Fu Jen Catholic University

About: Fu Jen Catholic University is a education organization based out in Taipei, Taiwan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Hazard ratio. The organization has 6842 authors who have published 9512 publications receiving 171005 citations. The organization is also known as: FJU & Fu Jen.

Effects of background music on concentration of workers.

Abstract: Objective Background music is a common element in daily living and the workplace. Determination of whether background music affects human work concentration is a relevant concern. Studies have found background music influences human behavior, and this study attempts to understand how background music and listener fondness for types of music affects worker concentration. Methods This study analyzes how different types of background music--and how listeners' degree of preference for the background music--can affect listener concentration in attention testing through Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT). Participants Data were collected from 89 workers. The participants ranged in age between 19 and 28 years old, with an average age of 24 years old. Results We conclude background music influenced listener attention. This influence has more to do with listener fondness for the music than with type of music. Compared to situations without background music, the likelihood of background music affecting test-taker attention performance is likely to increase with the degree to which the test-taker likes or dislikes the music. Conclusions It is important not to select music that workers strongly like or dislike when making a selection of background music to avoid negatively affecting worker concentration.

Hepatitis C viral infection and the risk of dementia.

Abstract: Background and purpose Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection may cause cognitive impairment, but no studies have focused specifically on cognitive impairment stemming from HCV. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential increased risk for dementia in HCV-infected patients. Methods A population-based cohort study based on the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database was conducted. From all potential participants aged 50 years or more, a total of 58 570 matched (1:1) pairs of HCV-infected patients and non-HCV-infected patients were included. Each subject was individually tracked from 1997 to 2009 to identify incident cases of dementia (onset in 1999 or later). Cox proportional hazards regressions were employed to calculate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between HCV infection and dementia. Results There were 2989 dementia cases from the HCV-infected cohort during the follow-up period of 533 861.1 person-years; the overall incidence rates of dementia differed from the non-HCV cohort (56.0 vs. 47.7 cases per 10 000 person-years, P < 0.05). The adjusted HR for dementia was 1.36 (95% CI 1.27–1.42) for HCV-infected patients after adjusting for alcohol-related disease, liver cirrhosis, hepatic encephalopathy and hepatocellular carcinoma. Conclusions HCV infection may increase the risk for dementia. Further mechanistic research is needed.

Relations among depression, self-efficacy and optimism in a sample of nurses in Taiwan.

Abstract: chang y., wang p.-c., li h.-h.&liu y.-c. (2011) Journal of Nursing Management19, 769–776 Relations among depression, self-efficacy and optimism in a sample of nurses in Taiwan Aims The present study investigated the level of depression among hospital nurses, to examine personality contributions to depression and to offer managers relevant organizational strategies to reduce levels of depression. Background The World Health Organization’s Global Burden of Disease Study estimates that major depression is the leading cause of disability among women in the world today. It is surprising that there is a relative dearth of research investigating depression among nursing staff. Method A cross-sectional survey of 314 staff nurses in a general hospital in Taiwan. Participants completed a set of questionnaires and a demographic information form. A number of statistical methods were used including descriptive statistics, product-moment correlations and multiple regression analysis. Results In all, 52.5% of nurses reported mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms. Self-efficacy and optimism were significant buffers against depression. Conclusions The results of the present study confirm the importance of self-efficacy and optimism. Nurses with positive evaluation and expectation towards their self and others tend to report lower depression levels. Implications for Nursing Management The results of the present study indicate that there is an immediate need to pay further attention to nurses’ depression issues. It is therefore suggested that Nursing Managers take an empowering approach to strengthen nurses’ self-efficacy and optimism levels to prevent depression in this profession.