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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the long-term quality of life (QOL) and priorities of an international cohort of cancer surgery survivors. METHODS: Patients were surveyed through online support groups. We utilized the Short Form-12 questionnaire to evaluate QOL and a novel survey to assess the relative importance of longevity, experience, and costs. RESULTS: A total of 592 patients from six continents responded. They were 58 ± 12 years old, 70% female, and 92% White. Patients averaged 37 months from their initial cancer diagnosis, with a maximum survivorship of 46 years. Across 17 disease sites, respondents generally ranked longevity, functional independence, and emotional well-being most important, while treatment experience and costs were ranked least important (W = 33.6%, p < 0.001). However, a subset of respondents ranked costs as significantly important. There were no differences in QOL based on demographics, except patients with higher education and income reported better QOL scores. Despite improvements in QOL throughout survivorship, both physical-QOL (41.1 ± 11.1 at 1 year vs. 42.3 ± 12.6 at 5 years, p = 0.511) and mental-QOL (41.3 ± 13.4 at 1 year vs. 44.6 ± 13.9 at 5 years, p = 0.039) remained below that of the general population (50 ± 10; both p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Cancer survivors experience enduring physical and mental impairment throughout survivorship. Future efforts should aim to provide sustained support across varied socioeconomic groups, ensuring equitable care and enhancement of QOL postcancer treatment.
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OBJECTIVE: To assess the current knowledge level about diabetes and acceptance of nurse-led educational programmes among diabetic patients. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at a community health centre in Karachi from August, 2018 to December, 2019 and comprised adult patients of either gender with diabetes. Data was collected using a predesigned questionnaire to record demographic information, participants' DM knowledge, self-management aspects and their opinions along with preferences for a DM educational support group. Data was analysed using STATA/SE 15.1. RESULTS: Of the 215 participants, 80(37%) were males and 135(63%) were females. The overall mean age was 55.8±14.5 yrs. Most participants had diabetes for ≥5 years 127(59%) and 141(66%) did not know their type of diabetes. Most participants were prescribed anti-diabetic medications 201(94%), and 45(2%) had forgotten to take their medication recently. Insulin was being used by 65(30%) participants, and, among them, 27(42%) reused syringes. Most patients struggled to make lifestyle modifications 133(62%), and 144 (67%) were willing to attend nurse-led diabetic education sessions. Conclusion: There was found to be a need of diabetes education support programme to address knowledge deficiencies, and a nurse-led programme was found to be acceptable to the majority of study subjects.
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Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2 , Diabetes Mellitus , Adulto , Anciano , Estudios Transversales , Diabetes Mellitus/terapia , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2/tratamiento farmacológico , Femenino , Conocimientos, Actitudes y Práctica en Salud , Hospitales , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Evaluación de Necesidades , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the probability of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 transmission from different key HIV population groups using probabilistic modelling. METHODS: This study was conducted in December 2020. A probabilistic model was used to estimate the probability of HIV-1 transmission from different key HIV population groups in Larkana. Our model was run on three probabilistic assumptions: 1) each replication gave two conceivable results: 'true' or 'false'; 2) the chance of giving a 'true' result is the same for each replication; and 3) the replications are independent - 'true' in one will not impact the likelihood of 'true' in another. RESULTS: The results estimated the probability of HIV transmission in key HIV population groups in Larkana to range between 0.42-0.54 per trial, where the highest probability of transmission was predicted for men who have sex with men (MSM; 0.54 per trial), followed by transgender (TG; 0.46 per trial) and people who inject drugs (PWID; 0.457 per trial). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that there is a high likelihood of HIV transmission by key population groups in Larkana, such as MSM, TG, and PWID. Mathematic models, such as one proposed in our study can aid the HIV and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) control programmes in evaluating and optimising the strategies in controlling transmission of HIV from the key population groups.