Validation of the perceived stress scale (Pss-10) in medical and health sciences students in Hong Kong

INTRODUCTION: The demanding nature of medical and health sciences studies can cause stress among students in these disciplines affecting their wellbeing and academic performance. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) is a widely used measure of perceived stress among medical students and healthcare professionals that has not yet been validated among medical and health sciences students in Hong Kong. The aim of this study is to establish the construct validity and reliability of the PSS-10 in this context. METHODS: 267 final year medical and health sciences students were surveyed using the PSS-10. The data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis for construct validity and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and corrected item-total correlations for reliability. RESULTS: Exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure for PSS-10, with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.865 and 0.796, indicating good internal consistency. Corrected item-total correlations showed satisfactory correlation ranged from 0.539 to 0.748 for all items and their respective subscale. Both tests supported PSS-10 as a two-factor scale. CONCLUSIONS: The PSS-10 is a valid measure for assessing perceived stress in Hong Kong medical and health sciences students

Recent Research Trends in Medical and Health Sciences

The present volume is based on the contributions made by various authors on different important topic of “Recent Research Trends in Medical and Health Sciences” and introduces the subject along the following topics: Methods in Improving Short Term Memory: A Brief Review; Are Children Falling into the Trench of Fast Food?; Biomedical Research Ethics: Past, Present and Future; Early (Short-Term) Side-Effects of Chemotherapy in Pediatric Solid Tumors; Health and Pollution in Banbishnupur village, Haldia, West Bengal; A Study to Evaluate the Morphometric measures of Gonial angle and Bi-gonial width for Healthy Individuals in Garden City university dental camp; Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity (overnutrition) among the Bengali Adolescent Girls: A Cross-Sectional Study from Darjeeling District, West Bengal (India). We must place on record our sincere gratitude to the authors not only for their effort in preparing the papers for the present volume, but also their patience in waiting to see their work in print

Transitioning out of the professional player pathway: A grounded theory on the process in South African Men’s tennis

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2022.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: To understand and describe the athlete and their environment(s), researchers, historically, have confined their description of retrospective events, such as sport participation, development, career transitions, etc., to the sport context. This approach has been limiting to researchers’ scope of interpretation (qualitative designs) and / or projection (quantitative designs) of past, present and future (athletic) selves along with transitioning and non-transitioning sporting careers. In other words, the person and athlete are portrayed as mutually exclusive. Considering this, the motivation for the current research project was to understand, reimagine and amplify the human experience of South African men’s tennis players, i.e., the people within their development pathways. To do this, a rigorous constructivist grounded theory (GT) methodology was employed both as the research process and as a strategy to generate theory. This GT study explored South African men’s tennis player transitions within and out of the professional player pathway in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Four research questions guided the study: 1) what is happening in the development process of a promising competitive junior tennis player in the Western Cape, South Africa?; 2) what is happening [on and off the court] in the development of these players?; 3) what are the transitional processes throughout the junior career pathway and how are these transitions understood?; and 4) how do men’s tennis players [with a promising national junior ranking] transition out of the professional player pathway? To best answer these research questions, a range of tennis participants (n = 34) were selected using purposeful sampling (theoretical sampling) along with maximum variation sampling. Data collection entailed semi-structured interviews augmented with observational work. Theory generation adhered to the procedures for constructivist GT analysis (initial codes, focused codes, categories and categories underpinning theory). As a result, a GT model that explains South African men’s tennis player development and transition processes was developed. This model is underpinned by eight core categories: 1) pursuing a rich man’s sport; 2) transitioning steps; 3) playing inside the lines [small world]; 4) SA Coaching world; 5) life orbiting tennis; 6) college: driving the tennis vehicle; 7) manhood eclipsing childhood; and 8) being a pro at life, not tennis. The practical implications of this model are recognised firstly in its approach to tennis development, i.e., placing greater emphasis on the person and their individual life transitions and how these influence their tennis trajectories. Secondly, this model provides a unique context to the South African tennis player journey. A journey that Tennis South Africa’s (TSA) current long-term player development model (LTPD) generically and collectively attempts to accommodate in a long-term development plan. However, without context and individual experiences of junior to senior transitions, i.e., sport within life domains, the South African tennis player remains (figuratively) confined to a linear, reductionist and prescriptive approach to development and the complexity of their path is grossly misunderstood and misrepresented. A practical recommendation for TSA is to accommodate the doubles format as a mechanism for tennis development and utilize it as a viable professional tennis pathway.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In ʼn poging om die atleet en hul omgewing(s) te verstaan en te beskryf, het navorsers histories gesproke hul beskrywing van retrospektiewe gebeure soos sportdeelname, ontwikkeling, loopbaan veranderinge, ens., tot die sport konteks beperk. Hierdie benadering het beperkend op navorsers se omvang van interpretasie (kwalitatiewe ontwerp) en / of projeksie (kwantitatiewe ontwerp) van die verlede, hede en toekomstige (atletiese) eie-ek, tesame met veranderende en nie- veranderende sport loopbane, ingewerk. Met ander woorde, die persoon en atleet word as wedersyds eksklusief uitgebeeld. Met dit in gedagte, was die motivering vir die huidige navorsingsprojek om die menslike ervaring van Suid-Afrikaanse mans tennisspelers, dit wil sê, die persone binne hulle ontwikkelingsroetes te verstaan, opnuut te bedink en toe te lig. Om dit te vermag is ’n onbuigsame konstruktivisties gegronde teoretiese (GT) metodologie gebruik as beide die navorsingsproses en as ’n strategie om die teorie te genereer. Hierdie GT studie het Suid- Afrikaanse mans tennisspeler veranderinge binne en buite die professionele arena in die Wes- Kaapse Provinsie in Suid-Afrika ondersoek. Vier navorsingsvrae rig die huidige studie: 1) wat gebeur in die ontwikkelingsprosesse van ’n belowende mededingende junior tennisspeler in Wes-Kaapland, Suid-Afrika?; 2) wat gebeur [op en van die baan] in die ontwikkeling van hierdie spelers?; 3) wat is die oorgangsprosesse tydens die junior beroepsloopbaan en hoe word hierdie veranderinge verstaan?; en 4) hoe verlaat mans tennisspelers [met ’n belowende nasionale junior ranglys posisie] uit die professionele ontwikkelingsroete? Om hierdie navorsingsvrae ten beste te beantwoord is verskeie tennisspelers (n = 34) deur middel van doelgerigte steekproefneming geselekteer (teoretiese steekproefneming) saam met maksimum variasie steekproefneming. Data insameling het semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude behels wat deur waarneming aangevul is. Teorie generering het getrou gebly aan die prosedures vir konstruktivisties GT analise (aanvanklike kodes, gefokusde kodes, kategoriee en kategoriee wat teorie ondersteun). As gevolg hiervan is ’n Gegronde Teoretiese model ontwikkel wat die Suid-Afrikaanse mans tennisspelers se ontwikkeling en veranderende prosesse verduidelik. Hierdie model word gerugsteun deur agt kernkategorieë: 1) die beoefening van ’n rykmansport; 2) oorgangstappe; 3) speel binne die lyne [klein wereld]; 4) Suid-Afrikaanse (SA) Afrigtingswereld; 5) lewensbaan tennis; 6) kollege: bestuur die tennis voertuig; 7) manlikheid wat die kinderjare verduister; en 8) om professioneel in lewe te wees, nie tennis nie. Die praktiese implikasies van hierdie model word eerstens erken in die benadering tot tennisontwikkeling, dit wil sê meer klem op die persoon en hul individuele lewensoorgange en hoe dit hulle tennis ontwikkelingsroete beinvloed. Tweedens voorsien hierdie model ’n unieke konteks aan die Suid-Afrikaanse tennisspeler se reis – ’n reis wat Tennis Suid-Afrika (TSA) se langtermyn speler ontwikkelingsmodel (LTSO) generies en gesamentlik poog om in ’n langtermyn ontwikkelingsprogram te akkommodeer. Dit is egter so dat sonder konteks en individuele ervarings van junior tot senior oorgangstydeperke, dit wil se, sport binne die lewensdomein, bly Suid-Afrikaanse tennisspelers (figuurlik) beperk tot ’n liniere, reduksionistiese en voorskriftelike benadering tot ontwikkeling en die kompleksiteit van die spelers se loopbane word erg misverstaan en verkeerd voorgestel. ’n Praktiese aanbeveling vir TSA is om die dubbelspel formaat as ’n meganisme vir tennisontwikkeling te implementeer en om dit as ’n lewensvatbare professionele roete aan te wend.Doctora

Structural equation modeling in medical research: a primer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a set of statistical techniques used to measure and analyze the relationships of observed and latent variables. Similar but more powerful than regression analyses, it examines linear causal relationships among variables, while simultaneously accounting for measurement error. The purpose of the present paper is to explicate SEM to medical and health sciences researchers and exemplify their application.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>To facilitate its use we provide a series of steps for applying SEM to research problems. We then present three examples of how SEM has been utilized in medical and health sciences research.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>When many considerations are given to research planning, SEM can provide a new perspective on analyzing data and potential for advancing research in medical and health sciences.</p

Programme standards: medical and health sciences

This document, The Programme Standards: Medical and Health Sciences (the Programme Standards), contains benchmarked statements pertaining to the field of medical and health sciences. The complex multidisciplinary nature of medical and health science requires a sound, research-informed, scientific education. Graduates must acquire sufficient knowledge, understanding, skills and professionalism that underpin the education and training of health professionals. They should be aware of the current approaches used in health care and research. They are encouraged to integrate the knowledge of various key disciplines to further understand their respective fields. These objectives can be achieved by incorporating professional standards within the programme

Teaching Functional Clinical Anatomy to Students in Medical and Health Sciences

In clinical practice, a thorough knowledge and understanding of functional clinical anatomy is fundamental in distinguishing between normal and pathology. For students in the first year of medicine and other health care professions, the integrated use of a range of learning resources, such as prosected human specimens, radiological images and the living human, can enhance learning and help develop an understanding of the clinical application of information. The synthesis of information from patient physical exam and radiological images are often essential components in developing a differential diagnosis, and in deciding on the best care and treatment for a patient

Employing bibliometric analysis on research published in Pakistan Journal of Medical and Health Sciences from 2019 – 2009.

Introduction: Pakistan Journal of Medical and Health Sciences is peer review and indexed in the Scopus-Elsevier database. This study signifies the participation of (PJMHS) in the research productivity, published from 2019 - 2009. Material and Methods: The records of the published data retrieved from PJMHS website and Scopus-Elsevier database for tabulation in MS Office Excel Sheet. Frequency of publications, type of documents, usage of pages, citations, and association of the first author with their countries. Results: Total 3817 documents written by 15401 (4%) authors in seven categories published in 43 issues. An average of (2.8%) pages consumed with getting of 896 (23.4%) citations in publications. Collaboration of three authors contributed 1339 (36.6%) documents and got first slot, and four authors 3344 (21.7%) added 836 (22%) of documents. The first authors affiliated with 29 countries around the globe participated in publications; Pakistan with 3484 (91%), Iran 79 (2%), Indonesia 77 (2%), and Kingdome of Saudi Arabia 65 (1.7%) stand on top places. Conclusion: Pakistan Journal of Medical and Health Sciences (PJMHS) is a peer-reviewed journal published continuously and facilitates research communities of medical and health sciences to get their attention in sharing ideas on a reciprocal basis from similar specialties or sub-specialties of common disciplines