Health-promoting lifestyle and quality of life among Chinese nursing students.

AimThis study aimed to examine the relationships between socio-economic status, health-promoting lifestyles, and quality of life among Chinese nursing students. BACKGROUND: Nursing students will be future health promoters, but they may not always adopt the recommended healthy lifestyle. Currently, there are insufficient studies examining the health-promoting lifestyles of Chinese nursing students, and the impact of socio-economic status and health-promoting lifestyle on their health. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey. Data were collected from nursing students studying in pre-registration nursing programs of a university in Hong Kong. The survey was conducted through a self-administered questionnaire that solicited information regarding their socio-economic status, health-promoting lifestyle, quality of life, and perceptions of the barriers to adopting a health-promoting lifestyle.FindingsA total of 538 students returned completed questionnaires for analysis. Among the health-promoting lifestyle subscales, the participants performed best in interpersonal relations and worst in physical activity, and the vast majority of them did not actively engage in health-risk behaviors. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that only 5% of the variance in quality of life was explained by socio-economic variables, whereas a total of 24% of the variance was explained when health-promoting lifestyle variables were added. In particular, health responsibility, physical activity, spiritual growth, and stress management were statistically significant predictors of quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Early concerns about how prepared nurses are to take on the role of promoting health still apply today. School administrators should plan the nursing curriculum to include activities that encourage student nurses to participate in health-promoting lifestyles. Future studies are needed to explore the barriers that prevent students from practicing health-promoting behavior.

A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study of Postpartum Wrist Pain in an Urban Chinese Population: Its Prevalence and Risk Factors.

BACKGROUND: Wrist pain after childbirth is commonly encountered in clinical practice. Little is known about the prevalence of this musculoskeletal disorder which is important to overall maternal health. OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence of and risk factors for de novo wrist pain in women after childbirth. STUDY DESIGN: A pilot cross-sectional survey. SETTING: A telephone interview was conducted 2 months after childbirth among women who delivered at a tertiary hospital in Hong Kong. METHODS: The prevalence of de novo wrist pain was recorded; its severity was rated using the numerical rating scale and Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) with pain and functional subscale scores. RESULTS: In total, 259 women aged 32.8 ± 4.0 years participated; 149 women (57.5%) developed wrist pain after childbirth and 125 (84%) had persistent wrist pain 2 months postpartum. The majority had moderate (43.5%) to severe (21%) wrist pain. Bilateral involvement was common (56.8%), with most of the pain (59.3%) located on the radial side of the wrist. Primiparity was associated with wrist pain development (odds ratio 2.62, 95% confidence interval 1.33 - 5.16, P = 0.01); pain intensity was negatively correlated with the baby's birth weight (beta = -1.059, P = 0.013). Mean PRWE pain and function scores were 22.8 ± 10.3 and 15.6 ± 10.7, respectively. LIMITATIONS: Cross-sectional survey is prone to volunteer bias, though recent literature indicates that the bias may not substantially affect the internal validity of the study. CONCLUSIONS: Wrist pain is prevalent after childbirth; future studies may consider looking into its exact pathology, long-term consequences, and overall effect on maternal health. KEY WORDS: Wrist pain, DeQuervain disease, postpartum, childbirth, mothers, prevalence, cross sectional study, survey.