The actuality of resilience, social support and quality of life among patients with inflammatory bowel disease in China

The relationships among family function, psychological resilience, and social network of patients with chronic disease in the community

This study aimed to examine the relationships among family function, psychological resilience, and social network of patients with chronic disease in the community and to further identify whether psychological resilience played a mediating role in the relationship between family function and social network. A cross-sectional survey including 460 convenient samples of patients with chronic disease in four Chinese communities was conducted using a general characteristics questionnaire, the Family APGAR Index, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Lubben Social Network Scale 6. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, Student's t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson/Spearman correlation, hierarchical multiple regression analysis, and mediation analysis using the PROCESS macro. Family function, psychological resilience, and social network were significantly related. Psychological resilience partially mediated the relationship between family function and social network. Interventions designed to enhance family function and psychological resilience may improve social network among patients with chronic disease in the community.

Effect of interferon therapy on quality of life in patients with chronic hepatitis B

Interferon therapy is the most effective treatment for achieving clinical cure in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. However, the treatment outcomes of interferon therapy are uncertain, multiple side effects can occur during treatment, and the treatment is expensive. Although these characteristics may affect patients' quality of life, research examining this topic is limited. We used a cross-sectional design to examine 100 CHB patients receiving interferon, 100 receiving nucleoside/nucleotide analogues, and 87 receiving non-antiviral treatment. Characteristic information, the Hepatitis B Quality of Life Instrument, Connor Davidson Resilience Scale, and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire were used to collect information. We found that quality of life in the interferon treatment group was higher than that in the non-antiviral treatment and nucleoside/nucleotide analogue treatment groups (p < 0.05). The factors influencing quality of life were resilience, presenteeism, hair loss, and antiviral treatment (p < 0.05). Although interferon therapy has some potential side effects, the results suggested that it did not negatively affect quality of life. Overall, interferon therapy did not have a major impact on CHB patients' daily lives and work.

Is disease activity associated with social support and psychological distress in Crohn's disease patients? Results of a cross-sectional study in a Chinese hospital population

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to assess the relative of social support and psychological distress in disease activity among patients with Crohn's disease (CD) in China, and explore whether sex moderates the relationship between disease activity and social support and psychological distress in CD.

DESIGN

Our study has a cross-sectional design.

SETTING

This was a single-centre study, which was conducted in Wuhan, China.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 184 patients with CD at Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology were enrolled in this study; of these,162 patients were included in the final analysis.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

The main study outcome was the CD patients' clinical and questionnaire data. The association of disease activity, social support and psychological distress with patients with CD was also evaluated based on the collected data.

RESULTS

A total of 162 patients with CD were enrolled. Compared with patients with CD in remission (CD-R), the patients with CD in activity (CD-A) had higher C reactive protein (CRP) (p=0.001), anaemia (p<0.001) and relapse rates in the last year (p<0.001). Independent samples t-tests indicated that the CD-A group reported lower Social Support Rating Scale scores and higher Symptom Checklist-90 scores than the CD-R group. Moreover, men with CD had lower somatisation (p=0.030) and anxiety (p=0.050) scores than women. In binary logistic regression models, the subjective support (beta=0.903, p=0.013), the clinical factors of CRP (beta=1.038, p=0.001) and psychological distress factors of anxiety (beta=1.443, p=0.008) and other (beta=1.235, p=0.042) were disease activity predictors.

CONCLUSION

The findings highlight the importance of the psychological distress and social support factors that may play a role in CD patients' health. Interventions to address these issues should be part of management in CD.

Differentiating Childhood Traumas in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background

Inflammatory bowel disease is characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Research on inflammatory bowel disease has shown a connection to childhood traumatic events. However, few studies have focused on specific types of traumatic experiences and the impact of confiding in others on disease-related outcomes. This comparative, cross-sectional study expected that: (1) patients would report higher prevalence rates of childhood traumas than healthy controls; (2) healthy controls would report fewer and less severe traumatic experiences than patients and less confiding in others compared to patients; (3) childhood trauma severity would be indirectly related to depressive symptoms through resilience and confiding in others would moderate this relationship.

Methods

Participants completed an online survey; an inflammatory bowel disease patient group (N = 195, Mage = 40.48, 76.4% female) was compared to a similarly recruited sample of healthy controls (N = 190, Mage = 31.16, 59.5% female).

Results

Patients reported a higher prevalence of experiencing sexual traumas (P = .031), major upheavals (i.e., disruptions) (P = .048), and violence (P = .050) than controls. Patients had significantly higher total trauma severity odds ratios (OR 0.89, 95% CI[0.81,0.97]) and significantly lower total confiding in other odds ratios than controls (OR 1.09, 95% CI[1.02,1.16]). Childhood trauma severity was indirectly related to depressive symptoms through resilience, b = .05, SE = 0.09, 95% CI[0.01,0.09]; however, confiding did not moderate this relationship.

Conclusions

Patients reported more sexual, disruptive, and violent traumas. Although confiding did not act as a moderator, trauma was related to depressive symptoms through resilience.

Less Social Deprivation Is Associated With Better Health-Related Quality of Life in Asthma and Is Mediated by Less Anxiety and Better Sleep Quality

BACKGROUND

Previous studies on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in asthma have mainly focused on clinical and environmental determinants. Little is known about the role of social determinants on HRQoL in asthma.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to investigate the association between social deprivation and HRQoL in asthma.

METHODS

A total of 691 adult asthmatics from Canada, India, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom were administered a digital questionnaire containing demographic information and questions about social and psychological attributes, sleep disturbances, and alcohol abuse. HRQoL was measured using the Short Form of the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (SF-CRQ). We analyzed the direct and indirect relationships between social deprivation and HRQoL using structural equation models with social deprivation as a latent variable. We tested for mediation via anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, and alcohol abuse.

RESULTS

We found that less social deprivation (latent variable) was directly associated with better SF-CRQ domain scores such as dyspnea (regression coefficient β: 0.33; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.07 to 0.58), fatigue (β: 0.39; 95% CI: 0.14 to 0.64), and emotional function (β: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.11 to 0.62), but with the worse mastery score (β: -0.29; 95% CI: -0.55 to -0.03); however, those associations varied across participating countries. We also observed that among all individual social deprivation indicators, education, companionship, emotional support, instrumental support, and social isolation were directly associated with HRQoL, and the relationship between social deprivation and HRQoL was mediated through anxiety and sleep disturbances.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results demonstrated that less social deprivation was directly, and indirectly through less anxiety and better sleep quality, associated with better HRQoL in asthma.

Exploring the Association Between Resilience and Quality of Life Among Glaucoma Patients: Sleep Disturbance as a Mediating Factor

BACKGROUND

Patients with glaucoma may experience many symptoms such as blindness, which seriously affect their quality of life (QoL). Resilience is playing a vital role in enhancing the QoL and well-being of patients with chronic diseases. In addition, sleep disturbance is common in patients with glaucoma, leading to a decline in their QoL. However, there is a dearth of research on whether sleep disturbance plays a mediating role between resilience and QoL among glaucoma patients.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to explore the role of sleep disturbance in the relationship between resilience and QoL among glaucoma patients.

METHODS

From July to December 2019, a cross-sectional survey was conducted on 215 glaucoma patients in an ophthalmic hospital in Liaoning Province. Hierarchical multiple regression (HMR) analyses and structural equation modeling (SEM) were conducted to examine the factors related to QoL and to test the hypothesis that sleep disturbance mediates the relationship between resilience and QoL among glaucoma patients.

RESULTS

The average QoL score among glaucoma patients was 43.85 ± 14.97 as reported by the Glaucoma Quality of Life-15 (GQL-15) scale, where a higher scores indicating a poorer QoL. Resilience was found to be linked with a lower QoL score (P < 0.01), while sleep disturbance was associated with a higher QoL score (P < 0.01). When sleep disturbance was included in the model as partial mediator, the path coefficients for the association between resilience and QoL score was significantly decreased (a*b = -0.1, BCa95% CI: -0.154∼-0.045).

CONCLUSION

Findings of this study reflected that QoL among glaucoma patients in China was poor. Resilience was found to be an important positive factor, which could result in the improvement of QoL. Furthermore, sleep disturbance mediated the relationship between resilience and QoL among patients with glaucoma, thereby reducing the positive impact of resilience on QoL in glaucoma patients. Efforts to improve QoL among glaucoma patients may benefit from interventions that enhance the levels of resilience and promote healthy sleep.

Progress in research of level of psychological resilience and its influencing factors in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are often accompanied by varying degrees of anxiety or depression. These negative emotions may increase the frequency and severity of IBD attacks and form a vicious cycle. Psychological resilience is a kind of ability that reflects an individual's ability to maintain a good state in the face of suffering and crisis. A higher level of psychological resilience is helpful for IBD patients to improve their psychological state, and actively adapt to and treat the disease. This article reviews the level of psychological resilience and its influencing factors in IBD patients.

The impact of gastrointestinal conditions on psychosocial factors associated with the biopsychosocial model of health: A scoping review

The increase in the prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) conditions is an emerging global health concern. Studies of the impact on the lives of individuals living with GI conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) typically focus on biological elements, such as symptomology and treatment efficacy. Comparatively fewer studies have explored the psychological and social aspects of GI conditions, which could provide key information needed to better understand the impact of GI conditions on people and their lived experiences. In this review, existing literature concerning the psychosocial factors and well-being outcomes associated with GI conditions was reviewed using a scoping methodology. Sixty-eight studies were selected for inclusion. Of these studies, the well-being outcomes most frequently addressed, for both IBS and IBD, were quality of life and health-related quality of life, and the most frequently addressed psychosocial factors were social support and coping. These outcomes are largely consistent with those identified for other medical conditions explored using the biopsychosocial model of health, with some exploration of the lived experiences of those with a GI condition.