Melba Sheila D’Souza

Factors associated with health-related quality of life among Indian women in mining and agriculture

BackgroundWomen facing social and economic disadvantage in stressed communities of developing countries are at greater risk due to health problems. This paper investigates the relationships between structural, health and psychosocial predictors among women in mining and agricultural communities. This paper is a report of a study of the predictors of the health-related quality of life among Indian women in mining and agricultural communities.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional research design was used. The instruments used are SF-36 Health Survey and Coping Strategy Checklist. ANOVA, MANOVA and GLM were used in the analysis. The study was conducted between January-September 2008 with randomly selected women in a mining (145) and an agricultural community (133) in India.ResultsWomen in the agricultural community had significantly increased Physical Health, Mental Health and SF36 scores compared with those in the mining community. Years of stay, education and employment were significant predictors among women in the agricultural community. 39% (33%) and 40% (26%) of the variance in Physical and Mental health respectively among women in agricultural and mining communities are predicted by the structural, health and psychosocial variables.ConclusionPerceived health status should be recognised as an important assessment of Physical and Mental Health among women in rural stressed communities. Cognitive, emotional and behavioural coping strategies are significant predictors of health related quality of life. Implications. Nurses should use the SF-36 as a diagnostic tool for assessing health related quality of life among women and discuss coping strategies, so that these can target women’s adaptive behaviour. This should be an essential part of the nursing process for facilitating adaptive process for improved health related quality of life.

Determinants of reproductive health and related quality of life among Indian women in mining communities

AIM This article is a report of a mixed method to examine the determinants of reproductive health and quality of life among Indian women. BACKGROUND Reproductive health among married women in stressed regions of industrialized countries is an increasingly important consideration, but little is known about the important factors influencing reproductive health and quality of life. METHODS A descriptive correlational research design was used between January and April 2006 with 145 randomly selected married women in a rural mining region of India. The instruments used were the Reproductive Health Index Questionnaire and Interview and Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index. Inferential statistics were done using anova and manova. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. RESULTS Reproductive health and quality of life was low among Indian women in mining communities. Higher age groups, better economic status, higher age at menarche, fewer number of children, absence of long-term illness, reproductive illness and domestic violence were important determinants of reproductive health and quality of life among these women in mining communities. CONCLUSION The findings suggest that physical, psychological, sexual, family, socio-economic, energy level and cognitive domains of reproductive health and quality of life need to be assessed and are influenced by important determinants among women. These domains reflected in the theory of goal attainment should be an essential part of nursing process for providing womens reproductive health care in the mining community.

Risk-assessment score for screening diabetes mellitus among Omani adults

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate a self-administered risk-assessment scoring system for identifying Omani adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: An exploratory cross-sectional design was used. Simple random sampling was used to select 93 adults in Muscat. Ethical approval was obtained from the College of Nursing Research and Ethics Committee. The Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) was used to collect the data in 2009. Informed consent was obtained from the participants. Data were analysed with the Pearson chi-square test. Results: A total of 9.7% of the adults had very high FINDRISC and 17.2% had slightly elevated risk of developing T2DM within 10 years. The risk assessment (family history, waist circumference, body mass index, physical activity, dietary intake, hypertension and high blood glucose) of T2DM was significant and positively related to the prediction of T2DM among Omani adults.