Assessing genetic and environmental components for pterygium: a nationwide study in Taiwan.

This study aims to estimate the familial risks of pterygium and assess its relative contributions to environmental and genetic factors using the 2000-2017 Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The marginal Cox's model and the polygenic liability model were made. In Taiwan, the prevalence rate of pterygium in 2017 was 1.64% for individuals with affected first-degree relatives, higher than the general population (1.34%). The adjusted relative risk (RR) for pterygium was highest for twins of the same sex (15.54), followed by siblings of the same sex (4.69), offsprings (3.39), siblings of the different sex (2.88), spouse (2.12), parents (1.86), twins of the different sex (1.57), respectively. The phenotypic variance of pterygium was 21.6% from additive genetic variance, 24.3% from common environmental factors shared by family members, and 54.1% from non-shared environmental factors, respectively. Sensitivity analysis by restricting those with surgical pterygium reveals that aRRs and the three components were similar to those of the overall pterygium. In summary, the prevalence rate of pterygium was higher for individuals with affected first-degree relatives than for the general population. The non-shared environmental factors account for half of the phenotypic variance of pterygium; genetic and shared environmental factors explain the rest.

Trajectory of change in perceived stress, coping strategies and clinical competence among undergraduate nursing students during clinical practicum: a longitudinal cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Clinical practicum is crucial for strengthening nursing students' clinical competence. However, nursing students often experience considerable stress during clinical practicum, and so they employ coping strategies to alleviate it. There is almost no empirical evidence on the change trajectory of perceived stress, coping strategies, and clinical competence among nursing students during a one-year clinical practicum. This study aimed to investigate the trajectory of change in perceived stress, coping strategies, and clinical competence among undergraduate nursing students during a one-year clinical practicum. METHODS: This study used a longitudinal cohort design. Undergraduate nursing students were recruited from a science and technology university in Taiwan to participate from February 2021 to January 2022. Perceived stress, coping strategies, and clinical competence among students in basic training practicum (T1), advanced training practicum (T2), and comprehensive clinical nursing practicum (T3) were surveyed by using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Coping Behaviour Inventory (CBI), and Clinical Competence Scale (CCS). PSS, CBI, and CCS in T1, T2, and T3 were compared using a generalized estimating equation (GEE) to deal with correlated data. The level of statistical significance was set at α = 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 315 undergraduate nursing students completed the questionnaire. The study results show that the overall perceived stress of the students is the highest in T2 and the lowest in T3. The main source of stress of the students is 'taking care of patients' at T1 and 'lack of professional knowledge and skills' at T2 and T3. Students' perceived stress in 'taking care of patients' gradually decreases over time. The four coping strategies of CBI, which are 'stay optimistic', 'problem-solving', 'transference' and 'avoidance' in this order, remain the same ranking in three surveys.The main stress coping strategy used by students is 'stay optimistic', while the coping strategy 'avoidance' is used more frequently in T2 than in T1 and T3. Students' mean scores of the overall clinical competence and in the 'general nursing' and 'management' subscales in T3 are higher than those in T1 and T2. However, their mean scores in 'self-growth' and 'positivity' subscales are the highest in T1 and the lowest in T2. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that through experiential learning in clinical practicum at different stages time after time, students' overall perceived stress is the lowest and their overall clinical competence is the highest in T3. The main coping strategy used when students managed stress is 'stay optimistic'. According to the results, we suggest that clinical educators provide students with appropriate guidance strategies at different stages of stress and continue to follow up the clinical competence and retention rates of these nursing students in the workplace in the future.

Acupressure reduces the severity of restless legs syndrome in hemodialysis patients: A cluster-randomized crossover pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Restless legs syndrome (RLS), a neurological disorder, often affects sleep quality in hemodialysis patients. This study aimed to evaluate acupressure's effect on the severity of RLS symptoms and sleep quality in hemodialysis patients with RLS. METHODS: This study is a cluster-randomized crossover pilot study. Patients were randomized to two sequences: acupressure for one month and observation for another month (AC); and observation for one month and acupressure for another month (CA). For the four-week acupressure intervention, patients received 36 min of acupressure three times weekly during their hemodialysis sessions. The acupoints were on the bilateral lower limbs, including Zusanli (ST36), Yanglingquan (GB34), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Xuanzhong (GB39), Chengshan (BL57), and Taichong (LR3). RLS severity and sleep quality (measured with the Pittsburgh sleep quality index, PSQI) were measured at baseline, month 1, and month 2. RESULTS: AC sequence (n = 14) was similar to the CA sequence (n = 9) in terms of gender, age, education, employment, marital status, comorbid disease, BMI, duration of dialysis, medication for RLS and insomnia, RLS severity, and PSQI. The general linear mixed model revealed no significant carryover effect on RLS severity, PSQI, and the seven subscales of PSQI. A significant treatment effect (acupressure) was only observed in RLS severity (p = 0.0013) but not in PSQI and the seven subscales. The significant period effect was observed in RLS severity (p = 0.0250) and the subscale of sleep disturbance (p = 0.0021). CONCLUSION: In hemodialysis patients with RLS, acupressure can alleviate the severity of RLS but cannot improve sleep quality.

Risk factors for restless legs syndrome in hemodialysis patients in Taiwan: A case-control study.

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) increases the risks of cardiovascular disease and death in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Previous studies of risk factors for RLS in HD patients have yielded varying results. We attempted to identify risk factors for RLS in HD patients in Taiwan.This case-control study recruited 59 HD patients with RLS and 353 HD patients without RLS from the largest HD center in Taiwan during the period from April 1, 2015 through August 31, 2015. Demographic and disease characteristics, information from the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (IRLSSG) diagnostic questionnaire, and IRLSSG Severity Scale scores were collected by interview. Clinical laboratory data were abstracted from medical records and then analyzed with logistic regression and Pearson correlation analysis. A P value of less than .05 was considered to indicate statistical significance.A dialysis duration of longer than 5 years (odds ratio [OR] = 2.32; 95% CI = 1.23-4.39; P = .002) and a low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level (<40 mg/dL in men; <50 mg/dL in women) (OR = 2.73; 95% CI = 1.44-5.15; P = .009) were associated with increased risk of RLS. Among the 59 patients with RLS, 48 (81.3%) had moderate or severe symptoms (IRLSSG Severity Scale >10), and RLS severity was significantly correlated with dialysis duration (r = .26; P = .043).Among HD patients, RLS was more common among those receiving dialysis for longer than 5 years and those with a low serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level.

A Nationwide Population-Based Study of Corrosive Ingestion in Taiwan: Incidence, Gender Differences, and Mortality.

Corrosive injury results from the intake of corrosive-acid-based chemicals. However, this phenomenon is limited to a small number of cases and cannot be extrapolated to the epidemiology of corrosive injuries in actual situations. This study focuses on the annual incidence of corrosive injury and its connection to gender, risk factors, and in-hospital mortality. All patients with corrosive injury (ICD-9 947.0-947.3) were identified using a nationwide inpatient sample from 1996 until 2010. Chi-squared tests and multivariate logistic regression were used to examine risk factors of gender differences and in-hospital mortality of corrosive injury. Young adults comprised the majority of patients (71.2%), and mean age was 44.6 ± 20.9 years. Women showed a higher incidence rate of corrosive injuries, age, suicide, psychiatric disorder, and systemic complications compared with men (p < 0.001). The present study demonstrated that age (OR = 10.93; 95% CI 5.37-22.27), systemic complications (OR = 5.43; 95% CI 4.61-6.41), malignant neoplasms (OR = 2.23; 95% CI 1.37-3.62), gastrointestinal complications (OR = 2.02; 95% CI 1.63-2.51), chronic disease (OR = 1.30; 95% CI 1.08-1.56), and suicide (OR = 1.23; 95% CI 1.05-1.44) were strongly associated with in-hospital mortality. Educational programs may be helpful for reducing the incidence of ingestion of corrosive chemicals.

Symptoms and distress among patients with liver cirrhosis but without hepatocellular carcinoma in Taiwan.

A cross-sectional study design was used to assess the items and frequency of physical symptoms and psychological distress among patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) but without hepatocellular carcinoma. Inpatients with LC were recruited from a medical center in northern Taiwan. Informants were asked to describe their frequency of symptoms and distress at 2 weeks before admission. During August 2008 and July 2009, 49 patients participated. The symptoms and distress were moderate, with a mean of 3.9 and 4.2 of 7, respectively. The mean ranking of subscales from the highest to lowest was abdominal symptoms, fatigue, fluid retention, loss of appetite, systemic symptoms, decreased attention, and bleeding. Symptoms and distress were significantly correlated (r = .59). The total scores of symptoms and distress were not associated with causes of the disease (p = .7644, p = .8548, respectively), disease severity (p = .7203, p = .3354, respectively), disease duration (p = .5820, p = .8184, respectively), or previous admission (p = .3094, p = .7365, respectively), but decreased attention was significantly associated with disease severity (p = .0317) and systemic symptoms were significantly associated with disease duration (p = .0267). The study found that physical symptoms and psychological distress are multidimensional and highly correlated. Our findings can be used to develop a symptom management program to relieve discomfort and indirectly improve the quality of life for individuals with LC.