Chronic Physical Diseases Research Articles

Rethinking culture: a narrative review on the evolving role of museum and art gallery-based heritage activities and programmes on wellbeing.

The prevalence of chronic mental and physical diseases is increasing globally. In addition, the changing demographics towards an ageing population pose a challenge to healthcare systems, as ageing is associated with a decrease in physical and mental capacity and an increased risk of developing disease. The review aims to explore primary studies that investigated the effect of museum and art gallery-based heritage activities and programmes on the wellbeing of (1) individuals recovering from drug addiction or patients with dementia and (2) younger and older adults. We conducted a search using specific keywords, and inclusion and exclusion criteria, in databases for the period 2013-2023. Following a detailed examination of numerous articles, 15 original studies were included in this review. 15 original studies investigated the effects of museum and art gallery-based heritage activities or programmes on (1) patients with chronic diagnoses associated with mental health and/or physical impairment, such as drug addiction and dementia and (2) the wellbeing of younger and older populations. The interactive environment of museums had positive health outcomes for patients with chronic mental (addiction recovery, dementia) and physical diseases (cancer) as well as hospitalized patients. In addition, it improved the physical and mental wellbeing of younger and older individuals. Museum art-based interventions may be integrated as part of the non-pharmacological management of patients experiencing mental disorders as well as for improving the wellbeing of younger and older populations.

Fatigue in chronic physical diseases

The term fatigue is used to describe states of unusual tiredness and exhaustion that can occur in connection with various chronic diseases, particularly cancer, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and rheumatoid arthritis. In contrast to states of exhaustion in healthy people, fatigue is characterized by the fact that it can last for long periods, is disproportionate to previous activities and does not subside after recovery phases. Fatigue is described as amultidimensional problem that encompasses physical, emotional and cognitive aspects and is associated with ahigh level of subjective suffering. Depending on the severity and course of the symptoms, fatigue is associated with aseverely reduced quality of life and it impairs participation and coping with everyday life. It also makes professional reintegration and reemployment more difficult. Although we cannot yet fully explain the aetiology and pathogenesis, fatigue in physical illnesses must be understood based on amultifactorial biopsychosocial model. The possibilities of diagnostics and an overview of various measures for clarifying fatigue are presented. The challenges for medical care are also outlined and advice is given on how to deal with them in everyday clinical practice.

Integrated self-management support provided by primary care nurses to persons with chronic diseases and common mental disorders: a qualitative study

BackgroundMore and more people suffer from concomitant chronic physical diseases and common mental disorders, calling for integrated self-management support in primary care. However, self-management support of chronic physical diseases and common mental disorders is not clearly operationalized by guidelines and is still conducted in silos by primary care nurses, especially in favour of chronic diseases. This study aims to better understand primary care nurses’ experience of integrated self-management support for people with physical chronic diseases and common mental disorders.MethodsAn interpretive descriptive qualitative approach was conducted with 23 primary care nurses from family medicine groups in Quebec (Canada). They were selected through purposive and snowball sampling methods to participate in an individual interview. Data were analysed using an iterative inductive and deductive analysis (Rainbow Model of Integrated Care and the Practical Reviews in Self-Management Support (PRISMS) taxonomy).ResultsNurses’ experience of integrated self-management support for people with CD and CMD was structured around: (1) elements of the approach; (2) clinical integration through prevention and health promotion; and (3) operationalization of integrated self-management support. Several elements deemed essential to integrated self-management support were identified. Nurses offered integrated self-management support through prevention of risk factors and promotion of a healthy lifestyle for physical chronic diseases and common mental disorders. Nurses’ self-management support activities included education, action plans, monitoring, and many practical, psychological, and social support strategies. A model of integrated self-management support for primary care nursing is proposed to better understand its clinical integration.ConclusionThis study presents clinical integration of self-management support and activities for people with physical chronic diseases and common mental disorders in primary care settings. Understanding integrated self-management support will help implement future interventions.

Risk prevalence, readiness and confidence to change lifestyle risk factors among clients of community mental health services.

People with mental health conditions have high rates of chronic physical diseases, partially attributable to lifestyle risks factors. This study examined risk prevalence among community mental health service clients, their readiness and confidence to change, and associations with participant characteristics. Cross-sectional survey of adult clients from 12 community mental health services across 3 local health districts in New South Wales, Australia, collected from 2021 to 2022. Participants (n = 486) completed a telephone interview determining five risk factors, and readiness and confidence to change these. Multiple binary logistic regression models determined associations between readiness and confidence (for each risk), and participant characteristics (demographics and diagnosis). Participants most commonly reported a diagnosis of schizophrenia (36.7%) or depression (21.1%). Risk factors were prevalent: ranging from 26% (harmful alcohol use) to 97% (poor nutrition). High readiness was greatest for smoking (68%), weight (66%) and physical inactivity (63%), while confidence was highest for changing alcohol use (67%). Two significant associations were identified; females were more likely than males to have high readiness to change nutrition (odds ratio = 1.14, confidence interval = [1.13, 2.34], p = 0.0092), with males more likely to have high confidence to change physical activity (odds ratio = 0.91, confidence interval = [0.45, 0.99], p = 0.0109). Many participants were ready and confident to change risk factors. Gender influenced readiness to change nutrition and physical activity confidence. Training to upskill mental health clinicians in provision of preventive care that builds confidence and readiness levels may aid in supporting positive behaviour change.

Miniaturized fundus camera based on cross-polarization and in vivo verification

Abstract As an important part of clinical examination, fundus examination can reveal early symptoms of both eye and chronic physical diseases, thus helping doctors and automated screening to diagnose and treat in time. However, widely used portable fundus cameras are often disturbed by stray light, which seriously affects the quality of fundus imaging, extremely detrimental to the clinic. In this work, we have successfully built a miniaturized fundus camera based on the cross-polarization method, which simplifies the system design while guaranteeing high-quality imaging compared with other methods. The simulation results of the optical path and the imaging effect in vivo show that cross-polarization has a powerful effect on eliminating stray light. Our approach provides a new solution for the field of fundus photography and an application-level advance for the popularization of medical resources.

Characteristics of Comorbid Physical Disease in Patients With Severe Mental Illness in South Korea: A Nationwide Population-Based Study (2014-2019).

The purpose of this study was to identify the associations of chronic physical disease between patients with severe mental illness (SMI) and the general population of South Korea. This study was conducted with National Health Insurance Corporation data from 2014 to 2019. A total of 848,058 people were diagnosed with SMI in this period, and the same number of controls were established by matching by sex and age. A descriptive analysis was conducted on the sociodemographic characteristics of patients with SMI. Conditional logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the associations between comorbid physical disease in patients with SMI and those of the general population. SAS Enterprise Guide 7.1 (SAS Inc, Cary, NC, USA) were used to perform all statistical tests. The analysis revealed significant differences in medical insurance, income level, and Charlson Comorbidity Index weighted by chronic physical disease, between patients with SMI and the general population. Conditional logistic regression analysis between the two groups also revealed significant differences in eight chronic physical diseases except hypertensive disease. This study confirmed the vulnerability of patients with SMI to chronic physical diseases and we were able to identify chronic physical disease that were highly related to patients with SMI.

Taking care of the children with Down's syndrome is a painful burden on their mothers

Down's syndrome is one of the genetic abnormalities that can cause different degrees of mental retardation from moderate to severe in children [1]. The incidence of this disorder in the world is one person in every 700 to 800 live births, although this number has increased in recent years [2]. Usually, the children with Down's syndrome are at risk of chronic physical diseases and growth, development, behavioral, and emotional problems. Therefore, children with Down's syndrome are considered as a group of children with special needs who need more care than normal children [3]. The presence of chronic diseases such as congenital heart defects, hypothyroidism, and immune disorders can affect many aspects of the life of caregivers of children with Down's syndrome, leading to fatigue, isolation, burden, and stress [4]. The needs of the family of children with Down's syndrome are significantly higher because the family must be more involved in child care due to developmental delays, limitations in daily life activities related to self-care such as dressing, personal hygiene [5].

Loneliness, social provision and health among older men and women with chronic physical diseases – a mixed methods study

Loneliness, social provision and health among older men and women with chronic physical diseases – a mixed methods study

Mortality risk and mood stabilizers in bipolar disorder: a propensity-score-weighted population-based cohort study in 2002-2018.

Accumulating studies have assessed mortality risk associated with mood-stabilizers, the mainstay treatment for bipolar disorder (BD). However, existing data were mostly restricted to suicide risk, focused on lithium and valproate and rarely adequately adjusted for potential confounders. This study aimed to assess comparative mortality risk with all, natural and unnatural causes between lithium, valproate and three frequently prescribed second-generation antipsychotics (SGA), with adjustment for important confounders. This population-based cohort study identified 8137 patients with first-diagnosed BD, who had exposed to lithium (n = 1028), valproate (n = 3580), olanzapine (n = 797), quetiapine (n = 1975) or risperidone (n = 757) between 2002 and 2018. Data were retrieved from territory-wide medical-record database of public healthcare services in Hong Kong. Propensity-score (PS)-weighting method was applied to optimize control for potential confounders including pre-existing chronic physical diseases, substance/alcohol use disorders and other psychotropic medications. PS-weighted Cox proportional-hazards regression was conducted to assess risk of all-, natural- and unnatural-cause mortality related to each mood-stabilizer, compared to lithium. Three sets of sensitivity analyses were conducted by restricting to patients with (i) length of cumulative exposure to specified mood-stabilizer ≥90 days and its medication possession ratio (MPR) ≥90%, (ii) MPR of specified mood-stabilizer ≥80% and MPR of other studied mood-stabilizers <20% and (iii) monotherapy. Incidence rates of all-cause mortality per 1000 person-years were 5.9 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.5-7.6), 8.4 (7.4-9.5), 11.1 (8.3-14.9), 7.4 (6.0-9.2) and 12.0 (9.3-15.6) for lithium-, valproate-, olanzapine-, quetiapine- and risperidone-treated groups, respectively. BD patients treated with olanzapine (PS-weighted hazard ratio = 2.07 [95% CI: 1.33-3.22]) and risperidone (1.66 [1.08-2.55]) had significantly higher all-cause mortality rate than lithium-treated group. Olanzapine was associated with increased risk of natural-cause mortality (3.04 [1.54-6.00]) and risperidone was related to elevated risk of unnatural-cause mortality (3.33 [1.62-6.86]), relative to lithium. The association between olanzapine and increased natural-cause mortality rate was consistently affirmed in sensitivity analyses. Relationship between risperidone and elevated unnatural-cause mortality became non-significant in sensitivity analyses restricted to low MPR in other mood-stabilizers and monotherapy. Valproate- and lithium-treated groups did not show significant differences in all-, natural- or unnatural-cause mortality risk. Our data showed that olanzapine and risperidone were associated with higher mortality risk than lithium, and further supported the clinical guidelines recommending lithium as the first-line mood-stabilizer for BD. Future research is required to further clarify comparative mortality risk associated with individual SGA agents to facilitate risk-benefit evaluation of alternative mood-stabilizers to minimize avoidable premature mortality in BD.

Between-person and within-person associations among sensory functioning and attitude toward own aging in old age: Evidence for mutual relations.

Late-life hearing loss and vision loss might prompt more negative attitudes toward one's own aging because older adults may interpret impaired sensory functioning as a sign of aging. At the same time, more positive attitudes toward own aging might, via various mechanisms, be associated with better sensory functioning. We investigated how objective hearing and vision are associated with attitude toward own aging (ATOA) over time. Our sample comprised 497 participants from the Berlin Aging Study (mean baseline age: 85.15 years, SD = 8.58 years) who provided up to six observations over an average time span of 3.73 years (range 0-15 years). We computed longitudinal multilevel regression models, specifying vision, hearing, and age as within-person and between-person predictors of ATOA, and ATOA and age as between- and within-person predictors of vision and hearing. Covariates were sex, socioeconomic status, suspected dementia, chronic physical diseases, and depression. Significant within-person age effects indicated that vision and hearing declined over time, and ATOA became less favorable over time. At the between-person level, we found that participants with a more favorable ATOA exhibited better hearing, but not better vision, at baseline. Between-person associations of vision and hearing with ATOA were not significant. At the within-person level, there was only one significant effect across all models: On measurement occasions when individuals' vision was better, they also reported more favorable ATOA. This association was stronger among older individuals. Improving prevention and treatment of vision loss could thus help older adults to maintain positive views on their own aging. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

An Experimental Study to Examine Relationships Between IT Identity and Users’ Post-Adoption Behaviors for Different Types of Health Applications

ABSTRACT This study investigates whether types, purposes, and contexts of using an app affect the relationships between Information technology (IT) identity and post-adoption behaviors. We designed four experiments to examine the effects of IT identity on positive use behaviors for four groups of health-apps (i.e. managing chronic physical diseases, health-related habits, mental disorders, and diet/fitness). Results suggest that these relationships vary by the interaction between the purpose of using a health app and seven moderating factors.

Psychological Resilience to Trauma and Risk of COVID-19 Infection and Somatic Symptoms Across 2 Years.

Exposure to trauma increases the risk of somatic symptoms, as well as acute and chronic physical diseases. However, many individuals display psychological resilience, showing positive psychological adaptation despite trauma exposure. Resilience to prior trauma may be a protective factor for physical health during subsequent stressors, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from 528 US adults in a longitudinal cohort study, we examined psychological resilience to lifetime potentially traumatic events early in the pandemic and the risk of COVID-19 infection and somatic symptoms across 2 years of follow-up. Resilience was defined as level of psychological functioning relative to lifetime trauma burden, assessed in August 2020. Outcomes included COVID-19 infection and symptom severity, long COVID, and somatic symptoms assessed every 6 months for 24 months. Using regression models, we examined associations between resilience and each outcome adjusting for covariates. Higher psychological resilience to trauma was associated with a lower likelihood of COVID-19 infection over time, with one standard deviation higher resilience score associated with a 31% lower likelihood of COVID-19 infection, adjusting for sociodemographics and vaccination status. Furthermore, higher resilience was associated with lower levels of somatic symptoms during the pandemic, adjusting for COVID-19 infection and long COVID status. In contrast, resilience was not associated with COVID-19 disease severity or long COVID. Psychological resilience to prior trauma is associated with lower risk of COVID-19 infection and lower somatic symptoms during the pandemic. Promoting psychological resilience to trauma may benefit not only mental but also physical health.

Adultos mayores en tratamiento con metadona: posición socioeconómica y cronicidad

Introduction: People on methadone treatment are aging, becoming chronic and increasing the presence of chronic diseases. Aim: To examine the characteristics of older adults in treatment with methadone in relation to determine socio-economic status, chronic diseases and how to tackle this chronicity. Method: A scoping review was conducted for articles published since 2004 up to May 2020, in English and in Spanish. Results: This process left twenty-five documents. The 66,6 % were from the North America. Fourteen publications referred to the factors determining so- cio-economic status: increase in mean age, economic instability, social exclusion, and stigma. Only one had a gender perspective approach. Nineteen publications referred to chronic physical and mental diseases. In relation to tackling chronicity, were found sixteen publications: multidisciplinary care and participation in the treatment were apprecia- ted as something important. Conclusions: The increasing age of people who are on methadone treatment and their specific needs is evident, so it will be necessary to adapt care and resources. Owing to the scarcity of studies found, especially beyond the North American continent, this phenomenon requires further study, most particularly from a qualitative approach and a gender perspective, to benefit from the point of view of those receiving the treatment.

Meditation and Its Effect on Chronic Physical Illnesses among Medical Outpatients at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka

Objective: Assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices about meditation and its effect on chronic physical illnesses among patients attending medical outpatient clinics at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka. Results: The population mean age was 61 and 110 (46%) practised meditation. Buddhists practised different forms of meditation whereas people following other religions mainly concentrated on God as their predominant form of meditation. The majority (87.4%) who meditated were not formally trained. Approximately two thirds (60%) of the cohort showed a significant interest in being formally trained. More people believed meditation can help control psychiatric illnesses compared to physical illnesses (79% vs. 56.7%). Female patients who had at­tended religious schools tended to believe in meditation more. Conclusions: Almost half of the sample patient population (46%) practised meditation of some form. The majority of the cohort was not trained in meditation but showed interest in pursuing meditation as a means of adjunctive therapy for their chronic physical diseases.

Fear of COVID-19, anxiety, depression and suicide among elderly patients with chronic physical or mental diseases

Older age renders individuals vulnerable during public emergency crises. Considering that older adults are a highly heterogeneous and continuously growing demographic subgroup, this study aimed to assess the mental health impact of COVID-19 on two groups of older patients: a group of chronic physical disease and a group of chronic mental disease. A total of 102 patients completed the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale, the Brief Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and several questions regarding demographic characteristics. Suicidality was assessed by the 9th item of the PHQ-9. According to the results, older chronic disease patients showed higher levels of fear, whereas anxiety and depressive symptoms were present mainly in the group of older psychiatric patients. Suicidality was reported from a subtotal of 25.4% that was composed of 7.8% chronic disease patients and 17.6% psychiatric patients. Chronic physical disease and higher anxiety predicted more severe COVID-19-related fear.

Depression and multimorbidity - Results from a nationwide study

Background and objectivesMost studies concerning the relationship between depression and chronic physical disease focused on a single physical disease and did not consider multimorbidity or depression severity. We aimed to characterize this relationship considering chronic physical diseases’ type and number, and depression severity. MethodsWe undertook a cross-sectional study, using data from a phone household panel, with “chronic physical disease” as the exposure and “depression” as the outcome. The sample is representative of the Portuguese population. Adjusted logistic and multinomial regression analyses were conducted between depression presence/severity and chronic physical disease presence/type/number. Odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals adjusted for possible confounders were calculated. Results1027 individuals were included. Of the population, 8.9% had depression and 72.1% had at least one chronic physical disease. There was no statistically significant relationship between depression and physical disease in general (OR=1.68 [CI95%:0.55, 5.15]), but there was with allergy (OR=2.08 [CI95%:1.02, 4.25]) and COPD (OR=3.04 [CI95%:1.21, 7.61]). The risk of depression was smaller with two physical diseases (vs. three or more, OR=0.32 [CI95%:0.15, 0.68]). ConclusionsA relationship between COPD, allergy and a higher number of physical diseases and depression was observed. Clinicians should be aware of these relationships. Evaluating the presence of depression in people with multimorbidity, COPD and allergy is recommended.

Somatic Comorbidity of Anxious and Depressed Miners

IntroductionDepression is the leading cause of disability worldwide and is a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease. The prevalence of depression is rising and it often co-occurs with other physical diseases.ObjectivesThe research aims to determine the comorbidity of depression and anxiety disorders with chronic physical diseases among employees of the „Brown coal mine Banovici“.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective study that included 117 employees from the disease registry who are being under the treatment of depression and anxiety disorder. We collected data from medical records of patients about sex, age, marital status, smoking status, physical diseases, types of antidepressants, and the other drugs they use.ResultsThe study showed that there are 117 employees of the „Brown coal mine Banovici“ who are under treatment of depression and anxiety-depressive disorder. 22 (18,8%) of them are females and 95 (81,2%) males in an average life span of 48,3 years. The most commonly used antidepressant is Escitalopram. 62 (53%) out of 117 patients with depression have comorbidity with diseases of the circulatory system, 24 (20,51%) have comorbidity with diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue, 16 (13,68%) have comorbidity with endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases. 25 (21,37%) patients are not suffering from any other chronic physical disease. The most commonly used drugs besides antidepressants are antihypertensives.ConclusionsThe comorbidity rate of depression and anxiety disorders with cardiovascular diseases among employees of the „Brown coal mine Banovici“ is higher than with all other chronic physical diseases.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery with subtotal thyroidectomy: Case report.

Introduction and importancePostoperative complication of thoracic surgery often consists of bleeding, pneumothorax, pulmonary atelectasis, infection, etc.; however, concomitant diseases such as thyroid hormone disorder deserve to think about and summarized.Case presentationThis case was reported as a rare postoperative cardiopulmonary arrested of a 46-year-woman who presented bilateral lung nodules with concomitant subtotal thyroidectomy 2 months ago with Toremifene Citrate to sustain thyroid hormones. 3D-VATS was allowed to be conducted after her preoperative examination and blood tests. Unexpectedly, she suddenly fell in the bathroom at 5 pm the next day. Thirty minutes later, while finding cardiopulmonary arrest CPR endotracheal intubation assisted ventilation; in the meantime, that conducted vasoactive interventions for 50 min. Finally, the patient's heart rhythm recovered, and her vital sign index slowly tended to normal.Clinical discussionCardiopulmonary arrested usually occurs in massive invasive surgery, sudden severe diseases such as stroke, myocardial infarction, or pulmonary embolism. Even if certain chronic physical diseases are related, clinical symptoms usually catch the surgeon's attention. Ultimately, the excluded major inducing reasons during the medical process in ICU; by contract, it is still to discuss the thyroid hormones disorder that could not convince us to explain this postoperative cardiopulmonary arrest.ConclusionAlthough this cardiopulmonary resuscitation for more than 30 min and following medical treatment in ICU was undoubtedly successful, it is necessary to focus on managing concomitant thyroid hormones during surgery and think about certain physiological changes if it was one of the reasons.

The Importance of Physical Activity for Mental Health

The Importance of Physical Activity for Mental Health Abstract. Due to the worldwide high prevalence of psychiatric disorders and its association with sedentary behavior and comorbid physical diseases, increasing physical activity in psychiatric populations is of high importance. Regular physical activity is associated with increased mental wellbeing and has shown to have preventive effects on depression, anxiety disorders and probably sleep disorders. Additionally, positive effects on comorbid chronic physical diseases have been found. Exercise as treatment for several weeks has shown to have an antidepressant effect. Similar positive effects on symptoms have been found in anxiety disorders and schizophrenia. Therefore, assessing and promoting physical activity is advisable in clinical psychiatric practice. Patients should be coached to reach at least a weekly average of 150 minutes of moderate and/or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity. Establishing physical activity and exercise groups is of utmost importance for psychiatric outpatients.

The Importance of Physical Activityfor Mental Health.

Due to the worldwide high prevalence of psychiatric disorders and its association with sedentary behavior and comorbid physical diseases, increasing physical activity in psychiatric populations is of high importance. Regular physical activity is associated with increased mental wellbeing and has shown to have preventive effects on depression, anxiety disorders and probably sleep disorders. Additionally, positive effects on comorbid chronic physical diseases have been found. Exercise as treatment for several weeks has shown to have an antidepressant effect. Similar positive effects on symptoms have been found in anxiety disorders and schizophrenia. Therefore, assessing and promoting physical activity is advisable in clinical psychiatric practice. Patients should be coached to reach at least a weekly average of 150 minutes of moderate and/or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity. Establishing physical activity and exercise groups is of utmost importance for psychiatric outpatients.