ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIM: A recommendation of radiotherapy for patients with malignant gliomas may trigger emotional distress. Frequency and risk factors of this complication were investigated. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Prevalence of six emotional problems and 11 potential risk factors were evaluated in 103 patients irradiated for grade II-IV gliomas. p-Values <0.0045 were considered significant. RESULTS: Seventy-six patients (74%) had ≥1 emotional problem. Prevalence of specific emotional problems ranged between 23% and 63%. Associations were found between ≥5 physical problems and worry (p=0.0010), fear (p=0.0001), sadness (p=0.0023), depression (p=0.0006), and loss of interest (p=0.0006), and Karnofsky performance score ≤80 and depression (p=0.0002). Trends were found for physical problems and nervousness (p=0.040), age ≥60 years and depression (p=0.043) or loss of interest (p=0.045), grade IV glioma and sadness (p=0.042), and ≥2 involved sites and loss of interest (p=0.022). CONCLUSION: Three-fourths of glioma patients had pre-radiotherapy emotional distress. Psychological support should be offered very soon, particularly for high-risk patients.
Subject(s)
Brain Neoplasms , Glioma , Psychological Distress , Humans , Middle Aged , Brain Neoplasms/radiotherapy , Brain Neoplasms/pathology , Glioma/radiotherapy , Glioma/pathology , Radiotherapy Dosage , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIM: Patients with gynecologic cancers selected for external-beam radiotherapy or brachytherapy may experience emotional distress. We aimed to identify patients who may benefit from early psycho-oncological intervention. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We investigated 10 potential risk factors of emotional distress in a retrospective series of 122 patients planned for radiotherapy of gynecologic cancers. Factors included COVID-19 pandemic, number of physical problems, age, performance status, tumor site/stage, surgery, chemotherapy, brachytherapy, and history of another tumor. p-Values <0.005 indicated significance, and p-values <0.06 trends. RESULTS: Frequencies of worry, fear, sadness, depression, nervousness, and loss of interest were 41%, 57%, 39%, 16%, 38%, and 20%, respectively. Significant associations with at least one of these symptoms were found for ≥5 physical problems and no upfront surgery. Trends were observed for chemoradiotherapy, history of another tumor, worse performance status, and younger age. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of pre-radiotherapy emotional distress was remarkable in patients with gynecologic cancers. Patients with risk factors may benefit from immediate psycho-oncological assistance.
ABSTRACT
The needs on online-based activities are increasing tremendously as the worldwide is currently in COVID-19 pandemic situation and most people are being bounded to stay at home. Society is forced to learn and adapt with this new normal in all aspects of life from running businesses, conducting online classes and meetings, buying stuffs and communicating with families and friends. This causes high dependency on web applications. The idea of proposing 'Smuggy' prototype has emerged to provide relevant skillsets for web penetration testers specifically and web developers in general. In order to realize the idea, a survey was conducted to gauge for public awareness on website vulnerability as the first part of this research. The scope of survey is on public concerns when browsing reputable websites vs. unfamiliar new ones, which further down to know the reasons why the respondents feel as such. Another part of the survey was to find out the respondents' knowledge on related events of compromised websites and their encounter in discovering web vulnerabilities. With these data as research basis, 'Smuggy' prototype is designed with a focus to educate users about the OWASP top 10 web vulnerabilities so that the vulnerabilities found in today's web applications can be minimized. © 2022 IEEE.