Publications by authors named "Arfan R Afzal"

Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to compare the effects of Alberta Family Integrated Care (FICare) and Standard Care on human milk (HM) feeding duration in preterm infants at 2 months old.
  • Results showed that mothers in the FICare group were less likely to provide exclusive human milk (EHM) compared to those in Standard Care, while other influencing factors included maternal education and breastfeeding self-efficacy.
  • The conclusion emphasized that Alberta FICare did not lead to increased exclusive HM feeding at two months postpartum, highlighting the need for personalized feeding support strategies.
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Objective: Among a prospective sample of Canadian university students, this study aimed to: 1) document changes in cannabis use and perceived harmfulness of use before and after the legalization of recreational cannabis; 2) examine correlates of perceived harmfulness; and 3) explore changes in perceived harmfulness as a function of cannabis use patterns.

Method: A random sample of 871 students at one western Canadian university were assessed pre- and post-legalization of recreational cannabis. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to explore changes in cannabis use and perceived harmfulness.

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Background: Fecal immunochemical testing is an accepted form of colorectal cancer screening and is recommended for adults up to the age of 75 years in Canadian guidelines. However, many individuals 75 years and older continue to receive fecal immunochemical testing despite being outside accepted guidelines.

Objective: This study aimed to determine whether patients aged 75 years and older with screen-detected cancer demonstrated improved outcomes and survival compared with patients with non-screen-detected cancer.

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We report on qualitative findings from a mixed methods study, examining enacted and internalized stigma during mandatory HIV screening among immigration applicants living with HIV in Canada. Qualitative findings show alignment with characteristics of internalized HIV stigma. We conducted 34 semi-structured interviews, and analyzed the data through thematic analysis, using Intersectionality and the Internalized HIV Stigma Scale as our theoretical and analytical frameworks.

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Preterm infants are at increased risk for developmental delays. Family integrated care (FICare) is a novel care delivery model that integrates parents into their infant's care in the neonatal intensive care unit. Two follow-up studies are presented to identify effects of Alberta FICare™ on the development of preterm infants born between 32 and 34 weeks of gestation.

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Objective: Survivors of childhood cancer experience late effects as a result of their cancer treatment. Evidence for the prevalence of pain as a late effect has been equivocal. This study aimed to describe the prevalence and patterns of pain and biospsychosocial variables that may be related to pain in this population.

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Purpose: Early phase clinical studies are ongoing to evaluate the role of immune checkpoint inhibitors in adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) despite a paucity of information on the immune microenvironment. This study aims to better characterize the immune microenvironment of ACC tumours and evaluate survival outcomes based on tumour infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression.

Methods: Patient characteristics, treatment and outcome data were collected for 24 ACC patients.

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Background: This population-based retrospective study compares the efficacy of cisplatin (cis-RT) vs cetuximab (cetux-RT) with concurrent radiation as definitive treatment in patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPC).

Methods: Patients with OPC treated in Alberta with cis-RT or cetux-RT between 2006 and 2016 were evaluated. Median disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method.

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Objectives: Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) has not been widely explored in survivors of childhood cancer. Yet, childhood survivors are at risk of experiencing late effects and may be especially vulnerable. The aims of the current study were to conduct a retrospective chart review to determine the prevalence and persistence of FCR among survivors of childhood cancer and to examine factors that may be related to FCR.

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Introduction: In this mixed-methods pilot study, we examined the intersections of the current Canadian immigration policy, mandatory HIV screening during the Immigration Medical Exam (IME) and enacted and internalized stigma for HIV-positive immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in a western Canadian province. We focus on qualitative findings from this study.

Methods: Using the Internalized HIV Stigma Scale (IHSS), we collected data from eight immigrants from SSA living with HIV in a western Canadian province.

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Families play a critical role in supporting adolescents with substance use disorders. Little research has been done to investigate interventions targeting the significant stress of caring for an adolescent with problematic substance use and its subsequent impact on self-compassion in families. The aim of this pilot study was to trial an 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program as a post treatment aftercare intervention among female caregivers of youth with substance use disorders.

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This study aimed to broaden previous investigations of correlates of lifetime cannabis use and problematic cannabis use among post-secondary students by examining the novel and contemporary issues of medicinal use and deep inhalation practices. The sample included 2212 undergraduate and graduate post-secondary students from Alberta, Canada, who completed the University of Calgary's Campus Experience with Cannabis Survey (average age 23.2, SD = 5.

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INTRODUCTION Japan is a developed country with high use of Internet and online platforms for health information. 'Yahoo! Answer Japan' is the most commonly used question-and-answer service in Japan. AIM To explore the information users seek regarding breast cancer from the 'Yahoo! Answer Japan' web portal.

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AbstractWe sought to identify independent, nonacademic predictors of medical and nursing student intent to migrate abroad or from rural to urban areas after graduation in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). This was a cross-sectional survey of 3,199 first- and final-year medical and nursing students at 16 training institutions in eight LMIC. Questionnaires assessed demographics, career intentions, and preferences regarding selected career, location, and work-related attributes.

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Introduction: Epidemiological estimate lifetime risk (LTR) is a measure that expresses the probability of disease in the remaining lifetime for individuals of a specific index age. These estimates can be useful for general audience targeted knowledge translation activities against diabetes. There are only a few reports on lifetime of impact of diabetes on coronary heart disease (CHD) events.

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Aims: Lifetime risk (LTR) is defined as the cumulative probability of developing a disease in one's remaining lifetime from a given index age. The impact of diabetes on the LTR of stroke events in Asians, where stroke incidence is higher than for Westerners, has not been estimated yet. These estimates can be useful for diabetes knowledge translation activities.

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Over one billion Muslims worldwide fast during the month of Ramadan. Ramadan fasting brings about some changes in the daily lives of practicing Muslims, especially in their diet and sleep patterns, which are associated with the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Over the years, many original studies have made the effort to identify the possible impact of the Ramadan fast on cardiovascular diseases.

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Aim: As one of the most popular social networking sites in the world, Facebook has strong potential to enable peer support and the user-driven sharing of health information. We carried out a qualitative thematic analysis of the wall posts of a public Facebook group focused on dialysis to identify some of the major themes discussed.

Methods: We searched Facebook using the word 'dialysis'.

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The lifetime risk estimate conveys the probability of disease in the remaining lifetime for an index age. These estimates may be useful for general audience-targeted knowledge translation activities against hypertension. There are only a few reports on the impact of hypertension on the lifetime risk of cardiovascular events.

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Background: The lifetime risk (LTR) articulates the probability of disease in the residual lifetime for an index age. These estimates can be useful for general audience-targeted knowledge translation activities against hypertension. There are only a few reports on lifetime of impact of hypertension on stroke events in Asians in whom stroke incidence is higher than Westerners.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study surveyed 3,199 medical and nursing students across several countries to understand their intentions regarding migration and rural practice after graduation.
  • Among the respondents, 28% wanted to migrate abroad and only 18% planned on working in rural areas, with nursing students showing a higher desire for international careers.
  • The findings indicate that students' career aspirations before entering training significantly predict their future work intentions, highlighting the potential for admissions policies to focus on rural experience to retain graduates in local and rural healthcare.
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