Is volunteering a public health intervention? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the health and survival of volunteers

Background Volunteering has been advocated by the United Nations, and American and European governments as a way to engage people in their local communities and improve social capital, with the potential for public health benefits such as improving wellbeing and decreasing health inequalities. Furthermore, the US Corporation for National and Community Service Strategic Plan for 2011–2015 focused on increasing the impact of national service on community needs, supporting volunteers’ wellbeing, and prioritising recruitment and engagement of underrepresented populations. The aims of this review were to examine the effect of formal volunteering on volunteers’ physical and mental health and survival, and to explore the influence of volunteering type and intensity on health outcomes. Methods Experimental and cohort studies comparing the physical and mental health outcomes and mortality of a volunteering group to a non-volunteering group were identified from twelve electronic databases (Cochrane Library, Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, CINAHL, ERIC, HMIC, SSCI, ASSIA, Social Care Online, Social Policy and Practice) and citation tracking in January 2013. No language, country or date restrictions were applied. Data synthesis was based on vote counting and random effects meta-analysis of mortality risk ratios. Results Forty papers were selected: five randomised controlled trials (RCTs, seven papers); four non-RCTs; and 17 cohort studies (29 papers). Cohort studies showed volunteering had favourable effects on depression, life satisfaction, wellbeing but not on physical health. These findings were not confirmed by experimental studies. Meta-analysis of five cohort studies found volunteers to be at lower risk of mortality (risk ratio: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.66, 0.90). There was insufficient evidence to demonstrate a consistent influence of volunteering type or intensity on outcomes. Conclusion Observational evidence suggested that volunteering may benefit mental health and survival although the causal mechanisms remain unclear. Consequently, there was limited robustly designed research to guide the development of volunteering as a public health promotion intervention. Future studies should explicitly map intervention design to clear health outcomes as well as use pragmatic RCT methodology to test effects

Waterpipe tobacco use in the United Kingdom: A cross-sectional study among university students and stop smoking practitioners

© 2016 Jawad et al.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction: Despite cigarette-like adverse health outcomes associated with waterpipe tobacco smoking and increase in its use among youth, it is a much underexplored research area. We aimed to measure the prevalence and patterns of waterpipe tobacco use and evaluate tobacco control policy with respect to waterpipe tobacco, in several universities across the UK. We also aimed to measure stop smoking practitioners' encounter of waterpipe tobacco smoking. Methods: We distributed an online survey to six UK universities, asking detailed questions on waterpipe tobacco. Multivariable logistic regression models, adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, graduate status, university and socioeconomic status (SES) assessed associations between waterpipe tobacco smoking (single use and dual use with cigarettes) and sociodemographic variables. SES was ascertained by average weekly self-spend on non-essentials. We also descriptively analysed data from a 2012 survey of stop smoking practitioners to assess the proportion of clients that used waterpipe regularly. Results: f 2217 student responses, 66.0%(95% CI 63.9-68.0%) had tried waterpipe tobacco smoking; 14.3%(95% CI 12.8-15.8%) reported past-30 day use, and 8.7% (95% CI 7.6-9.9%) reported at least monthly users. Past-30 day waterpipe-only use was associated with being younger (AOR 0.95, 95% CI 0.91-0.99), male (AOR 1.44, 95% CI 1.08-1.94), higher SES (AOR 1.16, 95% CI 1.06-1.28) and belonging to non-white ethnicities (vs. white, AOR 2.24, 95% CI 1.66-3.04). Compared to less than monthly users, monthly users were significantly more likely to have urges to smoke waterpipe (28.1% vs. 3.1%,

Novel genetic loci underlying human intracranial volume identified through genome-wide association

Intracranial volume reflects the maximally attained brain size during development, and remains stable with loss of tissue in late life. It is highly heritable, but the underlying genes remain largely undetermined. In a genome-wide association study of 32,438 adults, we discovered five novel loci for intracranial volume and confirmed two known signals. Four of the loci are also associated with adult human stature, but these remained associated with intracranial volume after adjusting for height. We found a high genetic correlation with child head circumference (ρgenetic=0.748), which indicated a similar genetic background and allowed for the identification of four additional loci through meta-analysis (Ncombined = 37,345). Variants for intracranial volume were also related to childhood and adult cognitive function, Parkinson’s disease, and enriched near genes involved in growth pathways including PI3K–AKT signaling. These findings identify biological underpinnings of intracranial volume and provide genetic support for theories on brain reserve and brain overgrowth

A systematic review of optical coherence tomography findings in adults with mild traumatic brain injury

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is common with many patients suffering disabling long-term sequelae, with visual symptoms frequently reported. There are no objective biomarkers of mTBI that are routinely used in clinical practice. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been used in mTBI research, as it enables visualisation of the neuroretina, allowing measurement of the retinal nerve fibre layer and ganglion cell layer. This systematic review aims to appraise the available literature and assess whether there are significant changes within the retinal nerve fibre layer and ganglion cell layer in subjects after mTBI. A systematic review was carried out in accordance with PRISMA guidelines and registered with PROSPERO (Number: CRD42022360498). Four databases were searched for relevant literature published from inception until 1 September 2022. Abstracts and full texts were screened by three independent reviewers. Initial screening of databases yielded 341 publications, of these, three fulfilled all the criteria for inclusion. All three studies showed thinning of the retinal nerve fibre layer, whereas there were no significant changes in the ganglion cell layer. This systematic review demonstrated that thinning of the retinal nerve fibre layer (but not of the ganglion cell layer) is associated with mTBI. It provides preliminary evidence for the use of the retinal nerve fibre layer as a potential biomarker of damage to the visual system in mTBI. Further prospective longitudinal studies ensuring uniform diagnosis and accurate phenotyping of mTBI are needed to understand the effects on the visual system and potential of OCT as a prognostic biomarker

Other features of respondents who had ever tried waterpipe tobacco, stratified by frequency of use.

<p>Other features of respondents who had ever tried waterpipe tobacco, stratified by frequency of use.</p

Questionnaire structure and outcome measures.

<p>Legend: Outcome measures: 1+2: Ever cigarette use; 2+3: Ever waterpipe use; 2: Ever dual use; 4: Current cigarette use; 5: Current waterpipe use; 4+5: Dual current use.</p