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Background: Psychological well-being (PWB) facilitates good health. Few studies have taken into consideration gender and how it can affect PWB within a sociocultural context. This study aims to determine if relationships between social, health, behavioral, and socioeconomic factors on PWB among older Taiwanese adults are affected by gender. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2016 Taiwan Mental Health Survey. A representative sample, of 2,286 individuals, was created using multistage proportional probability. Participants were interviewed at their homes using a structured questionnaire. Inclusion criteria were Taiwanese citizenship, age = 55 years, and the ability to provide informed consent. Participants 65 years and above were selected for the study sample n = 1,533. An 18-item version of Ryff's PWB scale was used to determine PWB. The median value was used to categorize low and high PWB. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine predictors of PWB stratified by gender. Results: Chronic disease, unemployment, and financial dependence negatively impacted men's PWB. Satisfaction with living environment and family relationships positively impacted women's PWB. Unique characteristics of older men, women, and culture account for this. Conclusion: Gender-specific interventions aimed at promoting PWB in older adults are needed. Recommendations include educational programs, social support workshops, and community engagement initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have stressed the importance of tobacco exposure for the mood disorders of depression and anxiety. Although a few studies have focused on perinatal women, none have specifically considered the effects of smoking and secondhand smoke exposure on perinatal suicidal ideation. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the relationships of smoking/secondhand smoke exposure status with suicidal ideation, depression, and anxiety from the first trimester to the first month post partum.Methods: This cross-sectional study based on self-reported data was conducted at five hospitals in Taipei, Taiwan from July 2011 to June 2014. The questionnaire inquired about women's pregnancy history, sociodemographic information, and pre-pregnancy smoking and secondhand smoke exposure status, and assessed their suicidal ideation, depression, and anxiety symptoms. Logistic regression models were used for analysis.Results: In the 3867 women in the study, secondhand smoke exposure was positively associated with perinatal depression and suicidal ideation. Compared with women without perinatal secondhand smoke exposure, women exposed to secondhand smoke independently exhibited higher risks for suicidal ideation during the second trimester (odds ratio (OR) = 7.63; 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 3.25-17.93) and third trimester (OR = 4.03; 95 % CI = 1.76-9.23). Women exposed to secondhand smoke had an increased risk of depression, especially those aged 26-35 years (OR = 1.71; 95 % CI = 1.27-2.29).Conclusions: Secondhand smoke exposure also considerably contributes to adverse mental health for women in perinatal periods, especially for the severe outcome of suicidal ideation. Our results strongly support the importance of propagating smoke-free environments to protect the health of perinatal women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As habitual heavy alcohol consumption is one of the major causes of cirrhosis in the western world, the majority of studies on the relationship between cirrhosis and stroke have focused on patients with alcohol-related liver diseases. Using a nationwide population-based dataset, this study therefore aimed to examine the risk of stroke among non-alcoholic cirrhosis patients over a 5-year period following their diagnosis with non-alcoholic cirrhosis, as compared with the general population during the same period. We used the 'Longitudinal Health Insurance Database', derived from the Taiwan National Health Insurance program. The study cohort comprised 2336 patients with cirrhosis and the comparison cohort consisted of 11 680 randomly selected subjects. Stratified Cox's proportional hazard regressions were performed to compare the 5-year stroke survival rate for the two cohorts. In the total sample of 14 016 patients, 1187 patients (8.5%) experienced stroke during the 5-year follow-up period: 176 from the study cohort (7.5% of the patients with cirrhosis) and 1011 from the comparison cohort (8.7% of patients without cirrhosis) ( P=0.076). After adjusting for the patients' geographical location, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and hyperlipidaemia, the regression analysis shows that patients with cirrhosis were less likely to experience stroke compared with those without cirrhosis during the 5-year period (hazard ratio=0.59, 95% confidence interval=0.52-0.67, P<0.001). We conclude that patients with non-alcoholic cirrhosis were at a reduced risk for stroke compared with the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Objective: Limited evidence reveals an elevated mortality risk in offspring of psychiatric patients after infancy. This nationwide population-based study in Taiwan aimed to investigate mortality risk in preschool children up to age 5 whose parents have severe mental illness. Method: Three nationwide populationbased data sets were linked. A total of 3,166 children with one or both parents having schizophrenia or an affective disorder were identified, together with a comparison cohort of 25,328 children matched with the study group in terms of maternal age and year of delivery. Cox proportional hazard regressions were performed to compute hazard ratios, with adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics and maternal medical comorbidities. Results: During the preschool years, 54 (1.7%) deaths were documented among offspring of parents with severe mental illness and 155 (0.6%) in the comparison cohort. Parental mental illness was independently associated with a risk of death nearly 2.4 times higher (95% C11.723.28) than in the comparison cohort. The association was even more marked for unnatural causes of death, in which the mortality risk was 8.35 times greater (95% Cl=4.04-17.24) in children of affected parents than in the comparison cohort. The proportional mortality rates were as high as 20.4% and 11.1% for accident and homicide, respectively, among offspring exposed to parental mental illness. Conclusions: An elevated mortality risk, especially from unnatural causes of death, was identified for offspring of parents with severe mental illness during the preschool years in an Asian society. There is an urgent need for multidisciplinary team approaches and risk management strategies to support psychiatric patients who are having difficulty with the transition to parenthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore whether panic disorder (PD) increases the risk for stroke, using a nationwide, population-based dataset. Methods: Our study used data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. The study cohort included patients who received ambulatory psychiatric care for PD between 2002 and 2003, inclusive (n = 3891). We selected our comparison cohort by randomly recruiting enrollees (n = 19 455) matched with the study group by sex and age. Each patient was tracked for 3 years, from their index ambulatory care visit until the end of 2006, to identify whether or not a patient had a stroke during the follow-up period. Cox proportional hazard regressions were performed as a means of computing the 3-year survival rate, adjusting for potential confounding factors. Results: Among the total sample, 2029 patients (8.7%) experienced a stroke during the 3-year follow-up period, including 647 from the study cohort (16.6% of the PD patients) and 1382 (7.1%) from the comparison cohort. After adjusting for the patients' sex, age, monthly income, level of urbanization, and comorbid medical disorders, the hazard of stroke occurring during the 3-year follow-up period was 2.37 (P < 0.001) times greater for patients with PD than for patients in the comparison cohort. In further analyses, stratified by medical diseases and age, the significant risk of PD on subsequent stroke persisted. Conclusions: We conclude that PD is an independent risk factor for stroke. For patients with PD, aggressive treatment of PD may be considered as part of stroke prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction:: In Taiwan, the Smoke-Free Restaurant Program (SFRP) was implemented from 2003 to 2005 as an initial phase before the introduction of restrictive legislation promoting smoke-free restaurants (SFRs). No studies have evaluated trends in public opinion before and after a national health promotion campaign for the introduction of SFRs on a voluntary basis. The present study investigated whether public opinion with respect to eliminating environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in restaurants changed after implementation of the SFRP. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose/Objectives: To investigate the effect of supportive care on healthcare and support needs for women with suspected breast cancer during the diagnostic period.Design: A quasiexperimental design with two nonrandomly assigned groups.Setting: Two general surgery outpatient departments at a large teaching hospital in Taiwan.Sample: Experimental and control groups included 62 and 60 women with suspected breast cancer, respectively.Methods: The experimental group received supportive care, including health education pamphlets regarding breast cancer diagnosis and treatment; three sessions of individual, face-to-face health education and emotional support; and two follow-up telephone counseling sessions. The control group received routine care. Data were collected upon notice of need for breast biopsy, before biopsy, and after biopsy results were revealed.Main Research Variables: Healthcare and support needs.Findings: Levels of healthcare and support needs before breast biopsy and after results were revealed were significantly lower for the experimental group than the control group. Supportive care and biopsy results predicted healthcare and support need levels after diagnosis confirmation, explaining 57% of the total variance.Conclusions: Supportive care incorporating information, emotional support, and continuous follow-up care improved the degree to which women with suspected breast cancer perceived that their healthcare and support needs were met.Implications for Nursing: Supportive care, when individually designed and culturally sensitive, can help clinical nurses improve quality of care for clients with suspected breast cancer during the diagnostic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]