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We assessed a subset of behavioral indicators from the American Heart Association Life's Essential 8 cardiovascular health (CVH) construct—diet, physical activity, sleep, and nicotine exposure—and quantified associations in scores between members of 12 grandparent-grandchild dyads (grandparents, 52–70 years old; children, 7–12 years old). We also assessed the number of adverse childhood experiences from the dyads. Using the Life's Essential 8 scoring algorithm (0–100, with 100 as optimal), we calculated averages and used Spearman's ρ correlation to quantify associations. Mean score was 67.5 (±12.4) for grandparents and 63.0 (±11.2) for grandchildren. Mean scores for the dyad members were significantly correlated (r= 0.66, P< .05). The mean numbers of adverse childhood experiences were 7.0 and 5.8 for the grandparents and grandchildren, respectively. The results indicate that CVH in these dyads was suboptimal and interrelated. Adverse childhood experiences in this analysis surpass levels reported as high risk for poor CVH. Our findings suggest that dyadic-based interventions to improve CVH are warranted.

The study aims to determine whether pessimism and optimism can be used as early warning signs for negative changes in caregiver depressive symptoms and physical health over a 10-year period. It is concluded that nurses and clinicians have a unique opportunity to detect and intervene with caregivers who show high levels of pessimism early in the caregiving trajectory.

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A randomized controlled trial was carried out on cancer survivors to evaluate whether motivational interviewing (MI) would in any way prove to help long-term survivors in increasing their participation in self-selected physical activities. It is concluded that the use of MI may increase physical activity in long-term cancer survivors may increase physical activity in long-term cancer survivors especially in persons with high self-efficacy for exercise.

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Tethered oral tissues decrease lip and tongue mobility, impairing milk transfer from the breast or bottle. No studies have evaluated the effects of frenotomy in infants using valid measures of feeding. The aims were to describe changes in symptoms of problematic feeding, as measured by the Neonatal Eating Assessment Tool (NeoEAT), pre- and post-frenotomy, and explore the contribution of infant age to changes in problematic feeding. Parents completed an online survey about their infant's feeding on the day of frenotomy and 2 weeks post-frenotomy. Paired t-tests evaluated the effect of frenotomy on infant feeding symptoms by feeding method (breast, bottle or mixed). Linear regression examined the effect of infant age on change scores for the NeoEAT. NeoEAT scores were significantly lower in all subgroups after frenotomy, with no association between infant age and scores. Using the validated NeoEAT will give nurses and providers data for specialty referral and feeding support.

Introduction:Obesity is a major risk factor for cardiometabolic disease.Research shows that children living in grandparent-headed households are more likely to have obesity compared to children living in two-parent headed households. However, little is known about modifiable risk or protective factors that influence that association.Purpose:To assess the mediator role of three key factors (families eating meals together, family resilience, and sleep duration; all reported to be associated with childhood obesity) on the association between family structure type and children’s obesityMethods:We utilized data from the 2019-2020 National Survey of Children’s Health (n=37,688 to 37,699). Path models were used to assess the mediating (indirect) effect of “frequency of families eating meals together,” “family resilience,” and “child sleeps recommended age-appropriate hours (yes or no)”, on the association between family structure type and obesity. We controlled for child’s sex, age, race/ethnicity, health insurance, number of adverse childhood experiences, and physical activity level.Results:We found that family meals was not a significant mediator between family structure type and obesity, whereas family resilience and reaching recommended age-appropriate standards for sleep were both significant mediators. Living in grandparent-headed households was associated with lower family resilience, which in turn was associated with higher odds of having obesity, after adjusting for covariates (indirect effect adjusted Odds Ratio=1.01; 95% confidence interval [1.00, 1.02]). Similarly, living in grandparent-headed households was associated with getting less sleep, which was associated with higher odds of having obesity, after adjusting for covariates (indirect effect adjusted Odds Ratio=1.04; 95% confidence interval [1.03, 1.06]).Conclusions:Although the effects were small, our findings suggest that promoting family resilience and adequate sleep could be suitable intervention targets for youth living in grandparent-headed households. Further investigations are required to validate our findings.

The purpose of this study was to determine the role of modifiable factors in the risk of long-term care (LTC) placement. Using data from a cohort of community-residing older adults (The purpose of this study was to determine the role of modifiable factors in the risk of long-term care (LTC) placement. Using data from a cohort of community-residing older adults (N= 189), a secondary analysis was conducted of the contribution of social activity, sleep disturbances, and depressive symptoms to the risk of LTC placement. Analyses controlled for cognitive and functional impairment, age, and medical conditions. Within 5 years, 20% of participants were placed in a LTC facility. Each unit increase in social activity was associated with a 24% decrease in the risk of placement (odds ratio [OR] = 0.763, p= 0.001, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.65, 0.89]). Cognitive impairment (OR = 3.05, p= 0.017, 95% CI [1.23, 7.59]), medical conditions (OR = 1.22, p= 0.039, 95% CI [1.01, 1.47]), and age (OR = 1.101, p= 0.030, 95% CI [1.01, 1.20]) were also significant individual predictors of placement. Although many of the strongest risk factors for placement are not modifiable, older adults who engage in more social activity outside the home may be able to delay transition from independent living.[Res Gerontol Nurs. 2014; 7(3):106–112.]

Chronic pain and prescription opioid use are prevalent among patients with end-stage kidney disease treated with hemodialysis. Vulnerabilities to complications from opioid use are high in this patient population as demonstrated in many recent well conducted patient-oriented studies. Such studies highlight a need for a balanced approach to pain management in hemodialysis patients that includes careful assessment of the risks and benefits of opioid prescriptions in this population. In this article, we review the available literature and experience regarding opioid prescriptions among hemodialysis patients, discuss clinical implications, and outline ongoing research.