Perceived Social Support and its Effects on Treatment Compliance and Quality of Life in Cardiac Patients.

Background: The benefits of social support are often overlooked in common management components of cardiovascular diseases. The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) is self-administered and scores perceived social support (PSS). We sought to identify PSS among cardiovascular patients and the effects it may have on quality of life (QoL) and treatment compliance. Methods: A total of 96 patients were evaluated using the MSPSS in 3 categories: significant other (SO), family, and friends using a 7-point Likert scale. A supplemental lifestyle survey assessed various demographics, subjective QoL, and compliance with treatment plans. Results: Patients with high QoL reported a higher PSS Likert score in the family support category. Patients who were compliant with appointments and had high substance use avoidance (tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs) had a higher PSS Likert score in the friend support and higher PSS Likert score in support from SO and family categories, respectively. No difference in PSS was found in compliance with medications, diet, and exercise. Conclusion: Various social support categories are directly associated with higher QoL, adherence to appointments, and substance abuse avoidance.

[Age of onset of presbyopia in the black cameroonian subject]. / Age de début de la presbytie chez le sujet noir camerounais.

INTRODUCTION: Addition in patients of less than 40 years is not uncommon in our practice. We investigated the need for addition after objective refraction and thus determine the average age of onset of the presbyopia. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study of patients aged 35-45 years at the Central Hospital of Yaoundé over a period of three months. All patients underwent cycloplegic refraction. Distance visual acuity was corrected after instillation of cycloplegic eye drops while near addition was assessed two days later when the cycloplegia was no longer effective. Possible additional distance correction was done 2 days after cycloplegia. Statistical analysis was done using IBM SPSS 20.0 software. RESULTS: We examined 55 patients, 110 eyes. The average age of patients was 41.87±2.5 years, the sex-ratio was 0.28. There was a female predominance. Hypermetropic astigmatism was the most common ametropia (58.2% of cases) followed by hyperopia (24.6%).No patient was myopic. the average age of presbyopia onset in this age group was 43.2±1.7 years. After objective correction of distance visual acuity, no patient needed for addition before the age of 40. Moreover, 4 out of 10 patients with hypermetropic ametropia did not need addition before the age of 40. Addition was significantly associated with age. CONCLUSION: The average age of presbyopia onset is 43.2±1.7 years. Before the age of 45, addition must be preceded by objective refraction.