Yuefang Zhou

• PhD
• Research Associate at University of St Andrews

To examine associations between socioeconomic status and the extent to which patients with cancer of the head and neck expressed concerns to surgeons during routine follow-up clinics, we analysed audio recordings of 110 consultations with one consultant. We used the Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional Sequences (VRCoDES) to measure communication...

Purpose: The influence of multimorbidity on the clinical encounter is poorly understood, especially in areas of high socioeconomic deprivation where burdensome multimorbidity is concentrated. The aim of the current study was to examine the effect of multimorbidity on general practice consultations, in areas of high and low deprivation. Methods:...

Objective: To explore the feasibility of applying an experimental design to study the relationship between non-verbal emotions and empathy development in simulated consultations. Method: In video-recorded simulated consultations, twenty clinicians were randomly allocated to either an experimental group (instructed to mimic non-verbal emotions of...

Objective To discuss the theoretical and empirical framework of VR-CoDES and potential future direction in research based on the coding system. Methods The paper is based on selective review of papers relevant to the construction and application of VR-CoDES. Results VR-CoDES system is rooted in patient-centered and biopsychosocial model of health...

Objective: Emotions, are in part conveyed by varying levels of fundamental frequency of voice pitch (f0). This study tests the hypothesis that patients display heightened levels of emotional arousal (f0) during Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional Sequences (VR-CoDES) cues and concerns versus during neutral statements. Methods: The audio recor...

Objective: To explore whether and how patient multimorbidity and socioeconomic deprivation might influence patients’ emotional expression and doctors’ responses in the general practice (GP) consultations. Methods: Video recordings of 107 consultations (eight GPs) were coded with the Verona Coding Definitions of Emotional Sequences (VR-CoDES). Multi...

Purpose: To examine dentists’ views of a novel video review technique to improve communication skills in complex clinical situations. Materials and Methods: Dentists (n = 3) participated in a video review known as Video Interaction Guidance to encourage more attuned interactions with their patients (n = 4). Part of this process is to identify wher...

Reassurance is probably the most widely used approach by parents and medical staff intending to reduce a patient’s pain and psychological distress. It is frequently mentioned in clinical teaching and medical textbooks as an essential technique for use by health service staff. However, what empirical evidence exists to support its assumed and univer...

Abstract Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients suffer substantial emotional problems. This study aimed to explore how utterance-level variables (source, type and timing of emotional cues) and patient-level variables (e.g. age, gender and emotional well-being) relate to consultants’ responses (i.e. reducing or providing space) to patient expressions o...

Reassurance is probably the most widely used approach by parents and medical staff intending to reduce a patient's pain and psychological distress. However, what empirical evidence exists to support its assumed and universally regarded benefits? On close inspection, the literature is unexpected. Reassurance appears to have counterintuitive conseque...

The effect of reassurance in managing distress among children who receive procedures of a less aversive nature has not been fully investigated. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between reassurance by dental staff and distress behavior of preschool children receiving preventive procedures in a community setting. Nurse-child interacti...

How medical students handle negative emotions expressed by simulated patients during Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) has not been fully investigated. We aim to explore (i) whether medical students respond differently to different types of patients' emotional cues; and (2) possible effects of patients' progressive disclosure of emo...

Background: The behaviour of young children receiving mildly invasive dental preventive procedures in a community setting warrants more extensive research due to limitations in the literature.Objectives To document the behavioural profile of preschool children undergoing a preventive oral health intervention (fluoride varnish application) and to i...

Young children of pre-school age may find a minimal intervention (fluoride varnish application) difficult to tolerate. To determine the significant predictors for refusing a fluoride varnish application from child, parental and nurse behaviour factors. Data included videos from 238 children (52% female, aged 3-5 years) receiving a fluoride varnish...

Background: Extended duties dental nurses (EDDNs) have been trained to deliver fluoride varnish applications to preschool children as part of the Childsmile initiative in Scotland. Objectives: To determine a detailed behavioural profile of the EDDNs during the administration of the fluoride varnish to confirm professional manner and identify dif...

To develop and validate the St Andrews Behavioural Interaction Coding Scheme (SABICS): a tool to record nurse-child interactive behaviours. The SABICS was developed primarily from observation of video recorded interactions; and refined through an iterative process of applying the scheme to new data sets. Its practical applicability was assessed via...

To review the literature, of the past 30 years, on the effects of dental staff behaviour on the anxiety and behaviour of child dental patients; especially to determine staff behaviours that reduce anxiety and encourage cooperation of children. A systematic literature review was conducted using PubMed, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, PsycINFO,...

Objectives: To describe the development and validation of the St Andrews Behavioural Interaction Coding Scheme (SABICS) as a tool to record nurse-child interactive behaviours in the community Childsmile Nursery intervention. Childsmile Nursery is a Scottish wide oral health preventive programme consisting of trained dental nurses providing fluoride...

Objectives: To review the literature, of the past 30 years, on the effects of dental staff behaviour on the anxiety and behaviour of child dental patients; especially to determine staff behaviours that reduce anxiety and encourage cooperation of children. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted using PubMed, Web of Science, The Cochra...

Student sojourners are probably the best-researched group of cross-cultural travellers, as they tend to be located together and are more easily accessed as subjects of research (Zhou, 2006). More recent research has also started to investigate the dynamics of intercultural classrooms, for example considering factors influencing intercultural intera...

To investigate camera awareness of female dental nurses and nursery school children as the frequency of camera-related behaviours observed during fluoride varnish applications in a community based health programme. Fifty-one nurse-child interactions (three nurse pairs and 51 children) were video recorded when Childsmile nurses were applying fluorid...

International students coming to the United Kingdom have to adapt to academic cultural differences as well as general cultural differences. Questionnaires were administered to 257 Chinese postgraduate students on anticipated and actually experienced difficulties and on perceived differences between Chinese and U.K. academic cultures before departur...

Chinese students who come to study in the UK and their UK teachers have to adapt to cultural differences in their experience of and expectations about teaching and learning traditions and practices. Qualitative and quantitative data were obtained for Chinese postgraduate students and the staff teaching them in two Scottish universities to investiga...

Theoretical concepts of culture shock and adaptation are reviewed, as applied to the pedagogical adaptation of student sojourners in an unfamiliar culture. The historical development of ‘traditional’ theories of culture shock led to the emergence of contemporary theoretical approaches, such as ‘culture learning’, ‘stress and coping’ and ‘social ide...

This paper presents two studies, conducted in two different countries, investigating perceptions of ingroups as enduring, temporally persistent entities, and introduces a new instrument measuring ‘perceived collective continuity’ (PCC). In Study 1 we show that perceptions of ingroup continuity are based on two main dimensions: perceived cultural co...

Objective: Does video recording affect behaviour during nurse-child interactions in a dental-related context? Methods: Fifty-one dental nurse-child interactions (3 nurse pairs and 51 children) during the Childsmile fluoride varnish application were recorded using a webcam attached to a laptop. Both nurse and child verbal and non-verbal behaviours...