Browsing by Subject "Moderator"
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Item Open Access Testing Gender as a Moderator of Associations between Pain and Depressive Symptoms in Advanced Cancer Patients: A Cross- Sectional Study in Singapore(2018) Zhao, DanniPain and depressive symptoms are prevalent in cancer patients with previous studies showing that pain increases the risk of depressive symptoms among cancer patients. Though researchers have identified gender differences in the association between pain and depression in healthy pediatric populations in the U.S., little research has been conducted about the same association with cancer patients or in Singapore.
In this study, we aim to first assess the proportion of advanced cancer patients in Singapore presenting to the National Cancer Center Singapore (NCCS) and Singapore General Hospital (SGH) during 2016 – 2017, who have pain conditions as well as the proportion of the patients with depressive symptoms. We are also interested to evaluate whether the positive association between pain and depressive symptoms previously identified in cancer patients holds in advanced cancer patients approaching their end of lives. Finally, we aim to test the moderating effect of gender on the association between pain and depressive symptoms in this special population.
Our sample comprised 377 outpatient advanced cancer patients recruited from the National Cancer Center Singapore (NCCS) and Singapore General Hospital (SGH) during 2016 - 2017. We administrated Brief Pain Inventory (BPI)- Short form for pain assessment, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)- Depression Subscale for depressive symptoms. In multivariate analysis, we used Negative Binomial (NB) regression to estimate the association between pain severity / pain interference and depressive symptoms, and the moderating effect of gender in these associations, while controlling for age, education level, and ethnicity.
We found that 74.40% patients had pain conditions, and 6.20% of them had depressive symptoms. We have also identified a positive association between pain severity and depressive symptoms, as well as between pain interference and depressive
symptoms. We did not find evidence that gender moderates the association either between pain severity and depressive symptoms, or between pain interference and depressive symptoms.
The positive association between pain and depressive symptoms in advanced cancer patients suggests equal necessity to assess and treat pain as well as depression in palliative care settings because they often coexist. There is no strong evidence that physicians should tailor pain and depression management to male and female patients since no significant gender difference was observed in the association between pain and depressive symptoms.
Item Open Access To Eat or Not to Eat: An Investigation of Meal Skipping on Cognitive Functioning(2018) Datta, NandiniInadequate nutrition has been shown to adversely impact brain development and cognitive functioning (Pollitt, Lewis, Garza, & Shulman, 1983). Unhealthy eating practices are frequently formed in college-aged samples; individuals in this age-range may be at risk for developing dangerous dieting behaviors (Neumark-Sztainer, Butler, & Palti, 1995). Studies examining the acute impact of eating regular meals on cognition have reported inconsistent findings, necessitating the exploration of moderators to possibly help explain findings. This study sought to clarify the impact of skipping lunch on cognitive ability and interoceptive awareness in college-aged students by including eating restraint as a moderator. Participants were randomized to a ‘lunch’ condition (consuming a 638-calorie shake) or a ‘lunch omission’ condition (consuming a 48-calorie shake). Prior to shake consumption, participants completed demographic questionnaires and reported levels of affect, satiety and fatigue. After a controlled wait period of two hours, participants completed a neuropsychology battery, which assessed short-term memory , long-term memory, working memory, attention, processing speed, set shifting, eating disorder symptomology, depression, and anxiety.
Results revealed that participants in the lunch condition had better short-term memory performance relative to participants in the lunch omission condition. No differences were found between groups for long-term memory, working memory, attention, or processing speed. Regressing set shifting speed on the manipulation, eating restraint scores, and their interaction revealed a trending interaction term: Individuals in the no-lunch condition had faster set shifting speed than individuals in the lunch-condition, but only for those with lower levels of eating restraint. Lastly, regressing change in satiety on the manipulation, eating restraint scores, and their interaction, revealed a significant interaction term: Individuals in the lunch condition reported higher satiety than individuals in the no lunch-condition, but only for those with lower levels of eating restraint. There was no evidence to support differences in affect or fatigue between conditions. Implications of these findings, limitations to consider, and future research directions are discussed in the body of the paper.
Item Open Access To Eat or Not to Eat: An Investigation of Meal Skipping on Cognitive Functioning(2018) Datta, NandiniInadequate nutrition has been shown to adversely impact brain development and cognitive functioning (Pollitt, Lewis, Garza, & Shulman, 1983). Unhealthy eating practices are frequently formed in college-aged samples; individuals in this age-range may be at risk for developing dangerous dieting behaviors (Neumark-Sztainer, Butler, & Palti, 1995). Studies examining the acute impact of eating regular meals on cognition have reported inconsistent findings, necessitating the exploration of moderators to possibly help explain findings. This study sought to clarify the impact of skipping lunch on cognitive ability and interoceptive awareness in college-aged students by including eating restraint as a moderator. Participants were randomized to a ‘lunch’ condition (consuming a 638-calorie shake) or a ‘lunch omission’ condition (consuming a 48-calorie shake). Prior to shake consumption, participants completed demographic questionnaires and reported levels of affect, satiety and fatigue. After a controlled wait period of two hours, participants completed a neuropsychology battery, which assessed short-term memory , long-term memory, working memory, attention, processing speed, set shifting, eating disorder symptomology, depression, and anxiety.
Results revealed that participants in the lunch condition had better short-term memory performance relative to participants in the lunch omission condition. No differences were found between groups for long-term memory, working memory, attention, or processing speed. Regressing set shifting speed on the manipulation, eating restraint scores, and their interaction revealed a trending interaction term: Individuals in the no-lunch condition had faster set shifting speed than individuals in the lunch-condition, but only for those with lower levels of eating restraint. Lastly, regressing change in satiety on the manipulation, eating restraint scores, and their interaction, revealed a significant interaction term: Individuals in the lunch condition reported higher satiety than individuals in the no lunch-condition, but only for those with lower levels of eating restraint. There was no evidence to support differences in affect or fatigue between conditions. Implications of these findings, limitations to consider, and future research directions are discussed in the body of the paper.