The influence of age on the female/male ratio of treated incidence rates in depression

BACKGROUND: Poor data exist on the influence of psychosocial variables on the female/male ratio of depression because of the small number of cases and the resulting limited numbers of variables available for investigation. For this investigation a large number of first admitted depressed patients (N = 2599) was available which offered the unique opportunity to calculate age specific sex ratios for different marital and employment status categories. METHODS: Age and sex specific population based depression rates were calculated for first ever admissions for single year intervals. Moving averages with interpolated corrections for marginal values in the age distribution were employed. RESULTS: For the total group the female/male ratio of depression showed an inverted U-shape over the life-cycle. This pattern was influenced by the group of married persons, which showed a sex-ratio of 3:1 between the age of 30–50, but ratios of around 1:1 at younger and older ages. For not married persons the female/male ratio was already around 2:1 at the age of 18 and rose to 2.5:1 in mid-life and declined to 1 at around 55. The almost parallel decline of depression rates in employed men and women resulted in a female/male ratio of about 2:1 from age 18 to age 50 and became 1 after the age of 60. The female/male ratio among the not employed was about 1, in mid-life it became negative. CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses show that the gender-gap in first admitted depressed patients is age dependent and that psychosocial factors modify the sex ratio

Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults

Background Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 3663 population-based studies with 222 million participants that measured height and weight in representative samples of the general population. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in the prevalence of different BMI categories, separately for adults (age ≥20 years) and school-aged children and adolescents (age 5–19 years), from 1990 to 2022 for 200 countries and territories. For adults, we report the individual and combined prevalence of underweight (BMI 2 SD above the median). Findings From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity in adults decreased in 11 countries (6%) for women and 17 (9%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 that the observed changes were true decreases. The combined prevalence increased in 162 countries (81%) for women and 140 countries (70%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. In 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity was highest in island nations in the Caribbean and Polynesia and Micronesia, and countries in the Middle East and north Africa. Obesity prevalence was higher than underweight with posterior probability of at least 0·80 in 177 countries (89%) for women and 145 (73%) for men in 2022, whereas the converse was true in 16 countries (8%) for women, and 39 (20%) for men. From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of thinness and obesity decreased among girls in five countries (3%) and among boys in 15 countries (8%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80, and increased among girls in 140 countries (70%) and boys in 137 countries (69%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. The countries with highest combined prevalence of thinness and obesity in school-aged children and adolescents in 2022 were in Polynesia and Micronesia and the Caribbean for both sexes, and Chile and Qatar for boys. Combined prevalence was also high in some countries in south Asia, such as India and Pakistan, where thinness remained prevalent despite having declined. In 2022, obesity in school-aged children and adolescents was more prevalent than thinness with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 among girls in 133 countries (67%) and boys in 125 countries (63%), whereas the converse was true in 35 countries (18%) and 42 countries (21%), respectively. In almost all countries for both adults and school-aged children and adolescents, the increases in double burden were driven by increases in obesity, and decreases in double burden by declining https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/images/research_banner_face_lab_290.jpgunderweight or thinness. Interpretation The combined burden of underweight and obesity has increased in most countries, driven by an increase in obesity, while underweight and thinness remain prevalent in south Asia and parts of Africa. A healthy nutrition transition that enhances access to nutritious foods is needed to address the remaining burden of underweight while curbing and reversing the increase in obesity

An Assessment of the Metal Removal Capability of Endemic Chilean Species

In Chile, there are several abandoned mine tailing impoundments near population centers that need to be remediated. In this study, the ability of Oxalis gigantea, Cistanthe grandiflora, and Puya berteroniana to remove Zn, Ni, and Cr from mine tailings was evaluated. The plants’ removal efficiency, bioconcentration, and translocation factors regarding these metals were determined to assess the ability of certain endemic species from Northern and Central Chile to extract or stabilize metals. After a period of seven months, the chemical analysis of plants and tailings, together with the statistical treatment of data, indicated the inability of all the species to translocate Ni, Cr, or Zn with a translocation factor lower than one. The results showed the stabilizing character of Oxalis gigantea, Puya berteroniana, and Cistanthe grandiflora for Zn, with a bioconcentration factor close to 1.2 in all cases, and the same ability of the latter two species for Cr, with a bioconcentration factor of 1.5 in the case of Cistanthe grandiflora and 1.7 for Puya berteroniana. Finally, a removal efficiency of 9.3% was obtained with Cistanthe grandiflora for Cr and 15% for Ni; values lower than 6.4% were obtained for Zn in all cases. Improvements in the process should be sought to enhance the performance of these species for the accumulation of the target metals

Closing the gender leadership gap: a multi-centre cross-country comparison of women in management and leadership in academic health centres in the European Union

BACKGROUND: Women's participation in medicine and the need for gender equality in healthcare are increasingly recognised, yet little attention is paid to leadership and management positions in large publicly funded academic health centres. This study illustrates such a need, taking the case of four large European centres: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Germany), Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), Medizinische Universität Wien (Austria), and Oxford Academic Health Science Centre (United Kingdom). CASE: The percentage of female medical students and doctors in all four countries is now well within the 40-60% gender balance zone. Women are less well represented among specialists and remain significantly under-represented among senior doctors and full professors. All four centres have made progress in closing the gender leadership gap on boards and other top-level decision-making bodies, but a gender leadership gap remains relevant. The level of achieved gender balance varies significantly between the centres and largely mirrors country-specific welfare state models, with more equal gender relations in Sweden than in the other countries. Notably, there are also similar trends across countries and centres: gender inequality is stronger within academic enterprises than within hospital enterprises and stronger in middle management than at the top level. These novel findings reveal fissures in the 'glass ceiling' effects at top-level management, while the barriers for women shift to middle-level management and remain strong in academic positions. The uneven shifts in the leadership gap are highly relevant and have policy implications. CONCLUSION: Setting gender balance objectives exclusively for top-level decision-making bodies may not effectively promote a wider goal of gender equality. Academic health centres should pay greater attention to gender equality as an issue of organisational performance and good leadership at all levels of management, with particular attention to academic enterprises and newly created management structures. Developing comprehensive gender-sensitive health workforce monitoring systems and comparing progress across academic health centres in Europe could help to identify the gender leadership gap and utilise health human resources more effectively

Mental illness among journalists: A systematic review

Background:Mass media depictions of people with mental illness have a strong influence on public attitudes, to the extent that changes in these depictions can reduce public stigmatization of people with such illness. Journalists' mental health may influence their depiction of those with mental illness, but little is known about this.Aims:To investigate mental illness among journalists in five key areas: (1) journalists' mental health status; (2) journalists' personal attitudes towards mental illness; (3) attitudes and support journalists expect or have experienced from colleagues when they have a mental health problem; (4) effect of journalism's professional culture on the course of mental illness; and (5) effect of journalism's professional culture on mass media depictions of people with mental illness.Methods:We performed a systematic screening of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library regarding the study aims.Results:We identified 19, 12, seven and four studies for aims 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. No articles were found for aim 5.Conclusions:The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among journalists is higher than that among the general population. Journalists have positive personal attitudes towards mental illness, but there are perceived workplace disincentives to disclose mental health problems.</p