Associations of Underlying Health Conditions With Anxiety and Depression Among Outpatients: Modification Effects of Suspected COVID-19 Symptoms, Health-Related and Preventive Behaviors

Objectives: We explored the association of underlying health conditions (UHC) with depression and anxiety, and examined the modification effects of suspected COVID-19 symptoms (S-COVID-19-S), health-related behaviors (HB), and preventive behaviors (PB).Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 8,291 outpatients aged 18–85 years, in 18 hospitals and health centers across Vietnam from 14th February to May 31, 2020. We collected the data regarding participant's characteristics, UHC, HB, PB, depression, and anxiety.Results: People with UHC had higher odds of depression (OR = 2.11; p < 0.001) and anxiety (OR = 2.86; p < 0.001) than those without UHC. The odds of depression and anxiety were significantly higher for those with UHC and S-COVID-19-S (p < 0.001); and were significantly lower for those had UHC and interacted with “unchanged/more” physical activity (p < 0.001), or “unchanged/more” drinking (p < 0.001 for only anxiety), or “unchanged/healthier” eating (p < 0.001), and high PB score (p < 0.001), as compared to those without UHC and without S-COVID-19-S, “never/stopped/less” physical activity, drinking, “less healthy” eating, and low PB score, respectively.Conclusion: S-COVID-19-S worsen psychological health in patients with UHC. Physical activity, drinking, healthier eating, and high PB score were protective factors

Assessing First-year Information Literacy at WPI

This project analyzes the results of an assessment, which the Gordon Library at Worcester Polytechnic Institute deployed, to evaluate baseline information literacy skills among first-year students. The results showed that only 40% of entering students scored above 70% on the test, with the best performance on questions related to the ethical use of information and the worst performance on questions related to search strategies. A new version of the assessment was developed and tested and will be used in the future

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms of <i>FAM13A</i> Gene in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease—A Case Control Study in Vietnam

Background: In 2018, GOLD addressed the issues of genotypes associated with risk factors for COPD. The genome-wide association study (GWAS) demonstrated an association between COPD and several genetic variants of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the FAM13A gene with the risk of COPD. Objective: To study the single nucleotide polymorphisms rs2869967 and rs17014601 of the FAM13A gene in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Subjects and research methods: 80 subjects diagnosed with COPD and 80 subjects determined not to have COPD according to GOLD 2020 criteria; the subjects were clinically examined, interviewed, and identified as possessing single nucleotide polymorphisms using the sanger sequencing method on whole blood samples. Results: The male/female ratio of the patient group and the control group was 79/1 and 39/1, respectively. The percentages of C and T alleles of rs2869967 in COPD patients were 50.6% and 49.4%, respectively. The percentages of C and T alleles of rs17014601 in COPD patients were 31.9% and 68.1%, respectively. At rs17014601, the ratio values of alleles T and C in the disease group and the control group were markedly different, making them statistically reliable (p = 0.031). The rate of CT genotype in the group of patients was considerably higher than that of the control group. The TT homozygous genotype had a lower risk of COPD compared with the other genotypes in the dominant model (ORTT/(CC + CT) = 0.441; CI95% = 0.233–0.833); this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.012). Conclusions: With rs17014601, it is characteristic that the frequency of the T allele appears more than the C allele, and the CT heterozygous phenotype accounts for the highest proportion in rs17014601 and rs2869967 recorded in COPD patients. There is an association between the genetic variant of the SNP FAM13A-rs17014601 and the risk of COPD

Ensemble modeling of landslide susceptibility using random subspace learner and different decision tree classifiers

In this study, we have developed five spatially explicit ensemble predictive machine learning models for the landslide susceptibility mapping of the Van Chan district of the Yen Bai Province, Vietnam. In the model studies, Random Subspace (RSS) was used as the ensemble learner with Best First Decision Tree (BFT), Functional Tree (FT), J48 Decision Tree (J48DT), Naïve Bayes Tree (NBT) and Reduced Error Pruning Trees (REPT) as the base classifiers. Data of 167 past and present landslides and various landslide conditioning factors were used for generation of the datasets. The results showed that the RSSFT model achieved the highest performance in terms of Fgiurepredicting future landslides, followed by RSSREPT, RSSBFT, RSSJ48, and RSSNBT, respectively. Therefore, the RSSFT model was found to be more robust model than the other studied models, which can be used in other areas of landslide susceptibility mapping for proper landuse planning and management

People with Suspected COVID-19 Symptoms Were More Likely Depressed and Had Lower Health-Related Quality of Life: The Potential Benefit of Health Literacy

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic affects people’s health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), especially in those who have suspected COVID-19 symptoms (S-COVID-19-S). We examined the effect of modifications of health literacy (HL) on depression and HRQoL. A cross-sectional study was conducted from 14 February to 2 March 2020. 3947 participants were recruited from outpatient departments of nine hospitals and health centers across Vietnam. The interviews were conducted using printed questionnaires including participants’ characteristics, clinical parameters, health behaviors, HL, depression, and HRQoL. People with S-COVID-19-S had a higher depression likelihood (OR, 2.88; p &lt; 0.001), lower HRQoL-score (B, −7.92; p &lt; 0.001). In comparison to people without S-COVID-19-S and low HL, those with S-COVID-19-S and low HL had 9.70 times higher depression likelihood (p &lt; 0.001), 20.62 lower HRQoL-score (p &lt; 0.001), for the people without S-COVID-19-S, 1 score increment of HL resulted in 5% lower depression likelihood (p &lt; 0.001) and 0.45 higher HRQoL-score (p &lt; 0.001), while for those people with S-COVID-19-S, 1 score increment of HL resulted in a 4% lower depression likelihood (p = 0.004) and 0.43 higher HRQoL-score (p &lt; 0.001). People with S-COVID-19-S had a higher depression likelihood and lower HRQoL than those without. HL shows a protective effect on depression and HRQoL during the epidemic

Table_1_Fear of COVID-19, healthy eating behaviors, and health-related behavior changes as associated with anxiety and depression among medical students: An online survey.DOCX

BackgroundMedical students' health and wellbeing are highly concerned during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined the impacts of fear of COVID-19 (FCoV-19S), healthy eating behavior, and health-related behavior changes on anxiety and depression.MethodsWe conducted an online survey at 8 medical universities in Vietnam from 7th April to 31st May 2020. Data of 5,765 medical students were collected regarding demographic characteristics, FCoV-19S, health-related behaviors, healthy eating score (HES), anxiety, and depression. Logistic regression analyses were used to explore associations.ResultsA lower likelihood of anxiety and depression were found in students with a higher HES score (OR = 0.98; 95%CI = 0.96, 0.99; p = 0.042; OR = 0.98; 95%CI = 0.96, 0.99; p = 0.021), and in those unchanged or more physical activities during the pandemic (OR = 0.54; 95%CI = 0.44, 0.66; p ConclusionsDuring the pandemic, FCoV-19S and cigarette smoking had adverse impacts on medical students' psychological health. Conversely, staying physically active and having healthy eating behaviors could potentially prevent medical students from anxiety and depressive symptoms.</p

Negative Impact of Fear of COVID-19 on Health-Related Quality of Life Was Modified by Health Literacy, eHealth Literacy, and Digital Healthy Diet Literacy: A Multi-Hospital Survey

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been disseminating fear in the community, which has affected people’s quality of life, especially those with health problems. Health literacy (HL), eHealth literacy (eHEAL), and digital healthy diet literacy (DDL) may have potential impacts on containing the pandemic and its consequences. This study aimed to examine the association between the fear of COVID-19 scale (FCoV-19S) and the health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and to examine the effect modification by HL, eHEAL, and DDL on this association. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 11 hospitals across Vietnam from 7 April to 31 May 2020. Data were collected on 4348 outpatients, including demographic characteristics, HL, eHEAL, DDL, FCoV-19S, and HRQoL. Multiple linear regression and interaction models were used to explore associations. Results: Patients with higher FCoV-19S scores had lower HRQoL scores (unstandardized coefficient, B = −0.78, p &lt; 0.001). HL (B = 0.20, p &lt; 0.001), eHEAL (B = 0.24, p &lt; 0.001), and DDL (B = 0.20, p &lt; 0.001) were positively associated with higher HRQoL scores. The negative impact of FCoV-19S on HRQoL was significantly attenuated by higher eHEAL score groups (from one standard deviation (SD) below the mean, B = −0.93, p &lt; 0.001; to the mean, B = −0.85, p &lt; 0.001; and one SD above the mean, B = −0.77, p &lt; 0.001); and by higher DDL score groups (from one SD below the mean, B = −0.92, p &lt; 0.001; to the mean, B = −0.82, p &lt; 0.001; and one SD above the mean, B = −0.72, p &lt; 0.001). Conclusions: eHealth literacy and digital healthy diet literacy could help to protect patients’ health-related quality of life from the negative impact of the fear of COVID-19 during the pandemic

Osteoporosis Risk in Hemodialysis Patients: The Roles of Gender, Comorbidities, Biochemical Parameters, Health and Diet Literacy

Osteoporosis is a common bone health disorder in hemodialysis patients that is linked with a higher morbidity and mortality rate. While previous studies have explored the associated factors of osteoporosis, there is a lack of studies investigating the impacts of health literacy (HL) and digital healthy diet literacy (DDL) on osteoporosis. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the associations of HL, DDL, and other factors with osteoporosis among hemodialysis patients. From July 2020 to March 2021, a cross-sectional study was conducted on 675 hemodialysis patients in eight hospitals in Vietnam. The data were collected by using the osteoporosis self-assessment tool for Asians (OSTA) and the 12-item short form of the health literacy questionnaire (HLS-SF12) on digital healthy diet literacy (DDL) and hemodialysis dietary knowledge (HDK). In addition, we also collected information about the socio-demographics, the clinical parameters, the biochemical parameters, and physical activity. Unadjusted and adjusted multinomial logistic regression models were utilized in order to investigate the associations. The proportion of patients at low, medium, and high levels of osteoporosis risk was 39.6%, 40.6%, and 19.8%, respectively. In the adjusted models, women had a higher likelihood of osteoporosis risk than men (odds ratio, OR, 3.46; 95% confidence interval, 95% CI, 1.86, 6.44; p p p = 0.003) and stomach ulcers (OR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.01, 3.77; p = 0.048) were more likely to have a higher likelihood of osteoporosis risk than those without. The patients who had a higher waist circumference (WC), HL, and DDL were less likely to have a medium level of osteoporosis risk (OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.92, 0.98; p = 0.004; OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.88, 0.96; p p = 0.017, respectively) and a high level of osteoporosis risk (OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.89, 0.97; p = 0.001; OR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.84, 0.94; p p = 0.008, respectively) compared with a low level of osteoporosis risk and to those with a lower WC, HL, and DDL. In addition, higher levels of hemoglobin (Hb) (OR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.66, 0.95; p = 0.014), hematocrit (Hct) (OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.92, 0.99; p = 0.041), albumin (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.83, 0.99; p = 0.030), and education (OR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.16, 0.88; p = 0.025) were associated with a lower likelihood of a high level of osteoporosis risk. In conclusion, osteoporosis risk is highly prevalent in hemodialysis patients. Improved HL, DDL, education, WC, albumin, Hb, and Hct levels should be considered in preventing hemodialysis patients from developing osteoporosis