Levels Of Poor Health Research Articles

"Stay at Home, Protect the National Health Service, Save Lives": A cost benefit analysis of the lockdown in the United Kingdom.

IntroductionThe COVID‐19 pandemic has transformed lives across the world. In the UK, a public health driven policy of population “lockdown” has had enormous personal and economic impact.MethodsWe compare UK response and outcomes with European countries of similar income and healthcare resources. We calibrate estimates of the economic costs as different % loss in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) against possible benefits of avoiding life years lost, for different scenarios where current COVID‐19 mortality and comorbidity rates were used to calculate the loss in life expectancy and adjusted for their levels of poor health and quality of life. We then apply a quality‐adjusted life years (QALY) value of £30,000 (maximum under national guidelines).ResultsThere was a rapid spread of cases and significant variation both in severity and timing of both implementation and subsequent reductions in social restrictions. There was less variation in the trajectory of mortality rates and excess deaths, which have fallen across all countries during May/June 2020. The average age at death and life expectancy loss for non‐COVID‐19 was 79.1 and 11.4 years, respectively, while COVID‐19 were 80.4 and 10.1 years; including adjustments for life‐shortening comorbidities and quality of life plausibly reduces this to around 5 QALY lost for each COVID‐19 death. The lowest estimate for lockdown costs incurred was 40% higher than highest benefits from avoiding the worst mortality case scenario at full life expectancy tariff and in more realistic estimations they were over 5 times higher. Future scenarios showed in the best case a QALY value of £220k (7xNICE guideline) and in the worst‐case £3.7m (125xNICE guideline) was needed to justify the continuation of lockdown.ConclusionThis suggests that the costs of continuing severe restrictions are so great relative to likely benefits in lives saved that a rapid easing in restrictions is now warranted.

Study on Health/Lifestyle, Oxidative Stress, and Antioxidant Capacity Among Female Care Workers and Female General Workers

Background: Care workers have been considered to have higher work-related stress than general workers, which can have a considerable effect on their lifestyle. Hence, psychological and physiological stress levels should be examined. While several studies have investigated psychological stress among care workers, none have examined physiological stress. In addition, very few studies have been investigated the relationship between lifestyle and physiological stress.Aims: This study aimed to examine the relationship between health/lifestyle and physiological stress among female care workers and general workers and identify differences therein.Methods: Subjects included 30 workers (average age: 49.8) and 33 general workers (average age: 51.9). No significant difference in their age was noted. The “Diagnostic Inventory of Health and Life Habit” developed by Tokunaga et al. was used to examine lifestyle habits. Physiological stress was examined by measuring diacron-reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs) and biological antioxidant potential (BAP) using FRAS4 manufactured by WISMERLL Co., Ltd. during the subjects’ working hours.Results: Care workers were taller, heavier, woke up later, and slept longer than general workers. Both care workers and general workers had average health/lifestyle parameter scores that fell within the “moderate” category, with no differences between both groups. Both care workers and general workers had a poor health rating and were evaluated as “caution required,” which indicated undesirable lifestyle habits. No significant differences in d-ROMs and BAP were observed between both groups, many of whom fell under the “high oxidative stress” category for d-ROMs and “borderline” for BAP. Regarding the relationship between d-ROMs and BAP values and health/lifestyle parameters, our results found some relationship between exercise habits and d-ROMs only among care workers.Conclusion: General workers and care workers included herein had similarly poor health levels and undesirable lifestyle habits. Moreover, both groups were both had high d-ROM and normal BAP levels, with no significant differences in both indexes. Several care workers confirmed to have high d-ROMs tended to not participate in sport activities or exercise and did not to expect to benefit from them.

INFLUENCE OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FACTORS ON THE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ HEALTH

The aim is to analyze the factors that affect the students' health both positively and negatively and to evaluate the real health status of Ukrainian student youth. Materials and methods: The research was conducted at Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University and University of State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, 647 students of the 1st - 4th years of study were examined. To study both negative and positive factors, we conducted a survey of the students of different genders of several education departments, using original questionnaires. To analyze the results of the students' self-assessment of their health state, the methodology of V. P. Voitenko, which contains 27 questions that characterize the most important aspects of well-being, mood, activity, sleep quality, pain senses and lifestyle of students, was applied. Results: It was determined that the most important factors for the preservation of health included nutrition, physical activity, active leisure, sleep, love and sex. 56.3 % of male students and 49.9 % of female ones indicated that motor activity is of great importance for health care. The students stated that the most dangerous health factors included drug use, radioactive contamination of the environment, smoking, alcohol abuse, stress, etc. It was found that the highest percentage of students had satisfactory and poor health levels - 44.8-54.9 % and 17.8-29.5 % respectively. Conclusions: A wide range of specific components of the educational process and the healthy lifestyle of students can have different effects on life. Lifestyle is one of the many factors that affect students' health. The students' self-assessment of their health state lets to manage the educational process of physical education efficiently, allocate physical activity and apply individual tasks rationally.

Abstract P174: Stress and Depression Are Associated With Life’s Simple 7 Among African Americans With Hypertension: Findings From the Jackson Heart Study

Introduction: The American Heart Association created the Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) metric to promote optimal cardiovascular health (CVH) via managing blood pressure (BP), controlling cholesterol, reducing blood sugar, getting active, eating better, losing weight, and quitting smoking. The degree to which psychosocial factors impact one’s ability to achieve LS7 recommendations is unclear. We hypothesized that hypertensive African Americans with high stress levels and high depressive symptoms would have poorer CVH compared to those with low stress and low depressive symptoms. Methods: Cross-sectional analyses included 1,845 participants with hypertension from the Jackson Heart Study, a community-based cohort of African Americans. Hypertension was defined as clinic BP ≥140/90 mm Hg or self-reported use of antihypertensive medication at the baseline exam (2000-2004). Outcomes were the continuous LS7 composite score and individual components (each defined as poor, intermediate or ideal). The Weekly Stress Inventory was used to identify high stress (top quartile vs. all others). The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale was used to identify high depressive symptoms (CES-D ≥16 vs. <16). We examined associations between stress and depressive symptoms with composite LS7 scores and individual LS7 metrics. We compared four groups: (1) high stress alone, (2) high depressive symptoms alone, (3) high stress and high depressive symptoms, and (4) low stress and low depressive symptoms (reference). Models were progressively adjusted for age, sex, education, employment, insurance status, and cardiovascular risk factors. Results: The mean age was 58.9 ± 10.8 years, 31% of participants were male, and 9.6% had both high stress and high depressive symptoms. Participants with both high stress and high depressive symptoms had a lower composite LS7 score than those with low stress and low depressive symptoms (6.0 vs. 6.5, p=0.004). The association was present after adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors (p=.029) but not in fully adjusted models (p>0.05). Neither high stress alone nor high depressive symptoms alone were associated with LS7 score in any model (p>0.05). Other key findings included significant associations between high stress and depressive symptoms and poorer levels of health for smoking (OR [95% CI]= 0.53 [0.34-0.81]) and physical activity (OR [95% CI]= 0.68 [0.50-0.94]) in fully adjusted models. Conclusion: African Americans with the combination of high stress and high depressive symptoms had poorer overall CVH compared with those reporting low stress and low depressive symptoms, and were less likely to have ideal smoking and physical activity. Future studies should evaluate prospective effects of this psychosocial risk profile on CVH, which may inform behavioral approaches to improving CVH.

Determinants of Community Capacity Influencing Residents’ Health Status in Seoul, South Korea

The effect of community capacity on health was evaluated by assessing the community via a questionnaire that included a capacity index in the social capital scale. The impact of the length of residence and the size and solidarity of networking on community capacity was also explored. The authors used logistic regression models controlling for sociodemographic factors and health behaviors among 1019 residents. The results indicate that lower community identity and social trust all led to statistically poor health levels. The manner in which members perceive their community was determined by cohesion, participation, length of residence, and the extent and strength of a member's network. Partnerships among and the subsequent organization of public resources by community members helped solidify the sense of community. With enhanced levels of sense of community, the collective level of health among residents can be readily and effectively improved.

Addressing the persistence of Tuberculosis Among the Canadian Inuit Population: The need for a social determinants of health framework

Canadian Aboriginal people have poorer levels of health than the general population. A serious issue is the high rate of tuberculosis (TB) among the Inuit population; rates are much higher than those of the general Canadian population. Several social determinants of health (SDOH), including household crowding and poverty, are strongly correlated with TB prevalence. In this paper, we describe the medical and social determinants of TB, and critically examine the TB literature specific to the Inuit population. The majority of studies recommend biomedical interventions for the treatment of TB. Few researchers have employed the social determinants of health theory to steer their research, and even fewer researchers suggest improving living and social conditions in Inuit communities as a way of eradicating TB. We conclude with research and policy recommendations.

HEALTH NEEDS OF CHILDREN LIVING IN OUT-OF-HOME CARE

INTRODUCTION: Children in out-of-home care have high, unrecognized, and unmet health needs. The combination of exposure to abuse and neglect and a background of social disadvantage place them at significant risk for poor health, which affects their physical, developmental, and emotional health. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to screen children in out-of-home care for unidentified health problems and recommend appropriate health interventions. METHODS: A health screening clinic for children in out-of-home care was established in a tertiary children's hospital in 2005 in collaboration with social services. Working within a multidisciplinary framework, the children had a comprehensive physical, developmental, and behavioral health screen. Recommendations were made to social services for appropriate health care. RESULTS: Of the 122 children screened, 24% had incomplete immunizations, 20% had visual problems, 30% had dental problems, and 26% had hearing loss, 45% of the children under 5 years of age had speech delay, 60% failed the developmental screen, and 54% had significant behavioral and emotional problems. CONCLUSIONS: Children in out-of-home care are a vulnerable group of the child population who experience unacceptable levels of poor health. Comprehensive health screens are important for identifying previously undetected health problems and recommending appropriate health interventions.

Exploring the health of late Pleistocene mammals: the use of Harris lines

ABSTRACT Harris lines are osteological markers of recovery from an episode of growth arrest that have been utilized primarily to track fluctuations in the health of prehistoric human communities. The transverse lines are visible in radiographs of long bones and should be visible in well-preserved fossil material. Here, we test their utility for non-hominid fossils in an analysis of late Pleistocene mammals from the extensive collections of the Rancho La Brea tar seeps. The species examined include dire wolf (Canis dims), coyote (C. latrans), sabertooth cat (Smilodon fatalis), bison (Bison antiquus), camel (Camelops hesternus), and horse (Equus laurentius). The tar pits range in age from about 33,000 years ago to near the time of last appearance of all these species but the coyote, about 11,000 years ago. The frequency of Harris lines in the bones of the fossil mammals ranged from less than one percent to nearly seven percent. These frequencies were compared with those found in samples of presumed healthy and possibly food-stressed populations of modern mammalian herbivores and carnivores. Harris line frequencies in the Pleistocene mammals did not differ significantly from those of the presumed healthy modern populations but were significantly lower than that of one of the possibly stressed populations, the highly endangered Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi). This suggests that the late Pleistocene species were not suffering from unusual levels of poor health, even as they approached the extinction horizon. This study of Harris line incidence in both modern and fossil mammal populations demonstrates their utility for future studies of paleofaunas.