The Effect of a Cardiac Educational Program on the Level of Knowledge and Satisfaction among Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Background: Although patient education programs impart health-related knowledge that promotes the individual capacity to understand basic health information, there is a dearth of studies that examine the effect of cardiac educational programs on knowledge and satisfaction among patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) in Jordan. Aim: This study aimed to examine the effect of cardiac educational programs on knowledge and satisfaction among patients with CAD. Methods: An experimental design was used. Data were collected from 138 patients using the Coronary Artery Disease Education Questionnaire-Short Version and the Patient Satisfaction Scale. Participants were randomly allocated into an experimental group and a control group. Data were collected twice, before the intervention and one month after implementation.   Results: There was a significant difference t (61) = -3.12, P= 0.03 between the mean knowledge score at pre-test (M=10.3, SD= 3.80) and post-test (M=12, SD=1.49) and a significant difference t (61) =-17.3 P< 0.001) between the mean satisfaction score at pre-test (M=3.5, SD= 0.38) and post-test (M=4.41, SD=0.37). Results of paired t-test showed that there was a significant difference t (61) = -3.12, P= 0.03 between the mean knowledge score at pre-test (M=10.3, SD= 3.80) and post-test (M=12, SD=1.49) for the experimental group. On the other hand, there was no significant difference t (64) = 1.01, P= 0.31 between the mean knowledge score at pre-test (M=10.8, SD=32.6) and post-test (M=10.7, SD=2.96) for the control group. Conclusion: The findings of the current study support the significant effect of the cardiac educational program on the level of knowledge and satisfaction among patients with CAD

Beliefs and Practices of Patients with Diabetes toward the Use of Herbal Therapy

This study aimed to assess the prevalence of using herbal therapy and the beliefs toward the use of this type of therapy among patients with diabetes. It also aimed to identify the significant predictors of these beliefs and the factors that increase the likelihood of using herbal therapy. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. A convenience sample comprised 310 patients with diabetes. Sixty-seven (21.6%) of the participants used herbal therapy. The mean beliefs score was 3.72 and ranged from (0–12). Linear regression showed that beliefs were significantly predicted by self-care, attending workshops, education level, and number of complications. The logistic regression showed that the lower the self-care and the higher the beliefs, the more likelihood the patient uses herbal therapy. Informing patient through individualized diabetes education influences the patient’s beliefs and promotes self-care. This education program should target mainly those patients with low self-care, high number of complications, lower educational level and having more complications

User Profiling for Energy Optimisation in Mobile Cloud Computing

Both mobile and cloud computing are two areas which are rapidly expanding in terms of use case and functionality.Both mobile and cloud computing are two areas which are rapidly expanding in terms of use case and functionality. This paper reviews current work in energy consumption of mobile cloud computing and then proposes a system whereby user applications may be profiled for their resource consumption locally and then if augmentation is required, they may negotiate with an external cloud for optimum energy consumption. Such a system is particularly useful for cloudlets which contain constrained resources so may need to choose between a number of clients. Whilst mobile computing enables a variety of feature rich functionality for users in a non-fixed location, cloud computing is revolutionising the way in which computing resources are being provisioned, used and optimised for both service providers and end users. These two fields are being combined in order to provide greater functionality for mobile devices in a number of different ways. Augmentation of mobile resources from the cloud has been shown as one way in which the energy consumption and power of mobile devices may be considerably enhanced. However, due to the resource constrained nature of the devices, in particular their power source and communication interfaces, there is often a fine line where offloading of these resources is economical

Depressive symptoms among older Jordanian patients with cancer undergoing treatment

To date, the relationship of socio-demographic, treatment, and psychological factors to depression in older patients with cancer has not been systematically studied in Arabic samples, including Jordanian despite the increasing incidence of cancer (Mosleh, Alja’afreh, Alnajar, & Subih, 2018). This study is of significance because it fills the gap in literature in terms of assessing the psychological reactions of older patients with cancer in Middle Eastern countries. Early assessment of the predictors of depressive symptoms among older patients with cancer is essential to craft individualized health-care plans. Thus, our study seeks to assess the levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and hope among older Jordanian patients with cancer who are currently undergoing treatment, and to identify the relationship between selected factors (socio-demographic, treatment, and psychological) and depressive symptoms

Energy Optimisation for Mobile Device Power Consumption: A Survey and a Unified View of Modelling for a Comprehensive Network Simulation

The need for the analysis of energy consumption has become greater due to the constrained resources of mobile devices afforded by the increased usage of mobile devices and the environmental footprint of large-scale, distributed systems. Energy usage has previously been modelled for a variety of use cases in order to optimise its consumption, through both simulation and real-world use. As computing devices become ubiquitous,moremobile, and highly varied in their components and use; the networks which interconnect them have become highly dynamic in tandem. This is partly due to the mobility of devices and the constantly fluctuating resource requirements. Whilst simulation of energy consumption within networks has been conducted for specific use cases (e.g. Cloud and wireless networks), it is often not examined from a unified view. This paper attempts to review the state-of-the-art in network energy consumption, modelling, and simulation from the perspective of heterogeneous networks but with a focus upon mobile devices, and then propose a gap in which a unified view is needed. Such views will assist in understanding more about the complex relationships between varied, synergistic device types, such as those which compose mobile cloud networks

The effect of and psycho-education on stress, anxiety and fatigue among refugees

Background: Refugees and war survivors are at higher risk of developing mental health disorders. Anxiety and stress are caused by many factors, including a stressful environment that could cause fatigue and low quality of life. Despite the existence of many synthetic anxiolytic and antidepressant drugs, symptom management has still not been successful. Ginkgo biloba extract has been used as one of the potential herbal remedies to enhance cognitive functions. Psycho-education plays a significant role in alleviating psychological distress. However, the role of G. biloba in alleviating anxiety, stress and fatigue among refugees was not well studied previously. Objectives: In this study, we aimed to compare the effect of G. biloba and psycho-education with only psycho-education on refugees’ anxiety, stress and fatigue. Methods: A randomized controlled, pre-test–post-test design was used. Data were measured at baseline and 6 weeks later. Results: Providing psycho-education for the control group showed a non-significant improvement in outcome variables. However, adding G. biloba to psycho-education for the experimental group showed a significant reduction in mental, physical, activity fatigue and anxiety. Conclusion: The addition of G. biloba to the psycho-education proved superior to psycho-education alone. Therefore, combining the two approaches is beneficial in alleviating anxiety and fatigue