Background: Owing to the high prevalence and detrimental consequences, postpartum depression (PPD) has been identified as one of the severe global public health issues in the last decade. Prior research found that during disasters or events, the prevalence rates of mental disorders among postpartum women are significantly high. However, the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on PPD and its risk factors remained unclear for postpartum women. Therefore, the present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence of PPD and to summarize risk factors for PPD during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Three electronic databases of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane library databases were systematically searched for articles from their commencements until 1 November 2021. Quality assessment of included studies, random-effects meta-analysis, and sensitivity analysis were performed. Results: A total of eight studies with 6480 postpartum women during the COVID-19 pandemic were included, and most studies were conducted in developed countries. The pooled prevalence of PPD was 34% (95% CI: 21–46%) during the COVID-19 pandemic, much higher than the incident of previous research during the non-pandemic period. Risk factors for PPD during the COVID-19 pandemic were defined as socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, stress and anxiety, lack of various supports, and the COVID-19 related factors. Conclusion: The research findings indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic could make detrimental effects on maternal mental wellbeing among women after childbirth. Investigating the prevalence and risk factors of PPD among postpartum women could shed some light on their mental and emotional states; so that support measures and tailored interventions from health professionals and policymakers could be offered to improve the maternal and infant outcomes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Much more research on maternal psychological wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic was strongly recommended to undertake in the middle and low-income countries.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardio-metabolic risk factors and a major burden for public health due to its increasing prevalence and adverse effects on cardiovascular health. Lifestyle modification is the first-line intervention for metabolic syndrome management. However, adopting healthy behaviours is challenging among patients with metabolic syndrome. To examine the effects of a nurse-led lifestyle intervention program on cardiovascular risks, self-efficacy and the implementation of health promoting behaviours. A two-armed randomized controlled trial. A total of 173 patients that satisfied the metabolic syndrome definition of International Diabetes Federation was recruited from a hospital in North China. The participants were randomly assigned to either attend the lifestyle interventions (n = 86) or receive usual care from the study hospital (n = 87). The lifestyle intervention followed the framework of Health Promotion Model and consisted of one face-to-face education session (30-40 min), one educational booklet and six telephone follow-ups (bi-weekly, 20-30 min per call) in three months. The Framingham 10-year risk score was calculated to measure the participants' cardiovascular risks at baseline and 3-month. The Self-rated Abilities for Health Practices and Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II was employed to measure the self-efficacy and health promoting behaviours at baseline, 1-month, and 3-month. The generalized estimating equation model was employed to examine the effects of the lifestyle intervention program. No difference was detected in the baseline characteristics between the two groups. Decreased cardiovascular risk was found in the lifestyle intervention group, but no significant group-by-time effect was detected. The self-efficacy for nutrition, stress dimension and sum score of health promoting behaviours revealed significant improvements at 1-month (all p < 0.05). Significant improvements were also detected in all subscales, total scale of self-efficacy, all dimensions and the sum score of health promoting behaviours at 3-month (all p < 0.05). The nurse-led Health Promotion Model guided lifestyle intervention program effectively improved the self-efficacy and implementation of health promoting behaviours in patients with metabolic syndrome. We recommend that nurses apply lifestyle interventions in routine care for patients with metabolic syndrome. Tweetable The RCT revealed that nurse-led lifestyle intervention was effective to improve self-efficacy and healthy behaviours among 173 MetS patients.

There are many parenting problems during infancy for Chinese primiparous women. As an important determinant of good parenting, maternal self-efficacy (MSE) should be paid more attention by researchers. At present, the limitations of previous research examining MSE during infancy are that most studies were conducted with a homogeneous sample and there were few studies with Chinese women. Secondly, the trajectory of change in MSE, postnatal depression symptoms and social support for Chinese primiparous women was not clear during the initial postpartum period in earlier studies. This study aimed to describe changes in MSE, postnatal depression symptoms and social support among Chinese primiparous women in the first three months postnatally. A quantitative longitudinal study using questionnaires was conducted. Obstetric wards at three hospitals in Xiamen City, South-East China. In total, 420 Chinese primiparous women were recruited. Initial baseline questionnaires to measure socio-demographic and clinical characteristics at three days postnatally were distributed to participants face-to-face by the researcher on the postnatal ward. Follow-up questionnaires at six and 12 weeks postnatally were sent via e-mail by the researcher to participants, including the Self-efficacy in Infant Care Scale (SICS), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Postpartum Social Support Scale (PSSS) to measure MSE, postnatal depression symptoms and social support, respectively. These were returned by participants via e-mail. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS. The mean MSE score at six weeks postnatally was 74.92 (SD = 11.05), and increased to 77.78 (SD = 11.13) at 12 weeks postnatally. The mean social support scores at six and 12 weeks postnatally were 40.99 (SD = 9.31) and 43.00 (SD = 9.55). The mean EPDS scores decreased from 9.09 (SD = 4.33) at six weeks postnatally to 8.63 (SD = 4.40) at 12 weeks postnatally; the proportion of women with an EPDS score of ten or more and 13 or more at the two time points declined from 47.4% to 38.3%, and from 21.4% to 18.2%, respectively. In this study, Chinese primiparous women had a moderate level of MSE and received a moderate level of social support at six and 12 weeks postnatally, and a higher proportion of Chinese women had postnatal depression symptoms than did women in Western countries. From six to 12 weeks postnatally, the mean MSE scores and social support scores had a statistically significant increase; the mean EPDS scores had a statistically significant decrease.

Parenting during infancy is highly problematic for Chinese primiparous women. As an important determinant of good parenting, maternal self-efficacy (MSE) should be paid more attention by researchers. At present, the limitations of previous research about MSE during infancy are that the factors which influence MSE remained poorly explored, there were few studies with Chinese women, and the studies did not consider the effect of different cultures. to explore factors which influence MSE in primiparous women in China in the first three months postnatally. a quantitative longitudinal study using questionnaires was conducted. In total, 420 Chinese primiparous women were recruited in obstetric wards at three hospitals in Xiamen City, Fujian Province of China. Initial baseline questionnaires to measure socio-demographic and clinical characteristics were distributed to participants face-to-face by the researcher on the postnatal ward at three days postnatally. Follow-up questionnaires at six and 12 weeks postnatally were sent via e-mail by the researcher to participants, including the Self-efficacy in Infant Care Scale (SICS), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Postpartum Social Support Scale (PSSS) to measure MSE, postnatal depression symptoms and social support, respectively. These were returned by participants via e-mail. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS. the variables: social support, women's satisfaction with 'Doing the month', postnatal depression, maternal education, baby health, and maternal occupation had an influence on MSE at six weeks postnatally (Adjusted R2 = 0.510, F = 46.084, P<0.01); and the variables: postnatal depression, social support, baby health, women's satisfaction with 'Doing the month', and baby fussiness were the factors influencing MSE at 12 weeks postnatally (Adjusted R2 = 0.485, F = 41.082, P<0.01). obstetric nurses and women's family members need to be aware of the significant contribution of social support, women's satisfaction with 'Doing the month' in positively influencing primiparous women's MSE, and the significant effect of postnatal depression symptoms in negatively impacting on first-time mothers' MSE; they should pay more attention to primiparous women with less education, unemployed mothers, women with unskilled occupations, women with an unhealthy baby, and women with a baby with a difficult temperament to improve their comparatively lower MSE levels during the initial postnatal period.

Aim: “Doing the month” has been a traditionally postnatal practice that women follow for one full month after giving birth. The aim of this study was to explore Chinese primiparous women's experience of “Doing the month” and why Chinese women felt satisfied or dissatisfied with the experience.Methods: This was a descriptive survey using open and closed questions. In total, 420 Chinese primiparous women were recruited in obstetric wards at three hospitals in Xiamen City, China. Baseline questionnaires were distributed to the participants face‐to‐face by the researcher on the postnatal ward at 3 days’ postnatally. Follow‐up questionnaires of “Doing the month” were sent via email by the researcher to the participants at 6 weeks’ postnatally and were returned by the participants via email. The quantitative data were analyzed with SPSS and the qualitative data were analyzed by using a thematic text analysis.Results: Most of the women thought that “Doing the month” after childbirth was necessary. Some women felt satisfied with “Doing the month” because their family helped them to have a good rest, they felt a sense of achievement when taking care of their baby, and that having an appreciative attitude helped them to get along with the older generations. In contrast, some women felt dissatisfied with “Doing the month” because of being tired of following taboos, having conflicts with their mother‐in‐law, the lack of family help and care, and undue expectations of “Doing the month.”Conclusions: In order to improve postnatal care for Chinese primiparous women, health professionals could be more aware of how health care needs to be customized to fit the special tradition of “Doing the month.”

Background: The impact of obesity on cognitive function has engendered considerable interest. Weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) has emerged as a novel and innovative marker of obesity that reflects weight-independent abdominal obesity. However, the association between WWI and cognitive function remains unclear. To address this gap, the present study aims to explore the relationship between weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) and cognitive performance in older adults. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional investigation using datasets from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2014. The study included 3,472 participants (48.59% male, 51.41% female) of various races (Mexican American, Other Hispanic, Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, and Other), with a mean age of 69.95 years (SD = 6.94). Multivariate regression and smoothing curve fitting were used to investigate the linear and nonlinear relationship between WWI and cognitive performance in the following domains: learning and memory, verbal fluency, and processing speed, as measured by Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease Word Learning subtest (CERAD-WL), Animal Fluency Test (AFT), and Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), respectively. Subgroup analysis and interaction tests were conducted to examine the stability of this relationship across groups. Machine learning models based on random forests were used to analyze the predictive performance of WWI for cognitive function. Results: A total of 3,472 participants were included in the analysis. The results revealed significant negative associations between WWI and low scores on the CERAD-WL [-0.96 (-1.30, -0.62)], AFT [-0.77 (-1.05, -0.49)], and DSST [-3.67 (-4.55, -2.79)]. This relationship remained stable after converting WWI to a categorical variable. In addition, this significant negative association was more pronounced in men than women and diminished with advancing age. Non-linear threshold effects were observed, with correlations intensifying between WWI and CERAD-WL when WWI surpassed 12.25, AFT when WWI surpassed 11.54, and DSST when WWI surpassed 11.66. Conclusions: A higher WWI, indicating increased abdominal obesity, was associated with deficits in learning, memory, verbal fluency, and processing speed among older adults. These findings suggest that abdominal obesity may play a crucial role in cognitive decline in this population. The stronger relationship observed between WWI and cognition in men highlights the need for gender-specific considerations in interventions targeting abdominal obesity. The results demonstrate the importance of interventions targeting abdominal obesity to preserve cognitive performance in older adults.