The COVID-19 pandemic itself and related public health measurements have had substantial impacts on individual social lives and psychological and mental health, all to the detriment of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). There have been extensive studies investigating the mental health of people in different populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, few studies have explored the impact of COVID-19 and its association with HRQoL. To fill this research gap and provide further empirical evidence, this study examined the impact of COVID-19 on Hong Kong people and evaluated its association with HRQoL. A total of 500 participants were randomly recruited to complete an online questionnaire on their concerns related to COVID-19. This entailed responding to the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF instrument. Data were collected between 24 April and 3 May 2020. Independent t-tests and multiple linear regressions were used to examine the association between the impact of COVID-19 and HRQoL. Overall, 69.6% of participants were worried about contracting COVID-19, and 41.4% frequently suspected themselves of being infected. Furthermore, 29.0% were concerned by the lack of disinfectants. All of these findings were associated with poorer HRQoL in the physical and psychological health, social relationships, and environment domains. On the other hand, 47.4% of participants were concerned that they may lose their job because of the pandemic, while 39.4% were bothered by the insufficient supply of surgical masks. These two factors were associated with poorer HRQoL in the physical and psychological health and environment domains. The adverse impact of COVID-19 on individuals is multifactorial, affecting all aspects of HRQoL. In addition to enhancing anti-epidemic efforts, it is equally important to implement public health and social welfare measures, thereby diminishing the adverse impact of COVID-19 on overall well-being.
Background: Poor medication adherence is one of the most important factors underlying uncontrolled blood pressure, and ensuing hypertension is the leading risk factor for stroke. However, the influence of prestroke medication nonadherence on the admission blood pressure of patients with hypertension who have had an ischemic stroke remains unclear. Objective: The aims of this study were to explore the influence of medication nonadherence on the admission blood pressure of patients with hypertension who have had an ischemic stroke and to analyze the reasons for medication nonadherence preceding stroke. Methods: A sample population of 301 patients with hypertension who have had an ischemic stroke was recruited. A questionnaire was used to investigate sociodemographic data and reasons for nonadherence. The 4-item Medication Adherence Scale was used to investigate prestroke medication adherence. Blood pressure was measured upon patient admission. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors influencing adherence. Results: In this cohort, 80.73% of the patients exhibited uncontrolled blood pressure on admission, and 26.58% had undiagnosed hypertension. Of the patients aware of their diagnosis, 75.11% were nonadherent and 10.40% had never used antihypertensive medicines. Uncontrolled admission blood pressure was positively influenced by medication nonadherence. The main causes of nonadherence included forgetfulness (58.08%), lack of belief in the need for long-term antihypertensive treatment (27.27%), and no awareness of the importance of long-term medication (24.75%). Conclusions: Stroke education in China should focus on patients' poor understanding of the importance for sustained antihypertensive medication adherence to improve blood pressure control and prevent stroke.
Background: Same-sex marriage is currently not legalized in China, despite the considerably large number of homosexual and bisexual Chinese populations. At the same time, their holistic health status remains unclear. This is the first scoping review conducted to comprehensively examine all the available literature and map existing evidence on the holistic health of homosexual and bisexual Chinese.Methods: This scoping review used the framework of Arksey and O'Malley and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR). A comprehensive search strategy was carried out across 20 English (EN) and Chinese (both traditional and simplified) electronic databases from January 1, 2001, to May 31, 2020. Two reviewers conducted the reference screening and study selection independently and consulted a third senior reviewer whenever a consensus must be achieved. Data extraction was conducted using a structured data form based on the Cochrane template, after which a narrative synthesis of the findings was performed.Results: A total of 2,879 references were included in the final analysis, with 2,478 research articles, 167 reviews, and 234 theses. Regarding the study populations, the vast majority of studies centered on men only (96.46%), especially men who have sex with men (MSM). Only 1.32% of the studies targeted female sexual minorities. The geographical distribution of all research sites was uneven, with most of them being conducted in mainland China (95.96%), followed by Hong Kong (2.05%), Taiwan (2.02%), and Macau (0.06%). Regarding the specific study focus in terms of the health domain, around half of the studies (45.93%) focused on sexual health only, and an additional quarter of the studies (24.15%) investigated both sexual health and social well-being. Meanwhile, the studies focusing on mental health only accounted for approximately 15% of the total.Conclusions: This scoping review revealed that previous research focused more on male than female sexual minorities, on disease-centered surveys than person-centered interventions, and investigations on negative health conditions than positive health promotion. Therefore, investigations centered on the female sexual minorities and corresponding person-centered interventions are highly needed.Review Registration: The protocol of this review has been registered within Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/82r7z) on April 27, 2020.
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