Nursing Research最新文献

Background: Chronic pain is a major cause of distress and disability, and biomarkers may aid in the assessment and treatment of it. Urine metabolites may be valuable bioindicators that can provide biological insight regarding chronic pain.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between a multimarker composite measure of metabolites and patient-reported outcomes scores in adults with chronic pain, using data from a pragmatic clinical trial with a sequential, multiple-assignment randomized trial design.

Methods: Self-reported measures and urine samples from 169 active-duty service members with chronic pain were collected. Urine was analyzed using a preestablished panel of metabolites, including four previously identified biomarkers of pain: kynurenic acid, pyroglutamic acid, ethylmalonic acid, and methylmalonate. Multivariable linear regression models-adjusted for participant characteristics such as age and sex-were used to cross-sectionally examine the relationship between 11 patient-reported outcomes (fatigue, sleep-related impairment, anxiety, depression, anger, pain catastrophizing, physical function, pain interference, satisfaction with participation with social roles, pain intensity, and pain impact score) and the four urine metabolites both individually and as a composite (urine metabolite pain indicator, or UMPI). Given the study's small sample size and exploratory nature, a significance threshold of p ≤ .10 was used for all analyses.

Results: The UMPI showed statistically significant associations with five self-reported measures (fatigue, anxiety, depression, physical functioning, and pain impact score); adjusted Pearson correlations ranged from .18 to .25. Individual metabolite analyses supported these findings, with all relationships between individual metabolites and self-reported measures showing positive associations. Kynurenic acid and ethylmalonic acid showed the strongest associations, each having statistically significant relationships with four individual self-reported measures, while pyroglutamic acid had statistically significant relationships with three self-reported measures and methylmalonate with none. The UMPI demonstrated feasible reliability.

Discussion: Our finding of associations between the UMPI and components of the self-reported measures supports the development of the UMPI and these four urine metabolites as biomarkers for chronic pain outcomes. Further research is planned and will be essential for establishing mechanistic insight and guiding biomarker development within the context of pain management.

Background: Gamification uses game-based mechanics, aesthetics, and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning, and solve problems. However, gaps remain in understanding and implementing gamification in rehabilitation care, necessitating further exploration and clarification of the best evidence for application of gamification.

Objective: To conduct a scoping review of the use of gamification in rehabilitation care for adults with chronic illnesses, summarizing the scope, forms, elements, guiding theories, effectiveness, and ease of use of gamification.

Methods: Eight databases in English or Chinese were searched from January 1, 2011 to May 20, 2024 following the standard scoping review framework.

Results: A total of 24 papers were included. Gamification was applied in the rehabilitation of endocrine, skeletal, circulatory, neurological, and cerebrovascular diseases, primarily using virtual reality and three-dimensional forms. Eight gamification elements were most commonly utilized. Positive outcomes included enhanced rehabilitation knowledge, improved attitudes, better physical function, and increased self-care ability. Most patients found gamified rehabilitation care engaging and easy to use.

Discussion: The application of gamification in adult chronic disease rehabilitation care shows great promise. However, the lack of theory-driven or longitudinal data in some studies highlights the need for more randomized controlled and longitudinal research to explore the effectiveness of gamified intervention.

Background: Self-advocacy plays a crucial role in the mental health and treatment outcomes of oncology patients, particularly those with uterine malignancies. Despite its significance, research on the self-advocacy levels and influencing factors among Chinese patients with uterine malignancies remains limited.

Objectives: To assess the self-advocacy levels among Chinese patients with uterine malignancies and identify the demographic, psychological resilience, and decision self-efficacy factors that influence self-advocacy.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from March 1 to September 1, 2023, involving 220 inpatients with uterine malignancies from three tertiary hospitals in Shandong Province, China. Participants were recruited using convenience sampling and completed the General Information Questionnaire, Female Cancer Survivorship Self-advocacy Scale, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and Decision Self-efficacy Scale.

Results: The average self-advocacy score among participants was 59.44 ± 10.14. Significant positive correlations were found between self-advocacy, psychological resilience, and decision self-efficacy. The random forest algorithm identified decision self-efficacy, psychological resilience, family average income, type of medical insurance, educational level, and residence as the six most important influencing factors, with the optimal model performance observed when lambda (λ) = 1.191. Multiple linear regression analysis further confirmed that decision self-efficacy, psychologic resilience, family average income, educational level, and residence were significant predictors of self-advocacy.

Discussion: The self-advocacy levels of Chinese patients with uterine malignancies were relatively low, with decision self-efficacy, psychological resilience, and socioeconomic factors significantly influencing their self-advocacy abilities. Future targeted interventions should focus on enhancing patients' decision self-efficacy and psychological resilience, thereby guiding them to actively respond and participate in decision-making, ultimately improving self-advocacy among patients with uterine malignancies.

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, the risk of obstetric complications remains high throughout the postpartum period.

Objective: We developed and tested a novel, integrated model of group postpartum care titled Focused-Postpartum Care (Focused-PPC) to improve outcomes. In this paper, we report clinical outcomes of participants in the intervention arm and differences in knowledge of postbirth warning signs among those in the intervention and control arms.

Methods: Focused-PPC encompassed recommended clinical assessments, targeted education, and peer support up to 1 year after birth. Focused-PPC was implemented as a parallel randomized controlled trial involving 192 postpartum women across four health centers in Tamale, Ghana, from February 2022 to August 2023. Eligible participants 18 years or older with a live birth were randomly assigned to either the Focused-PPC intervention arm or the control arm at a 1:1 allocation and were not blinded to their allocation. At each health center, 48 participants were allocated to either an intervention or control arm. Focused-PPC groups in the intervention arm consisted of eight participants per group. Participants in the intervention arm received the Focused-PPC integrated group model of care. Participants in the control arm received the standard of postnatal care already administered at each health center.

Results: Baseline analysis included 96 participants from the control arm and 91 participants from the intervention arm. We found that vital signs and clinical outcomes were relatively stable; however, incidences of hypertension substantially decreased among participants in the intervention arm. By 3 months postbirth, most participants in the intervention arm were able to identify all postbirth warning signs and retain this knowledge compared to the control arm. Those in the intervention arm were also knowledgeable of more warning signs at each time point compared to the control arm.

Discussion: An integrated, evidence-based approach to postpartum care, such as Focused-PPC, has potential to increase knowledge and improve clinical outcomes among mothers in Ghana.

Background: Disrespect and abuse of laboring and child-birthing women in health care is a global problem that violates the universal human rights of childbearing women. There is a lack of reliable and valid tools for measuring these behaviors. One instrument, the Disrespect and Abuse scale, has preliminary data with no established psychometrics in diverse populations. Further analysis is required to ensure the reliability and validity of this tool in diverse populations and health care settings.

Objectives: We examined the psychometric properties of the Disrespect and Abuse scale in diverse international nursing and midwifery populations.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design was used to measure disrespect and abuse toward women during childbirth. Data were collected from 231 nurses and midwives across international labor and delivery units. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted using principal component analysis with oblimin rotation as the factor extraction method.

Results: The psychometric assessment yielded a two-factor structure. Factor 1 consisted of 13 items characterizing physical and verbal abuse. Factor 2 contained nine items reflecting disrespectful behaviors. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients reflected high internal consistency.

Discussion: The scale was shown to be reliable and valid in assessing self-reported disrespectful and abusive behaviors among nurses and midwives in a diverse international sample. Use could assist in the assessment of these behaviors in maternal health care facilities. Further research is warranted to confirm the scale's robustness and applicability across various populations and settings and use the Disrespect and Abuse scale to identify the burden and predictors of mistreatment of women in different health care settings.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted researchers to develop new ways to design and launch studies and recruit and retain participants. Pregnant women and infants are considered vulnerable populations in research, and families affected by substance use are particularly difficult to recruit and retain. Recruitment for studies involving medical technologies such as MRI can also be difficult due to misconceptions and fear of the technologies.

Objectives: This article aims to describe "lessons learned" during the launch of the Outcomes of Babies with Opioid Exposure (OBOE) study, including successes and challenges when working with high-risk infants and families and the importance of engaging participants through recruitment materials and retention efforts.

Methods: The OBOE study is a multisite prospective longitudinal cohort study comparing infants with antenatal opioid exposure to unexposed controls from birth to 2 years of age. Chi-square tests were used to examine refusal reasons among caregivers of eligible infants by exposure group and differences in 6-month retention among subgroups based on social determinants of health.

Results: Four factors were essential in establishing the consortium, implementing the study, and retaining participants: (a) creating venues for collaboration, (b) pivoting from in-person to virtual training, (c) anticipating potential enrollment barriers and addressing them directly, and (d) engaging participants through recruitment materials and retention efforts. With these factors in place, only 5% of caregivers of eligible opioid-exposed infants and 8% of control infants declined to participate in the study because of MRIs. Of 310 enrolled infants, 234 infants had attended the 6-month visit. Subgroups of enrolled infants were similar in retention at 6 months.

Discussion: Reporting our successes and challenges in setting up a nationwide consortium during the pandemic may help other consortia that need to be set up virtually. We anticipated that the serial MRIs would be a barrier to participation; however, few indicated they refused to participate because of MRIs, suggesting that our efforts to address this potential barrier to enrollment were successful.

Background: Although subject coenrollment into multiple trials is desirable, thoughtful consideration is required to avoid compromising each trial's scientific integrity.

Objective: We developed a Decision-Making Grid (GRID) to help investigators determine whether a clinical trial is compatible with a second clinical trial, thus allowing coenrollment, or if it should be considered competing, prohibiting coenrollment.

Methods: The GRID evaluates 21 elements across four domains: scientific integrity, data interpretation, feasibility/burden, and additional considerations. Optimally, each principal investigator shares their protocol, completes the GRID independently, and then meets to compare their perspectives, seeking a mutually acceptable agreement.

Results: The GRID has facilitated coenrollment decision-making for the RESTORE and PROSpect pediatric critical care clinical trials. In RESTORE , five trials were reviewed; one was approved for coenrollment, and four were deemed competing. In PROSpect , 26 trials have been reviewed; 20 are approved for coenrollment, and six were deemed competing. In both RESTORE and PROSpect , the principal investigators of multiple trials arranged a mutually acceptable sharing agreement.

Discussion: The GRID provides a systematic process to help investigators evaluate the effect of coenrollment in multiple clinical trials.