Janeen Manuel

Quality of Life Among Younger Women With Breast Cancer

PURPOSE To describe quality of life (QOL) of younger women 4 to 42 months after breast cancer diagnosis and to identify factors associated with impaired QOL. METHODS A total of 202 women diagnosed with stage I to III breast cancer at age 50 or younger from 4 to 42 months after breast cancer diagnosis previously completed a mailed survey. Global QOL; health-related QOL as measured by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast Cancer (FACT-B); medical history; symptoms; days of work/activity missed after diagnosis; relationship, sexual, and body image problems; coping strategies; and feelings of preparedness were measured. RESULTS General aches and pains and unhappiness with appearance were reported by more than 70% of women. Hot flashes (P = .0007), pain with sexual intercourse (P = .02), and difficulty with bladder control (P = .002) all significantly increased with age. Global QOL was significantly lower than for a nonpatient sample of younger women (P < .0001). In general, few sociodemographic and medical factors were related to QOL. In multivariate analyses, days of work/usual activity missed immediately after diagnosis; relationship, sexual, or body image problems after diagnosis; and coping strategies were related to almost all QOL domains. Ongoing treatment, vaginal dryness, and feeling unprepared for the impact of breast cancer were related to some domains. CONCLUSION Younger breast cancer survivors are at risk for impaired QOL up to several years after diagnosis. Younger women, especially those at high risk for lower QOL, may need interventions that specifically target their needs related to menopausal symptoms and problems with relationships, sexual functioning, and body image. Preparing younger woman for the impact of breast cancer may also prove beneficial.

Coping with sports injuries: an examination of the adolescent athlete ☆

Forty-eight injured adolescent athletes completed questionnaires over 3 months after injury to assess psychosocial outcomes. Depressive symptoms decreased over time, and the lack of positive stress and high athletic identity were associated with early depressive symptoms after accounting for injury severity. Increased social support was associated with lower initial depressive symptoms.

Factors associated with self-esteem in pre-adolescents and adolescents with cerebral palsy.

Predictors of self-esteem were examined in 50 pre-adolescents and adolescents with cerebral palsy. On average, self-esteem was high, although 30% scored below a cut-point for low self-esteem. Self-esteem was bivariately associated with female gender, better physician-assessed functional ability, greater perception of the impact of the disability, and higher perceived parent overprotectiveness. In a multivariate model, only perceived impact of the disability remained significant.

Health care utilization among homeless adolescents and young adults.

A probability sample of Californian homeless females was examined for health service utilization, comparing adolescents to older women. Adolescent homeless women reported higher outpatient visit use. Possessing public health insurance increased the odds of outpatient visits. Future research might use the outpatient setting to aid adolescents in exiting homelessness.

Development of an asset map of medical education research activity

Introduction: Medical education research is gaining recognition as scholarship within academic medical centers. This survey was conducted at a medium‐sized academic medical center in the United States. The purpose of the study was to learn faculty interest in research in medical education, so assets could be used to develop educational scholarship further. Methods: A cross‐sectional study design was used to survey faculty activity and interest in medical education research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine (WFUSM). Results: Overall response rate was 31% (263 out of 855) of faculty. Over half (60%) indicated interest in education research with 18% of the respondents currently involved in education research. If faculty were aware that education scholarship can lead to advancement, they were more likely to be involved in conducting such research ( p < 0.01). A total of 22% did not understand what was meant by education research and 17% had no interest in education research. Discussion: Interest in medical education research and scholarship is evident at WFUSM. Experience in conducting education research and understanding of the nature of this type of research have not yet been fully developed. There appears to be a core set of faculty interested in conducting education research who may serve as a resource for faculty development in future medical education scholarship.