The purpose of this study was to examine the acceptability and initial substance use outcomes of a blended motivational interviewing (MI) and problem-solving therapy (PST) intervention, delivered by peer counsellors. Twenty people who scored at risk for substance use according to the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) received a five session blended MI-PST intervention and were assessed at baseline and at three months. An open-ended semi-structured interview, designed to identify possible factors that may hinder or promote the acceptability of the intervention was also conducted. Fifteen participants completed the intervention and the three-month follow-up. According to ASSIST scores, participants significantly reduced their substance use (p > 0.001) at the three-month follow-up. Randomized controlled trials are needed to evaluate the effect of this intervention more rigorously.
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is an effective measure in the prevention and treatment of CVD. We evaluated recent trends in socio-economic differences in the DASH score in the UK population, using education, occupation and income as proxies of socio-economic position (SEP). We analysed data on 6416 subjects aged 18 years and older collected in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2008-2016). The DASH score was calculated using sex-specific quintiles of DASH items. Multiple linear regression and quantile regression models were used to evaluate the trend in DASH score according to SEP. The mean DASH score was 24 (sd 5). The estimated mean difference between people with no qualification and those having the highest level of education was -3·61 (95 % CI -4·00, -3·22) points. The mean difference between subjects engaged in routine occupations and those engaged in high managerial and professional occupations was -3·41 (95 % CI -3·89, -2·93) points and for those in the first fifth and last fifth of the household income distribution was -2·71 (95 % CI -3·15, -2·28) points. DASH score improved over time, and no significant differences in the trend were observed across SEP. The widest socio-economic differences emerged for consumption of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes. Despite an overall increase in the DASH score, a persisting SEP gap was observed. This is an important limiting factor in reducing the high socio-economic inequality in CVD observed in the UK.
While road injury mortality has improved in recent decades, there are worsening rates of incidence and significant geographical heterogeneity. These findings indicate that more research is needed to better understand how road injuries can be prevented.
This is the first prospective study investigating the tryptophan pathway in relation to lung cancer risk.
Read moreRespiratory disease is the predominant cause of illness in children globally. We describe a unique multidisciplinary South African birth cohort, the Drakenstein Child Health Study (DCHS), to investigate the incidence, risk factors, aetiology and long-term impact of early lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) on child health. Pregnant women from a poor, peri-urban community with high exposure to infectious diseases and environmental risk factors are enrolled with 1000 mother-child pairs followed for at least 5 years. Biomedical, environmental, psychosocial and demographic risk factors are longitudinally measured. Environmental exposures are measured using monitors placed at home visits. Lung function is measured in children at 6 weeks, annually and during LRTI episodes. Microbiological investigations including microbiome and multiplex PCR measures are done longitudinally and at LRTI episodes. The DCHS is a unique African birth cohort study that uses sophisticated measures to comprehensively investigate the early-life determinants of child health in an impoverished area of the world.
Read moreAccording to current proposals for ICD-11, stereotyped movement disorder will be classified in the grouping of neurodevelopmental disorders, with a qualifier to indicate whether self-injury is present, similar to the classification of stereotypic movement disorder in DSM-5. At the same time, the WHO ICD-11 Working Group on the Classification of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders has proposed a grouping of body-focused repetitive behavior disorders within the obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRD) cluster to include trichotillomania and skin-picking disorder. DSM-5 has taken a slightly different approach: trichotillomania and excoriation (skin picking) disorder are included in the OCRD grouping, while body-focused repetitive behavior disorder is listed under other specified forms of OCRD. DSM-5 also includes a separate category of nonsuicidal self-injury in the section on "conditions for further study." There are a number of unresolved nosological questions regarding the relationships among stereotyped movement disorder, body-focused repetitive behavior disorders, and nonsuicidal self-injury. In this article, we attempt to provide preliminary answers to some of these questions as they relate to the ICD-11 classification of mental and behavioral disorders.
Read moreThese findings support a psychiatric rather than a sociocultural view of the hazardous use and social consequences symptoms and provide evidence that they are appropriate diagnostic criteria cross-nationally with utility in a wide range of socioeconomic environments. This suggests consideration for their adoption by ICD-11. Further research is needed on the implications of these results for prevention and treatment.
Read more<i>R<sub>0</sub></i> in the early phase of the outbreak varied across the South American countries. The public health measures adopted in the initial period of the pandemic appear to have reduced <i>R<sub>t</sub></i> over time in each country, albeit to different levels.
Read moreNon-conscious processing of arousing stimuli may involve primary visual areas and may also recruit the insula, a brain area involved in eventual interoceptive awareness. The anterior cingulate is perhaps a key brain region for the integration of conscious and non-conscious processing. These preliminary data provide candidate brain regions for further study in to the neural correlates of conscious experience.
Read moreFor any particular anxiety disorder, a diagnosis of substance abuse can occur prior to or subsequent to an anxiety disorder. Nevertheless, there is also evidence for the specificity of some associations between anxiety and substance dependence disorders; these are independent of the effects of sex and other comorbid disorders, may be causal in nature, and deserve particular attention in clinical settings. The possibility that within a particular anxiety disorder there are a variety of mechanisms of association with various substances should be addressed in future work.
Read moreBackground: Although having a long tradition in cardiovascular epidemiologic research, nationwide data on cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and morbidity has not been available in Norway. Objectives: The main objectives of The Cardiovascular Disease in Norway (CVDNOR) project are 1) to study trends in CVD incidence, prevalence, survival and mortality and 2) providing CVD endpoints for national and regional health surveys and clinical studies. Methods: CVDNOR includes information from all hospital stays with a CVD, including congenital heart defects, or diabetes mellitus (DM) primary or secondary diagnosis code during 1994-2009. Information was retrieved from the electronic Patient Administrative Systems (PAS) from all Norwegian somatic hospitals. Data include age, gender, municipality of residence, hospitalization and discharge dates, main and secondary diagnoses and CVD-related procedure codes. All deaths due to CVD or DM are also included, as well as sociodemographic information and linkage to Cohort Norway (CONOR). In sub-projects we have also linked CVDNOR to the Medical Birth Registry of Norway and to the Cancer Registry. Results: During 1994-2009, 1.3 million patients (4.3 mill hospitalizations) had a CVD diagnosis or procedure code, or DM. Of these, 470895 (35.8%) died during 1994-2010. In addition, 68523 men and women died from CVD without being hospitalized for CVD or DM during the same period. Among 173243 CONOR participants, 9075 (5%) died after participating in the health survey and through 2010. A total of 44118 (25.5%) CONOR participants had a CVD and 7575 (4.4%) had a DM related hospitalization after participating in CONOR, through 2009. In CVDNOR, 53039 (4%) had congenital heart defect codes. Conclusions: CVDNOR will be a valuable source of information supporting future epidemiologic research, with important implications for prevention and treatment strategies.
Read moreA risk threshold was observed in this large-scale cross-national database wherein cases who associated their PTSD with four or more TEs presented a more "complex" clinical picture with substantially greater functional impairment and greater morbidity than other cases of PTSD. PTSD cases associated with four or more TEs may merit specific and targeted intervention strategies.
Read moreAdolescents with eating disorders show a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency. Given the risk of osteoporosis in this population, 25OHD levels found in this group may not offer optimal bone protection. Vitamin D levels should be routinely checked and supplementation should be administered as required.
Read moreAssociations estimated between ASDs and perinatal and prenatal exposures in the cohort are close to those estimated in the nationwide population. Self-selection does not appear to compromise validity of exposure-outcome associations in the ABC study.
Read moreHypersexual disorder is also termed compulsive sexual disorder, sexual addiction and non-paraphilic sexual disorder, reflecting different approaches to conceptualising its aetiology. Increased frequency of sexual behaviour alone does not indicate pathology. Research suggests that within the population with markedly increased frequency of sexual behaviour, there is a group in whom such behaviour leads to distress and impairment. Patients who experience increased frequency and intensity of sexual behaviour, with accompanying distress and impaired life functioning, may seek medical treatment.
Read moreAlcohol dependence (AD) has a large heritable component. Genetic variation in genes involved in the absorption and elimination of ethanol have been associated with AD. However, some of these polymorphisms are not present in an African population. Previous studies have reported that a type of AD which is characterized by anxious behaviour may be a genetically specific subtype of AD. We investigated whether variation in genes encoding cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) or acetaldehyde-metabolising enzymes (ALDH1A1, ALDH2) might alter the risk of AD, with and without symptoms of anxiety, in a Cape population with mixed ancestry. Eighty case control pairs (one with AD, one without AD) were recruited and individually matched for potential confounders. Genotype data were available for 29 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across the three genes. Linkage disequilibrium D' values were evaluated for all pairwise comparisons. Allele and haplotype frequencies were compared between cases and controls using a χ2 test. The ACAG haplotype in block 4 of the ALDH1A1 gene provided evidence of an association with AD (p = 0.03) and weak evidence of an association with AD without symptoms of anxiety (p = 0.06). When a genetic score was constructed using SNPs showing nominal evidence of association with AD, every extra risk allele increased the odds of AD by 35% (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.08, 1.68, p = 0.008) and the odds of having AD with anxiety symptoms increased by 53% (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.14, 2.05, p = 0.004). Although our results are supported by previous studies in other populations, they must be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size and the potential influence of population stratification.
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