QOL

Background: Body dissatisfaction is associated with impairment in women’s quality of life (QoL). To date, research has not examined the relationship between body dissatisfaction and men’s QoL, or sex differences in this relationship.

Methods: A community sample of 966 males and 1,031 females living in Australia provided information about their body dissatisfaction, mental health and physical health-related QoL, and eating disorder symptoms. Data were analysed using three hierarchical multiple regressions and interactions between body dissatisfaction and sex were examined.

Results: For both sexes, increasing levels of body dissatisfaction were associated with poorer mental and physical health-related QoL and greater psychological distress. The adverse associations between body dissatisfaction and mental health-related QoL, and between body dissatisfaction and psychological distress, were more pronounced for males.

Conclusion: High levels of body dissatisfaction may threaten the psychological and physical wellbeing of both men and women. Body dissatisfaction appears to be a public health problem, distinct from the eating disorders and other adverse psychological phenomena for which body dissatisfaction is commonly discussed as a risk factor. Males, historically understudied and underrepresented in body image research, warrant increased empirical attention.

The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) and the American Venous Forum (AVF) have developed clinical practice guidelines for the care of patients with varicose veins of the lower limbs and pelvis. The document also includes recommendations on the management of superficial and perforating vein incompetence in patients with associated, more advanced chronic venous diseases (CVDs), including edema, skin changes, or venous ulcers. Recommendations of the Venous Guideline Committee are based on the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system as strong (GRADE 1) if the benefits clearly outweigh the risks, burden, and costs. The suggestions are weak (GRADE 2) if the benefits are closely balanced with risks and burden. The level of available evidence to support the evaluation or treatment can be of high (A), medium (B), or low or very low (C) quality. The key recommendations of these guidelines are: We recommend that in patients with varicose veins or more...

Purpose. Body dissatisfaction is strongly associated with quality of life impairment among both male and female adults, and the strength of this relationship is comparable between the sexes. Whether this is the case among adolescents, however, is unclear.

Methods. Adolescent girls (n = 1135) and boys (n = 531) aged 12 to 18 years were recruited from secondary schools located in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Students completed a survey that included measures of body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms, and psychosocial- and physical-health-related quality of life.

Results. Girls reported higher levels of dissatisfaction than boys for each of the 12 body features assessed. The strength of the adverse associations between body dissatisfaction and quality of life impairment did not, however, differ by sex, and this was the case for both physical-health related and psychosocial quality of life domains. For both girls and boys, associations between body dissatisfaction and both quality of life impairment persisted after controlling for eating disorder symptoms, body mass index, and other covariates.

Conclusions. While levels of body dissatisfaction remain higher in girls than in boys, the adverse impact of body dissatisfaction on adolescents’ quality of life does not appear to differ by sex. This impact entails impairment in both physical health and psychosocial quality of life domains and does not appear to be accounted for by an association between body dissatisfaction and eating disorder pathology. The findings support the need to conceive of body dissatisfaction as a public health concern in its own right.

IntRoductIon Population ageing is a global phenomenon. It is a natural outcome of the demographic transition from high fertility and mortality to low fertility and mortality. [1] In 2050, the number of persons aged 60 years and over is estimated to reach 2.1 billion worldwide, constituting the majority from today's developing countries. [2] Rapid population ageing is a global phenomenon, regardless of a nation's level of development. Ageing is the result of both longer life expectancy and declining fertility rates. [3] Factors that contributed to people living longer are advances in education, a revolution in technology, development in medicine, food distribution and public health. [4] On the other hand, increasing age results decline in health and functional status, physical and cognitive capacities, but the number of chronic diseases and disability increases. [5] The World Health Organization defines elder abuse as 'a single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person'. [6] Elder abuse includes any physical, sexual, mental and/or financial abuse or neglect of elderly people. [7] Similarly, the WHO defines the quality of life (QOL) as 'an individual's perception of his or her position in life in the context of the culture and value system where they live, and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns'. [8] Ageing-related international action plans and conventions have endorsed the importance of QOL Background: The abuse and neglect of older people in the family context are emerging as a significant social, as well as a public health concern that is affecting the overall quality of life (QOL) of the elderly. Aims: The main objective of this paper was to study the experience of abuse and its relation with QOL of older people in rural Nepal. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, community-based survey carried out in the Kailali district of Nepal. The total sample size for this study was 547 people aged 60 years and older selected randomly. QOL was measured using the World Health Organization QOL scale popularly known as WHOQOL-BREF. Elderly abuse was measured by asking questions related to elderly abuse in the last 1 month. The descriptive technique is used to analyse the data. Descriptive, chi-square tests and F-test was used to analyze the data. Results: The findings show that about one-sixth of males (15.6%) and one in every seven females (14.3%) have faced any type of abuse in the last 1 month. This study found that overall QOL score of the Nepalese elderly was moderate (12.92 ± 1.75). The mean scores of the overall QOL index of people experiencing abuse were observed significantly low (12.28 ± 1.74) compared to those who did not experience any abuse (13.04 ± 1.73). Conclusions: Elderly experiencing abuse have significantly low QOL compared to not abused elderly in Nepal. The experience of abuse was elicited in the last 1 month. This study was carried out in specific rural area and cannot be generalised to all Nepali older people. Local activities and awareness to discourage older person's abuse should be encouraged that may help to enhance the QOL of older people.

Background: According to World Health Organization (WHO), spirituality is an important domain of quality of life especially in terminal, life threatens chronic diseases. For many people spirituality and religion are not just very important dimensions of their existence, but also a source of support that contributes to wellbeing and coping with everyday difficulties of life. Aim: Aim of the study was the translation of the Facit Spiritual Well Being Scale (Facit-Sp12) in Greek language and the validation of the scale for the Greek population. Material and Methods: The Facit-Sp12 questionnaire is an anonymous self-administered questionnaire that contains twelve, four point Likert scale, closed questions (0=Not at all, 1=A little bit, 2=Some-what, 3=Quite a bit, 4=Very Much). The questionnaire was translated into Greek language and then back translated in the English in order to be checked for any inconsistencies. The sample of the study was 183 chronic kidney disease patients, undergoing hemodi-alysis. Exploratory factor analysis, with principal components analysis with Varimax rotation was performed for checking the construct validity of the questionnaire. The test–retest reliability and the internal consistency were also examined. Statistical analysis performed by the use of SPSS 21.0. Statistical significance level was set at p=0.05 Results: The final Greek version of the questionnaire includes all of the twelve questions. The mean age of the participants was 61.81±13.9. Three factors were exported from the statistical analysis. The Cronbach-α coefficient was 0.77 for the total questionnaire and for each subscale was 0.70 for " meaning " , 0.73 for " peace " and 0.87 for " faith ". Between the three subscales " meaning " had the highest score (mean 12.49, SD=2.865). Conclusions: The Facit Spiritual Wellbeing Scale–Facit-Sp12, is a valuable and reliable questionnaire of three dimensions that can be used for assessing spirituality and spiritual wellbeing in Greek population.

The impact of having a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Greek families, their needs, and quallity of life
                                                  V. Ntre, Phd,                                     
Department of Child Psychiatry, Athens University Medical School, Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece
1st Psychiatric Department, Athens University, ”Eginition” Hospital Greece 2

SUMMARY
Background: The impact of having a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)includes disturbed family and social relationships, inability of family members to deal with pleasant activities, increased needs for support that are not met and increased psychiatric problems of the caregivers. The pervasive deficits of children with ASD
have a critical effect in daily life and Qol of life in parents.
Objectives:The purpose of this study was to investigate the burden and the needs of families with a child with ASD on mother’s everyday life and possible correlations between mother’s Quality of Life(QoL) and depressive symptomatology and child’s QoL. Parental coping strategies were examined in relation to maternal health and quality of life. 
Methods:The present study included 143 mothers (aged 30-67years old) (mean age:42.7±7 SD), Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview:1.Α Family Needs questionnaire, was developed for the purposes’ of the current study; a part of this questionaire consists of items, from the Family Needs Survey, (Bailey & Simeonsson 1988). 2.Health Questionnaire, Child Quality of Life: Kidscreen – 52 parent version, 3."The World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment - Bref self-administered instrument» WHO - QoL- Bref, 4. Strategies for dealing with stressful family situations. The Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scales (“F- COPES”). 5.The Center for Epidemiological Studies - Depression Scale, (CES- D). 6. Parental anxiety of parents due  to their parental role, Parental Stress Index (PSI),
Results:The 32.2% of the participants were university graduates. In 58.9% of cases there were 2 children in the family while 25.0% had only one child. The 42.0% of the participants had experienced a financial stalemate in the last 12 months more than half of mothers reported that are in good health (65.1%), while 54.5% admitted that they do have some health problems. 65.3% of mothers need more information about how children or adolescents grow up and 61.6% about the services that their child will need in the future. 38.0% of mothers need a lot of help to find a suitable school for their child and 35.0% to find more time for themselves and to talk with child teachers or therapists. Also, 34.2% of mothers need a financial help to find entertainment activities. 30.6% of mothers' families need help to foster cooperation between parents-schools-local communities.
Depression scores ranged from 0-53 with an average of 18.3 (SD=11.0).There was a statistically significant negative association of the QoL and Depression Scale (CES-D) scale:"Overall Health and Health Assessment"[Pearson r =-0.47, p <0.001], "Physical health" [Pearson r =-0.48, p<0.001], "Psychological Health" [Pearson r =-0.73p<0.001], "Social Relations" [Pearson r =-0.67, p<0.001] and "Environment" [Pearson r = -0.54, p<0.001].
There was a statistically significant negative correlation between the QoL (WHO-QoL Bref) and the F-COPES scale. In particular, the dimension "Social Relations" was found to positively relate to dimensions: "Reframing" [Pearson r= 0.24, p=0.007] "Search for social support" [Pearson r=0.23, p=0.010]. The dimension "Physical health" was found to be positively related to the dimension:“Reframing”[Pearson r=0.19, p=0.033]. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between the "Passive Appraisal" dimension and the Depression Scale (CES-D) [Pearson r=0.19, p=0.038].
As children get older mother’s QoL score becomes lower and health status worsens; QoL score is lower when a health problem is present in mothers.




Conclusions: Having a child with ASD has a substantial impact on maternal wellbeing  and finances, and family life in general. Parents appear with a variety of needs for personalized information, which are not adequately covered by health professionals. Mothers of children with ASD present frequent physical and mental health problems and it seems that the presence of a child with ASD has a substantial impact on coping strategies.“Rreframing” and “passive appraisal” correlate with physical and mental health dimensions respectively. Mothers appear to be passive, believing that the problem will be eliminated if they wait. The need for support of families of children with ASD is pressing, and priority should be given to the funding, accessibility and improvement of the quality of public services for this population. It is very important and useful to strengthen formal and informal family support networks as well as to develop clinical assesment support, therapeutic, intervention, training and research of specialized units in various regions of the country.
Keywords
Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Children, Mothers, Family needs,Parents; Quality of life; Wellbeing; Parent - child relationship, Strategies, Family Crisis.

 

To present an evidence-based overview of the effectiveness of medical rehabilitation intervention in natural disaster survivors and outcomes that are affected. A literature search was conducted using medical and health science electronic databases (PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library) up to September 2014. Two independent reviewers selected studies reporting outcomes for natural disaster survivors following medical rehabilitation that addressed functional restoration and participation. Two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed the methodological quality of the studies using Critical Appraisal Skills Program&#39;s (CASP) appraisal tools. A meta-analysis was not possible due to heterogeneity amongst included trials, therefore a narrative analysis was performed for best evidence synthesis. Ten studies (2 randomised controlled trials, 8 observational studies) investigated a variety of medical rehabilitation interventions for natural disaster survivors to eval...

Climate change mitigation is the most important driver for implementing energy-efficiency policies in a country, which, in turn, are among the main driving factors for the company's environmental innovation. Despite numerous studies investigating energy saving in general, management and regulatory-related side of the issue is not duly covered. The aim of the study is to define the main factors (including the regulation-related ones) affecting energy saving of a company. By way of statistical, generalisation, graphical and factor analysis methods energy production, consumption and energy intensity both on global and national levels were investigated. The countries with highest level of energy intensity occurred to be Ukraine, Russian federation, Taiwan, South Africa, Kazakhstan and Canada. To countries with the lowest energy intensity belong United Kingdom, Turkey, Portugal, Germany, Japan and France. The research defined factors affecting company's energy saving. External factors include government regulation, market conditions, scientific and technological progress, political, socioeconomic , environmental, natural and climatic factors. Internal factors comprise production modernization and reconstruction; consumed Resource Saving Regulatory Approaches and Factors Affecting Company"s Energy Saving Management http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/index.asp 372 editor@iaeme.com materials quality; use of secondary resources; technology improvement; company's innovative development; enterprise management; quality control; staff motivation; financial and economic indicators. Based on the analysis of legislative and regulatory framework in a number of countries, the main energy saving approaches of state policies are: national and international standards; certification programs; grants; key indicators of resource use efficiency; multi-level structure of state energy saving management; energy prices (tariffs) regulation; penalties; resource audit and management; government subsidies; soft-window facilities. The results of this study can be applied as the basis for theoretical and practical researches of factors affecting energy saving management of a company. Findings of the research can be applied by scientists and officials in developing governmental programs and policies aimed at promotion energy saving.

Objectives: To determine the average health-related quality of life (HRQOL) score levels and their determinants in patients with predialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted for relevant observational studies published between April 2007 and April 2017 in MEDLINE, EBSCOhost, and CINAHL databases.
Results: Thirteen observational studies with a total sample of 8635 subjects comprising 53.3% male with an aggregate mean age of 59.5 (SD 14.9) years were included in this review. Of the 8 generic HRQOL domains of the Short-Form Health Surveys, Social Functioning had the highest mean score whereas General Health had the lowest mean score in patients with predialysis CKD. Physical component summary (PCS) was more impaired than the mental component summary (MCS). The determinants of poor HRQOL in predialysis CKD patients included both modifiable risk factors such as comorbidities (namely anxiety and depression), low serum hemoglobin level, sedentary lifestyle, unemployment and non-modifiable risk factors such as poor glomerular filtration rate, female gender, and older age. The risk factors impeded PCS more than MCS.
Conclusion: Several risk factors influence HRQOL impairment in patients with predialysis CKD, with PCS being more impacted than MCS. The risk factors for poor HRQOL are important for future research and for improving renal care in patients with predialysis CKD.

Cost of health in Indonesia during one decade (2000-2010) had increased for almost 94%. That highly cost makes Indonesian people find cheaper treatment method than conventional medicine, it is called Complementary-Alternative Medicine (CAM). One of the most widely used methods of CAM is acupuncture. Acupuncture is treatment that decrease the pain with divert or change the way of message from brain neuron processed and also with stimulate the pain reducing-hormones, for example endorphin. Some studies have proved acupuncture's effectiveness, for example in pain relieve and improve fertility. However, there are still limited numbers of research about quality of life (QoL) from patients using acupuncture service. QoL can be defined as an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns. In this study, QoL from patients using acupuncture service described using WHOQOL-BREF (Indonesian version) that consists of four domains: physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environmental health. WHOQOL-BREF is a standardized tool that consists of 26 items and has been translate into various languages with good reliability and validity. Subjects in this study obtained from accidental sampling. The data proceed with descriptive statistic to portray subjects' demography and QoL. The result and discussion about QoL from patients using acupuncture in Surabaya can been seen inside this paper.

Integration of mobile devices in the m-learning systems provides the learner with scaffolding outside the classroom, it allows them to easily store, record and deliver multimedia content in real-time. The process of delivering multimedia learning objects (rich text, video, images, audio, animation, etc.) from the mlearning systems to the users requires more computational resources than mobile devices can provide.
Considering the existence of different kinds of mobile browsers, which have limited support for HTML plugins (Flash, Java and Silverlight), we face the challenge to deliver the adapted multimedia contents in the interactive m-learning system. Installation of add-ons to the mobile browsers is just a provisional solution that is not always possible on each mobile device. Generally, the m-learning systems presented on
the mobile device that not provide rich multimedia information leads to a degraded learning experience. In order to provide users with multimedia content that is suitable for their mobile devices and according to their needs we introduce the mobile cloud computing environment as paradigm that is ideal to overcome these problems. The proposed interactive mCloud system should provide high scale collaboration and interaction between the professor and students, in direction of increasing the quality of learning. The main focus is the delivery
of multimedia learning objects to the users depending on the student’s cognitive style and adapting the content in accordance with the context-aware network conditions. The main task within this paper is to design a QoE model for estimating the multidimensional metric based on multimedia content adaptive features.

The relationship between technology and geriatric health has been explored in literature. Namely, social and mental realms of health have been studied in connection with ICT (information and communication technology) use. This paper will examine the ways in which ICT utilization reinforces social and mental well-being in older adults. ICT, social health and mental health are defined. The two facets of health are depicted in terms of "good" and "poor", and the effects of each are explored. The various ways in which ICT modulates geriatric health is also investigated. Lastly, issues surrounding ICT use in old age are examined. Intertwined throughout are three case studies which support literature findings.

Complementary-Alternative Medicine (CAM) is non-conventional medicine that addressed to improve the health level of society. CAM covers promotive, preventive, curative, and rehabilitative efforts that obtained by structured education with high quality, safety, and effectivity based on biomedical knowledge which is not listed in conventional medicine. One kind of CAM is energy therapy that defined as healing technique by activating the body's natural healing energy. The healing process works with replace weakened, distorted, or imbalance energy. In Surabaya there is an association named Ling Tien Kung as one of energy therapy CAM that has been established since 2004. The members choose this CAM because it does not use chemical drugs at all. The members are trained about body movements that centered to energy within them self. The aim of this study is to depict quality of life (QoL) belongs to the members of Ling Tien Kung in Surabaya through Indonesian version of WHOQOL-BREF. QoL is defined as an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns. WHOQOL-BREF consists of 26 items that divided into four domains: physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environmental health. This tool has been translated into various language and shown good reliability and validity. The sampling in this study used accidental sampling and data process through descriptive statistic to describe QoL and demography of subjects. The result and discussion are presented inside this paper.

This is a presentation of an invited talk at the ECCO2017 conference. This focused on the issue of whether or not QOL is not to be used in clinical trials as a major primary endpoint. My talks argues that indeed, we are ready to do this, more often, but the needs of the drugs, trial design must come first and that we must continue to improve standards of analysis and reporting QOL trials.