Rotating shift work was associated with both overweight and obesity; and night-only shift work was associated with obesity, not overweight.

The purpose of this study was to identify the predictors of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in China. Two hundred and seventy-three caregivers were surveyed using questionnaires on HRQOL, family functioning, coping style, social support, and caregiver burden. Besides socio-demographic characteristics of children with ASD and their caregivers, results demonstrate that family functioning, coping style, social support, caregiver burden are predictors of HRQOL in caregivers of children with ASD, and these predictors correlated with each other.These results indicate that comprehensive intervention, which focuses on improving caregivers' coping strategies, social support (especially from family members and friends) and family functioning, and on releasing caregiver burden, should be provided to caregivers of children with ASD.Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, caregivers, quality of life Studies show that caring for a child with an ASD can be challenging and substantially affects caregivers' health-related quality of life (HRQOL) (Khanna et al., 2011; Kheir et al, 2012; Yamada et al., 2012). HRQOL refers to the physical and mental aspects of health (Testa & Simonson, 1996), which directly correlates with the caregiver's health, and also impacts on the quality of care they provide to children with ASD and their resultant rehabilitation (Beach et al., 2005). Therefore, it is important to identify the predictors of HRQOL and provide effective interventions to caregivers of children with ASD. A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPTPredictorsIn terms of predictors of HRQOL, studies conducted in the USA indicate that coping skills (Zablotsky, Bradshaw & Stuart., 2013), social support (Zablotsky, Bradshaw & Stuart.,2013 ), (Yang & Kleinman, 2008). These cultural concerns can have an adverse effect on the informal support caregivers need. In China, autism rehabilitation centres are mostly privately operated. Previous studies have found that teachers in these autism rehabilitation centres have limited knowledge and several misconceptions regarding autism spectrum disorders (Yang, Guo & Qian, 2012; Zhang, Li, Mao, Wang & Geng, 2012). These may cause lack of formal support among caregivers, because teachers in these autism rehabilitation centres are caregivers' main source of formal support. Several studies reported that parents of children with ASD exhibited lower mental health (Liu et al., 2006) and poorer quality of life (Xie, Liu & Zhang, 2012; Zhou et al., 2010), and were more likely to develop depression and anxiety compared with parents of children with typical development (Guo, Li & Zou, 2006). Researchers have found that caregivers of children with ASD and general population only have limitedknowledge about autism spectrum disorders in China (Wang et al., 2013; Wang, Huang, Xiao, Xie, and Chen, 2009 Methods Study Design and Data CollectionThis is a cross-sectional study, conducted in 15 autism centres in Hunan Provi...

The aim is to review the published scientific literature for studies evaluating non-pharmacological interventions for breathlessness management in patients with lung cancer. The following selection criteria were used to systematically search the literature: studies were to be published research or systematic reviews; they were to be published in English and from 1990 to 2007; the targeted populations were adult patients with dyspnoea/breathlessness associated with lung cancer; and the study reported on the outcomes from use of non-pharmacological strategies for breathlessness. This review retrieved five studies that met all inclusion criteria. All the studies reported the benefits of non-pharmacological interventions in improving breathlessness regardless of differences in clinical contexts, components of programmes and methods for delivery. Analysis of the available evidence suggests that tailored instructions delivered by nurses with sufficient training and supervision may have some benefits over other delivery approaches. Based on the results, non-pharmacological interventions are recommended as effective adjunctive strategies in managing breathlessness for patients with lung cancer. In order to refine such interventions, future research should seek to explore the core components of such approaches that are critical to achieving optimal outcomes, the contexts in which the interventions are most effective, and to evaluate the relative benefits of different methods for delivering such interventions.