Validation of the psychometric properties of the health-promoting lifestyle profile in a sample of Taiwanese women

PURPOSE: To examine the preliminary psychometric properties of the Chinese health-promoting lifestyle profile II (HPLP II) among Taiwanese women. METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from 137 middle-aged women in southern Taiwan. HPLP II reliability was estimated with Cronbach's alpha coefficient, and concurrent validity was estimated with Pearson's correlation between the HPLP II, the World Health Organization's abbreviated Quality of Life assessment (WHOQOL-BREF), perceived health, and demographic variables. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) evaluated construct validity. RESULTS: Initial CFA using a six-factor measurement model aligned with the original HPLP II, excepting the factor loading of one subsequently excluded item. CFA of the revised 51-item HPLP II yielded a good estimate of fit. Correlations between the revised instrument and the six subscales were acceptable >0.7. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient surpassed 0.7 for the revised instrument and six subscales ranged from 0.71 to 0.91. The relationships between the 51-item instrument, perceived health, WHOQOL-BREF domain scores, and demographic variables were also significantly positive. CONCLUSIONS: The revised HPLP II scale is appropriate to measure the health-promoting lifestyles of Taiwanese women.published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 21 Feb 201

MicroRNA profiling study reveals MIR-150 in association with metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

© 2017 The Author(s). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that play a crucial role in pathogenesis of human cancers. Several miRNAs have been shown to involve in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) pathogenesis through alteration of gene networks. A global view of the miRNA expression profile of clinical specimens would be the best way to screen out the possible miRNA candidates that may be involved in disease pathogenesis. In this study, we investigated the expression profiles of miRNA in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues from patients with undifferentiated NPC versus non-NPC controls using a miRNA real-time PCR platform, which covered a total of 95 cancer-related miRNAs. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed that NPC and non-NPC controls were clearly segregated. Promisingly, 10 miRNA candidates were differentially expressed. Among them, 9 miRNAs were significantly up-regulated of which miR-205 and miR-196a showed the most up-regulated in NPC with the highest incidence percentage of 94.1% and 88.2%, respectively, while the unique down-regulated miR-150 was further validated in patient sera. Finally, the in vitro gain-of-function and loss-of-function assays revealed that miR-150 can modulate the epithelial-mesenchymal-transition property in NPC/HK-1 cells and led to the cell motility and invasion. miR-150 may be a potential biomarker for NPC and plays a critical role in NPC tumourigenesis.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

lifestyle profile in a sample of

Validation of the psychometric properties of the health-promotin

From smoking to quitting: psycho-social determinants to predict smoking cessation among youth somkers and theeffectiveness of the Youth Quitline

published_or_final_versionNursing StudiesDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph

Cardiac and Mental Benefits of Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) Diet plus Forest Bathing (FB) versus MIND Diet among Older Chinese Adults: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

(1) Background: The Mediterranean-DASH intervention for neurodegenerative delay (MIND) diet and forest bathing (FB) are first-line therapies for controlling hypertension. This study aimed to investigate the combined effects of a MIND diet and FB and MIND diet alone among older Chinese patients with hypertension. (2) Methods: Seventy-two participants aged >50 with stages 1 or 2 hypertension were randomly assigned to the MIND group (n = 23), MIND-FB group (n = 25), or control group (n = 24). Systolic blood pressure (SBP) (primary outcome), point-of-care tests for blood lipid panel and glucose (Glu), anxiety levels, mood states, body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and body fat percentage (BFP) were measured. (3) Results: After a four-week intervention, the change in SBP revealed no significant differences between the intervention groups, and SBP tended to decrease in the MIND and MIND-FB groups. Total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) were significantly decreased (p < 0.01), Triglycerides (TG) and Glu levels were significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the MIND-FB and MIND groups, and the mean differences for anxiety level and negative mood states were significantly lower (p < 0.00) in MIND-FB group. (4) Conclusions: The results provide preliminary evidence that the MIND diet and FB are good for promoting cardiac and mental health well-being in the Chinese population