scholarly journals Information Needs of Cancer Patients are Influenced by Time Since Diagnosis, Stage of Cancer, Patients’ Age, and Preferred Role in Treatment-related Decisions

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Loy
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
English Language ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Post Treatment ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Information Need ◽  
Need For Information

A review of: Kalyani, Ankem. “Factors Influencing Information Needs Among Cancer Patients: A Meta-Analysis.” Library & Information Science Research; 28.1 (2006) 7-23. Objective – The author aims to study the aggregate influence of demographic and situational variables on the information needs of cancer patients, in order to inform the provision of information to those patients. Design – Meta-analysis. Setting – Research articles published in the MEDLINE and CINAHL databases. Subjects – English language studies published between 1993 and 2003. An initial search set of 196 studies from MEDLINE and 283 studies from CINAHL were identified. Following rigorous assessment, 12 studies met the inclusion criteria. Methods – A comprehensive search of the databases was conducted, initially combining “neoplasm” with “cancer patients” using the Boolean “or”. These results were then combined with five separate searches using the following terms; information need(s), information seeking, information seeking behaviour, information source(s) and information resource(s). This identified in total 479 English language articles. Based on a review of titles and abstracts, 110 articles were found covering information resources or the information needs of cancer patients. These articles were then subjected to the further inclusion criteria and limited to studies which included: analysis of information needs and/or information sources of cancer patients; adults as subjects of the research; and application of quantitative research methods and relevant statistics. This eliminated a further 35 papers. Twelve of the remaining 75 studies were selected for meta-analysis based on their use of the same variables measured consistently in comparable units. The final 12 studies included various forms of cancer, and no distinction was made among them. All 12 studies appeared in peer-reviewed journals. Main results – The meta-analysis found there was consistently no difference between the information needs of men and women. Five subsets were identified within the meta-analysis, and findings for each can be stated as follows: The younger the age of the patient, the greater their overall need for information was likely to be. During treatment, the time elapsed from the diagnosis to the information need was not significant. Once identified, the information need remained constant. During treatment and post-treatment phases, the time elapsed from the diagnosis to the information need made no significant difference, with the information need remaining constant and continuing into the post-treatment phase. The stage of cancer made no difference to the need for information. Those patients in the advanced stages of cancer required an equal amount of information to those in the early stages of cancer. The individual patient’s preferred role in treatment-related decisions made a difference to the information need. Patients who took an active role in treatment-related decisions had a greater need for information than those who did not take an active role. Conclusion – Findings from this meta-analysis can be used to guide information provision to cancer patients, specifically taking patient age and preferred role in treatment decision-making into consideration. Further research into the reasons behind the lower information needs among older patients is called for by the author.

scholarly journals Information Needs of Women Regarding Health and Hygiene Practices

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Loveleen Kaur ◽  
Sukhjeet Kaur ◽  
Preeti Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Information Needs ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Individual Growth ◽  
Information Need ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Hygiene Practices ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Mass Media Exposure ◽  
Communication Methods

Information is a source of power and is important for individual growth and survival. Information about health and hygiene is crucial because it influences an individual’s quality of life. As far as health and hygiene practices are concerned, women play an active role in getting information about these; hence there is a need to study their information needs regarding health and hygiene. After finding out the needs of women regarding these aspects, accordingly information can be made accessible to them. Keeping this into account, the present study was conducted in Ludhiana district of Punjab. Data was taken from 200 rural and urban women of 25-50 years, by the help of an interview schedule. Health and hygiene practices were studied under three categories as personal, food related and household health and hygiene practices. Information needs were studied on a three point continuum i.e. highly needed, somewhat needed and not needed. Results of the study showed that under personal health and hygiene practice, information on hair care and obesity was most needed. The most needed information regarding food related health and hygiene was on low cost nutritious recipes. The major information need reported by the respondents was related to control of insects and pests in case of household health and hygiene practices and majority of the respondents had low level of information need for all health and hygiene practices. Information needs of the women were positively related with their education and mass media exposure, whereas age was negatively correlated with the information needs of women. Consequently, there is a need to educate women regarding health and hygiene practices through effective communication methods, so that they can realize the importance and need for information on these topics.

scholarly journals Pre-, Pro-, and Synbiotics: Do They Have a Role in Reducing Uremic Toxins? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Rossi ◽  
Kerenaftali Klein ◽  
David W. Johnson ◽  
Katrina L. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Uremic Toxins ◽  
Population Estimates ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Language Studies ◽  
Human Adults ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Grade Approach

Objective. This paper assessed the effectiveness of pre-, pro-, and synbiotics on reducing two protein-bound uremic toxins, p-cresyl sulphate (PCS) and indoxyl sulphate (IS).Methods. English language studies reporting serum, urinary, or fecal PCS and/or IS (or their precursors) following pre-, pro-, or synbiotic interventions (>1 day) in human adults were included. Population estimates of differences in the outcomes between the pre- and the postintervention were estimated for subgroups of studies using four meta-analyses. Quality was determined using the GRADE approach.Results. 19 studies met the inclusion criteria, 14 in healthy adults and five in haemodialysis patients. Eight studies investigated prebiotics, six probiotics, one synbiotics, one both pre- and probiotics, and three studies trialled all three interventions. The quality of the studies ranged frommoderatetovery low. 12 studies were included in the meta-analyses with all four meta-analyses reporting statistically significant reductions in IS and PCS with pre- and probiotic therapy.Conclusion. There is a limited but supportive evidence for the effectiveness of pre- and probiotics on reducing PCS and IS in the chronic kidney disease population. Further studies are needed to provide more definitive findings before routine clinical use can be recommended.

scholarly journals Marketing Information Needs and Seeking Behaviour of Smallholder Livestock Farmers in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 98-114
Author(s):  
Christopher Ugochukwu Nwafor ◽  
Abiodun A. Ogundeji ◽  
Carlu Van der Westhuizen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Market Price ◽  
Eastern Cape Province ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Information Need ◽  
Price Information ◽  
Livestock Farmers ◽  
Marketing Information

This study examined marketing information needs and seeking behaviour among smallholder livestock farmers from the Eastern Cape province in South Africa. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 150 livestock farmers and analysed using percentages, weighted means for ranking and correlation. The results show a dominance of market price information requirement among farmers (65%), immediate market price information need (38%), high level of need (48%), and a strong reliance on sources such as other farmers (36%), phone calls (24%) and auctions (23%) for market information. In addition to this, the listed demographic characteristics of farmers namely age, sex, education, marital status, household size, income and herd size strongly influenced their information seeking behaviour (p<0.05). Provision of additional sources of market price information, and ensuring that the personal features of farmers are taken into consideration when designing information service  interventions is crucial. Keywords: behaviour, information need, information-seeking, livestock farmer, smallholder

scholarly journals Can early cranioplasty reduce the incidence of hydrocephalus after decompressive craniectomy? A meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Nasi ◽  
Mauro Dobran
Keyword(s):  
Decompressive Craniectomy ◽  
Lower Incidence ◽  
English Language ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Cerebrospinal Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Postoperative Hydrocephalus ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Early Cranioplasty

Background: Do alterations of cerebrospinal fluid dynamics secondary to decompressive craniectomy (DC) lead to hydrocephalus, and can this effect be mitigated by early cranioplasty (CP)? In this meta-analysis, we evaluated whether the timing of CP decreased the incidence of postoperative hydrocephalus. Methods: We performed a systematic search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and the Cochrane databases using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines for English language articles (1990–2020). We included case series, case–control, and cohort studies, and clinical trials assessing the incidence of hydrocephalus in adult patients undergoing early CP (within 3 months) versus late CP (after 3 months) after DC. Results: Eleven studies matched the inclusion criteria. The rate of postoperative hydrocephalus was not significantly different between the early (=96/1063; 9.03%) and late CP (=65/966; 6.72%) group (P = 0.09). Only in the three studies specifically reporting on the rate of hydrocephalus after DC performed to address traumatic brain injury (TBI) alone was there a significantly lower incidence of hydrocephalus with early CP (P = 0.01). Conclusion: Early CP (within 90 days) after DC performed in TBI patients alone was associated with a lower incidence of hydrocephalus. However, this finding was not corroborated in the remaining eight studies involving CP for pathology exclusive of TBI.

Obesity and the Risk of Suicide in Adults: A Meta-Analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisyam Syafi’ie ◽  
◽  
Hanung Prasetya ◽  
Bhisma Murti ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Normal Population ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Major Depression Disorder ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Central Java ◽  
Cross Sectional Design ◽  
Suicidal Ideas ◽  
Depression Disorder

ABSTRACT Background: Some prospective studies reported that obesity is positively associated with depression. Adults with obese might have higher suicide risk, as patients with major depression disorder have a higher risk of committing suicide compared to the normal population. This study aimed to examine the association between obesity and the risk of suicide in adults. Subjects and Method: This was a meta-analysis and systematic review. The study was collected published articles from 2010 to 2020 in Google Scholar, PubMed, Springer Link, Hindawi, Clinical Key, and ProQuest electronic databases. Searching process by insert “obesity” AND “suicidal” AND “cross sectional” AND “adjusted odd ratio” keywords. The inclusion criteria were full text, in English language, cross-sectional design, and reporting adjusted odds ratio. The data were analyzed by PRISMA flow chart and Revman 5.3. Results: 4 articles reported that obesity increased the risk of suicidal ideas in adults (aOR= 1.12; 95% CI= 0.96 to 1.31; p= 0.14). Conclusion: Obesity increased the risk of suicide in adults. Keywords: obesity, suicidal Correspondence: Hisyam Syafi’ie. Masters Program in Public Health. Universitas Sebelas Maret, Jl. Ir. Sutami 36A, Surakarta 57126, Central Java. Email: [email protected]. Mobile: 081326002006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26911/the7thicph.01.39

scholarly journals POS1476-HPR THE NEED FOR INFORMATION AMONG PATIENTS WITH ANCA ASSOCIATED VASCULITIS DIFFERS BETWEEN GROUPS

2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1023.1-1023
Author(s):  
S. Brolin ◽  
B. Lövström ◽  
E. Welin ◽  
I. Gunnarsson ◽  
S. Pettersson
Keyword(s):  
Information Needs ◽  
Disease Duration ◽  
Support Systems ◽  
Disease Process ◽  
Information Need ◽  
Maximum Score ◽  
Self Help ◽  
Anca Associated Vasculitis ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Need For Information

Background:Being diagnosed with ANCA associated vasculitis (AAV) can be a frightening experience and means facing changes that involves adapting to new situations1. Patients that are provided adequate information are better equipped to make well informed decisions regarding their care and stay compliant to the treatment plan. In order to provide adequate patient-centered information at the appropriate time and to identify those who may need extra support, the information needs must be explored2. There have been several studies on the information needs of rheumatological patients, although very few studies for patients with AAV.Objectives:The aim of this study was to explore what information patients with AAV need from their rheumatological team and how it differs between groups (gender, disease duration).Methods:Men and women over 18 years were included through a consecutive sample from a Rheumatology or Nephrology Clinic at Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden during 2008-2019. Patients with all forms of AAV (GPA, MPA and EGPA), that had the Rheumatology clinic as primary contact, were included.The participants were given Educational Needs Assessment Tool (ENAT) that measures the patient’s information needs3. The initial question, ‘Do you need information right now about something that can help you with your rheumatic disease?’ is answered yes/no. ENAT then includes 7 domains (Managing pain, Movement, Feelings, Disease process, Treatments, Self-help measures and Support systems) each containing 4-7 items (4-point Likert scale, ’not at all important = 0’ to ‘extremely important = 3’). The total sum is divided by the maximum score and gives the percentage response of maximum score (0-100%), 0% meaning no information need and 100% highest information need. The responses are presented as “mean % of the domain score”. Independent-sample t-test was used to compare the mean between groups. One way ANOVA was used to compare the mean domain score between the different diagnoses and age groups.Results:178 individuals completed the questionnaire, equally divided by gender. Age ranged from 18-85, median 61. 33,7% had been diagnosed within 2 years.The mean total score was 56,8 % of the highest possible score (0-100%). The highest information need was found in the domains ‘Disease process’ (78,1%), ‘Self-help measures’ (68,5%) and ‘Treatments’ (63,6%) whereas lesser need for information was found in the domains ‘Managing pain’ (47,5%), ‘Support systems’ (46,5%) and ‘Movement’ (41,1%). The domain ‘Feelings’ was scored as moderate (55,5%).Those who acknowledge a present information need also scored significantly higher overall in all the domains. Disease duration and gender showed significantly affect the information need. Highest scores were found among women with a disease duration < 2 years with significant difference in 3/7 domains. Age, disease activity, diagnosis and social status did not affect the ENAT scores.Conclusion:Even though only 38% of participants stated a current need for information, the results indicate that there are certain areas that patients with AAV consider important to receive more information about. Special consideration needs to be taken to women with short disease duration since they were shown to have a significantly higher need for information.References:[1]Mooney, J., et al. (2013). ‘In one ear and out the other - it’s a lot to take in’: a qualitative study exploring the informational needs of patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis. Musculoskeletal Care, 11(1)[2]Ntatsaki, E., et al. (2014). BSR and BHPR guideline for the management of adults with ANCA-associated vasculitis. Rheumatology (Oxford), 53(12)[3]Hardware, B., et al. (2004). Towards the development of a tool to assess educational needs in patients with arthritis. Clinical Effectiveness in Nursing, 8(2)Disclosure of Interests:None declared

Thai immigrants’ information seeking behaviour and perception of the public library’s role during the settlement process

2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 535-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pornpimol Sirikul ◽  
Dan Dorner
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
English Language ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Seeking Behaviour

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how Thai immigrants who relocated to Auckland, New Zealand, looked for and found the information they needed during their settlement process. Design/methodology/approach The study used a qualitative methodology through semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions that were conducted with nine Thai immigrants living in the greater Auckland region. Mwarigha’s three stages of settlement and Dervin’s Sense-Making Methodology were used as theoretical frameworks for understanding the information-seeking behaviour of the Thai immigrants and their information needs and associated barriers to accessing information at different stages of the settlement process. Findings The information needs of Thai immigrants in Auckland were diverse based on the stage of each participant’s settlement process. The main information needs of the participants were for employment, English language-learning, housing, health and making connections. Their main information sources during settlement were family, friends and the internet. The participants saw Auckland Libraries as a useful source but did not take full benefit of the library’s services. The main barriers in accessing services were English language incompetence, lack of resources available in the Thai language, lack of time and library staff behaviour. Research limitations/implications The results of this study will provide library and information professionals with new insights into Thai immigrants’ information-seeking behaviour and their information needs, which may contribute to providing immigrants with the information tools they need to improve the quality of their lives in New Zealand. As this study is limited to Thai immigrants in Auckland only, there is a need to conduct a study on the information needs and seeking behaviour of Thai immigrants in other locales. It may be of interest to researchers to conduct a quantitative study of a larger sample to further generalise the findings. Originality/value There is minimal research that specifically investigates the information needs, sources and barriers to information experienced by immigrants throughout the settlement process. This study is unique in that it focuses on a specific ethnic community of Thais. The findings of this study can be a stepping stone towards further research to gain a deeper understanding of Thai and other immigrants’ information needs, sources, barriers and their perceptions towards public libraries.

Information seeking for coping with cancer: a systematic review

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emil Petersen ◽  
Jesper Gabs Jensen ◽  
Tove Faber Frandsen
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Coping Strategy ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Screening Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
The Impact

PurposeInformation seeking can be used to make sense of a situation or solve a problem. Information seeking can be considered a coping strategy when facing illness, crisis or other life-changing events. Cancer is a globally occurring, life-threatening disease, and this review aims to provide an overview of the existing literature on the active information seeking behaviour of cancer patients specifically focussing on how active information seeking serves as a coping strategy.Design/methodology/approachThis study adheres to current guidelines for conducting systematic reviews and consequently, thorough literature searches were conducted in four databases: Medline, Embase, CINAHL and Scopus which resulted in 7,179 publications. Following a careful screening process, this systematic review identifies 14 studies on the use of information seeking to cope with cancer.FindingsThe included studies consist of both qualitative and quantitative approaches to analysing the use of information seeking to cope with cancer. The included studies have focussed primarily on demographic factors, the impact of affect, information needs, sources and coping strategies.Research limitations/implicationsA number of research gaps within library and information science are identified. Bringing research in this field into information science could allow for a greater understanding of information literacy, the use of existing information and the process of information searching when using information seeking to cope with serious illness.Originality/valueThis systematic review focusses on how information seeking serves as a coping strategy for cancer patients and provides an overview of the recent literature.

Stevens–Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 1012-1019
Author(s):  
Khosrow S Houschyar ◽  
Christian Tapking ◽  
Mimi R Borrelli ◽  
Behrus Puladi ◽  
Mark Ooms ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis ◽  
Clinical Studies ◽  
English Language ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Treatment Protocol ◽  
Stevens Johnson Syndrome ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Johnson Syndrome ◽  
Pubmed Database

Objective: Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are rare and severe skin and mucosal reactions that are associated with high mortality. Despite the severity, an evidence-based treatment protocol for SJS/TEN is still lacking. Method: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the PubMed database was searched using the following terms: [Stevens–Johnson syndrome] OR [toxic epidermal necrolysis] AND [therapy] OR [treatment] over a 20-year period (1999–2019) in the German and English language. All clinical studies reporting on the treatment of SJS/TEN were included, and epidemiological and diagnostic aspects of treatment were analysed. A meta-analysis was conducted on all comparative clinical studies that met the inclusion criteria. Results: A total of 88 studies met the inclusion criteria, reporting outcomes in 2647 patients. Treatment was either supportive or used systemic corticosteroid, intravenous immunoglobulin, plasmapheresis, cyclosporine, thalidomide or cyclophosphamide therapy. The meta-analysis included 16 (18%) studies, reporting outcomes in 976 (37%) patients. Systemic glucocorticoids showed a survival benefit for SJS/TEN patients in all analyses compared with other forms of treatment. Cyclosporine treatment also showed promising results, despite being used in a small cohort of patients. No beneficial effects on mortality could be demonstrated for intravenous immunoglobulins. Conclusion: Glucocorticoids and cyclosporine may be tentatively recommended as the most promising immunomodulatory therapies for SJS/TEN, but these results should be investigated in future prospective controlled trials.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document