-
Trauma, Violence & Abuse Dec 2023Attacks perpetrated using acid are a particular form of interpersonal violence, possibly one of the most heinous manifestations of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Acid... (Review)
Review
Attacks perpetrated using acid are a particular form of interpersonal violence, possibly one of the most heinous manifestations of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Acid attacks are mainly motivated by extramarital cheating, marital conflicts, women's rejection of marriage proposals, and sexual advances. As these attacks are not well understood from a psychological perspective, we conducted a systematic review, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, of 284 articles identified, 13 were eligible for inclusion. Three main focuses were identified: "Risk and vulnerability factors," "Consequences and implications," and "Interventions and treatments." Acid attacks seem to be more frequent in countries where social and economic development leads to greater tensions over traditional gender roles like Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India. Identified risk factors were young age, low socioeconomic status, low educational attainment, ethnicity, unemployment status of the victim, alcohol, and drug use of the perpetrator. Among the main psychosocial consequences of acid attacks, isolation and social exclusion emerged. Additionally, the paper will discuss the role of mental health consequences and specific treatments from psychological, clinical, and medical-legal points of view.
Topics: Female; Humans; Family Conflict; Gender-Based Violence; Intimate Partner Violence; Risk Factors; Sexual Behavior
PubMed: 36062902
DOI: 10.1177/15248380221121288 -
American Journal of Kidney Diseases :... Oct 2023COVID-19 disproportionately affects people with comorbidities, including chronic kidney disease (CKD). We describe the impact of COVID-19 on people with CKD and their...
RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE
COVID-19 disproportionately affects people with comorbidities, including chronic kidney disease (CKD). We describe the impact of COVID-19 on people with CKD and their caregivers.
STUDY DESIGN
A systematic review of qualitative studies.
SETTING & STUDY POPULATIONS
Primary studies that reported the experiences and perspectives of adults with CKD and/or caregivers were eligible.
SEARCH STRATEGY & SOURCES
MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL searched from database inception to October 2022.
DATA EXTRACTION
Two authors independently screened the search results. Full texts of potentially relevant studies were assessed for eligibility. Any discrepancies were resolved by discussion with another author.
ANALYTICAL APPROACH
A thematic synthesis was used to analyze the data.
RESULTS
Thirty-four studies involving 1,962 participants were included. Four themes were identified: exacerbating vulnerability and distress (looming threat of COVID-19 infection, intensifying isolation, aggravating pressure on families); uncertainty in accessing health care (overwhelmed by disruption of care, confused by lack of reliable information, challenged by adapting to telehealth, skeptical about vaccine efficacy and safety); coping with self-management (waning fitness due to decreasing physical activity, diminishing ability to manage diet, difficulty managing fluid restrictions, minimized burden with telehealth, motivating confidence and autonomy); and strengthening sense of safety and support (protection from lockdown restrictions, increasing trust in care, strengthened family connection).
LIMITATIONS
Non-English studies were excluded, and inability to delineate themes based on stage of kidney and treatment modality.
CONCLUSIONS
Uncertainty in accessing health care during the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated vulnerability, emotional distress, and burden, and led to reduced capacity to self-manage among patients with CKD and their caregivers. Optimizing telehealth and access to educational and psychosocial support may improve self-management and the quality and effectiveness of care during a pandemic, mitigating potentially catastrophic consequences for people with CKD.
PLAIN-LANGUAGE SUMMARY
During the COVID-19 pandemic, patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) faced barriers and challenges to accessing care and were at an increased risk of worsened health outcomes. To understand the perspectives about the impact of COVID-19 among patients with CKD and their caregivers, we conducted a systematic review of 34 studies involving 1,962 participants. Our findings demonstrated that uncertainty in accessing care during the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the vulnerability, distress, and burden of patients and impaired their abilities for self-management. Optimizing the use of telehealth and providing education and psychosocial services may mitigate the potential consequences for people with CKD during a pandemic.
Topics: Adult; Humans; COVID-19; Pandemics; Communicable Disease Control; Qualitative Research; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic
PubMed: 37330133
DOI: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2023.04.001 -
BMC Public Health Aug 2023Smoking cessation can effectively reduce the risk of death, alleviate respiratory symptoms, and decrease the frequency of acute exacerbations in patients with chronic... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
BACKGROUND
Smoking cessation can effectively reduce the risk of death, alleviate respiratory symptoms, and decrease the frequency of acute exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Effective smoking cessation strategies are crucial for the prevention and treatment of COPD. Currently, clinical interventions based on theoretical frameworks are being increasingly used to help patients quit smoking and have shown promising results. However, theory-guided smoking cessation interventions have not been systematically evaluated or meta-analyzed for their effectiveness in COPD patients. To improve smoking cessation rates, this study sought to examine the effects of theory-based smoking cessation interventions on COPD patients.
METHODS
We adhered to the PRISMA guidelines for our systematic review and meta-analysis. The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, Wanfang, CNKI, VIP Information Services Platform, and China Biomedical Literature Service System were searched from the establishment of the database to April 20, 2023. The study quality was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration's risk assessment tool for bias. The revman5.4 software was used for meta-analysis. The I test was used for the heterogeneity test, the random effect model and fixed effect model were used for meta-analysis, and sensitivity analysis was performed by excluding individual studies.
RESULTS
A total of 11 RCTs involving 3,830 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Results showed that theory-based smoking cessation interventions improved smoking cessation rates, quality of life, and lung function in COPD patients compared to conventional nursing. However, these interventions did not significantly affect the level of nicotine dependence in patients.
CONCLUSION
Theory-based smoking cessation intervention as a non-pharmacologically assisted smoking cessation strategy has a positive impact on motivating COPD patients to quit smoking and improving their lung function and quality of life.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
PROSPERO registration Number: CRD42023434357.
Topics: Humans; Smoking Cessation; Quality of Life; Behavior Therapy; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive; Smoking
PubMed: 37559043
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-16441-w -
International Journal of Medical... Dec 2023Motivation and objective: Emergency medicine is becoming a popular application area for artificial intelligence methods but remains less investigated than other... (Review)
Review
UNLABELLED
Motivation and objective: Emergency medicine is becoming a popular application area for artificial intelligence methods but remains less investigated than other healthcare branches. The need for time-sensitive decision-making on the basis of high data volumes makes the use of quantitative technologies inevitable. However, the specifics of healthcare regulations impose strict requirements for such applications. Published contributions cover separate parts of emergency medicine and use disparate data and algorithms. This study aims to systematize the relevant contributions, investigate the main obstacles to artificial intelligence applications in emergency medicine, and propose directions for further studies.
METHODS
The contributions selection process was conducted with systematic electronic databases querying and filtering with respect to established exclusion criteria. Among the 380 papers gathered from IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, Springer Library, ScienceDirect, and Nature databases 116 were considered to be a part of the survey. The main features of the selected papers are the focus on emergency medicine and the use of machine learning or deep learning algorithms.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
The selected papers were classified into two branches: diagnostics-specific and triage-specific. The former ones are focused on either diagnosis prediction or decision support. The latter covers such applications as mortality, outcome, admission prediction, condition severity estimation, and urgent care prediction. The observed contributions are highly specialized within a single disease or medical operation and often use privately collected retrospective data, making them incomparable. These and other issues can be addressed by creating an end-to-end solution based on human-machine interaction.
CONCLUSION
Artificial intelligence applications are finding their place in emergency medicine, while most of the corresponding studies remain isolated and lack higher generalization and more sophisticated methodology, which can be a matter of forthcoming improvements.
Topics: Humans; Artificial Intelligence; Retrospective Studies; Algorithms; Emergency Medicine; Machine Learning
PubMed: 37944275
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2023.105274 -
BMJ Open Oct 2023The objective of this review is to (1) identify barriers and facilitators with respect to women's health services at a primary care level based on a systematic review...
OBJECTIVES
The objective of this review is to (1) identify barriers and facilitators with respect to women's health services at a primary care level based on a systematic review and narrative synthesis and (2) to conclude with recommendations for better services and uptake.
DESIGN
Systematic review and narrative synthesis.
DATA SOURCES
PubMed, BMC Medicine, Medline, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library. Grey literature was also searched.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Qualitative, quantitative and mixed studies were included in the review.
DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS
The search took place at the beginning of June 2021 and was completed at the end of August 2021. Studies were included in the review based on the Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, Research type criteria. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Data were synthesised using a narrative synthesis approach.
RESULTS
A total of 33 studies were included in the review. We identified six barriers to the delivery of effective primary healthcare for women's health which have been organised under two core themes of 'service barriers' and 'family/cultural barriers'. Ten barriers to the uptake of primary healthcare for women have been identified, under three core themes of 'perceptions about healthcare service', 'cultural factors' and 'practical issues'. Three facilitators of primary healthcare delivery for women were identified: 'motivating community health workers (CHWs) with continued training, salary, and supervision' and 'selection of CHWs on the basis of certain characteristics'. Five facilitators of the uptake of primary healthcare services for women were identified, under two core themes of 'development of trust and acceptance' and 'use of technology'.
CONCLUSIONS
Change is needed not only to address the limitations of the primary healthcare services themselves, but also the cultural practices and limited awareness and literacy that prevent the uptake of healthcare services by women, in addition to the wider infrastructure in terms of the provision of financial support, public transport and child care centres.
PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER
CRD42020203472.
Topics: Female; Humans; Pakistan; Health Services; Primary Health Care
PubMed: 37899162
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-076883 -
Neurologia Mar 2024To identify the neurological diseases for which euthanasia and assisted suicide are most frequently requested in the countries where these medical procedures are legal... (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVE
To identify the neurological diseases for which euthanasia and assisted suicide are most frequently requested in the countries where these medical procedures are legal and the specific characteristics of euthanasia in some of these diseases, and to show the evolution of euthanasia figures.
METHODS
We conducted a systematic literature review.
RESULTS
Dementia, motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease are the neurological diseases that most frequently motivate requests for euthanasia or assisted suicide. Requests related to dementia constitute the largest group, are growing, and raise additional ethical and legal issues due to these patients' diminished decision-making capacity. In some countries, the ratios of euthanasia requests to all cases of multiple sclerosis, motor neuron disease, or Huntington disease are higher than for any other disease.
CONCLUSIONS
After cancer, neurological diseases are the most frequent reason for requesting euthanasia or assisted suicide.
Topics: Humans; Suicide, Assisted; Euthanasia; Nervous System Diseases; Huntington Disease; Multiple Sclerosis; Motor Neuron Disease
PubMed: 38272260
DOI: 10.1016/j.nrleng.2024.01.007 -
Gamification and neurological motor rehabilitation in children and adolescents: a systematic review.Neurologia 2024Gamification consists of the use of games in non-playful contexts. It is widely employed in the motor rehabilitation of neurological diseases, but mainly in adult... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
Gamification consists of the use of games in non-playful contexts. It is widely employed in the motor rehabilitation of neurological diseases, but mainly in adult patients. The objective of this review was to describe the use of gamification in the rehabilitation of children and adolescents with neuromotor impairment.
METHODS
We performed a systematic review of clinical trials published to date on the MEDLINE (PubMed), Scielo, SCOPUS, Dialnet, CINAHL, and PEDro databases, following the PRISMA protocol. The methodological quality of the studies identified was assessed using the PEDro scale.
RESULTS
From a total of 469 studies, 11 clinical trials met the inclusion criteria. We analysed the gamification systems used as part of the rehabilitation treatment of different neuromotor conditions in children and adolescents. Cerebral palsy was the most frequently studied condition (6 studies), followed by developmental coordination disorder (3), neurological gait disorders (1), and neurological impairment of balance and coordination (1).
CONCLUSION
The use of gamification in rehabilitation is helpful in the conventional treatment of neuromotor disorders in children and adolescents, with increased motivation and therapeutic adherence being the benefits with the greatest consensus among authors. While strength, balance, functional status, and coordination also appear to improve, future research should aim to determine an optimal dosage.
Topics: Child; Humans; Adolescent; Gamification; Movement Disorders; Cerebral Palsy; Gait; Neurological Rehabilitation
PubMed: 38065433
DOI: 10.1016/j.nrleng.2023.12.006 -
Advances in Medicine 2023Ineffective nursing documentation practices have been reported to negatively impact patient outcomes and health professional efficiency. On the prevalence of nurses'... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Ineffective nursing documentation practices have been reported to negatively impact patient outcomes and health professional efficiency. On the prevalence of nurses' documentation practices in Ethiopia, several separate studies have been carried out. However, there is no pooled prevalence of nurses' documentation practice. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the overall prevalence of nursing care documentation practice and related factors in Ethiopia.
METHODS AND MATERIALS
This review only included articles that were published. The main databases were Medline/PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus, Ethiopian University Repository Online, and the Cochrane Library. Cross-sectional studies that satisfy the criteria and are written in English are included in the review. Using a random effects model, the pooled prevalence of nurses' documentation practices was determined. The funnel plot and the Eggers test were also used to look into publication bias. All statistical analyses were done with STATA version 14.
RESULT
This review included nine studies with a total of 2,900 participants. The pooled prevalence of nurses' documentation practice in Ethiopia was 50.01% (95% CI: 42.59 and 57.18; = 93.8%; and ≤ 0.001). In terms of subgroup analysis, Addis Ababa had the highest prevalence of nurses' documentation practice at 84% (95% CI: 77.18 and 90.82), while Southern Ethiopia had the lowest at 40.00% (95% CI: 38.10 and 44.90). Nursing documentation practices were statistically associated with the availability of nursing documentation formats, adequate nurse-to-patient ratio, motivation, and training.
CONCLUSION
This review showed that one in two nurses practiced poor documentation of their daily activities in Ethiopia. Therefore, strict monitoring, evaluation, and supervision of nursing care documentation services are highly recommended for all stakeholders. We strongly recommend improving the identified factors by arranging training for nurses, motivating them, providing adequate documentation formats, and maintaining a nurse-to-patient ratio.
PubMed: 37965424
DOI: 10.1155/2023/5565226 -
PloS One 2023To identify and systematically review current scholarship on talent management of international nurses in healthcare organizations. (Review)
Review
AIM
To identify and systematically review current scholarship on talent management of international nurses in healthcare organizations.
BACKGROUND
As nurse shortages persistently pose challenges for healthcare organizations globally, one of the primary strategies employed to address these shortages is employment of international nurses. To date little has been done to systematically review and collate contemporary research on talent management of this strategically important cohort. Talent management is a holistic construct that can support healthcare organizations to attract, develop, motivate, and retain talented employees to drive organizational performance. This systematic review isolates, appraises and collates available evidence on talent management practices for international nurses.
STUDY DESIGN
Systematic literature review.
DATA SOURCES
Searches of PubMed, EBSCO and Scopus were made covering literature from 2012-2022.
REVIEW METHODS
This study followed Cochrane protocol for Systematic Reviews and key search terms were developed in consultation with University of Limerick library. As a key aim of the review was to provide evidence for the development of effective talent management practices, only peer-reviewed academic papers and empirical studies were included. Initial articles screening was conducted by two reviewers and full articles review was conducted by the entire research team. Findings were combined in a data extraction template for further analysis.
RESULTS
This review includes 62 articles thematically analysed under the headings recruitment and selection, retention and turnover, career progression, professional development, discrimination and racism, culture and communication.
CONCLUSION
No articles were found that directly address talent management for international nurses. Although there are studies that address aspects of talent management independently, more research is required on talent management as a holistic process for international nurses to inform evidence-based practice.
IMPACT
This research emphasizes the importance of talent management for retention of international nurses in healthcare settings. It provides a knowledge base for healthcare organisations to enhance employee retention and ensure quality care for patients, as well as setting the foundation for future studies in this area.
Topics: Humans; Delivery of Health Care; Health Facilities; Nurses; Nurses, International; Quality of Health Care; Systematic Reviews as Topic
PubMed: 37930991
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293828 -
Annals of Medicine and Surgery (2012) Aug 2023Augmented reality (AR) technology is being used recently in healthcare, especially for rehabilitation purposes, owing to its ability for repetition, rapid feedback, and...
UNLABELLED
Augmented reality (AR) technology is being used recently in healthcare, especially for rehabilitation purposes, owing to its ability for repetition, rapid feedback, and motivation for patients. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to compare the efficacy of AR-based interventions to conventional physical interventions in improving balance, mobility, and fall risk.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were systematically searched from inception to January 2023. Randomized trials and observational cohort studies comparing the effects of AR-based exercises with conventional training in patients 18 years and older were included in the analysis. Studies using virtual reality, case reports and series, reviews, meta-analyses, letters, and editorials were excluded. Post-intervention data on the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Timed Up and Go (TUG) Test were extracted and studied. The fixed-effects inverse variance model was utilized to pool the extracted data.
RESULTS
Out of 438 articles, seven articles (199 participants) comparing AR-based exercise with the standard training were included in the systematic review. Six articles with sufficient data on the parameters were included in the meta-analysis. AR-based exercises resulted in a significantly higher BBS score than conventional exercise (Hedge's g=0.48, 95% CI=0.19-0.77, <0.001). The BBS value was significantly higher in AR-based training of 8 weeks or more (Hedge's g=0.88, 95% CI=0.46-1.31) when compared with trainings conducted for less than 8 weeks (Hedge's g=0.11, 95% CI=-0.30 to 0.52), =0.01). Likewise, the TUG Test score was found to be to be significantly lower in ARgroup than the controls (Hedge's g= -0.54, 95% CI=-0.85 to -0.23, <0.01).
CONCLUSION
In comparison to conventional methods, AR-based exercises had higher improvements in balance, mobility, and fall risk parameters. The use of AR technology in elderly patients can promote independence while preventing falls and associated morbidity and mortality. There is a need for a larger randomized controlled trial to provide a more accurate comparison on efficacy and safety of different modalities of training.
PubMed: 37554880
DOI: 10.1097/MS9.0000000000000986