Frequent Health Conditions Research Articles

Gut-directed hypnosis and hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome: a mini-review.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a frequent health condition which can be associated with functional disability and reduced health-related quality of life. IBS is classified as a disorder of the brain-gut axis. IBS is a very heterogenous condition with regards to the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms, the clinical picture and the amount of functional impairment. Within a biopsychosocial model of IBS psychosocial factors can play a role in the in the predisposition, triggering and development of chronicity. Somatic or psychosocial or a mixture of both factors might predominate in an individual patient. Gut-directed hypnosis is a special type of medical hypnosis combining standardised gut-directed suggestions (hypnosis) with suggestions tailored to the psychological characteristics of the patient (hypnotherapy). Of brain-gut behavioral therapies, cognitive bahvioral-based interventions and gut-directed hypnosis have the largest evidence for both short-term and long-term efficacy in controlled trials for IBS and are recommended by current European and North American gastroenterology guidelines as second line treatment options. Standardised gut-directed hypnosis is available by audiotapes and can be part of a multicomponent self-management approach by digital health applications. It can be used - based on the patient's preferences-as first line therapy for mild forms of IBS. Severe forms of IBS require face-to-face interdisciplinary management. Standardised gut-directed hypnosis and hypnotherapy tailored to the individual patient can be part of this approach.

Man up! The mental health‐feminine stereotype and its effect on the adoption of mental health apps

AbstractMental illnesses are among the most frequent health conditions worldwide, affecting both men and women. However, we find that men are more likely than women to avoid adopting mobile apps that are designed to promote users' mental health. Building on previous research that men are often more motivated than women to behave in gender‐congruent ways, we suggest that there exists a mental health‐feminine stereotype that acts as an obstacle to men's adoption of mental health apps. Privacy and self‐help features offered by digital mental health apps are insufficient to overcome the mental health‐stereotype that deter men from pursuing mental health support. Across five studies, we show that consumers feel more feminine when adopting mental health apps, and perceive others who adopt mental health apps to be more feminine than those who do not. We also show that presenting mental health apps in a masculine frame increases the likelihood of men adopting mental health apps, especially those with stronger adherence to traditional masculinity ideology.

Prolapsed Lumbar Intervertebral Disease through Acupuncture Treatment in Bangladesh: A Case Study

Two of the most frequent health conditions are low back pain and sciatica. Both the number of hours worked and the amount of money lost by workers and the country as a whole are drastically reduced. It's important to undertake a comprehensive physical evaluation on these people before initiating any therapy. It is likely that symptoms can increase as a consequence of obtaining inadequate medicinal or surgical care. To observe acupuncture's influence on prolapsed lumbar intervertebral disc therapy. This inquiry took place at Suo-Xi Hospital at Shantinagar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. A 40-year-old male patient has been complaining of lower back discomfort for the last two months. The diagnosis was confirmed with a cervical spine Magnetic resonance imaging. Follow-up research showed promising outcomes. He no longer felt discomfort in his lower back, which he had been experiencing for two months. Prolapsed lumbar intervertebral disc patients may benefit from acupuncture, according to the findings of this study.

Consumer choice and public-private providers: The role of perceived prices.

Governments often encourage health service providers to improve quality of care and reduce prices through competition. The efficacy of competition hinges on the assumption that consumers demand high quality care at low prices for any given health condition. In this paper, we examine this assumption by investigating the role of perceived price and quality on consumer choice for four different health conditions across public and private providers. We use a nationally representative survey in Malaysia to elicit respondents' perception on prices and quality, and their preferred choice of provider. We estimate a mixed logit model and show that consumers value different dimensions of quality depending on the health condition. Furthermore, increasing perceived prices for private providers reduces demand for minor, more frequent health conditions such as flu fever or cough, but increases demand for more complex, severe conditions such as coronary artery bypass graft. These findings provide empirical support for price regulation which differentiates the severity of underlying health conditions.

The Impact of Daily Walnuts Consumption and Lifestyle Changes on Dyslipidemia

The most frequent health condition linked to Cardiovascular Disease Is Dyslipidemia (CVD)

Diagnoses and procedures of inpatients with female genital mutilation/cutting in Swiss University Hospitals: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundFemale genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) can result in short and long-term complications, which can impact physical, psychological and sexual health. Our objective was to obtain descriptive data about the most frequent health conditions and procedures associated with FGM/C in Swiss university hospitals inpatient women and girls with a condition/diagnosis of FGM/C. Our research focused on the gynaecology and obstetrics departments.MethodsWe conducted an exploratory descriptive study to identify the health outcomes of women and girls with a coded FGM/C diagnose who had been admitted to Swiss university hospitals between 2016 and 2018. Four of the five Swiss university hospitals provided anonymized data on primary and secondary diagnoses coded with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and interventions coded in their medical files.ResultsBetween 2016 and 2018, 207 inpatients had a condition/diagnosis of FGM/C. The majority (96%) were admitted either to gynaecology or obstetrics divisions with few genito-urinary and psychosexual conditions coded.ConclusionsFGM/C coding capacities in Swiss university hospitals are low, and some complications of FGM/C are probably not diagnosed. Pregnancy and delivery represent key moments to identify and offer medical care to women and girls who live with FGM/C.Trial registration: This cross-sectional study (protocol number 2018-01851) was conducted in 2019, and approved by the Swiss ethics committee.

Oral-systemic health considerations in dental settings: An American Dental Association Clinical Evaluators Panel survey

BackgroundWith an increased emphasis on considering optimal oral health in the context of overall health and well-being, there is interest in understanding how practicing dentists are using information about their patients’ overall health status. MethodsA survey tool was developed to understand how dentists assess the health status of their patients, the frequency at which they are gathering this information, and how they work with their medical colleagues. Emails with an electronic survey link were sent to 997 American Dental Association Clinical Evaluators (ACE) panel members on November 23, 2021. The survey closed after 2 weeks, and data were analyzed descriptively. ResultsA total of 258 (26%) ACE panel members responded to the survey. At initial visits, the dentist (60%) often discusses and reviews the patient's medical history, but in subsequent appointments, this task is often completed by the dental assistant (34%) or dental hygienist (32%). At every dental visit, 75%, 66%, and 33% of the respondents ask about and record changes to medical history, medication list, and visits with other health care professionals, respectively. Of the respondents, 85% collect at least 1 vital sign, and more than 90% use the medical history, medication list, and patient interview. A total of 32% of respondents reported disease monitoring is in their scope of practice, and, among them, cardiovascular conditions are the most frequent health condition seen. On average, 12% of patients are referred to another health care provider weekly. ConclusionsMost dentists use the patient’s medical history and medication list and collect vital signs, but the frequency and application of these assessments vary. Practical ImplicationsOptimal oral health is integral to overall health, and identifying opportunities to improve communication and data sharing among all health care professionals can affect the patient's health positively.

Chronic diseases, health conditions and risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization and in-hospital mortality during the first wave of the epidemic in France: a cohort study of 66 million people.

BackgroundFrom the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, age (most importantly), male gender and various comorbidities were found to be associated with severe forms of COVID-19. However, there was little information provided for an entire country such as France, which was severely affected throughout the epidemic.MethodsIn France, the SNDS, comprising all health insurance reimbursements and benefits, and the PMSI, comprising hospital data, can be used to estimate the risk associated with about fifty diseases or health conditions for hospitalization primarily related to COVID-19 and COVID-19-related deaths. A cohort was constituted comprising all people alive on February 15, 2020. Data were censored at 15 June 2020 for COVID-19-related hospitalization and at 15 July 2020 for death for patients still hospitalized for COVID-19 on 15 June 2020. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for the associations between each comorbidity (n=47) and the risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization or death. These associations were determined with adjustment for age and gender, and then in models including all variables (adjusted hazard ratios [aHR]).FindingsIn a population of 66,050,090 people, 87,809 people (134 per 100,000) were hospitalized for COVID-19 between February 15, 2020 and June 15, 2020 and a subgroup of 15,661 people (24 per 100,000) died in hospital.A much higher risk was observed with increasing age, reaching a risk of hospitalization for COVID-19 more than five fold higher and a risk of COVID-19-related in-hospital mortality more than 100-fold higher in people aged 85 years and older (absolute risks of 750 and 268 per 100,000, respectively) compared to people aged 40 to 44 years.Men were at higher risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization aHR 1·38 [1·36-1·40]) and COVID-19-related in-hospital mortality (aHR 2·08 [2·01-2·16]) compared to women. Positive associations between social deprivation index and risk of COVID-19 were also observed. Almost all chronic health conditions were positively associated with an increased risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization and in-hospital mortality, with the exception of dyslipidaemia, which was negatively associated. The strongest associations for both COVID-19-related hospitalization and in-hospital mortality were observed in people with Down syndrome (7·0 [6·1-8·1] and 22·9 [17·1-30·7], respectively), mental retardation (3·8 [3·5-4·2] and 7·3 [6·1-8·8], respectively), kidney transplantation (4·6 [4·2-5·0] and 7·1 [6·0-8·4], respectively), lung transplantation (3·5 [2·4-5·3] and 6·2 [2·8-14·0], respectively) end-stage renal disease on dialysis (4·2 [3·9-4·4] and 4·7 [4·2-5·2], respectively) and active lung cancer (2·6 [2·4-2·8] and 4·0 [3·5-4·6], respectively).InterpretationThis national cohort study confirms the associations with most diseases and health conditions in France and provides data on less frequent health conditions, which could be useful particularly to target priority populations during present and future vaccination campaigns.FundingNone

Multimorbidity patterns among COVID-19 deaths: proposal for the construction of etiological models.

ABSTRACTObjectives.To describe patterns of multimorbidity among fatal cases of COVID-19, and to propose a classification of patients based on age and multimorbidity patterns to begin the construction of etiological models.Methods.Data of Colombian confirmed deaths of COVID-19 until June 11, 2020, were included in this analysis (n=1488 deaths). Relationships between COVID-19, combinations of health conditions and age were explored using locally weighted polynomial regressions.Results.The most frequent health conditions were high blood pressure, respiratory disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease. Dyads more frequents were high blood pressure with diabetes, cardiovascular disease or respiratory disease. Some multimorbidity patterns increase probability of death among older individuals, whereas other patterns are not age-related, or decrease the probability of death among older people. Not all multimorbidity increases with age, as is commonly thought. Obesity, alone or with other diseases, was associated with a higher risk of severity among young people, while the risk of the high blood pressure/diabetes dyad tends to have an inverted U distribution in relation with age.Conclusions.Classification of individuals according to multimorbidity in the medical management of COVID-19 patients is important to determine the possible etiological models and to define patient triage for hospitalization. Moreover, identification of non-infected individuals with high-risk ages and multimorbidity patterns serves to define possible interventions of selective confinement or special management.

Prevalence and Correlates of Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Chronic Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study

BackgroundFrailty is a frequent health condition in older adults of decreased functional reserve that leads to vulnerability to internal and external stressors. It has been associated with chronic pain, which is a common, costly and incapacitating condition in older adults. AimsTo describe frailty status in a sample of community-dwelling older adults with chronic pain attending a primary health care centre. DesignCross-sectional investigation. ParticipantsAdults aged 65 years or older with chronic pain. MethodsThe Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe Frailty Instrument (SHARE-FI) was used to assess frailty status and a visual analogue scale to assess pain intensity. Descriptive and analytical statistics were performed. ResultsAmong 154 participants recruited, 20.1% were frail, 38.3% pre-frail and 41.6% robust. Women were more likely to be classified as frail or pre-frail (OR: 4.62, 95% CI: 2.23-9.59), as well as participants aged 75 years or older (OR: 3.41, 95% CI: 1.74-6.68) and participants reporting moderate and severe pain (OR: 4.20, 95% CI: 2.10-8.40). These results remained significant after adjustment. ConclusionsThere is an association between frailty status and other variables such as older age, female gender and higher pain intensity.

Frequent Physical Health Monitoring as Vital Signs with Psychological Status Monitoring for Search and Rescue of Handicapped, Diseased and Eldery Persons

Method and system for frequent health monitoring as vital signs with psycholo9gical status monitoring for search and rescue of handicapped person is proposed. Heart beat pulse rate, body temperature, blood pressure, blesses and consciousness is well known vital signs. In particular for Alzheimer diseased persons, handicapped peoples, etc. it is very important to monitor vital signs in particular in the event of evacuation from disaster occurred areas together with location and attitude information. Then such persons who need help for evacuation can be survived. Through experiments wearing the proposed sensors with three normal persons including male and female, young and elder persons and one diseased person, it is found that the proposed system is useful. It is also found that the proposed system can be used for frequent health condition monitoring. Furthermore, physical health monitoring error due to psychological condition can be corrected with the proposed system.