The study of the validity and reliability of the Occupational Self-Assessment-traditional Chinese version.

Introduction: Health professionals who work in mental healthcare settings need to use standardised, objective instruments; however, it is also extremely important that they maintain a client-focused perspective. The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of the 'Traditional Chinese version of the Occupational Self-Assessment' (TC-OSA).

Methods: A total of 593 participants with mental illnesses participated in the study.

Life Adaptation Skills Training (LAST) for persons with depression: A randomized controlled study.

Bakground: To investigate the efficacy of the "Life Adaptation Skills Training (LAST)" program for persons with depression.

Methods: Sixty-eight subjects with depressive disorder were recruited from psychiatric outpatient clinics in Taipei city and were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (N=33), or a control group (N=35). The intervention group received 24-sessions of the LAST program, as well as phone contact mainly related to support for a total of 24 times.

Psychometric properties of the Mastery Scale-Chinese version: applying classical test theory and Rasch analysis.

Aims: This study examines the reliability and validity of the Mastery Scale-Chinese version (MS-C) when applied to three groups diagnosed with major depression, schizophrenia, or HIV/AIDS.

Methods: The individuals participating in the study were recruited from outpatient units of a medical center and a municipal hospital in northern Taiwan. The study sample (n = 2009) included 237 patients with depressive disorders, 160 with schizophrenia, and 1612 with HIV/AIDS.

A longitudinal study of the predictors of quality of life in patients with major depressive disorder utilizing a linear mixed effect model.

We set out in this study to examine a longitudinal dataset using a linear mixed effects model. Our ultimate aim is to identify predictors of the quality of life (QOL) domains and items amongst patients suffering from major depressive disorders. Four categories of variables are included in our analysis, composed of 'personal predisposition', 'psychosocial', 'illness-related' and 'time', while the outcome variables for this study are the 'physical', 'psychological', 'social' and 'environmental' domains of QOL, in conjunction with all of the items within the scale.

Clinical manifestations of aggressive acts by schizophrenic inpatients: a prospective study.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical manifestations of aggressive acts by schizophrenic patients during hospitalization.

Design And Methods: This prospective study followed 107 schizophrenic patients admitted to an acute psychiatric ward in Taiwan. The Chinese version of the Violence Scale was used to count and rate aggressive acts.

Validation of the WHOQOL-HIV BREF among HIV-infected patients in Taiwan.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the quality of life (QOL) of an individual is essentially defined as the subjective evaluation by such individuals of their own personal life embedded within the context of their culture and values. In the present study, we set out to examine the reliability and validity of the WHOQOL-HIV BREF, a newly-developed, multi-dimensional instrument comprising 31 items designed to assess the QOL of people in Taiwan infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We collected data on a total of 680 people in Taiwan infected with HIV; these study participants were found to have a mean age of 36.

Follow-up of subjects with suspected pre-psychotic state in Taiwan.

Objective: To describe the outcomes of subjects with suspected pre-psychotic state in Taiwan.

Methods: A prospective clinical observation was performed on subjects recruited by referrals from a community-based population. Three pre-psychotic risk groups were established by means of clinical interviews: an ultra-high risk group (UHR; 59 subjects), an intermediate-risk group (IRG; 46 subjects), and a marginal-risk group (MRG; 48 subjects).

Validation of the medical outcomes study HIV (MOS-HIV) health survey among HIV-infected patients in Taiwan.

Objectives: To examine both the reliability and the validity of the 'Medical Outcomes Study HIV' (MOS-HIV) health survey among HIV-infected patients in Taiwan.

Methods: Data were collected from 619 HIV-infected outpatients, with the reliability and the validity of the MOS-HIV survey subsequently being examined by multi-trait scaling techniques, internal consistency, convergent validity, known-group validity and factorial validity.

Results: The MOS-HIV health survey was found to have excellent success rates in the item-consistency and discriminant-validity tests, as well as good convergent validity and known-group validity.

Mastery and stigma in predicting the subjective quality of life of patients with schizophrenia in Taiwan.

A total of 199 outpatients with schizophrenia are assessed in this study for their sense of mastery, stigma, social support, symptom severity, and quality of life (QOL), with path models being used to test the direct and indirect effects of these factors on the physical, psychological, social, and environmental QOL domains. Symptoms, stigma, mastery, and social support are found to be key direct predictors for all 4 QOL domains, with mastery having the greatest direct effect on QOL, whereas stigma has the greatest indirect effect, although mediated by mastery and social support. Such results imply that in nonwestern cultures, mastery and stigma are still crucial factors affecting the QOL of patients with schizophrenia.

Quality of life for patients with major depression in Taiwan:A model-based study of predictive factors.

The 'quality of life' (QOL) for patients suffering from depression is affected by four factors: stigma, social support, mastery and depressive symptoms. The purpose of this study was to develop and empirically validate an appropriate path model for the QOL of patients suffering from major depression. We recruited a total of 237 patients suffering from depression from the outpatient psychiatry department of a university-affiliated hospital in northern Taiwan.

A qualitative inquiry into the Taiwanese mentally ill persons' difficulties living in the community.

Community care has been a paradigm shift for psychiatric treatment worldwide; however, it has not been successfully implemented in many developing countries, including Taiwan. This qualitative study aimed to explore the Taiwanese mentally ill persons' difficulties living in the community. Social disadvantages and illness adaptation were recognized as two domains of difficulties encountered by Taiwanese mentally ill patients living in the community, while six themes were identified: getting a "shameful" illness, unmet needs for community care, being overcome by a distorted world, denying the illness, living with the illness, and adapting to changed level of functioning.

A study on the efficacy of body-mind-spirit group therapy for patients with breast cancer.

Aims And Objectives: This study aims to understand the effects of culturally enriched body-mind-spirit group therapy on anxiety, depression and holistic well-being among women with breast cancer and to examine patients' views on what aspects of group therapy worked to enhance their health.

Design: The study was designed using multiple methods, which consisted of a randomised controlled trial and a focus group interview.

Methods: A total of 16 subjects in the control group received the standard care of a physician's treatment at the outpatient department.

Evaluation of the psychometrics of the Social Impact Scale: a measure of stigmatization.

As stigmatization has a large impact on patients, therapists need a measure of this impact to provide patients with adequate services. This study, therefore, examined the reliability and validity of the Social Impact Scale (SIS) when applied to three groups of individuals diagnosed with major depression, schizophrenia, or HIV/AIDS. The study sample (N=580) included 237 patients with depressive disorder, 119 with schizophrenia, and 224 with HIV/AIDS.

Health-related quality of life of Chinese people with schizophrenia in Hong Kong and Taipei: a cross-sectional analysis.

Health-related quality of life is an important outcome indicator of mental health. We assessed the perception of health-related quality of life of persons with schizophrenia in Hong Kong and Taipei. In-person survey interviews were conducted using the Chinese World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale--Brief Version.

Evaluation of inpatient clinical training in AIDS care.

Background: Studies of outpatient clinical training in AIDS care have shown positive effects on residents' knowledge, attitudes and intentions. In this study, residents' knowledge, attitudes and intentions regarding the care of HIV-infected patients were used as outcome measures to evaluate the effectiveness of a 1-month residency training in an AIDS inpatient unit.

Methods: From April 2000 through April 2001, 33 internal medicine residents completed pretest-posttest questionnaires evaluating changes in their knowledge, attitudes and intention to care for HIV-infected patients.

Quality of life in depression: predictive models.

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive factors of quality of life for inpatients with depressive disorders. Eighty-three patients (mean age 44; 73% female) with depressive disorders were recruited from the psychosomatic ward of a medical center in the northern part of Taiwan. The predictive models of this study were established by encompassing three constructs: clinical variables, demographics, and perceived competence.

Comparison of WHOQOL-bREF and SF-36 in patients with HIV infection.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the two generic instruments, the WHOQOL and the SF-36, for assessing health-related quality of life in 224 patients with HIV infection. The internal consistency ranged from 0.75 to 0.

Concerns and recommendations of internal medicine residents in HIV patient care in the second decade of the AIDS epidemic in Taiwan.

Internal medicine residents are usually on the front line of caring for HIV-infected patients. In the second decade of the AIDS epidemic in Taiwan, a qualitative study was conducted to recognize the concerns of internal medicine residents in caring for HIV/AIDS patients and to identify possible strategies to promote HIV patient care that have not been addressed in previous research. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with 47 internal medicine residents at a university hospital in Taiwan.

Aboriginal nurses' perception of facilitators and barriers for taking a sexual history in Taiwan.

The potential for risky sexual behaviors and adolescent unplanned pregnancy has become a main concern in the health care system for aborigines in eastern Taiwan. Using aboriginal nurses to provide information on sexual behaviors may have potential as a means of promoting healthy sexual practices among aborigines. This study explored aboriginal nurses' perceptions of facilitators and barriers for taking a sexual history.

Validation of a Chinese version of the sign and symptom checklist for persons with HIV diseases.

Symptoms are common in HIV-infected persons and occur at all stages of the illness. An effective symptom assessment tool can help health care providers quickly detect patients' problems and provide suitable care. Because no studies focusing on developing a sign and symptom checklist for persons with HIV can be found for Taiwanese patients or for those who speak Chinese, the purpose of this study was to validate a Chinese version of the Sign & Symptom Checklist for Persons with HIV (SSC-HIV-C).

Symptom management in Taiwanese patients with HIV/AIDS.

The purpose of this study was to explore HIV/AIDS patients' symptom experiences and self-care symptom management strategies using a semi-structured questionnaire. Concurrently, the investigators gathered information about patients' symptom management strategies from healthcare providers. A total of 134 HIV-infected persons and 31 healthcare providers voluntarily participated in this study.