Ulcerative colitis: effect on fertility and pregnancy

Introduction: Ulcerative colitis is one of the most interesting nosological entities of gastroenterology and internal medicine. This chronic autoimmune disorder of the digestive system, along with Crohn's disease, is a type of idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease. It mainly affects people during their peak reproductive age, i.e., 15 to 30 years old. It is characterized by diffuse mucosal inflammation of the large intestine, which is limited to the colon and shows alternating periods of exacerbations and remissions. Purpose: To review the world literature regarding the impact of the disease on fertility, the course of pregnancy, and consecutively, the outcome of pregnancy.Materials and methods: An extensive review of the recent national and international literature in electronic databases (Pubmed, Google Scholar) and in scientific journals was accomplished through the use of appropriate keywords. Results: The majority of women will have a chance of conceiving. For about 25% of them, conception will be achieved in the course of the disease and it will progress normally, resulting in a healthy fetal outcome. Infertility only occurs among men while they are taking medicines, whereas among women it occurs after surgery for ileoanal anastomosis. During periods of flare-ups, there is a possibility of spontaneous abortion, premature labor and birth of an infant with low birth weight. The majority of pharmaceutical formulations can be used safely both before and after pregnancy without causing any birth defects

Simulation in clinical nursing education

Background: Simulation constitutes a teaching method and a strategy for learning and understanding theoretical knowledge and skills in the nursing and medical field. Objective: To review and present modern data related to this issue. Methods: Literature review of data related to the issue derived from Medline, Cinhal, and Scopus databases, in English, using the following keywords: nursing, simulation, simulator, nursing laboratory. Results: The implementation of simulation enables students to practice their clinical and decision-making skills for some significant issues they may face in their daily work. The protected environment and the sense of security enhance students’ self-esteem and confidence, thus promoting learning. In this way, the gap between theory and practice is substantially reduced. Conclusion: The further development of simulation, along with other instructional techniques, can significantly help the efforts made by the students to become integrated and successful healthcare professionals. © 2021 Konstantinos Koukourikos, Areti Tsaloglidou, Lambrini Kourkouta, Ioanna V Papathanasiou, Christos Iliadis, Aikaterini Fratzana, Aspasia Panagioto

An evaluation of a psychoeducation programme for emotion identification and expression in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia

WOS:000513339200001PubMed: 32061042The inability of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia to recognize facial expressions is an important issue that has an impact on social functioning. This study was conducted to determine the effects of a psychoeducation programme for emotion identification and expression in those diagnosed with schizophrenia on their ability to identify and discriminate between emotions and social functionality. This quasi-experimental study (pretest-post-test, with control group) comprised an intervention (21) and a control (21) group conducted with individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. A 10-week psychoeducation programme was offered to the intervention group. Measuring instruments were administered to the groups before the intervention, after the intervention, and 3 months after that. The measuring instruments consisted of a personal information form, the Facial Emotion Identification Test, Facial Emotion Discrimination Test, and Personal and Social Performance Scale. The data were analysed using the 'two-way repeated measures analysis of variance'. The TREND method was used for reporting. In the first measurements taken after the psychoeducation programme, a significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of their 'Facial Emotion Identification Test' and 'Personal and Social Performance Scale' mean scores. In the measurements taken 3 months after the psychoeducation programme, this difference had disappeared. The psychoeducation programme is an effective programme that makes recognition of facially expressed emotions possible and increases the social functioning of patients

Care of Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease

Introduction: Alzheimer’s disease is one of the irreversible dementias and leads to death. About 10% of people over 60 years and 20% of people over 80 will have Alzheimer’s sometime in their lives. In the case of Alzheimer’s disease, care can turn into an extremely large and unevenly distributed burden. The burden that caregivers are called upon to lift is particularly high at the physical, psychological, and social levels. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics and needs of caregivers and even informal ones, that is, patients in the patient’s family or friendly environment who voluntarily or unintentionally offer unpaid care to patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Material and methods: The present study was conducted using the Carer Well-Being and Support Questionnaire (CWSv2) at Thessaloniki Psychiatric Hospital between October and December 2019. For the statistical analysis, the SPSS package 23 was used. Results: Alzheimer-type dementia is a condition with gradual, inevitable, and uncontrollable deterioration. So, it was expected that those involved in the care of these patients would be afraid of what their patient future care would be. Consequently, there is a high correlation coefficient between the two relevant variables (Fisher’s Exact Test: 31,426; Sig: 0.007). Caregivers need to be alert at all times in order to fulfill their role and care for their loved one. There is a strong correlation index between the two variables (Fisher’s Exact Test: 32,761; Sig: 0.003). The situation of a lack or distorted form of communication between patients and caregivers may also create or exacerbate caregivers’ anxiety, causing them feelings of depression and deadlock that is also reflected in the relevant correlation index (Fisher’s Exact Test: 30,053; Sig: 0.001). Women were more in need for additional help, with the two variables being marginally statistically significant (Fisher’s Exact Test: 5.373; Sig: 0.05). Conclusions: Taking into account the results, as reflected through the elaboration of the closed and open questions of this tool, new structures and services should be created in order to facilitate caregivers’ job. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Comparison of three orientation and mobility aids for individuals with blindness: Verbal description, audio-tactile map and audio-haptic map

Disorientation and inability of wayfinding are phenomena with a great frequency for individuals with visual impairments during the process of travelling novel environments. Orientation and mobility aids could suggest important tools for the preparation of a more secure and cognitively mapped travelling. The aim of the present study was to examine if spatial knowledge structured after an individual with blindness had studied the map of an urban area that was delivered through a verbal description, an audio-tactile map or an audio-haptic map, could be used for detecting in the area specific points of interest. The effectiveness of the three aids with reference to each other was also examined. The results of the present study highlight the effectiveness of the audio-tactile and the audio-haptic maps as orientation and mobility aids, especially when these are compared to verbal descriptions. © 2017 RESNA