Multiple Health Risks Research Articles

Mental health risk and protective factors associated with brachial plexus birth injuries: a scoping review

Purpose The purpose of this scoping review is to synthesize the current evidence on the risk and protective factors associated with mental health in children with brachial plexus birth injury (BPBI) and associated interventions. Materials and methods MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were searched for reports on mental health in children with BPBI between 10 and 18 years. Risk and protective factors were charted using the VicHealth review and the Person–Environment–Occupation model. Results Of 732 records found, 133 full text reports were reviewed and 16 reports were included. Multiple mental health risks associated with BPBI were identified, while protective factors were largely unexplored. Person-related risks were most common including negative coping strategies (n = 8, 50%) and pain (n = 6, 38%). Most frequently reported environment and occupation risk factors were social difficulties (n = 9, 56%) and challenges with upper limb function and daily activities (n = 6, 38%). Good self-determination and/or self-concept (n = 5, 30%) was the most common protective factor. Conclusions Research using a strengths-based approach is needed to elucidate protective factors and further understanding of the intersection of person and socio-cultural risk factors of mental health in children with BPBI.

"We've Got This": Middle-Aged and Older Couples' Satisfying Relationships and We-Talk Promote Better Physiological, Relational, and Emotional Responses to Conflict.

Conflict poses multiple relational and health risks. Dyadic stress theories suggest satisfaction and communication alter cardiovascular and autonomic function, key pathways from troubled relationships to poor health. However, "we-talk," a positive communication pattern, can strengthen relationships and promote health. We examined how each spouse's satisfaction and we-talk were related to conflict's physiological, relational, and emotional toll. Married couples ( n = 107 couples, 214 individuals, ages 40-87 years) who were mostly White, highly educated, and higher-income Americans in different-gender relationships engaged in 20-minute conflict discussions while wearing monitors to assess heart rate variability (HRV). Spouses rated their closeness immediately after conflict and their conflict rumination 2 hours later. Conflict transcriptions measured we-talk, or the proportion of first-person plural pronouns (we, us, our). Satisfied spouses or those in mutually satisfying relationships had higher HRV during conflict ( b = 0.0001, p = .049), felt closer immediately after conflict ( b = 0.07, p < .001), and ruminated less about the conflict 2 hours later ( b = -0.26, p = .026). Spouses' HRV was highest ( b = 0.0002, p = .002) and rumination was lowest ( b = -0.49, p = .019) when they or their partners were satisfied and used we-talk more often. Women's HRV ( b = 0.0001, p = .035) and rumination ( b = -0.01, p = .02) benefited when both spouses were satisfied, as did closeness when women were satisfied ( b = 0.10, p < .001). Men's closeness benefited when they ( b = 0.04, p = .003) or their wives ( b = 0.04, p = .002) were satisfied. The combination of mutually satisfying relationships and we-talk was associated with better relational and health outcomes after conflict. These findings are important for middle-aged and older couples whose relationships are central to their health.

Establishment of a City-Based Index to Communicate Air Pollution-Related Health Risks to the Public in Bangkok, Thailand

An Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), a health risk-based air pollution index, was constructed to communicate to the public their health risks due to exposure to air pollution in Bangkok, Thailand. This AQHI was built by analyzing the association between total excess respiratory disease-related deaths and individual air pollutants, using a time-series analysis of daily data from 2010 to 2019. We used Poisson regression in a generalized additive model, with natural cubic smooth splines to analyze the data and controls for other common variables (time, temperature, relative humidity, day of the week, and public holidays). The regression coefficients of these variables were then employed to establish the suitability of this AQHI for Bangkok. The results indicated that a 10-unit increase in particulate matter (PM10), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ozone (O3), or nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was statistically associated with increased respiratory disease mortality. The coefficients of these four pollutants were then adopted in the construction of an AQHI for Bangkok. Compared with the currently used Air Quality Index (AQI), the AQHI was a more effective indicator in communicating multiple air pollution-related health risks to the public in Bangkok.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry for high-throughput analysis of androgenic steroid adulteration in traditional Chinese medicine based on d0/d5-Girard's reagent P labeling

The illegally adulteration of traditional Chinese medicine with androgenic steroids exposes consumers to multiple health risks. Therefore, it is very important to establish an accurate detection method. The current study presents a stable isotope labeling matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry (SIL-MALDI-HRMS) method for high-throughput quantitative analysis of androgenic steroid adulteration. A pair of isotope labeling reagents (d0/d5-Girard's reagent P, d0/d5-GP) were employed to label steroids prior to MALDI-HRMS detection. The signal intensity was significantly improved, and the signal fluctuations were compensated by employing d5-GP labeled analytes as the internal standards. The limits of quantification (LOQs) of four steroids (nandrolone, testosterone, methyltestosterone, and testosterone propionate) were in the ranges of 0.18–0.48 μg/g. The calibration curves were obtained with acceptable linearities (R2 > 0.99). The relative recoveries ranged from 87.9% to 118.1%, and the intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) were all less than 13.4%, which were satisfactory for quantitative analysis. The potential of the GP labeling strategy to improve the MALDI detection sensitivity was further demonstrated by the successful detection of cinnamaldehyde and 2′-methoxycinnamaldehyde in cinnamon-containing samples. Compared with the reported methods, the developed method proved to be high-throughput, highly selective, and accurate for androgenic steroids analysis in complex samples with good sensitivity.

The Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Interventions on Smoking, Nutrition, Alcohol, Physical Activity and/or Obesity Risk Factors: A Systematic Review.

To our knowledge, no systematic reviews have examined the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) interventions across all smoking, nutrition, alcohol, physical activity, and/or obesity (SNAPO) risk factors. This systematic review assessed the effectiveness of VR interventions on reducing SNAPO risks compared to control groups or other interventions. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, PsycINFO, and CENTRAL were searched to identify eligible studies published to 7 October 2021. Two reviewers independently completed screening, data extraction and quality assessment. Twenty-six studies were included, five on smoking, twelve on physical activity (PA), six on obesity, one on PA and obesity, one on obesity and nutrition, and one on obesity, nutrition and PA. VR was effective for smoking cessation in three studies and for smoking reduction in four studies. Seven studies had significantly higher PA in the VR group, and one study found significantly higher PA in a comparator group. Two studies showed VR was more effective at reducing BMI or weight than comparators. Three multiple health risks studies showed mixed results. The remaining studies found no significant difference between VR and control/comparators. VR appears promising for the treatment of smoking, nutrition, PA, and obesity risks; however, further randomised trials are needed.

Potential adverse outcome pathways with hazard identification of organophosphate esters

Data-driven analysis and pathway-based approaches contribute to reasonable arrangements of limited resources and laboratory tests for continuously emerging commercial chemicals, which provides opportunities to save time and effort for toxicity research. With the widespread usage of organophosphate esters (OPEs) on a global scale, the concentrations generally reached up to micromolar range in environmental media and even in organisms. However, potential adverse effects and toxicity pathways of OPEs have not been systematically assessed. Therefore, it is necessary to review the current situation, formulate the future research priorities, and characterize toxicity mechanisms via data-driven analysis. Results showed that the early toxicity studies focused on neurotoxicity, cytotoxicity, and metabolic disorders. Then the main focus shifted to the mechanisms of cardiotoxicity, endocrine disruption, hepatocytes, reproductive and developmental toxicity to vulnerable sub-populations, such as infants and embryos, affected by OPEs. In addition, several novel OPEs have been emerging, such as bis(2-ethylhexyl)-phenyl phosphate (HDEHP) and oxidation derivatives (OPAsO) generated from organophosphite antioxidants (OPAs), leading to multiple potential ecological and human health risks (neurotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, developmental toxicity, etc.). Notably, in-depth statistical analysis was promising in encapsulating toxicological information to develop adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) frameworks. Subsequently, network-centric analysis and quantitative weight-of-evidence (QWOE) approaches were utilized to construct and evaluate the putative AOPs frameworks of OPEs, showing the moderate confidences of the developed AOPs. In addition, frameworks demonstrated that several events, such as nuclear receptor activation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, oxidative stress, and DNA damage, were involved in multiple different adverse outcome (AO), and these AOs had certain degree of connectivity. This study brought new insights into facilitating the complement of AOP efficiently, as well as establishing toxicity pathways framework to inform risk assessment of emerging OPEs.

Cost of Health-Related Work Productivity Loss among Fly-In Fly-Out Mining Workers in Australia.

Sufficient knowledge on the work productivity impact of the health of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers in the mining sector in Australia is lacking. This study examined the impact of health and lifestyle behaviours on the work productivity of FIFO workers in the mining industry in Australia. FIFO workers completed an online questionnaire on health and work productivity loss measures. Linear regressions were used to model annual work productivity losses through absenteeism, presenteeism and total productivity loss. Workers with a high risk for health conditions were, on average, associated with 3.87% more productivity loss (absenteeism: 1.27% and presenteeism: 2.88%) than those with low risk. Workers who had multiple health risks classified as medium (3–4 health conditions) and high (5 or more health conditions) reported 1.75% and 7.46% more total productivity loss, respectively, than those with fewer multiple health risks (0–2 health conditions). Health conditions were estimated to account for an annual additional productivity cost due to absenteeism of AUD 8.82 million, presenteeism of AUD 14.08 million and a total productivity loss of AUD 20.96 million per 1000 workers. FIFO workers with high health risks experience more absenteeism, presenteeism and overall productivity loss. These measures provide strong economic justifications that could support the need for targeted workplace health interventions.

“It won’t work here”: Lessons for just nature-based stream restoration in the context of urban informality

Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) have been advocated for their potential to contribute to the making of sustainable and just cities. However, a growing body of research shows that NBS cannot inherently provide just outcomes and might instead (re)produce environmental injustices. This research explores NBS for stream/river restoration in ‘informal’ areas, showing how riparian margins have become spaces of conflict. It draws lessons from two linear parks integrated into neighbourhood regeneration strategies in São Paulo. Data were collected from household surveys and focus group discussions to examine local populations’ values towards stream restoration. They provide understandings of residents’ perceptions towards multiple health and safety risks and concerns over contested responsibilities, notably revealing that local preferences for stream burial have been shaped by persisting waste dumping issues. An environmental justice lens helps highlight the limited integration of plural social and cultural values into project plans. This further helps draw lessons on ways to address local conflicts and integrate multiple socio-environmental values into NBS planning, with support from policy tools that allow stronger community engagement. Findings also support the identification of justice pathways for NBS in informal settings. The analysis of material and interpretative human-environment relationships provides evidence of opportunities for NBS to be integrated into everyday uses of local space and pre-existing environmental caring practices. For this, communities need to have stronger influence over decisions affecting them. The research thereby demonstrates that NBS will only become a mechanism for ecological recovery with city-wide benefits if marginalised groups are better included in their planning.

The Relationship of School Connectedness to Adolescents' Engagement in Co-Occurring Health Risks: A Meta-Analytic Review.

School connectedness is an important factor in the lives of youth and are a leverage point for optimizing youth's social, emotional, and physical health. This study presents a meta-analysis examining the relationship between school connectedness and four health domains that are prevalent in adolescence, have implications for adult health, and often co-occur: mental health, sexual health, violence, and high-risk substance use. Ninety articles published between 2009 and 2019 were included in the analysis. The study found that school connectedness had a protective average effect size across all health domains (Hedges' g = -0.345, p-value<0.001). When examined separately, school connectedness had a significant protective relationship with substance use (g = -0.379, p < 0.001), mental health (Hedges' g = -0.358, p < 0.001), violence (Hedges' g = -0.318, p < 0.001), sexual health (Hedges' g = -0.145, p < 0.001), and with co-occurring risks (Hedges' g = -0.331, p < 0.001). These results provide strong evidence that school connectedness has the potential to prevent and mitigate multiple health risks during adolescence.

A time to heal: microRNA and circadian dynamics in cutaneous wound repair

Many biological systems have evolved circadian rhythms based on the daily cycles of daylight and darkness on Earth. Such rhythms are synchronised or entrained to 24-h cycles, predominantly by light, and disruption of the normal circadian rhythms has been linked to elevation of multiple health risks. The skin serves as a protective barrier to prevent microbial infection and maintain homoeostasis of the underlying tissue and the whole organism. However, in chronic non-healing wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), pressure sores, venous and arterial ulcers, a variety of factors conspire to prevent wound repair. On the other hand, keloids and hypertrophic scars arise from overactive repair mechanisms that fail to cease in a timely fashion, leading to excessive production of extracellular matrix (ECM) components such as such as collagen. Recent years have seen huge increases in our understanding of the functions of microRNAs (miRNAs) in wound repair. Concomitantly, there has been growing recognition of miRNA roles in circadian processes, either as regulators or targets of clock activity or direct responders to external circadian stimuli. In addition, miRNAs are now known to function as intercellular signalling mediators through extracellular vesicles (EVs). In this review, we explore the intersection of mechanisms by which circadian and miRNA responses interact with each other in relation to wound repair in the skin, using keratinocytes, macrophages and fibroblasts as exemplars. We highlight areas for further investigation to support the development of translational insights to support circadian medicine in the context of these cells.

Identifying the Physical and Mental Healthcare Needs of Opioid Treatment Program Clients

Background: Individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) often have significant medical and behavioral health needs that are unaddressed. Opioid treatment programs (OTP) are uniquely positioned to provide integrated services for OUD, physical and mental health but are underutilized for this purpose. This study aims to describe the physical and mental healthcare needs of OTP clients in order to inform integrated care implementation in OTPs. Method: OTP clients (n = 1261) in an integrated care program in the Bronx borough of New York City were assessed for mental health symptoms (e.g., anxiety, depression), chronic disease indicators (e.g., blood pressure, cholesterol), and general functioning (e.g., capability of managing healthcare needs). Results: Symptoms of anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and depression were common. Self-reported health status and level of functioning were generally poor. Heavy smoking and obesity were the most frequent physical health risks. Other chronic disease indicators (e.g., blood pressure) showed 25-46% may be at risk. Sixty percent had multiple mental health risks and 85% had multiple physical health risks. Older clients had a higher rate of hypertension and diabetes risk than younger clients. Conclusions: Integrated care programs in OTPs must be prepared to address and coordinate care for chronic mental and physical health conditions in addition to OUD.

Bioplastic Production from Microalgae and their Applications- A Critical Review

Around the world, plastic materials are being produced and consumed more as the global demand for plastic materials increases. Consequently, both marine and terrestrial life have been negatively affected by plastic waste pollution. Multiple health risks are associated with microplastics. The decomposition of plastics takes a long time, and therefore reusing plastics, burning them, chemically treating them, and burying them in landfills are not the best methods to reduce the polluting effects of

Trophodynamics of Antibiotics in the Pelagic and Benthic Food Webs of Urban Freshwater Lake: Influence of Multiple Physicochemical Factors and Health Risks

Trophodynamics of Antibiotics in the Pelagic and Benthic Food Webs of Urban Freshwater Lake: Influence of Multiple Physicochemical Factors and Health Risks

Evaluacija zdravstvenih rizika koji dominantno utiču na zdravstveni potencijal studentske populacije u toku pandemije COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the health potential of populations around the world. The student population was greatly affect-ed by the conditions of the pandemic, quarantine and state of emergency. Health risks that dominantly affect the level of health potential of the stu-dent population have been significantly changed in these conditions of life and social functioning. The aim of this study was to evaluate the health risks that students were predominantly exposed to during the coronavirus disease pandemic. The research is designed as a cross-sectional study, and the research technique is a survey. The research instrument is a survey questionnaire, constructed for the needs of this study. The ques-tionnaire examines the health risks to which the student population was exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was conducted in the period from May to June 2022 at the Faculty of Health and Business Studies in Valjevo, Singidunum University. The sample of respondents is not-randomized, 142 students participated in the research. The research was voluntary and anonymous. The majority of students believe that ex-posure to health risks is greater during the pandemic (80%). Health risks that are dominantly present in the student population are an improper diet, increased stress levels, feelings of anxiety and depression, physical inactivity, sleep and rest disorders, cigarette and alcohol consumption, excessive use of social networks. Health risks were more frequent in the population of female students, while health potential and personal per-ception of one's own health were lower in students with chronic diseases and comorbidities. The pandemic conditions negatively affected the health potential of the student population. The presence of health risks can permanently jeopardize young people's health, quality of life and can lead to irreversible consequences. The presence of multiple health risks in people with chronic diseases can influence the development of chronic diseases and affect the length of life.

Effect of Trachyspermum ammi essential oil, fractions and its derivatives on resistant fungal Strains

Persistentantimicrobial drugs treatmenthas resulted in antimicrobial resistance in fungi. There is always a gap for newer antifungal agent. As fungi are associated with multiple health risks in humans and many diseases in crops as well.Objective: To find alternate natural antimicrobial agent as compared to the synthetic one. Method:Essential oil of Trachyspermumammi was isolated, fractionated, and subjected to GC-MS analysis. Components from fractions were derivatized to check their antimicrobial potential against fungal resistant strains. Results:Analysis showed γ -terpinene (39%), α-phellandrene (1.3%), α-pinene (0.5%), Sabinene (0.15%), β-pinene (4.40%), β-myrcene (1.14%), O-cymene (15.78%), p-cymefne (38.78%), and other components were less than 1%. Fractional components were derivatised and their antifungal action was studied. Conclusion: Ajwain oil components found to be good against resistant fungal strains. While some derivatives showed more and some less antimicrobial action.

Affective Neuroscience Contributions to the Treatment of Addiction: The Role of Social Instincts, Pleasure and SEEKING.

Addiction is an illness prevalent in the worldwide population that entails multiple health risks. Because of the nature of addictive disorders, users of drugs seldom look for treatment and when they do, availability can be difficult to access. Permanence in treatment and its outcomes vary from case to case. Most models work from a multidisciplinary approach that tackles several dimensions of addictive disorders. However, the different etiological factors claim for a personalized treatment to enhance opportunities for better results. Problems in relationships with others play an important role in the etiology and the recovery process of addiction. This paper focuses on the social-environmental causes of addiction based on an affective neuroscience approach that attempts to integrate the interplay between social instincts, pleasure, and the SEEKING system in addiction. To advance toward better treatment strategies, it is pertinent to understand the limitations of the current multidisciplinary models. Acknowledging the social nature of the human brain may help to identify the quality of different types of traumatic early life experiences in drug users and how to address them in what may become a neuropsychoanalytic treatment of addiction.

Goals for Reaching Optimal Wellness (GROWell): A clinical trial protocol of a digital dietary intervention for pregnant and postpartum people with prenatal overweight or obesity

BackgroundExcess gestational weight gain (EGWG) is associated with multiple pregnancy complications and health risks for birthing people and their infants. Likewise, postpartum weight retention (PPWR), or not losing all pregnancy weight, has long-term health consequences. EGWG among people who enter pregnancy with overweight or obesity have worse obstetric outcomes and increased PPWR compared to women who gain within Institute of Medicine guidelines. MethodsThis study protocol describes the details of a blinded, randomized clinical trial of GROWell: Goals for Reaching Optimal Wellness, a mHealth tool designed to improve diet quality among people who enter pregnancy with overweight or obese BMIs to help them achieve appropriate GWG and safe postpartum pregnancy weight loss. Individuals with overweight and obesity will be randomly assigned to an attention control or intervention arm. The intervention group will receive personalized, goal-oriented text messages regarding dietary choices, while the attention control group will receive text messages about healthy pregnancy, labor, delivery, and early infancy. Both groups will complete online surveys at baseline, follow up, 3 and 6 months postpartum. Results and discussionCurrently, 162 subjects have been enrolled. Outcomes associated with GWG and pregnancy are expected in late 2023, while outcomes on postpartum weight retention GROWell adherence are expected in late 2024. The results of this trial will support the use of an evidence-based mHealth tool to be integrated into clinical practice to reduce EGWG and PPWR among pregnant people with overweight and obese BMIs, a resource that is currently lacking. Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04449432. Registered on June 26, 2020.

P09.07 Integration of Smoking Cessation Services in Mobile Mammography and Mobile COVID Screening to Reach Rural Populations

Smoking cessation has been demonstrated to confer survival benefit, whereas ongoing tobacco use leads to multiple health risks. Unaided cessation is often unsuccessful. Counseling by an expert and access to pharmacotherapy can boost quit rates. Unfortunately, recruitment to cessation programs faces several barriers, particulary poor penetrance into the target population. In our region, the highest rates of smoking are in rural areas, yet tobacco cessation counseling at our institution previously occured in a centralized urban location.

Constructing an Air Quality Health Index for children: A case study in Shanghai, China

BackgroundThe Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) based on the association between excess mortality risk and air pollutants was established by Canadian scientists in 2008 and it has been widely used for predicting multiple air pollutants related health risks. However, it remains unclear whether AQHI is a better indicator in predicting other health risks like respiratory diseases for vulnerable populations. ObjectiveThis study aimed to propose a case on constructing an AQHI based on the association between air pollution and hospital outpatient visits for respiratory diseases among children and to determine whether the index adequately predicts early risk of respiratory diseases in children. MethodData of air pollutants, including particulate matter of less than 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) were collected from Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019. Daily number of hospital outpatient visits for pediatric (0–12 years old) respiratory diseases were also obtained. Time-series analysis with a generalized additive model (GAM) during warm (Apr. to Sep.) and cool periods (Oct. to Mar.) was conducted to estimate the associations between respiratory-related hospital outpatient visits in children and the concentrations of air pollutants including PM2.5, SO2, NO2, and O3 in Shanghai from 2015 to 2018. The sum of excess risk (ER) of hospital outpatient visits in warm and cool periods was used to construct the AQHI for children (AQHIc). As AQHIc was established using the data from 2015 to 2018, we examined the validity of the index with data from 2017 to 2019. We also compared the predictive power of AQHIc and the currently used Air Quality Index (AQI) with the data of daily hospital outpatient visits from 2017 to 2019. ResultAccording to one- and two-pollutant models of GAM, the concentration-response coefficients of PM2.5, SO2, NO2, and O3 were selected to construct the AQHIc in the warm period, while only SO2, NO2, and PM2.5 were included for the construction of AQHIc in the cool period as O3 was negatively correlated with the hospital outpatient visits. There were almost linear exposure-response correlations between AQHIc and daily hospital outpatient visits. AQHIc and AQI showed similar results with the annual data in terms of model fit statistics. When the data was divided into warm and cool periods, the power of AQHIc was slightly stronger than that of AQI in predicting the air pollution-related health risks. ConclusionAQHIc we developed might comprehensively reflect the combined effects of air pollution in Shanghai and it could be a more valid prediction index for evaluating air pollution-related health risks in children.

Effectiveness of a Healthy Lifestyle Program (HeLP) for low back pain: statistical analysis plan for a randomised controlled trial

BackgroundThis paper describes the statistical analysis plan for a randomised controlled trial of a Healthy Lifestyle Program (HeLP) for low back pain targeting multiple health risks and behaviours, weight, physical activity, diet and smoking, to improve disability. We describe the methods for the main analyses and economic analysis of the trial.Methods and designThe trial is a two-arm pragmatic randomised controlled trial comparing the effect of the HeLP intervention to usual care on low back pain disability at 26 weeks. A total of 346 adults with low back pain were recruited from the Newcastle and Hunter region between September 2017 and November 2019 and randomised to either HeLP or usual care. HeLP is a 6-month intervention with participant outcomes measured at weeks 6, 12, 26 and 52 post randomisation. This statistical analysis plan describes data integrity, handling and preparation of data for analyses and methods for analyses. The primary endpoint for the trial is disability at 26 weeks using the 24-item self-report Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire. The primary analysis will follow the intention-to-treat principle using linear mixed regression models.DiscussionThe statistical analysis plan for this trial was produced to reduce outcome reporting bias arising from knowledge of the study findings. Any deviations will be described and justified in the final report.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12617001288314. Registered on 6 September 2017.