Nutritional Assessment in Early Allogenic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Patients, a Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Our study aims to comprehensively assess nutrition status and malnutritional prevalence in early allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (allo-HSCT) patients. METHODS: This single-center, cross-sectional study included 171 patients within the 90 days post-transplantation (from September 2019 to April 2020). Data collected included demographic, 3 day 24-h diet record, a Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) tool, laboratory tests, anthropometric indices, and body composition. RESULTS: One hundred and seventy-one patients with a mean age of 37.8 ± 11.3 and a male to female ratio of 102 to 69 were included. According to PG-SGA, 115 (67.3%) indicated the critical need for nutritional intervention and symptom management (PG-SGA score > 9). Forty-three (43.3%) of patients had experienced insufficient intakes of energy according to a 24-h diet record. Our study found that 120 (70.2%) patients had a body fat percentage and high triacylglycerol (64.9%). Reduced free fat mass index and low hand-grip strength were found in 133 (77.78%) and 104 (60.81%), respectively. The prevalence of malnutrition was 24.6% and the prevalence of sarcopenia was 13.5%. CONCLUSION: Although the prevalence was not high, this research has demonstrated a high risk of malnutrition and a lower muscle mass in early allo-HSCT. Furthermore, our study confirmed body composition assessment would be an excellent way to identify malnutrition precisely.

Cognitive Advantage of Bilingualism Over Monolingualism in Older Adults: A Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore whether bilingual older adults had a cognitive advantage over their monolingual counterparts, and validate the influence of cognition-related (participants' cognitive condition, the cognitive domain assessed), and bilingualism-related factors (second language proficiency, frequency of use, acquisition time, and immigration status of participants)on the cognitive advantage of bilingualism. METHODS: Through a systematic search of nine databases (Web of Science, PubMed, Elsevier Science Direct, Cochrane Library, Embase, PsycINFO, CNKI, VIP and Wanfang) from the inception to April 2021, observational studies with bilingual and monolingual older adults as participants and cognitive function scores as outcome measures were included. Two reviewers independently completed the selection and methodological quality assessment of studies using the JBI cross-sectional study quality evaluation tool and used a pre-designed table for data extraction and sorting. RESULTS: Fourteen studies with 51 tasks were included, involving 3737 participants (bilingual group: 1695, monolingual group: 2042). The overall results of the meta-analysis showed that bilingualism had a small cognitive advantage over monolingualism in older adults [SMD=0.23, 95%CI (0.07, 0.38), P=0.004]. In addition, the subgroup analyses indicated that factors such as participants' cognitive condition, the cognitive domain assessed, second language proficiency, acquisition time, and immigration status of participants impacted the cognitive advantage of bilingualism in older adults. CONCLUSION: Bilingualism had a mild cognitive advantage over monolingualism in older adults, which was more prominent in older adults with mild cognitive impairment than in cognitively healthy ones, more evident in global cognitive function and inhibitory control than in other individual cognitive domains, and might be influenced by the proficiency and acquisition time of second language as well as the immigration status of older adults.

Factors Influencing Compliance with Auricular Acupressure Therapy in Patients with Cancer-Related Fatigue.

BACKGROUND: Patient compliance can influence the effect of auricular acupressure used to manage cancer-related fatigue (CRF). OBJECTIVE: To explore the barriers and facilitators affecting patients' compliance with treatment. METHODS: The maximum difference sampling method was used to conduct qualitative interviews with 11 CRF patients undergoing auricular acupressure therapy. The interview data were analyzed by Colaizzi's seven-step analysis. RESULTS: Convenience and acceptability of the therapy, preliminary effects of its implementation, fully believing in the benefits of auricular acupressure and being habituated to the therapy, help and reminder from family members are the facilitating factors to improve patient compliance with auricular acupressure therapy, while the hindering factors include having doubts about the effect of acupressure resulting in interruption, having limited access to medical resources, deterioration of the condition resulting in self-abandonment, and weak family support. CONCLUSION: In clinical nursing practice, attention should be paid to the analysis of the facilitating and hindering factors during the implementation of auricular acupressure therapy as well as the development of targeted intervention measures to improve patient compliance so as to enhance the effectiveness of auricular acupressure.

Mobile device use and the cognitive function and depressive symptoms of older adults living in residential care homes.

BACKGROUND: With the fast-paced aging and increasing digitalization of society, there has been a growing interest in the effect of mobile device use on cognitive function and depression in older adults. However, research examining this issue among older adults in residential care homes (RCHs) is scant. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the impact of mobile device use on the cognitive function and depressive symptoms of older adults living in RCHs. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15). RESULTS: A total of 235 senior residents (aged 82.58 ± 5.54) in four RCHs were surveyed. Users of mobile devices had a significantly higher total MoCA score (25.02 ± 4.14) and a significantly lower GDS-15 score (3.28 ± 2.74) than non-users (MoCA: 19.34 ± 5.21, GDS-15: 4.69 ± 2.90). Multivariate linear regression indicate that mobile device use is significantly associated with total MoCA score, six of the seven sub-scores (visuospatial abilities and execution functions, attention, language, abstraction, delayed recall, and orientation)(P < 0.05). Logistic regression showed that mobile device use was significantly associated with the level of depressive symptoms (OR = 0.458, 95%CI = 0.249-0.845). CONCLUSIONS: Use of mobile devices has a significant association with the cognitive function and depressive symptoms of older adults living in RCHs, and thus should be encouraged as a measure to maintain and improve cognition and prevent depression.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction can alleviate cancer- related fatigue: A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this meta-analysis was to critically evaluate the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on cancer-related fatigue (CRF). METHODS: A systematic search of eight databases (Web of Science, Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Spring link, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, CBM) was performed, to find randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from inception to January 2019. Using Cochrane Collaboration criteria, two reviewers critically and independently assessed the risk of bias and extracted correlated data using the designed form. All analyses were performed with Review Manager 5.3. RESULTS: In all, fifteen RCTs were included in the systematic review, fourteen of which, consisting of 3008 patients (MBSR, 1502; control, 1506), were included in the meta-analysis. MBSR had a significant effect on fatigue in cancer patients, particularly among lung cancer patients. The meta-analysis also indicated that MBSR could significantly mitigate CRF compared with usual care or no intervention. 8 weeks of MBSR, supervised by experts, had a large effect on CRF. CONCLUSIONS: MBSR is effective for CRF management and can be recommended as a beneficial complementary therapy for CRF patients.

Yoga has a solid effect on cancer-related fatigue in patients with breast cancer: a meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to critically evaluate the effect of yoga on cancer-related fatigue in patients with breast cancer. METHODS: Eight databases (Cochrane Library, PubMed, Ovid-Medline, Web of Science, CBM, Wanfang, VIP, and CNKI) were systematically reviewed from inception to January 2019 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Two reviewers critically and independently assessed the risk of bias using Cochrane Collaboration criteria and extracted correlated data using the designed form. All analyses were performed with Review Manager 5.3. RESULTS: A total of 17 qualified studies that included 2183 patients (yoga: 1112, control: 1071) were included in the meta-analysis. Yoga had a large effect on fatigue in post-treatment breast cancer patients and had a small effect on intra-treatment patients. The meta-analysis also indicated that supervised yoga class had a significant effect on CRF; the six-week program had a moderate beneficial effect while the 60/90 min/session supervised yoga class and the eight-week program demonstrated a large effect on fatigue in patients with breast cancer. Yoga could markedly mitigate the physical fatigue in breast cancer patients, had a medium impact on cognitive fatigue, and manifested a small effect on mental fatigue. Eight studies reported the adverse events, whereas ten studies did not. CONCLUSIONS: Yoga can be considered as an alternative therapy for relieving fatigue in breast cancer patients who have completed treatment or are undergoing anti-cancer treatment.