Social network typologies and mortality risk among older people in China, India, and Latin America: A 10/66 Dementia Research Group population-based cohort study.

Background: Restricted social networks have been associated with higher mortality in several developed countries but there are no studies on this topic from developing countries. This gap exists despite potentially greater dependence on social networks for support and survival due to various barriers to health care and social protection schemes in this setting. Thus, this study aims to examine how social network type at baseline predicts all-cause mortality among older adults in six Latin American countries, China, and India.

Specificity proteins 1 and 4, hippocampal volume and first-episode psychosis.

We assessed specificity protein 1 (SP1) and 4 (SP4) transcription factor levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and conducted a voxel-based morphometry analysis on brain structural magnetic resonance images from 11 patients with first-episode psychosis and 14 healthy controls. We found lower SP1 and SP4 levels in patients, which correlated positively with right hippocampal volume. These results extend previous evidence showing that such transcription factors may constitute a molecular pathway to the development of psychosis.

Health-related quality of life in patients with depression treated with duloxetine or a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor in a naturalistic outpatient setting.

Purpose: To assess the levels of quality of life (QoL) in major depressive disorder (MDD) patients treated with either duloxetine or a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) as monotherapy for up to 6 months in a naturalistic clinical setting mostly in the Middle East, East Asia, and Mexico.

Patients And Methods: Data for this post hoc analysis were taken from a 6-month prospective observational study involving 1,549 MDD patients without sexual dysfunction. QoL was measured using the EQ-5D instrument.

C-reactive protein predicts aortic aneurysmal disease progression after endovascular repair.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the prognostic significance of the rate of variation of C-reactive protein (CRP) levels as a predictor of aneurysmal sac and neck expansion and, therefore, of aneurysm disease progression, in patients undergoing endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) in the absence of endoleaks.

Methods: 192 patients following non-emergency elective EVAR for asymptomatic infra-renal abdominal aorta aneurysm (AAA) were included after a six-month period after intervention to ensure the treatment success and absence of endoleaks. Expansion of aneurysm sac or neck after the six-month stabilization term occurred in 120 (63%) and 128 (67%) patients for a mean follow-up of 53±23 months.

Understanding the impact of persistent symptoms in schizophrenia: Cross-sectional findings from the Pattern study.

Background: The high societal burden of schizophrenia is largely caused by the persistence of symptoms and accompanying functional impairment. To date, no studies have specifically assessed the course of persistent symptoms or the individual contributions of positive and negative symptoms to patient functioning. The cross-sectional analysis of the Pattern study provides an international perspective of the burden of schizophrenia.

Global Multimorbidity Patterns: A Cross-Sectional, Population-Based, Multi-Country Study.

Background: Population ageing challenges health care systems due to the high prevalence and impact of multimorbidity in older adults. However, little is known about how chronic conditions present in certain multimorbidity patterns, which could have great impact on public health at several levels. The aim of our study was to identify and describe multimorbidity patterns in low-, middle-, and high-income countries.

Mental health research priorities for Europe.

Mental and brain disorders represent the greatest health burden to Europe-not only for directly affected individuals, but also for their caregivers and the wider society. They incur substantial economic costs through direct (and indirect) health-care and welfare spending, and via productivity losses, all of which substantially affect European development. Funding for research to mitigate these effects lags far behind the cost of mental and brain disorders to society.

Terminal carbohydrate composition, IgM level and enzymatic and bacteriostatic activity of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) skin epidermis extracts.

Although the skin is one of the main defense barriers of fish to date, very little is known about the immune implications and the properties of the numerous substances present in skin cells. In the present study, terminal carbohydrate composition and some components of the skin immunity (total IgM level, and several enzymatic and bacteriostatic activities) present on aqueous and organic epidermal extracts of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) were determined. Most of the parameters measured followed a protein concentration dose-response.

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks in 188 countries, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013.

Background: The Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor study 2013 (GBD 2013) is the first of a series of annual updates of the GBD. Risk factor quantification, particularly of modifiable risk factors, can help to identify emerging threats to population health and opportunities for prevention. The GBD 2013 provides a timely opportunity to update the comparative risk assessment with new data for exposure, relative risks, and evidence on the appropriate counterfactual risk distribution.

Development and validation of the Self-Stigma Questionnaire (SSQ) for people with schizophrenia and its relation to social functioning.

Self-stigma specifically in people with schizophrenia has been little studied. The aims of the present study were to validate a new instrument for the assessment of self-stigma (SSQ) and to assess the relationship between self-stigma and social functioning in people with schizophrenia. A sample of 76 people with schizophrenia was assessed at two moments in time with the SSQ, the PDD (stigma), two scales of social functioning (LSP, SFS), and a scale of general functioning (GAF).

Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 306 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 188 countries, 1990-2013: quantifying the epidemiological transition.

Background: The Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013) aims to bring together all available epidemiological data using a coherent measurement framework, standardised estimation methods, and transparent data sources to enable comparisons of health loss over time and across causes, age-sex groups, and countries. The GBD can be used to generate summary measures such as disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) and healthy life expectancy (HALE) that make possible comparative assessments of broad epidemiological patterns across countries and time. These summary measures can also be used to quantify the component of variation in epidemiology that is related to sociodemographic development.

Methods and Guidelines for Venous Thromboembolism Prevention in Polytrauma Patients with Pelvic and Acetabular Fractures.

Sequential compression devices and chemical prophylaxis are the standard venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention for trauma patients with acetabular and pelvic fractures. Current chemical pharmacological contemplates the use of heparins or fondaparinux. Other anticoagulants include coumarins and aspirin, however these oral agents can be challenging to administer and may need monitoring.

Identifying factors of activities of daily living important for cost and caregiver outcomes in Alzheimer's disease.

Background: We aimed to obtain a better understanding of how different aspects of patient functioning affect key cost and caregiver outcomes in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: Baseline data from a prospective observational study of community-living AD patients (GERAS) were used. Functioning was assessed using the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study-Activities of Daily Living Scale.

Semaphorin and plexin gene expression is altered in the prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia patients with and without auditory hallucinations.

Auditory hallucinations (AH) are clinical hallmarks of schizophrenia, however little is known about molecular genetics of these symptoms. In this study, gene expression profiling of postmortem brain samples from prefrontal cortex of schizophrenic patients without AH (SNA), patients with AH (SA) and control subjects were compared. Genome-wide expression analysis was conducted using samples of three individuals of each group and the Affymetrix GeneChip Human-Gene 1.

Relationship of insight with medication adherence and the impact on outcomes in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: results from a 1-year European outpatient observational study.

Background: Many patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have impaired insight and low medication adherence. The aim of this post hoc analysis was to explore the relationship between insight and medication adherence.

Methods: We included 903 patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder who participated in an observational study conducted in Europe on the outcomes of patients treated with two oral formulations of olanzapine over a 1-year period.

Recreational drug use among individuals living with HIV in Europe: review of the prevalence, comparison with the general population and HIV guidelines recommendations.

Background: Adherence problems, interactions and higher rate of risk activities have been observed in HIV individuals using recreational drugs. Our aim was to describe recreational drug use in both HIV individuals and general population in Europe, and to assess at what extent HIV guidelines address this issue.

Methods: Data on recreational drug use across Europe were obtained from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction for the general population, and through Pubmed search.

Associations between DSM-IV mental disorders and subsequent non-fatal, self-reported stroke.

Objectives: To examine the associations between a wide range of mental disorders and subsequent onset of stroke. Lifecourse timing of stroke was examined using retrospectively reconstructed data from cross-sectional surveys.

Methods: Data from the World Mental Health Surveys were accessed.

Gender differences in psychotropic use across Europe: Results from a large cross-sectional, population-based study.

Background: In many epidemiological studies, women have been observed to consume psychotropic medication more often than men. However, the consistency of this relationship across Europe, with differences in mental health care (MHC) resources and reimbursement policies, is unknown.

Methods: Questions on 12-month psychotropic use (antidepressants, benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers) were asked to 34,204 respondents from 10 European countries of the EU-World Mental Health surveys.

The role of muscle mass and body fat on disability among older adults: A cross-national analysis.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity with disability among older adults (≥65years old) in nine high-, middle- and low-income countries from Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.

Methods: Data were available for 53,289 people aged ≥18years who participated in the Collaborative Research on Ageing in Europe (COURAGE) survey conducted in Finland, Poland, and Spain, and the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) survey conducted in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa, between 2007 and 2012. Skeletal muscle mass, skeletal muscle mass index, and percent body fat were calculated with specific population formulas.

Which somatic symptoms are associated with an unfavorable course in Chinese patients with major depressive disorder?

Introduction: This was an analysis of the impact of somatic symptoms on the severity and course of depression in Chinese patients treated for an acute episode of major depressive disorder (MDD).

Methods: Data were extracted from a 3-month prospective observational study which enrolled 909 patients with MDD in psychiatric care settings; this analysis focused on the Chinese patients (n=300). Depression severity was assessed using the Clinical Global Impression of Severity (CGI-S) and 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17); somatic symptoms were assessed using the patient-rated 28-item Somatic Symptom Inventory (SSI).

Psychotic Experiences in the General Population: A Cross-National Analysis Based on 31,261 Respondents From 18 Countries.

Importance: Community-based surveys find that many otherwise healthy individuals report histories of hallucinations and delusions. To date, most studies have focused on the overall lifetime prevalence of any of these psychotic experiences (PEs), which might mask important features related to the types and frequencies of PEs.

Objective: To explore detailed epidemiologic information about PEs in a large multinational sample.

Country-level and individual correlates of overweight and obesity among primary school children: a cross-sectional study in seven European countries.

Background: The present study aims to estimate childhood overweight and obesity prevalence and their association with individual and population-level correlates in Eastern and Western European countries.

Methods: Data were obtained from the School Children Mental Health in Europe, a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2010 in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Turkey. The sample consists of 5,206 school children aged 6 to 11 years old.

Chinese patients with major depression: Do concomitant pain symptoms affect quality of life independently of severity of depression?

Objective: This study investigated whether painful physical symptoms (PPSs) influenced quality of life (QoL) when adjusting for severity of depression.

Methods: Severity of depression, QoL and PPSs were assessed at baseline and 3 months among the Chinese cohort (n = 300) of a 3-month observational study of major depressive disorder (MDD) in East Asia. The presence of PPS was defined as 'a mean score of ≥2 on the Somatic Symptom Inventory pain-related items'.