Measuring the purpose in life in the adult population: A scoping review

Background

The purpose in life can motivate individuals to realize that life is essential for existence and well-being. Adults might experience crises that can lead to a lack of purpose in life. Consequently, promoting purpose in life is necessary, but it requires a suitable measurement scale.

Objective

This scoping review aimed to identify and map the content, psychometric properties, and answer option scales of instruments intended to measure purpose in life in adult populations.

Design

A scoping review was employed.

Data Sources

The database used was PubMed. The libraries were APA PsycNet, Wiley Online Library, and Cochrane Library. The search strategy was performed between 1 November 2023 and 14 February 2024.

Review Methods

This review used the scoping review framework described by Arksey and O'Malley. The identified instruments were assessed for quality based on the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) criteria. This study also used the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) reporting guideline.

Results

A total of 348 studies were identified, and seven articles were involved in the final synthesis. These seven articles included five instruments measuring the concept of purpose in life, of which two instruments had two versions: 1) Purpose in Life Test (20 items, 4 items); 2) Life Engagement Test (6 items); 3) Psychological Well-Being (120 items, 18 items); 4) Self-Assessment Goal Achievement (9 items); and 5) National Institutes of Health Tuberculosis Meaning and Purpose Scale Age 18+ (18 items). The validity of all instruments was tested using factor analysis, known groups, face, concurrent, convergent, discriminant, and construct validity. The reliability of four instruments was tested by Cronbach's alpha and Spearman-Brown formula.

Conclusion

Five instruments measuring purpose in life in the adult population with adequate psychometric properties were identified. The clinical implication of this study suggests that nurses may consider employing an appropriate instrument to assess the purpose of life in the adult population, thus enabling them to offer holistic, individualized care to adults, particularly addressing the spiritual dimension.

Love or conflict: A qualitative study of the human-long tailed macaque interface in Nakhon Sawan Province, Thailand

A wide range of zoonotic pathogens can be transmitted during human-wildlife interactions. Few qualitative studies have been conducted on human-nonhuman primate interfaces in Thailand, notably direct and indirect contact. Since Long-tailed macaques (LTMs) are prevalent in Thailand's Banphot Phisai district, part of Nakhon Sawan province, this qualitative study was conducted in 2019 to determine in-depth contact characteristics between humans and LTMs in the communities. Key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 35 villagers who reported close contact with LTMs in this study location. The results showed that villagers had different levels of contact with LTMs, depending on their occupations, perceptions, beliefs, religions, previous experiences, and local regulations. Monks in temples and vendors selling food for LTMs were reported to have the closest contact with them. LTMs have been reported to destroy personal property, houses, buildings, and crops. However, the villagers do not hurt them due to their religious beliefs relating to a respected abbot (a man who headed an abbey of monks). Even community members have had extensive interaction with LTMs, but they lacked awareness and information regarding diseases transmitted to humans directly or indirectly by non-human primates. Therefore, individuals who have frequent and close contact with LTMs should be provided health education, and appropriate behavioral change communication interventions should be performed. Furthermore, the results could be used to develop future disease prevention strategies and public awareness campaigns in the area.

Muslim caregivers' experiences in caring for patients receiving peritoneal dialysis

BACKGROUND

Fulfilling the role of a family caregiver has a substantial effect on the lives of those involved. However, existing information on family caregivers of patients receiving peritoneal dialysis is insufficient-especially Muslim caregivers, whose practice is unique.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to understand the experiences of Muslim family caregivers looking after patients receiving peritoneal dialysis in an Islamic context.

DESIGN

A descriptive qualitative approach was employed.

PARTICIPANTS

Thirteen Muslim family caregivers who have cared for patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis for at least 1 month.

APPROACH

Data were collected through face-to-face in-depth interviews and a focus group discussion. Content analysis was used to analyse the data with initial codes grouped into sub-categories, generic categories, and main categories.

FINDINGS

The experiences of Muslim family caregivers looking after patients receiving peritoneal dialysis generated two main categories: overwhelmed with suffering and learning to live as a caregiver.

CONCLUSIONS

Caregiving has a substantial impact on Muslim family caregivers. They need to be cared for holistically. The recognition of Islamic beliefs, doctrine of Allah, and religious practices are clear spiritual anchors for caregiving. The findings provide a deeper understanding of the experiences of Muslim family caregivers looking after patients receiving peritoneal dialysis. These findings could serve as the basis for developing a specific nursing intervention for such caregivers.

The effects of others' drinking on the harms to children in Thailand: Lessons from the WHO-ThaiHealth project

BACKGROUND

Many knowledge gaps exist in the area of alcohol-related harms in children research such as the potential impact of other's drinking and their social demography. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the effects of characteristics of household members and others' alcohol drinking on harms to children in Thailand.

DATA AND METHODS

This study examined 952 parents caring for children and adolescents under 18 years of age, using the questionnaire (i.e., The Harm to Others from Drinking under the WHO/ThaiHealth International Collaboration Research Project). They were interviewed between September 2012 and March 2013.

RESULTS

The study found that 15.89% of children and young people were affected by someone's drinking in at least one category of harms. People over 60 years of age were less likely to cause alcohol-related harm to children than those aged 18 to 29 (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.19, 95% confidence interval [Cl]: 0.06-0.58). Households with a binge drinker or regular drinker (≥1 time/week) were more likely to have children at higher risk of suffering alcohol-related harm in comparison to households without alcohol drinker (AOR 4.75 and 1.92, respectively).

CONCLUSION

This study found that children whose family members are young adult or consume alcohol (i.e., weekly drinker or binge drinker) were significantly adversely affected. The most common problems were domestic violence and verbal abuse. Most of the problems, affecting children, were caused mostly by their parents.

Rodent–Human Interface: Behavioral Risk Factors and Leptospirosis in a Province in the Central Region of Thailand

This sequential explanatory mixed-method study consisted of analytical, cross-sectional, and qualitative studies. The research was conducted in the Khao Nor and Khao Kaew areas of the Banphot Pisai districts of Nakhon Sawan Province in 2019. Here, we examined the rodent contact characteristics of villagers in these areas and determined the potential characteristics/risk factors associated with rodents using a semi-structured questionnaire, key informant interview (KII), and focus group discussion (FGD). Results of the quantitative study (N1 = 372) characterized participants that contacted rodents per gender, age, occupation, knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP), including their cultural contexts, and beliefs. Ninety participants (24.2%) reported contact with rodents, and the reasons for their direct physical rodent contact were hunting (35, 9.4%), killing (41, 11.0%), preparing rodents as food (33, 8.9%), consuming cooked meats (12, 3.2%), feeding food (4, 1.1%), cleaning feces (17, 4.6%), and cleaning carcasses (33, 8.9%). Moreover, logistic regression results showed that males encountering rodents were statistically significant (Adjusted OR = 3.137, 95% CI 1.914–5.139, p < 0.001). Low monthly household income (<THB 15,000 or <USD 450) was also negatively statistically significant with encountering rodents (Adjusted OR = 0.57, 95% CI 0.33–0.99, p = 0.04). Additionally, the villagers had a low level of knowledge toward zoonotic diseases and inappropriate attitudes and practices toward contacting rodents and zoonotic diseases. Thirty-five qualitative study participants (N2) participated in the KIIs and FGDs. Various rodent contact activities were also reported among the qualitative research participants, such as hunting, consumption, and selling them to their friends and neighbors. However, these rodents also destroyed their belongings, crops, and plants. Some participants also reported that rodents accounted for leptospirosis transmission. As a result, communication intervention should be planned to provide appropriate knowledge and attitude to the villagers, especially among those who have close contact with rodents in the understudied area.

Development and evaluation of a preparation model for the Indonesian nursing licensure examination: A participatory action research

BACKGROUND

The long-standing underachievement in the Indonesian national nursing competency examination (NNCE) has been a common concern, and there is limited information on the preparation program for this licensure examination.

OBJECTIVE

To develop an NNCE preparation program model and evaluate its effectiveness in increasing competency among nursing graduates.

DESIGN

A quasi-experimental study using participatory action research (PAR).

SETTING

Faculty of nursing of a full-boarding private university in Indonesia.

PARTICIPANTS

The participants were selected with the purposive sampling method. The 23 course coordinators and clinical instructors met the inclusion criteria of having worked for at least five years as classroom teachers and at least one year as course coordinators or clinical instructors. The 85 nursing graduates met the inclusion criteria of having finished the internship program and planned to take the NNCE.

METHODS

The model was developed using PAR and the evaluation done to measure the increase in the competency level and the level of perceived readiness and satisfaction of both the participant educators and nursing graduates.

RESULTS

The proposed model consists of core components and essential concepts. The core components are a holistic preparation process, active involvement and participation, knowledge and skill specialty, sharp examination-taking and skills, motivation to join the program and self-confidence to pass the NNCE, and time commitment for the preparation program. The essential concepts consist of awareness and trust, desire to change, sense of responsibility, mutual collaboration, equipped and empowered to act, definite direction and goals, mentoring. The model's evaluation indicated a significant increase in competency level, overall perceived readiness for the national nursing competency examination, and degree of satisfaction with the preparation program.

CONCLUSIONS

The implementation of the preparation model effectively increased the nursing graduates' competency level, and both the participating educators and nursing graduates were satisfied with its effectiveness.

Bats and belief: A sequential qualitative study in Thailand

Bats are wildlife and distribute globally. In Thailand, there are hundreds of bat species in different locations within four regions. However, few motivations and influences for having contact with bats have been documented. This sequential qualitative study was conducted in ten provinces representing the four regions of Thailand from September 2016 to June 2017. The study was designed to obtain information on villagers' attitudes, perceptions, beliefs and cultural contexts in relation to bats. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 305 respondents. Of these respondents, 142 (46.6%) reported coming into contact with bats through various activities, such as hunting, eating, cooking, collecting bat guano, cleaning bat feces, and finding carcasses in houses and communities. Villagers called bats by different names in different regions. They reported having been in contact with bats in different ways based on occupations, bat species, bat habitats, attitudes, perceptions, beliefs toward bats, and cultural contexts. Villagers in the northern and northeastern regions reported having regularly eaten bats. In contrast, the respondents in the central region did not eat bats due to local norms, religious beliefs, and regulations. By ethnicity, the Blu and Thai Dum groups reported coming into contact with and eating bats more often than the Thais. Our results provide evidence-based information on the human-bat interface in different regions in Thailand. The results of this qualitative study could be useful for strategic planning of proper education and interventions for bat conservation, bat contact behavior, and risk of bat-borne diseases among villagers in the future.

Comparisons between context-specific and beverage-specific quantity frequency instruments to assess alcohol consumption indices: Individual and sample level analysis

There are many survey instruments to determine drinking patterns and alcohol consumption levels in the general population. This study aims to compare the context-specific quantity-frequency (CSQF) and beverage-specific quantity-frequency (BSQF) methods to estimate alcohol consumption indices at individual and sample levels. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among a population aged 15 years and older in Songkhla Province, Thailand. The BSQF and CSQF questionnaires with a 3-month retrospective time frame and in random order were applied to each participant. The CSQF was developed to ask more about the drinking contexts. The questions elicited information on location, partner, beverage, quantity, and frequency for five common drinking situations. Among 804 participants, 183 drank alcohol in the last three months. At the individual level, total alcohol consumption of almost all types of beverage by the CSQF was higher than the BSQF in approximately 50% of current drinkers and was mainly accounted for by the higher report of average quantity. At the sample level, there were no significant differences in the average daily intake, 3-month intake per drinker or per capita consumption between instruments. The interview duration and burden of answering the questions by the participants for the CSQF were not significantly higher than those for the BSQF. In summary, the fuller picture of drinking behaviors from the CSQF has several valuable methodological advantages and provides information allowing alcohol policies to be more directly specific to certain target populations or situations. The CSQF is a prototype questionnaire and forms the basis for a contextual approach. However, additional methodological studies need to be explored.