Health-related quality of life (QOL) is reported to be reduced during pregnancy. Associations between QOL, physical activity (PA), insomnia, depression and worry are insufficiently investigated among pregnant women. The aim of this study was to evaluate QOL and PA patterns among healthy pregnant women, and to examine how QOL might correlate to PA, sleep, worry and depression. This is an observational cross-sectional study, conducted among a convenient sample of 141 healthy pregnant women using five questionnaires: WHOQOL-brief (WHO quality of life questionnaire, brief version, ISI (Insomnia Severity Index), PSWQ (Penn State Worry Questionnaire), ZSRDS (Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale), and Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ). Pre-gestational BMI was inversely correlated to overall health while education was positively correlated to psychological health, social relationships and environment domains. Smoking before and during pregnancy significantly impacted the general health and psychological health. Total and light PA were positively correlated to psychological health and social relationships. Sports/exercise showed positive correlations with several QOL domains. Insomnia and depression were significantly associated with a decrease in all domains of QOL, while worries were associated with a decrease in physical, psychological and environmental domains. There were significant negative correlations between ZSRDS scores and total activity. PA, worries, depression and insomnia affected QOL during pregnancy. Furthermore, pregnant women presenting depression had a reduced total PA. Sleep and mental health as well as encouraging PA during pregnancy are necessary to improve the quality of life of pregnant women.
Our results should be viewed as an initial step in a multi-stakeholder dialogue on HTA implementation. Each MENA country should develop its context-specific HTA roadmap, as such roadmaps are not transferable without taking into account country size, economic status, public health priorities and adopted systems of health care financing.
In non-dialysis chronic kidney disease patients, looking for iron deficiency is highly variable in practice and there is a great variability regarding the cutoffs used to treat iron deficiency. The aim of this study is to investigate the degree of iron deficiency in non-dialysis chronic kidney disease patients on erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. We included all non-dialysis chronic kidney disease patients that applied to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health for erythropoiesis-stimulating agents’ coverage during a 5-month period. Iron requirement was assessed based on two guidelines’ target-to-treat cutoffs: 1-ferritin <100 ng/ml and/or TSAT < 20% (KDOQI 2006), 2- ferritin ≤500 ng/ml and TSAT ≤30% (KDIGO 2012). A total of 238 CKD patients were included over 5 months. All patients had a ferritin level in their record and 64% had an available TSAT. Median age was 71.0 (59.8–79.3) years and 61.8% were female. All had an eGFR<60 ml/min. The proportion of patients found to require iron therapy ranged between 48 and 78% with a trend towards higher values when using KDIGO-based criteria. Using ANCOVA test, inverse normal transformations of ferritin and TSAT showed a reverse pattern between men and women with women being more iron deficient in the early stage. Iron deficiency is highly prevalent in non-dialysis chronic kidney disease patients on erythropoiesis-stimulating agents’ therapy. These findings reflect a lack in effective iron supplementation when managing anemia in pre-dialysis patients, especially in men at advanced stages. Renal societies should spread awareness about iron deficiency screening in those patients.
Real-life stressors, such as university examination, cause an increase in sympathetic activity of the nervous system innervating the heart, and thus an increase in heart rate (HR). Our study aimed to detect changes in heart rate variability (HRV) during different stages of an exam in a group of 90 healthy university students (30 males and 60 females), over 4 h of monitoring divided into 1 h before, 2 h during, and 1 h after the examination. HRV was significantly highest after the exam, indicating release from stress, as compared to before and during the examination when stress was observable. Undergraduate students in different academic years did not differ in terms of stress, indicating the absence of adaptation to exam procedures. However, HR and R-R interval after the exam showed significant difference between first year undergraduate studies and first year of a graduate program, indicating a higher degree of confidence in graduate students. Results also suggest that HRV in females is significantly lower than that in males before and after examination, despite men having greater sympathetic input. In conclusion, the results of our novel study assessing stress in real-time examination show important gender differences, and lack of adaptation with academic study year.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.