: To understand the lived experiences and needs of college students with chronic pain living in the US and the UK. College students ( = 115), mean age 21.4 years (SD = 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatterns of ionospheric luminosity provide a unique window into our complex, coupled space environment. The aurora, for example, indicates plasma processes occurring thousands of km away, depositing immense amounts of energy into our polar ionospheres. Here we show observations of structured continuum emission associated with the dynamic aurora.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn ostomy is a life-changing procedure. Individuals who have ostomy surgery must adjust to changes post-operation, some of which involve changes to communication and managing social situations. The purpose of this project was to create an evidence-based communication guide for people with ostomies while transitioning to life after surgery and serve as a reference for the creation of communication guides for similar chronic illnesses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIt is important to theorize and observe empirically how communicative behaviors can constitute a form of labor that may take a toll on people who are already coping with a health stressor. The present investigation considers the Integrative Theory of Communication Work (ITCW) from a post-positivist paradigm, with the goal of developing a psychometrically sound communication work scale. A diverse sample of American adults with chronic health conditions was recruited to complete an online survey inquiring about their experiences with communication work during illness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Herbal cigarettes are made with non-tobacco plant materials (eg, tea leaves, hemp), are typically sold pre-rolled in packs and with filters, and are combusted and smoked like tobacco cigarettes. Herbal cigarette manufacturers have a history of making misleading health claims and at least one company has previously settled with the U.S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: To date, most tobacco product waste research focuses on cigarettes. Less is known about single-use 'disposable' e-cigarette waste, which contains several hazardous and toxic materials. This exploratory study examines self-reported methods for discarding disposables among a national sample of US adolescents and young adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRadiomics involves the extraction of information from medical images that are not visible to the human eye. There is evidence that these features can be used for treatment stratification and outcome prediction. However, there is much discussion about the reproducibility of results between different studies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuronal morphology influences synaptic connectivity and neuronal signal processing. However, it remains unclear how neuronal shape affects steady-state distributions of organelles like mitochondria. In this work, we investigated the link between mitochondrial transport and dendrite branching patterns by combining mathematical modeling with in vivo measurements of dendrite architecture, mitochondrial motility, and mitochondrial localization patterns in Drosophila HS (horizontal system) neurons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this essay, we review how health communication scholarship has been translated into various communication skills trainings (CSTs), we present four case studies of how health communication research informed the development and implementation of specific CSTs, and we reflect on how we can productively define "impact" in looking back as well as looking forward within this line of research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearch has demonstrated benefits of paternal involvement during the prenatal stage: increased prenatal visits, better adherence to postpartum best practices, and improved communication between partners. In the United States, where maternal morbidity remains higher than other advanced economies, the need for varied interventions aimed at improving the wellbeing of the entire family unit should remain a top priority. In an arena that is understandably dominated by interventions aimed at expectant mothers, scholars also advocate for including men in prenatal health care to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatient Educ Couns
June 2024
Objective: We investigated communication strategies clinicians reported using to navigate differences of opinion with patients regarding medical decisions.
Methods: Twenty physicians of various specialties participated in semi-structured interviews regarding their strategies for maintaining mutual respect when disagreeing with a patient. Reflexive thematic analysis was applied.
Int J Adolesc Med Health
April 2024
Objectives: Music is helpful to young people in healthcare contexts, but less is known about the acceptability of music-based interventions for youth living at home with chronic pain who may be struggling to attend school and participate in social activities. The Songs of Love (SOL) foundation is a national nonprofit organization that creates free, personalized, original songs for youth facing health challenges. The aims of this study were (1) to assess acceptability of SOL from the perspective of youth with chronic pain receiving a song and singer-songwriters who created the songs, and (2) to explore the role of music more generally in the lives of young people living with pain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the communication challenges and successes that people with ostomies experienced during their healthcare encounters.
Design: We conducted semistructured interviews of people with ostomies. Interviews focused on important social situations and health communication strategies for managing these situations.
Background: The purpose of this study was to describe the impact of COVID-19 on fatherhood experiences during pregnancy.
Methods: A semi-structured interview guide was developed to collect qualitative data from fathers about their experiences in pregnancy and prenatal care, how they communicated with providers, strategies for information seeking, and social support they received during the pregnancy. One-time, virtual interviews were conducted via Zoom with fathers that were either expecting a baby or fathers who had a baby after March 2020 and were 18 years or older.
Background: Everyday living with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is complex, particularly for people with physical or cognitive impairments or limited social supports. There is a need for standardized pre-operative functional evaluations.
Objectives: Our objectives were to describe a pre-operative occupational therapy (OT) evaluation for LVAD candidates, assess its feasibility in routine care, and characterize functional needs.
Objective: Loneliness among young people is a contemporary public health crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The present research examined the development of a modest yet meaningful health communication intervention resource that would become an asset in a larger health campaign: a communication guide aimed at helping young people reach out and reconnect with others.
Methods: Study One established the need for a loneliness intervention in Texas with survey data ( = 795).
Background: Robotic pancreaticoduodenectomy (RPD) is a safe and efficacious procedure in appropriately selected patients, though frequently with increased operative times compared to open pancreaticoduodenectomy (OPD).
Methods: From 2014 to 2019, patients who underwent elective, low-risk, RPDs and OPDs in the NSQIP database were isolated. The operative time threshold (OTT) for safety in RPD patients was estimated by identifying the operative time at which complication rates for RPD patients exceeded the complication rate of the benchmark OPD control.
Background: FAST-Forward aimed to identify a 5-fraction schedule of adjuvant radiotherapy delivered in 1 week that was non-inferior in terms of local cancer control and as safe as the standard 15-fraction regimen after primary surgery for early breast cancer. Published acute toxicity and 5-year results are presented here with other aspects of the trial.
Design: Multicentre phase III non-inferiority trial.
Objectives: This study aimed to assess levels and predictors of self-efficacy and motivation to change opioid use among a community sample of patients using opioids for chronic pain, as well as patient-reported barriers to pursuing opioid discontinuation.
Methods: Participants with a variety of chronic pain conditions, recruited from ResearchMatch.org , completed a battery of electronic, self-report questionnaires assessing demographic and medical characteristics, pain treatment history, and levels of readiness, self-efficacy, and other attitudes toward reducing or discontinuing opioid use.
J Integr Complement Med
April 2024
College students in the United States report high rates of psychological health concerns. Psychological and physical complementary health approaches have been found to be protective for college students. The aims of this study were to assess the feasibility and acceptability of Boabom, a martial art, with college students and to explore any changes in psychosocial outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: This study quantifies the impacts of strengthening 2 tobacco control policies in "Tobacco Nation," a region of the United States (U.S.) with persistently higher smoking rates and weaker tobacco control policies than the rest of the US, despite high levels of support for tobacco control policies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study employed a Reasoned Action Approach to investigate two communication behaviors that were being built into a statewide behavioral health campaign: initiating a conversation about one's own mental health struggles, and starting a conversation to discuss someone else's mental health difficulties. We examined whether the extent of attitudes, perceived norms, and perceived behavioral control regarding intent to perform these behaviors varied by racial identity. Using original survey data from Texans ( = 2,033), we conducted regression analyses for the two communication behaviors and found that intention to seek help was primarily explained by instrumental attitude, injunctive norm, descriptive norm, and perceived capacity; and intention to start a conversation to help someone else was primarily explained by instrumental attitude, injunctive norm, and perceived capacity.
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