from long COVID to address health-related quality of life issues in a timely manner.

Higher vitamin D serum concentration increases health related quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases

AIM: To investigate the effect of vitamin D (VD) concentrations and VD supplementation on health related quality of life in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients.

Value of quality of life analysis in liver cancer: A clinician's perspective

Health related quality of life(HRQOL) is increasingly recognized as an important clinical parameter and research endpoint in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC). HRQOL in HCC patients is multifaceted and affected by medical factor which encompasses HCC and its complications, oncological and palliative treatment for HCC, underlying liver disease, as well as the psychological, social or spiritual reaction to the disease. Many patients presented late with advanced disease and limited survival, plagued with multiple symptoms, rendering QOL a very important aspect in their general well being. Various instruments have been developed and validated to measure and report HRQOL in HCC patients, these included general HRQOL instruments, e.g., Short form(SF)-36, SF-12, Euro Qo L-5D, World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment 100(WHOQOL-100), World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment abbreviated version; general cancer HRQOL instruments, e.g., the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer(EORTC) QLQ-C30, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy(FACT)-General, Spitzer Quality of Life Index; and liver-cancer specific HRQOL instruments, e.g., EORTC QLQ-HCC18, FACT-Hepatobiliary(FACT-Hep), FACT-Hep Symptom Index, Trial Outcome Index. Important utilization of HRQOL in HCC patients included description of symptomatology and HRQOL of patients, treatment endpoint in clinical trial, prognostication of survival, benchmarking of palliative care service and health care valuation. In this review, difficulties regarding the use of HRQOL data in research and clinical practice, including choosing a suitable instrument, problems of missing data, data interpretation, analysis and presentation are examined. Potential solutions are also discussed.

Hepatitis C virus eradication with directly acting antivirals improves health-related quality of life and psychological symptoms

BACKGROUND Alterations in health-related quality of life(HRQoL)and neuropsychological disorders were described in the hepatitis C virus(HCV)patients.Although several studies investigated the modifications of HRQoL after HCV eradication,no data exists on the modifications of neuropsychological symptoms.AIM To investigate the effect of directly acting antivirals(DAAs)treatment on HRQoL and neuropsychological symptoms.METHODS Thirty nine patients with HCV infection underwent a neuropsychological assessment,including Zung-Self Depression-Rating-Scale,Spielberg State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Y1-Y2 and the Toronto-Alexithymia Scale-20 items before and after DAAs treatment.HRQoL was detected by Short-Form-36(SF-36).RESULTS All HRQoL domains,but role limitation physical and bodily pain,significantly improved after treatment.Interestingly,after DAAs treatment,all domains of HRQoL returned similar to those of controls.Each neuropsychological test significantly improved after HCV eradication.A significant correlation was observed among each psychological test and the summary components of SF-36.At multiple linear regression analysis including each psychological test as possible covariates,Zung-Self Depression Rating Scale(Zung-SDS)score was independently and significantly related to summary components of the SF-36 in the basal state and the difference between Zung-SDS score before and after treatment was the only variable significantly and independently related to the modification of HRQoL induced by the treatment.CONCLUSION Neuropsychological symptoms strongly influenced HRQoL in HCV patients and there was a significant improvement of neuropsychological tests and HRQoL after DAAs treatment.

Correlation between social relational quality and hope among patients with permanent colostomies

Purpose:This study examined the correlation between social relational quality and hope among patients with permanent colostomies.Methods:Eighty-six eligible patients with permanent colostomies were recruited from a Class A tertiary hospital from July to December 2012.A self-designed demographic questionnaire,the Social Relational Quality Scale(SRQS),and the Herth Hope Index(HHI)were administered to all patients.Results:The total social relationship quality and hope scores were 49.42±4.98 and 38.52±4.64,respectively.The total scale score and composing subscale scores for social relationship quality and hope showed a statistically significant positive correlation with each other(r?0.324e0.680;p<0.01).Conclusions:A positive correlation exists between social relational quality and hope among patients with permanent colostomies.This finding suggests that such patients should be given hope and that their families should be encouraged to provide more support for better acceptance and adjustment.

Quality of life and psychological outcome of donors after living donor liver transplantation

AIM: To investigate the health related quality of life (HRQoL) and psychological outcome of donors after living donor liver transplantation. METHODS: Participants were 92 consecutive liver transplant donors who underwent hepatectomy with- out middle hepatic vein at West China Hospital of Sichuan University between January 2007 and Sep- tember 2010. HRQoL was measured using the Chinese version of the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36), and psychological symptoms were measured using the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Data collected from donors were compared to previ- ously published data from the general population. Clin- ical and demographic data were collected from medical records and questionnaires.RESULTS: The general health score of the SF-36 was significantly lower in females (59.78 ± 12.25) than in males (75.83 ± 22.09). Donors more than 40 years old scored higher in social functioning (85.71 ± 14.59) and mental health (82.61 ± 20.00) than those younger than 40 (75.00 ± 12.13, 68.89 ± 12.98; social func- tioning and mental health, respectively). Donors who had surgery more than two years prior to the study scored highest in physical functioning (P = 0.001) and bodily pain (P = 0.042) while those less than one year from surgery scored lowest. The health of the liver recipient significantly influenced the general health (P = 0.042), social functioning (P = 0.010), and role- emotional (P = 0.028) of donors. Donors with full-time employment scored highest in role-physical (P = 0.005), vitality (P = 0.001), social functioning (P = 0.016), mental health (P < 0.001), the physical component summary scale (P < 0.001), and the mental compo- nent summary scale (MCS) (P < 0.001). Psychological measures indicated that donors were healthier than the general population in obsessive-compulsive behav- ior, interpersonal sensitivity, phobic anxiety, and para- noid ideation. The MCS of the SF-36 was significantly correlated with most symptom scores of the SCL-90-R. CONCLUSION: HRQoL and psychological outcome were favorable in living liver transplant donors after donation. Specifically, gender, age, time since opera- tion, recipient health condition, and employment after donation, influenced postoperative quality of life.

Estimation of quality of life in Cypriot patients with inflammatory bowel disease

AIMTo investigate the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients suffering with idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).METHODSThe Greek validated version of the Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire was used for evaluating the quality of life of IBD patients. The questionnaire was distributed to 100 consecutive patients suffering from IBD and presenting for a clinic appointment at the endoscopy unit of Larnaca General Hospital during the period from October to November 2012. The criteria for participating in this study were constituted by the documented diagnosis of either ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn&#x02019;s disease (CD) after endoscopy and histologic examination at least 6 months before the study, adult patients (18 years old or older), the capability of verbal communication and the patient&#x02019;s written consent for attending this study. The majority of the questionnaires were completed by a nurse practitioner who specializes in IBD patient care.RESULTSRegarding the physical dimension in patients with UC, males scored significantly higher than females (4.2 vs 3.4, P = 0.023). Higher scores were also observed in UC patients younger than 35 or older than 50 years (4.0 and 4.2 vs 3.2, respectively, P = 0.021). The psychological dimension revealed similar results in patients with UC, with males, and older ages scoring higher (5.0 vs 3.0, P = 0.01 and 4.7 vs 2.7, P &#x0003c; 0.5, respectively), whereas regarding CD higher scores were observed in married compared to unmarried (3.83 vs 2.33, P = 0.042). No statistical differences in any parameters in the social dimension were observed. Regarding the treatment of, patients with CD, overall higher scores were observed when treated with biological factors compared to standard therapy in all dimensions but with statistical significant difference in the social dimension (5.00 vs 3.25, P = 0.045).CONCLUSIONThe study reveals a negative impact of IBD on HRQoL. Increased risks are age and gender in patients with UC and family status in patients with CD.

Reliability and validity of Chinese version of a tool to assess the quality of life in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in patients with interstitial lung disease

Objective:This paper aims to determine the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of a tool that assesses the quality of life in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis(cATAQ-IPF)in patients with interstitial lung disease(ILD).Methods:We used the process of scale introduction to establish cATAQ-IPF.The content validity of the scale was evaluated by six experts.A total of 92 patients with ILD completed the cATAQ-IPF,St.George's respiratory questionnaire(SGRQ),and The Medical Research Council dyspnoea scale at the baseline,and 15 patients completed cATAQ-IPF at the follow-up period 2 weeks later.Thus,yielding data were used to assess various psychometric properties of cATAQ-IPE Intraclass correlation coefficient(ICC),Cronbach'sαcoefficient,content validity index(CVI),item-level CVI(I-CVI),Pearson's coefficients,criterion-relation validity,and known-group validity were used for data analysis.Results:The cATAQ-IPF showed excellent test-retest reliability(ICC=0.95),except for the therapy domain(Cronbach'sα=0.60)and acceptable internal consistency(Cronbach'sα=0.96 for the total).The scale-level CVI was 0.80,and the I-CVI was in the range of 0.78-1.00.The total cATAQ-IPF score was strongly correlated with the SGRQ total score(r=0.71,P<0.01).The cATAQ-IPF score of patients with ILD was 250.74±47.39,and that of patients with IPF was 287.90±22.56.Patients with IPF possessed considerable impairments in health-related quality of life according to the cATAQ-IPF score(t=4.94,P<0.01).Conclusions:The cATAQ-IPF is a reliable and valid instrument for the evaluation of quality of life of Chinese patients with various forms of ILD.

A Review of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE): Symptoms, Risk Factors, Treatment, and Health Related Quality of Life Issues

In this paper, we present a thorough review of one of the most life-threatening autoimmune diseases, Systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus). Symptoms, risk factors, including genetic and epidemiological factors are discussed. Treatment, life expectancies, and Health Related Quality of Life of patients with SLE will be discussed as well. Special attention will be given to Lupus Nephritis.

Health related quality of life after surgery for colonic diverticular disease

Diverticular disease(DD) of the colon is very common in developed countries and is ranked the fifth most important gastrointestinal disease worldwide.The management of acute diverticulitis without perforation and peritonitis is still debated.Health related quality of life(HRQL),subjectively perceived by patients,is becoming a major issue in the evaluation of any therapeutic intervention,mainly in patients with chronic disease.To date only a few published studies can be found on Medline examining HRQL in patients with DD.The aim of this study was to review the impact of surgery for DD on HRQL.All Medline articles regarding HRQL after surgery for colonic DD,particularly those comparing different surgical approaches,were reviewed.DD has a negative impact on HRQL with lower scores in bowel function and systemic symptoms.Both surgery-related complications and disease activity have a significant impact on patients' HRQL.While no signif icant differences in HRQL between different operations for DD in non-randomized studies were revealed,the only prospective double-blind randomized study that compared laparoscopic and open colectomy found that patients undergoing laparoscopic colectomy had signif icantly reduced major postoperative complication rates and subsequently had better HRQL scores.Formal assessment of HRQL could be a good instrument in the selection of appropriate patients for elective surgery as well as in the assessment of surgical outcome.

Quality oriented multimode processes monitoring based on a novel hierarchical common and specific structure with different order information

Due to higher demands on product diversity,flexible shift between productions of different products in one equipment becomes a popular solution,resulting in existence of multiple operation modes in a single process.In order to handle such multi-mode process,a novel double-layer structure is proposed and the original data are decomposed into common and specific characteristics according to the relationship between variables among each mode.In addition,both low and high order information are considered in each layer.The common and specific information within each mode can be captured and separated into several subspaces according to the different order information.The performance of the proposed method is further validated through a numerical example and the Tennessee Eastman(TE)benchmark.Compared with previous methods,superiority of the proposed method is validated by the better monitoring results.

Health Related Quality of Life in Adult with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Introduction: The health related quality of life (HRQoL) has an important role in adults suffering from diabetes. Objective: To assess the health related quality of life in adult with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess diabetic patient’s HRQoL on 119 purposively selected type-2 DM patients (aged ≥ 18 years and duration of diabetes ≥ 1 year). Data were collected by face-to-face interview and by medical record review through a Bangle version of SF-36 semi-structured questionnaire and a checklist. Place and period of study: The study was conducted at outpatient department in Gopalganj 50 bedded diabetic hospital from 1st January, 2018 to 31st December 2018. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 52.34 (SD ± 10.19) years. Age group shows a significant difference associated with all domains of quality of life except role emotion (>0.05), gender shows the significant in social and pain domain (0.05) respectively co-morbidity shows the significant difference with all domains expect pain (>0.05). Physical functioning, emotional, pain and general health of the quality of life show the significant difference associated with use of insulin (Conclusion: The overall QoL of type-2 DM patients was poor and had lower score of health related quality of life.

Effect of Malocclusion on Quality of Life among Persons Aged 7 - 25 Years: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: The theory of Oral Health Related Quality Of Life (OHRQOL) has manifold qualities. It endeavors to address social and/or emotional concerns as well as any symptoms or functional problems related to the teeth and jaws from the patients view point. The difficulty of utilizing any one standard evaluation tool to determine how the patient feels about problems with malocclusions or arising from them, led to the development of this construct/theory. Aim: To evaluate the impact of malocclusion on the socio-functional and psychological wellbeing of persons 7 - 25 years old. Method: 100 patients within the ages of 7 - 25 years who visited the Orthodontics Unit of the Oral Health Directorate of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi, were conveniently sampled and surveyed. Participants were given questionnaires to assess the effects of malocclusion on their Oral Health Related Quality of Life and also to determine if their educational status had any influence on the impact of malocclusion on their oral health related quality of life. Results: The modal age of the participants was 10 - 15 years with 40% as it frequency followed by 7 - 9 years while the age with least frequency was 16 - 25 years which stood at 22.0%. 28 respondents reported negative effects on their functional domain. 71 of the participants reported negative effects on psychological well-being and 49 of them reported negative effects on social well-being. Conclusion: Malocclusion has an overall negative impact on Oral Health Related Quality of Life and its related purviews. It was observed to be highest for the psychological discomfort domain and the lowest in the functional well-being domain.

The Evaluation of Vision Related Quality of Life in Patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa after Suprachoroidal Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell Treatment

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate vision related quality of life (VRQoL) in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) after suprachoroidal umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cell (UC-MSC) treatment. Methods: The patients were evaluated regarding to the VRQoL before the treatment and at the end of the first year. The study was performed in an affiliated hospital of a university between 2018 and 2020. The patients were operated by a single surgeon and evaluated at baseline and at first, sixth and twelfth month after stem cell implantation. To assess patients’ subjective visual situation, we used Impact of Vision Impairment (IVI) Profile 28-item questionnaire. It basically evaluated vision-related activities in three subscales: “reading and accessing information”, “mobility and independence” and “emotional well-being”. This test is established to assess VRQoL in low vision patients. Results: A total of 123 people, ranging in age from 18 to 48 years, participated in the study and 43.9% (n = 54) were women. The study patients were followed up for one year and the questionnaire was filled by patients at baseline and one year after surgery. In all groups, no difficulty was observed in understanding the questionnaire. The results showed significant improvements in VRQoL after stem cell treatment (p < 0.05). The analysis of each subscale score including “reading and accessing information”, “mobility and independence” and “emotional well-being” before and after treatment showed significant improvements in all subscale scores (p < 0.05). Conclusions: IVI 28 item questionnaire seems to be an effective test for the assessment of VRQoL in low vision patients. The suprachoroidal implantation of UC-MSC for the treatment of RP can improve the quality of life of these patients.

Protozoan colonization on artificial substrates in relation to water quality in a tropical Indian harbour

A field study was conducted to evaluate the protozoan colonization patterns on artificial substrates in relation to organic pollution within a tropical harbour. The composition of protozoans and their succession rates on artificial substrates(polyurethane foam units) were compared between two field stations(A and B), and their presence were considered with regards to the prevailing water quality conditions at the study sites. Altogether 44 genera of flagellates and ciliates were documented. The common genera of flagellates encountered included Monas, Polytoma, and Chromalina. Among the ciliates, the predominant genera were Tetrahymena, Vorticella, Lagynophyra, and Heloiphyra. These groups exhibited characteristic successional patterns in relation to ambient water quality. At Station A, located close to the sewage outfall, the water quality parameters included poor Secchi disc transparency(0.48m), dissolved oxygen of 1.93 mg/ml, salinity of 18 psu, and temperature 31.3 ℃. Here, the nanoflagellates( spumella ) colonized first, followed by microcilliate( Tetrahymena ) and sessile form( Vorticella ). Station B, located on the seaward side, was characterized by relatively less stressed environmental conditions with transparency 1.85m and dissolved oxygen value of 6 04 mg/ml. Salinity of 27.27 psu, and mean temperature of 30 ℃ were recorded at “B'. At this station, the nanoflagellate Polytoma was first documented to colonize on the substrates, followed by microcilliate( Lagynophrya ) and suctorid( Heliophyra ). These findings support the use of protozoans as indicator species for evaluating the hazards posed by organic pollution to natural estuarine communities.

Hard Winter Wheat and Flour Properties in Relation to Breadmaking Quality of Straight-dough Bread:Flour Particle Size and Bread Crumb Grain

Samples of 12 hard winter wheats and their flours that produced breads varying in crumb grain scores were studied for 38 quality parameters including: wheat physical and chemical characteristics; flour ash and protein contents,starch damage,swelling power,pasting characteristics,and flour particle size distribution; dough properties determined by a mixograph; and breadmaking properties for pup loaves (100g flour). Only two parameters,the protein content of wheat and the granulation of flour,showed significant correlations with bread crumb grain scores. Protein content of wheat ranging 12.9%～14.5% determined by an NIR method showed a weak inverse relationship (r =-0.61,p<0.05) with bread crumb grain score. Flour particle size distribution measured by both Alpine Air Jet Sieve and NIR methods revealed that the weight wt % of particles less than 38μm in size and representing 9.6%～19.3% of the flour weights was correlated positively (r =0 .78,p<0.01) with crumb grain score,whereas wt % of flour particles larger than 125μm had an inverse relationship (r =-0.60,p<0.05) with crumb grain score.

Temperament and character as predictor of health related quality of life after metacarpophalangeal joint arthroplasty ——Personality and MCP joint arthroplasty outcome

Purpose: To evaluate personality characteris- tics’ impact upon outcome after silicone-based MP arthroplasty in RA patients. Methods: 40 RA patients who had undergone operations on their MP joints were investigated in a one-year fol- low-up. Objective measurement to assess grip strength and active range of motion—Paper- pencil-tests to assess pain during activity and at rest performance, QoL, and personality. Results: Significant improvement was observed in func- tion and pain related scores except for the pain related VAS and in several QoL facets and do- mains. Patients who experienced improvement reported higher scores on the activities of daily living facet of the WHO QoL questionnaire. Those with lower pain showed more independ- ence. The variance of the QoL domain scores, other than social and physical domains, could substantially and meaningfully be explained by variance of objective measures combined with personality scores. Conclusions: Most RA pa- tients’ QoL can be improved by MP arthroplasty despite remaining substantial level of pain. NS and HA seem to play an important role in the adaptation process during the long term, chronic illness;whereas SD represents a tool of coping with the burden of pain and disability. Personal- ity characteristics are highly predictive for QoL suggesting their important mediating role be- tween experienced pain and disability and HR QoL.

A Study on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life and Its Influencing Factors in Elderly Diabetic Patients

Objective:To investigate the oral health related quality of life in elderly diabetic patients and analyze its influencing factors.Methods:Convenience sampling was used to select 190 elderly patients with diabetes under the Department of Endocrinology and Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine in the Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University as the research subjects.The Chinese version of the Oral Health Influence Scale(OHIP-14)was used to conduct a questionnaire survey,and univariate analysis and multiple stepwise regression analysis were used to analyze the influencing factors of oral health related quality of life in elderly diabetic patients.Results:The elderly diabetic patients'oral health related quality of life score was 34.48±3.23,which is in the middle-lower range.The findings of multivariate stepwise regression analysis revealed that the course of disease,regular visits to the dentist,sleep quality,oral health knowledge,and oral health attitude together explained 58.9%of the total variance in elderly diabetic patients in terms of their oral health related quality of life(p<0.05).Conclusion:The oral health related quality of life of elderly diabetic patients is generally low,and is affected by the duration of diabetes,sleep quality,and oral health knowledge,attitude,and behavior(regular visits to the dentist).Improving patientsJ attention to oral health problems by improving sleep as well as their own oral health knowledge,attitude,and behavior is an effective way to enhance oral health related quality of life.

Rice quality in relation to market prices in Yunnan Province

Factors affecting rice quality and their impacts on market price were investigated in this study. On-farm survey and market survey was undertaken in three selected sites namely Kunming, Dali, and Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province, China. Market sampling was conducted to determine important rice quality characteristics. Sixty milled rice samples were collected from domestic markets of the three sites during a period of Mar to Apr in 1994. The grain physicochemical properties of the milled rice samples were analyzed on the basis of Chinese Agricultural Ministry Standard for testing rice quality. A hedonic price model (implicit price model) was further employed to quantify relationships between quality characteristics and market prices of rice. The model can be expressed mathematically as the following function (1) This function shows that the average price paid by consumer for different grades of rice with attribute Xj. Using the ordinary least square (OLS) regression of observed market prices on measures