A comparative analysis of depressive-like behavior: Exploring sex-related differences and insights

by Ana Carolina Cavalcante Rodrigues, Caroline Vitória de Lima Moreira, Camila Carlos Prado, Luan Silvestro Bianchini Silva, Rafael Fernandes Costa, Adesina Paul Arikawe, Gustavo Rodrigues Pedrino, Elson Alves Costa, Osmar Nascimento Silva, Hamilton Barbosa Napolitano, Iranse Oliveira-Silva, James Oluwagbamigbe Fajemiroye

Profiling the variability related to the estrous cycle is essential for assessing depressive-like behavior and screening drugs. This study compares circulating plasma corticosterone levels [CORT] and behavioral alterations in mice exposed to sucrose preference, forced swimming, and tail suspension tests (SPT, FST, and TST, respectively). While SPT exposure did not significantly alter [CORT], FST and TST showed notable changes. Mice in the TST exhibited increased movement and decreased immobility time compared to FST, suggesting a lower likelihood of depressive-like behavior in male mice. Notably, during the proestrus phase, female mice displayed the highest tendency for depressive-like behavior and elevated [CORT], but similar response to antidepressants (imipramine and fluoxetine). The inherent stress of the FST and TST tasks appears to influence [CORT] as well as depressant and antidepressant effects. These comparisons provide valuable insights for further behavioral phenotyping, model sensitivity assessment, and deepen our neurobiological understanding of depression in the context of drug screening.

Factors associated with infant mortality in Nigeria: A scoping review

by Loveth Dumebi Nwanze, Alaa Siuliman, Nuha Ibrahim

Background

Infant mortality persists as a global public health concern, particularly in lower-middle-income countries (LIMCs) such as Nigeria. The risk of an infant dying before one year of age is estimated to be six times higher in Africa than in Europe. Nigeria recorded an infant mortality rate of 72.2 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2020, in contrast to the global estimate of 27.4 per 1,000 live births. Several studies have been undertaken to determine the factors influencing infant mortality.

Objective

This scoping review sought to identify and summarise the breadth of evidence available on factors associated with infant mortality in Nigeria.

Methods

This review followed the five-stage principles of Arksey and O’Malley’s framework. Four electronic databases were searched with no limit to publication date or study type: Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, CINAHL Complete, and Web of Science. Selected studies were imported into Endnote software and then exported to Rayyan software where duplicates were removed. Included articles were thematically analysed and synthesised using the socioecological model.

Results

A total of 8,139 references were compiled and screened. Forty-eight articles were included in the final review. At the individual level, maternal- and child-related factors were revealed to influence infant mortality; socioeconomic and sociocultural factors at the interpersonal level; provision and utilisation of health services, health workforce, hospital resources and access to health services at the organisational level; housing/neighbourhood and environmental factors at the community level; and lastly, governmental factors were found to affect infant mortality at the public policy level.

Conclusion

Factors related to the individual, interpersonal, organisational, community and public policy levels were associated with infant mortality in Nigeria.

Prevalence and clinical implications of respiratory viruses in asthma during stable disease state and acute attacks: Protocol for a meta-analysis

by Gioulinta S. Alimani, Sachin Ananth, Cristina Boccabella, Ekaterina Khaleva, Graham Roberts, Nikolaos G. Papadopoulos, Chris Kosmidis, Jørgen Vestbo, Effie Papageorgiou, Apostolos Beloukas, Alexander G. Mathioudakis

Introduction

Viruses are detected in over 50% of acute asthma attacks and in a notable proportion of patients with asthma during stable disease state They are associated with worse outcomes. We will conduct a series of systematic reviews and meta-analyses to quantify the prevalence and clinical burden of various respiratory viruses in stable asthma and acute asthma attacks. In addition, we will assess the viral loads of respiratory viruses during stable and acute asthma, to explore whether viral load could differentiate attacks triggered by viruses versus those where viruses are present as “innocent bystanders”.

Materials and methods

Based on a prospectively registered protocol (PROSPERO, ID: CRD42023375108) and following standard methodology recommended by Cochrane, we will systematically search Medline/PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library and relevant conference proceedings for studies assessing the prevalence or clinical burden of respiratory viruses in asthma. Methodological rigour of the included studies will be appraised using a tool specific for prevalence studies and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale respectively. In anticipation of significant clinical and methodological heterogeneity, we will conduct random effect meta-analyses. For evaluating the prevalence of viruses, we will perform meta-analyses of proportions using the inverse variance method, and the Freeman-Tukey transformation. We will conduct meta-regression analyses for exploring heterogeneity.

Conclusion

We envisage that these systematic reviews and meta-analyses will quantify the prevalence and burden of respiratory viruses in stable and acute asthma and will drive future research and clinical practice.

Evaluation of variation in special educational needs provision and its impact on health and education using administrative records for England: umbrella protocol for a mixed-methods research programme

Introduction

One-third of children in England have special educational needs (SEN) provision recorded during their school career. The proportion of children with SEN provision varies between schools and demographic groups, which may reflect variation in need, inequitable provision and/or systemic factors. There is scant evidence on whether SEN provision improves health and education outcomes.

Methods

The Health Outcomes of young People in Education (HOPE) research programme uses administrative data from the Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data—ECHILD—which contains data from all state schools, and contacts with National Health Service hospitals in England, to explore variation in SEN provision and its impact on health and education outcomes. This umbrella protocol sets out analyses across four work packages (WP). WP1 defined a range of ‘health phenotypes’, that is health conditions expected to need SEN provision in primary school. Next, we describe health and education outcomes (WP1) and individual, school-level and area-level factors affecting variation in SEN provision across different phenotypes (WP2). WP3 assesses the impact of SEN provision on health and education outcomes for specific health phenotypes using a range of causal inference methods to account for confounding factors and possible selection bias. In WP4 we review local policies and synthesise findings from surveys, interviews and focus groups of service users and providers to understand factors associated with variation in and experiences of identification, assessment and provision for SEN. Triangulation of findings on outcomes, variation and impact of SEN provision for different health phenotypes in ECHILD, with experiences of SEN provision will inform interpretation of findings for policy, practice and families and methods for future evaluation.

Ethics and dissemination

Research ethics committees have approved the use of the ECHILD database and, separately, the survey, interviews and focus groups of young people, parents and service providers. These stakeholders will contribute to the design, interpretation and communication of findings.

Flow of information contributing to medication incidents in home care—An analysis considering incident reporters' perspectives

Abstract

Aim

To describe the contributing factors and types of reported medication incidents in home care related to the flow of information in different phases of the medication process, as reported by multi-professional healthcare groups.

Design

This descriptive, qualitative study used retrospective data.

Methods

An incident-reporting database was used to collect 14,289 incident reports from 2017 to 2019 in a city in Finland. We used this data to select medication incidents (n = 1027) related to the flow of information in home care and between home care and hospitals. Data were divided into five groups based on the medication phase: (1) prescribing, (2) dispensing, (3) administration, (4) documentation and (5) self-administration. In addition, the types of medication-related incidents were described. The data were examined using abductive content analysis. The EQUATOR SRQR checklist was used in this report.

Results

Four main categories were identified from the data: (1) issues related to information management, (2) cooperation issues between different actors, (3) work environment and lack of resources and (4) factors related to healthcare workers. Cooperation issues contributed to medication-related incidents during each phase. Incomplete communication was a contributing factor to medication incidents. This occurred between home care, remote care, hospital, the client and the client's relatives. Specifically, a lack of information-sharing occurred in repatriation situations, where care transitioned between different healthcare professionals.

Conclusion

Healthcare professionals, organisations, clients and their relatives should focus on the efficient and safe acquisition of medications. Specifically, the use of electronic communication systems, together with oral reports and checklists for discharge situations, and timely cooperation with pharmacists should be developed to manage information flows.

Relevance to Clinical Practice

These findings demonstrate that healthcare professionals require uniform models and strategies to accurately and safely prescribe, dispense and administer medications in home care settings.

No patient or public contributions.

People affected by dementia had mixed experiences of using technology during COVID-19

Commentary on: Chirico I, Giebel C, Lion K, Mackowiak M, Chattat R, Cations M, Gabbay M, Moyle W, Pappadà A, Rymaszewska J, Senczyszyn A, Szczesniak D, Tetlow H, Trypka E, Valente M, Ottoboni G. Use of technology by people with dementia and informal carers during COVID-19: A cross-country comparison. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2022 Sep;37(9). doi: 10.1002/gps.5801.

Implications for practice and research

Consider patient and caregiver preferences for using technology.

Offer training on the use of technology.

Provide the most suitable schedule for caregivers.

More multicentre randomised controlled trials are needed to assess the feasibility of telehealth in different stages of dementia.

Context

The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light the need to adopt technology in healthcare systems worldwide due to the need for physical distancing and isolation measures, especially in the older adult group.1 2 Several studies have...

Business Intelligence como herramienta de apoyo en la identificación de casos de suicidio en RS – Brasil

Introducción: Actualmente, el uso de tecnologías innovadoras ha ayudado a los profesionales a gestionar mejor el volumen de información de manera inteligente, para facilitar y optimizar el uso de acciones y prácticas preventivas. Entendido como un recurso capaz de expandir o acceder a datos, nuestro objetivo es analizar el tema del suicidio en Rio Grande do Sul, en el período de 2010 a 2019, desde el portal municipal de Business Intelligence. Método: Una investigación es de naturaleza cuantitativa, de tipo descriptivo, basada en los registros de muertes por suicidio en el estado de Rio Grande do Sul, escuchada por el portal público de inteligencia empresarial (BI). Los datos fueron analizados, basados en el número bruto de muertes por suicidio en la macro-región del Sur, registrada en el Portal BI / DGTI. Se realizó una descripción del número de muertes según el año, el sexo, el grupo de edad y la tasa de suicidios. Resultados: un total de 11,774 muertes por suicidio, registradas en los últimos 10 años, o el número más alto que ocurrió en los años 2017 y 2019, entre los hombres, con tasas más altas en los grupos de edad entre 20 y 69 años. Una tasa más alta registrada fue en 2019, con 12.41 muertes por cada 100,000 habitantes. Concluimos con este estudio sobre el uso de Bussiness Intelligence, que permite acciones más efectivas en la prevención del suicidio.

Perfil de la producción del conocimiento sobre violencia en una Institución Federal de Enseñanza de Brasil

Objetivo principal: mapear la producción del conocimiento acerca de la temática violencia contra niños y adolescentes de una Institución Federal de Educación Superior (IFES) del Sur do Brasil. Metodología: Se trata de una investigación documental, a través de mapeo de la producción discente y docente de los cursos de graduación del área de la salud, educación, derecho, entre 1990 y 2016 en diferentes bases disponibles de la Universidad. Resultados: se constituyeron la muestra de la investigación, 86 producciones académicas, siendo 47 trabajos de conclusión de curso, 10 pro-yectos de investigación y 29 artículos científicos sobre violencia. Las producciones presentaron un crecimiento a partir de 2006, con un aumento considerable en 2012 y la Enfermería fue responsable del 46,5% de toda la producción académica y la atención a niños y adolescentes víctimas de violencia fue el tema con el mayor número de producción. Conclusión: la importancia de abordar el tema en los currículos a fin de que todas las áreas del conocimiento puedan ejercer su coparticipación en la garantía de derechos de niños y adolescentes que son acometidas por la violencia.

Evidencias bibliográficas sobre riesgos laborales en los pescadores artesanales: revisión integrativa de la literatura

Objetivo: Identificar en la producción científica los tipos de riesgos para enfermidades y agravos para acidentes em trabajadores de la pesca artesanal. Metodología: Revisión integrativa, realizada entre enero y marzo de 2018, por medio de la combinación de los descriptores "Occupational Health" y "Fisheries", en las bases de datos, Medline, LILACS, Scopus, SciELO e internet. Se encontraron 123 artículos. Después de la lectura y evaluación de los mismos, se obtuvo un resultado final para el análisis de 16 artículos. Resultados principales: La mayoría de los estudios se indexaron en la base de datos Medline (56,3%), en el idioma inglés (43,8), con un nivel de evidencia VI (100%). Se constató que los trabajadores de la pesca artesanal están expuestos a riesgos ergonómicos, químicos, físicos y de accidentes. Conclusión: Se constató carencia de publicaciones en el área de la pesca artesanal, inexistencia de publicaciones científicas realizadas por la enfermería y brechas en el conocimiento.