Self-Coping Strategies Among Jordanian Athletes During Ramadan Fasting: A Questionnaire Proposal

: This study aims to categorize the adaptation strategies of Muslim athletes who fast during Ramadan and proposes a self-coping strategy questionnaire as a complementary assessment tool. A total of 109 Jordanian Muslim athletes (mean age 20.0 ± 8.5 years) were surveyed by completing a self-coping questionnaire designed to classify an individual athlete’s level of adaptation. This study was conducted during the month of Ramadan 2019 and developed based on the training, nutritional, psychological, self-control, and recovery dimensions. Seventy percent of athletes found that they developed good or very good coping mechanisms. Coping strategies vary from one dimension to another, but in general, athletes often had a positive perceived coping. Athletes expressed that they are shifting the training hours with a preference for quality training rather than quantity and associated with a longer rest time. In addition, they were in favor of food hygiene associated with a strategy of sharing meals and providing water. The majority (59%) of the athletes said they were psychologically prepared for the potential effects of fasting. This research shows that athletes develop self-adjusting strategies to counter the effects of fasting. The questionnaire on the self-coping strategies provides important and precise information on the level of coping achieved by the athletes.

Comparison of stress level and coping strategy between therapeutic phases in newly diagnosed tuberculosis

In newly diagnosed Tuberculosis (TB), the diagnosis and therapy duration may cause psychological stress requiring effective coping strategy. This study aimed to compare and analyze the differences of stress level and coping strategy between intensive and advanced phases in newly diagnosed TB. This cross-sectional study involved 16 respondents in intensive phase and 29 respondents in advanced phase (n=45), in the working area of Pacar Keling Public Health Center of Surabaya. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and coping strategy questionnaire were used for collecting data. Data were collected in May 2018. Independent sample t test was used in data analysis (α<0.05). Results showed that mostly moderate stress level and adaptive coping strategy were found in both phases. Overall, stress and coping were not significantly different between phases in newly diagnosed TB (p=0.259 and p=0.079 respectively), but the feeling of angry, losing control, nervous & depressed, whether things happened as wishes, talking problems to professionals, and trying new dangerous thing were differ significantly between phases (p=0.046, p=0.024, p=0.044, p=0.016, p=0.014, and p=0.005 respectively). Although stress level and coping strategy were not significantly different between therapeutic phases in newly diagnosed TB, but more attention needs to be given towards patients’ emotion, such as the feeling of angry, losing control, nervous and depressed, and patients’ wishes, especially in intensive phase.