•The Covid-19 lockdown affect severity of emotional and mood behaviors in ADHD.•Children and adolescents with low severity degree resulted more vulnerable to lockdown.•Boredom and Little ...enjoyment/interest are the most affected dimensions during lockdown.
The current study examined the impact of the lockdown due to the Covid-19 disease on mood state and behaviours of children and adolescents with ADHD. Nine hundred ninety-two parents of children and adolescents with ADHD filled out an anonymous online survey through the ADHD family association website. The survey investigated the degree of severity of six emotional and mood states (sadness, boredom, little enjoyment/interest, irritability, temper tantrums, anxiety) and five disrupted behaviours (verbal and physical aggression, argument, opposition, restlessness) based on their frequency/week (absent; low: 1–2 days/week; moderate: 3–4 days/week; severe: 5–7 days/week) before and during the lockdown. Important fluctuations were found in all dimensions during the lockdown independently by the severity degree. Subjects with previous low severity degree of these behaviors significantly worsened in almost all dimensions during the lockdown. On the contrary, ADHD patients with moderate and severe degree showed important improvement during the lockdown. Little enjoyment/interests and boredom resulted the dimensions more strongly affected by the condition of restriction, overall in children. Children vs. adolescents showed substantially similar trend but the former resulted significantly more vulnerable to emotive changes. The results provided both the individuation of domains affected, and the indirect benefits produced by restriction condition.
Background and purpose
Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder in multiple sclerosis (MS). Self‐report depression scales are frequently used as screening, diagnostic and grading ...instruments. This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory second edition (BDI‐II) for assessing depressive disorders in a sample of Italian MS patients.
Methods
The sample included 141 consecutive non‐demented MS patients who completed the BDI‐II and the Chicago Multiscale Depression Inventory (CMDI). MS patients also completed a clinical interview, a neurological/neuropsychological examination and a Fatigue Severity Score (FSS) questionnaire in order to assess divergent validity.
Results
The BDI‐II showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.89) and good convergent and divergent validity. With respect to CMDI serving as the ‘gold standard’, the receiver operating characteristic curve revealed that BDI‐II is an adequate diagnostic measure and that the optimum total cut‐off score was 18.5. Such score identified clinically relevant depressive symptoms in 25.5% of our MS sample.
Conclusions
The BDI‐II is a simple, reliable and valid tool for detecting and grading depressive symptoms in Italian MS patients.
Carotid atherosclerosis is a known biomarker associated with future vascular disease. The risk associated with small, nonstenotic carotid plaques is less clear. The objective of this study was to ...examine the association between maximum carotid plaque thickness and risk of vascular events in an urban multiethnic cohort.
As part of the population-based Northern Manhattan Study, carotid plaque was analyzed among 2,189 subjects. Maximum carotid plaque thickness was evaluated at the cutoff level of 1.9 mm, a prespecified value of the 75th percentile of the plaque thickness distribution. The primary outcome measure was combined vascular events (ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, or vascular death).
Carotid plaque was present in 1,263 (58%) subjects. After a mean follow-up of 6.9 years, vascular events occurred among 319 subjects; 121 had fatal or nonfatal ischemic stroke, 118 had fatal or nonfatal myocardial infarction, and 166 died of vascular causes. Subjects with maximum carotid plaque thickness greater than 1.9 mm had a 2.8-fold increased risk of combined vascular events in comparison to the subjects without carotid plaque (hazard ratio, 2.80; 95% CI, 2.04-3.84). In fully adjusted models, this association was significant only among Hispanics. Approximately 44% of the low-risk individuals by Framingham risk score had a 10-year vascular risk of 18.3% if having carotid plaque.
Maximum carotid plaque thickness is a simple and noninvasive marker of subclinical atherosclerosis associated with increased risk of vascular outcomes in a multiethnic cohort. Maximum carotid plaque thickness may be a simple and nonexpensive tool to assist with vascular risk stratification in preventive strategies and a surrogate endpoint in clinical trials.
Abstract
Retinal dystrophies such as
Retinitis pigmentosa
are among the most prevalent causes of inherited legal blindness, for which treatments are in demand. Retinal prostheses have been developed ...to stimulate the inner retinal network that, initially spared by degeneration, deteriorates in the late stages of the disease. We recently reported that conjugated polymer nanoparticles persistently rescue visual activities after a single subretinal injection in the Royal College of Surgeons rat model of
Retinitis pigmentosa
. Here we demonstrate that conjugated polymer nanoparticles can reinstate physiological signals at the cortical level and visually driven activities when microinjected in 10-months-old Royal College of Surgeons rats bearing fully light-insensitive retinas. The extent of visual restoration positively correlates with the nanoparticle density and hybrid contacts with second-order retinal neurons. The results establish the functional role of organic photovoltaic nanoparticles in restoring visual activities in fully degenerate retinas with intense inner retina rewiring, a stage of the disease in which patients are subjected to prosthetic interventions.
It is controversial whether physical activity is protective against first stroke among older persons. We sought to examine whether physical activity, as measured by intensity of exercise and energy ...expended, is protective against ischemic stroke.
The Northern Manhattan Study is a prospective cohort study in older, urban-dwelling, multiethnic, stroke-free individuals. Baseline measures of leisure-time physical activity were collected via in-person questionnaires. Cox proportional hazards models were constructed to examine whether energy expended and intensity of physical activity were associated with the risk of incident ischemic stroke.
Physical inactivity was present in 40.5% of the cohort. Over a median follow-up of 9.1 years, there were 238 incident ischemic strokes. Moderate- to heavy-intensity physical activity was associated with a lower risk of ischemic stroke (adjusted hazard ratio HR 0.65, 95% confidence interval 0.44-0.98). Engaging in any physical activity vs none (adjusted HR 1.16, 95% CI 0.88-1.51) and energy expended in kcal/wk (adjusted HR per 500-unit increase 1.01, 95% CI 0.99-1.03) were not associated with ischemic stroke risk. There was an interaction of sex with intensity of physical activity (p = 0.04), such that moderate to heavy activity was protective against ischemic stroke in men (adjusted HR 0.37, 95% CI 0.18-0.78), but not in women (adjusted HR 0.92, 95% CI 0.57-1.50).
Moderate- to heavy-intensity physical activity, but not energy expended, is protective against risk of ischemic stroke independent of other stroke risk factors in men in our cohort. Engaging in moderate to heavy physical activities may be an important component of primary prevention strategies aimed at reducing stroke risk.
Introduction
Half of all mental disorders (MD) begin by age 14, however, the majority of disorders remain untreated well into adulthood due to inadequate service provision. Prevalence studies of MD ...among young people (YP) are needed to elucidate the current epidemiology and better service development to prevent and help YP with MD in the Maltese islands. This abstract describes the first phase of a 3-phase national study.
Objectives
1. To screen for MD among a sample of 5–16-year-olds. 2. To determine the presence or absence of a range of protective and risk factors among YP with and without a MD.
Methods
A multi-stage random sample of 800 YP aged 5-16 years were recruited from 39 schools across the Maltese Islands. Participants were screened for MD using the SDQ, SCARED, AQ10, SCOFF and AUDIT, and asked questions on life experiences.
Results
25.2% of YP were identified as being at risk of suffering from a MD (T1). Only 10% of these were referred to MHS. A greater proportion of YP identified as having a possible MD (compared to those without), were found to have a physical impairment (19%), problematic family dynamics (12%), adverse life events (T2) and parents with a history of health/social problems (T3).
Conclusions
The K-SADS will be conducted on YP identified as having a possible MD to ascertain a categorical diagnosis and establish prevalence rates for MDs as defined by DSM-5 criteria. Recommendations to improve and develop new mental health services to meet the needs for these YP will be disseminated amongst commissioners.
Disclosure
No significant relationships.
Liver stiffness was measured by transient elastography (FibroScan®) in 228 consecutive patients with chronic viral hepatitis, with (115) or without cirrhosis (113), to study its correlations with ...serum transaminases alanine aminotransferase (ALT), fibrosis stage and surrogate noninvasive markers of fibrosis (APRI, FORNS, FibroTest and hyaluronic acid). The dynamic profiles of serum transaminases and liver stiffness were compared by multiple testing in 31 patients during a 6‐month follow‐up. We identified 8.3 and 14 kPa as the fibrosis ≥F2 and cirrhosis cut‐offs, respectively: their sensitivities were 85.2%/78.3%; specificities 90.7%/98.2%; positive predictive values 93.9%/97.8%; negative predictive values 78.8%/81.6%; diagnostic accuracies 87.3%/88.2%. FibroScan® performed better than the other surrogate markers of fibrosis (P < 0.001). Other than fibrosis, other factors independently associated with liver stiffness were ALT for all patients and chronic hepatitis patients (P < 0.001), and 12‐month persistently normal ALT (biochemical remission, P < 0.001) in cirrhotics. In patients with biochemical remission either spontaneous or after antiviral therapy (48 of 228, 21%), liver stiffness was lower than in patients with identical fibrosis stage, but elevated ALT (P < 0.001). The liver stiffness dynamic profiles paralleled those of ALT, increasing 1.3‐ to 3‐fold during ALT flares in 10 patients with hepatitis exacerbations. Liver stiffness remained unchanged in 21 with stable biochemical activity (P = 0.001). In conclusion, transient elastography is a new liver parameter that behaves as a reliable surrogate marker of fibrosis in chronic viral hepatitis patients, provided that its relationship with major changes of biochemical activity is taken into account.
•Several psychiatric comorbidities are associated in children with ADHD and GAD.•Higher prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities in younger children with ADHD and GAD.•Depression is strongly ...associated in children with ADHD and GAD.•Depression, bipolar disorder, and ADHD family history predict the comorbid profile.
The aim of the study is to explore the impact of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) comorbidity in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Six hundred children with ADHD (mean age = 9.12 years), recruited from 2013 to 2017, participated in the study. A total of 96 (16%) children with ADHD displayed a comorbidity with GAD. ADHD + GAD were compared to 504 ADHD children without GAD in terms of cognitive and psychiatric profile, ADHD subtype and family psychiatric history.
The ADHD + GAD, predominantly represented from ADHD combined (72.6%), displayed higher psychiatry comorbidity, in particular with depressive disorders, and were associated with higher rates of maternal depression, of ADHD in fathers, and bipolar disorders in second degree relatives. Moreover, younger preschool-primary school age children with ADHD + GAD showed significant higher frequency of depressive disorders versus younger preschool-primary children with ADHD without GAD.
ADHD + GAD comorbidity represents a more complex clinical condition compared to ADHD without GAD, characterized by the higher frequency of multiple comorbidities and by a psychiatric family with higher rates of mood and disruptive disorders.
There are barriers to acute stroke care in minority groups as well as a higher incidence of ischemic stroke when compared with non-Hispanic whites.
To estimate the future economic burden of stroke in ...non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics, and African Americans in the United States from 2005 to 2050.
We used U.S. Census estimates of the race-ethnic group populations age 45 years and older. We obtained stroke epidemiology and service utilization data from the Northern Manhattan Stroke Study and the Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi project and other published data. We estimated costs directly from Medicare reimbursement or from studies that used Medicare reimbursement. Direct and indirect costs considered included ambulance services, initial hospitalization, rehabilitation, nursing home costs, outpatient clinic visits, drugs, informal caregiving, and potential lost earnings.
The total cost of stroke from 2005 to 2050, in 2005 dollars, is projected to be 1.52 trillion dollars for non-Hispanic whites, 313 billion dollars for Hispanics, and 379 billion dollars for African Americans. The per capita cost of stroke estimates are highest in African Americans (25,782 dollars), followed by Hispanics (17,201 dollars), and non-Hispanic whites (15,597 dollars). Loss of earnings is expected to be the highest cost contributor in each race-ethnic group.
The economic burden of stroke in African Americans and Hispanics will be enormous over the next several decades. Further efforts to improve stroke prevention and treatment in these high stroke risk groups are necessary.
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