Change in fatigue in patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease initiating biologic therapy.

Background: Fatigue is common among patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) and is associated with decreased quality of life (QoL).

Aims: Describe fatigue evolution and identify factors associated with fatigue outcomes in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn's disease (CD) initiating biologic treatment.

Methods: Data from adult Belgian patients with UC or CD enrolled in a prospective real-world study were utilized.

Employing Singlet-Singlet Energy Transfer for Boosting the Reactivity of Type I Photoinitiators in Radical Photopolymerization.

A remarkable and unexpected increase in the photopolymerization efficiency of an acrylic resin by a bisacylphosphine oxide photoinitiator was observed when an optical brightener was present in the medium. High values for the maximal rates of photopolymerization were obtained by RT-FTIR at 365 nm under a very low irradiance of 1 mW/cm. Fluorescence studies revealed that the quenching process occurs through singlet-singlet energy transfer between the first singlet excited state of the optical brightener and the ground state photoinitiator.

Submitting to God's will: Attitudes and beliefs of Moroccan Muslim women regarding mourning and remembrance.

This study aimed to elicit the attitudes and beliefs of middle-aged and elderly Moroccan Muslim women regarding mourning and remembrance, to identify whether differences are observable between middle-aged and elderly participants, to explore the role of religion and to document how the actual attitudes of our participants relate to normative Islamic literature. Interviews were conducted with middle-aged and elderly Moroccan women living in Belgium ( = 30) and with experts in the field ( = 15). This study reveals that the religious beliefs have a great impact on the views of Muslim women.

"Every soul shall taste death." Attitudes and beliefs of Moroccan muslim women living in Antwerp (Belgium) toward dying, death, and the afterlife.

This study aims to elicit the beliefs and attitudes of middle-aged and elderly Moroccan Muslim women toward dying, death, and the afterlife; to identify whether differences are observable between middle-aged and elderly participants and to document how the actual attitudes of our participants relate to normative Islamic literature. Interviews were conducted with middle-aged and elderly Moroccan women living in Belgium (n = 30) and with experts in the field (n = 15). This study reveals that the belief in an omnipotent and omniscient God and in an afterlife strongly marks the attitudes of first- and second-generation Muslims in Belgium toward life and death.

"What Goes Around Comes Around": Attitudes and Practices Regarding Ageing and Care for the Elderly Among Moroccan Muslim Women Living in Antwerp (Belgium).

The aim of this article is threefold. First, we seek to elicit the attitudes and practices of middle-aged and elderly Moroccan Muslim women towards ageing and care for the elderly. Second, we aim to identify possible differences between middle-aged and elderly women's attitudes and practices.

Between quality of life and hope. Attitudes and beliefs of Muslim women toward withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatments.

The technological advances in medicine, including prolongation of life, have constituted several dilemmas at the end of life. In the context of the Belgian debates on end-of-life care, the views of Muslim women remain understudied. The aim of this article is fourfold.

Purification of Body and Soul for the Next Journey. Practices Surrounding Death and Dying Among Muslim Women.

This study aims, first, to compare normative Islamic practices toward death and dying and actual practices of Moroccan Muslim women. Second, it seeks to compare the views and practices of middle-aged and elderly women. Qualitative empirical research was conducted with 30 middle-aged and elderly Moroccan Muslim women living in Antwerp (Belgium) and with 15 experts in the field.

Coping with menopausal symptoms: An internet survey of Belgian postmenopausal women.

Objectives: An internet survey was performed to obtain data on the current use in Belgium of hormone replacement therapy and alternative treatments for the alleviation of menopausal symptoms. A supplementary aim was to assess the use of opt-in internet opinion panels (TalkToChange, http://www.talktochange.

Institutional Elderly Care Services and Moroccan and Turkish Migrants in Belgium: A Literature Review.

In several European countries, including Belgium, the rapid ageing of the migrant population has emerged only recently on the political agenda. The aim of this literature review is threefold. Firstly, it provides a review of the available studies on the accessibility and use of institutional care services by Moroccan and Turkish migrants in the Flemish part of Belgium including Flanders and Brussels.

Effect evaluation of an oral health promotion intervention in preschool children.

Objective: This study evaluates the effectiveness of a multi-component oral health intervention in preschool children in a non-randomized intervention study with a complementary baseline control.

Methods: Participants in the main study were 2137 children born between October 2003 and July 2004 in Flanders, Belgium. In the intervention group (50.

Evaluating the implementation fidelity of a multicomponent intervention for oral health promotion in preschool children.

This study evaluates the process of implementation of a longitudinal intervention program to promote oral health in preschool children in Flanders, Belgium. As the program was implemented in an existing preventive health care organization, the study also evaluates this setting as the context for implementation. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to evaluate implementation fidelity, based on Carroll's theoretical framework of implementation fidelity (Carroll et al.

Measuring determinants of oral health behaviour in parents of preschool children.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a valid and reliable measure for oral health behaviour and its determinants in five-year-old Flemish children, based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and to test its predictive validity.

Methods: 1157 parents of five-year-olds completed a questionnaire measuring three behaviours related to oral health among children (dietary habits, oral hygiene, dental attendance) and their determinants (attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, intention). The sample was randomly split in two halves and principal component analyses were performed on one half sample to identify the factor structure.

Oral health and oral health-related behaviour in preschool children: evidence for a social gradient.

This study aims to investigate the social gradient in the reported oral health-related behaviour and oral health status of preschool children. Participants were 1,057 children born between October 2003 and July 2004 in Flanders, Belgium. Oral health examinations were performed by trained dentists when the children were 3 and 5 years old (respectively, in 2007 and 2009); data on dietary habits, oral hygiene habits and dental attendance of the children were obtained through structured questionnaires completed by the parents.

Flemish palliative-care nurses' attitudes to palliative sedation: a quantitative study.

Palliative sedation is an option of last resort to control refractory suffering. In order to better understand palliative-care nurses' attitudes to palliative sedation, an anonymous questionnaire was sent to all nurses (589) employed in palliative care in Flanders (Belgium). In all, 70.

Effects of time and socio-economic status on the determinants of oral health-related behaviours of parents of preschool children.

The oral health-related beliefs of parents have an important impact on the oral health status of their children; however, they are not stable over time. This study aimed to assess the changes, over time, in the determinants of parental oral health-related behaviour based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and to investigate socio-economic inequalities. The cohort consisted of the parents - mainly the mothers - of 1,057 children born in 2003 and 2004 in Flanders (Belgium).

Can curative or life-sustaining treatment be withheld or withdrawn? The opinions and views of Indian palliative-care nurses and physicians.

Introduction: Decisions to withdraw or withhold curative or life-sustaining treatment can have a huge impact on the symptoms which the palliative-care team has to control. Palliative-care patients and their relatives may also turn to palliative-care physicians and nurses for advice regarding these treatments. We wanted to assess Indian palliative-care nurses and physicians' attitudes towards withholding and withdrawal of curative or life-sustaining treatment.

Religion, world view and the nurse: results of a quantitative survey among Flemish palliative care nurses.

Aims: To study the religious or ideological views and practices of palliative care nurses.

Method: An anonymous questionnaire was sent to all nurses (n=589) employed in palliative care in Flanders, Belgium. A total of 70.

Flemish palliative care nurses' attitudes toward euthanasia: a quantitative study.

Aim: To adequately measure the attitudes of Flemish palliative care nurses toward euthanasia, and assess the relationship between these attitudes and demographic factors and the (perceived) influence of experience in palliative care on death anxiety.

Method: An anonymous questionnaire was sent to all nurses (n=589) employed in palliative care in Flanders, Belgium: 70.5% of the nurses (n=415) responded.

The ongoing charity of organ donation. Contemporary English Sunni fatwas on organ donation and blood transfusion.

Background: Empirical studies in Muslim communities on organ donation and blood transfusion show that Muslim counsellors play an important role in the decision process. Despite the emerging importance of online English Sunni fatwas, these fatwas on organ donation and blood transfusion have hardly been studied, thus creating a gap in our knowledge of contemporary Islamic views on the subject.

Method: We analysed 70 English Sunni e-fatwas and subjected them to an in-depth text analysis in order to reveal the key concepts in the Islamic ethical framework regarding organ donation and blood transfusion.

Palliative care physicians' religious / world view and attitude towards euthanasia: a quantitative study among flemish palliative care physicians.

Aims: To Study the religious and ideological views and practice of Palliative Care physician towards Euthanasia.

Materials And Methods: An anonymous self administered questionnaire approved by Flemish Palliative Care Federation and its ethics steering group was sent to all physicians(n-147) working in Flemish Palliative Care. Questionnaire consisted of three parts.