Morbid risk of schizophrenia amongst relatives of schizophrenia probands: A family-controlled study

Introduction: There is a dearth of data on heritability of schizophrenia in Africa. The few African studies that addressed familial psychiatric morbidity in schizophrenia involved relatively small sample sizes and addressed psychiatric morbidity only in first-degree relatives. The present study sought to improve upon the methodology of previous African studies, and widen the scope to second- and third-degree relatives with a view to enriching the field of genetic epidemiology in Africa. Methods: This study elicited information on the morbid risk of schizophrenia amongst 5259 relatives of schizophrenia probands (n = 138) and 6734 relatives of healthy controls (n = 138) through direct interview of patients, available relatives of patients and controls. Diagnosis of probands was confirmed using Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Through a direct interview of 138 patients and their available relatives, a family history approach using the Family Interview for Genetic Studies was utilised to obtain information on the morbid risk for all relatives that could be recalled. The same approach was utilised for the interview of the controls (aged 45 years and above) and their relatives. Morbid risk estimates were calculated using the Weinberg shorter method. Results: Morbid risk for schizophrenia in the first-, second- and third-degree relatives of schizophrenia probands was 10.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 10.6–11.2), 4.2% (95% CI = 4.1–4.3) and 3.9% (95% CI = 3.6–4.2), respectively, compared with 2.6% (95% CI = 2.5–2.7), 1.6% (95% CI = 1.5–1.7) and 1.5% (95% CI = 1.4–1.6), respectively, of the healthy control group. Conclusion: The findings support the widely noted impression that schizophrenia significantly aggregates in families of schizophrenia probands more than healthy controls

The impact of health status and human capital formation on regional performance: Empirical evidence

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of health on growth, assuming that it is a fundamental component of the human capital of a region along with education. Various measures of population health status are used, together with a health index generated by Principal Component Analysis. Potential endogeneity between health and growth is controlled for using instrumental variable regressions and dynamic panel data. The results show a positive effect of a change in health status on regional output and a negative effect of proxy variables for health limitations on regional performance. This corroborates the importance of investing in health along with education with the aim of improving not only the well-being of individuals but the human capital and growth of a region

Causal mechanisms proposed for the Alcohol Harm Paradox - a systematic review

Background and Aims The Alcohol Harm Paradox (AHP) posits that disadvantaged groups suffer from higher rates of alcohol-related harm compared with advantaged groups, despite reporting similar or lower levels of consumption on average. The causes of this relationship remain unclear. This study aimed to identify explanations proposed for the AHP. Secondary aims were to review the existing evidence for those explanations and investigate whether authors linked explanations to one another. Methods Systematic review. We searched MEDLINE (1946-January 2021), EMBASE (1974 – January 2021) and PsycINFO (1967 – January 2021), supplemented via manual searching of grey literature. Included papers either explored the causes of the AHP or investigated the relationship between alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harm, and socioeconomic position. Papers were set in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development high income countries. Explanations extracted for analysis could be evidenced in the empirical results or suggested by researchers in their narrative. Inductive thematic analysis was applied to group explanations. Results Seventy-nine papers met the inclusion criteria and initial coding revealed these papers contained 41 distinct explanations for the AHP. Following inductive thematic analysis, these explanations were grouped into 16 themes within six broad domains: Individual, Lifestyle, Contextual, Disadvantage, Upstream and Artefactual. Explanations related to risk behaviours, which fit within the Lifestyle domain, were the most frequently proposed (n=51) and analysed (n=21). Conclusions While there are many potential explanations for the Alcohol Harm Paradox, most research focuses on risk behaviours while other explanations lack empirical testing

Twelve-month observational study of children with cancer in 41 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction Childhood cancer is a leading cause of death. It is unclear whether the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted childhood cancer mortality. In this study, we aimed to establish all-cause mortality rates for childhood cancers during the COVID-19 pandemic and determine the factors associated with mortality. Methods Prospective cohort study in 109 institutions in 41 countries. Inclusion criteria: children <18 years who were newly diagnosed with or undergoing active treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, retinoblastoma, Wilms tumour, glioma, osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, medulloblastoma and neuroblastoma. Of 2327 cases, 2118 patients were included in the study. The primary outcome measure was all-cause mortality at 30 days, 90 days and 12 months. Results All-cause mortality was 3.4% (n=71/2084) at 30-day follow-up, 5.7% (n=113/1969) at 90-day follow-up and 13.0% (n=206/1581) at 12-month follow-up. The median time from diagnosis to multidisciplinary team (MDT) plan was longest in low-income countries (7 days, IQR 3-11). Multivariable analysis revealed several factors associated with 12-month mortality, including low-income (OR 6.99 (95% CI 2.49 to 19.68); p<0.001), lower middle income (OR 3.32 (95% CI 1.96 to 5.61); p<0.001) and upper middle income (OR 3.49 (95% CI 2.02 to 6.03); p<0.001) country status and chemotherapy (OR 0.55 (95% CI 0.36 to 0.86); p=0.008) and immunotherapy (OR 0.27 (95% CI 0.08 to 0.91); p=0.035) within 30 days from MDT plan. Multivariable analysis revealed laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR 5.33 (95% CI 1.19 to 23.84); p=0.029) was associated with 30-day mortality. Conclusions Children with cancer are more likely to die within 30 days if infected with SARS-CoV-2. However, timely treatment reduced odds of death. This report provides crucial information to balance the benefits of providing anticancer therapy against the risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children with cancer

Nurses' perceptions of aids and obstacles to the provision of optimal end of life care in ICU

Contains fulltext : 172380.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY OF SNAIL FARMING IN NGOR OKPALA LGA OF IMO STATE, NIGERIA.

Low productivity in agriculture is mainly due to the inability of the farmers to exploit the available technologies fully, resulting in lower efficiencies of production. This study employed a Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier production function to measure the level of technical efficiency and its determinants in snail production in Ngor Okpala LGA of Imo state, Nigeria. Primary data was generated through the use of closed and open ended structured questionnaire in line with the objectives of the study. Respondents were selected through a systematic random sampling procedure. 40 snail farmers were selected, from whom socioeconomic and input-output data were obtained using the cost-route approach. The parameters of the stochastic frontier production function were estimated using the maximum likelihood method. The study found farm size, labour and feed to be positively and significantly related to output at 5% level of significance. Socioeconomic factors influencing technical efficiency directly were farming experience and credit access at 5% level of significance. Age and stock size were negatively and significantly related to technical efficiency at 5% level of significance. Result of returns to scale analysis showed that snail production is at the stage of increasing returns to scale. We recommend that Snail farmers should have greater access to formal credit facilities from lending institutions in order to expand and improve their production. They should be encouraged to form stronger co-operative societies so as to expand their scope of production and marketing. Farmers are advised to grow most of the green feed stuffs the snails eat to save costs

Comparative analysis of the demand for beef and mutton among households in enugu metropolis, nigeria

Beef and mutton are meat types derived from cattle and sheep respectively. They are popular meat sources for households in Enugu metropolis Nigeria, although in varying degrees. This study wascarried out to examine the comparative nature of the demand for these sources of protein in the study area. The data were generated from secondary and primary sources. Secondary data was collected from existing relevant literatures. The primary data was collected from a field survey using a set of questionnaires administered randomly to selected 105 households in the study area. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The results ofthe study showed that beef had a higher demand in terms of quantity consumed and frequency of purchase than mutton. In the low expenditure groups, mutton was not consumed at all. Household’s total expenditure and non–resident household members were significant in explaining household’s consumption of beef, while it was only the total expenditure that was significant in explaining the household expenditure on mutton. The expenditure elasticity for beef was 0.885, while that of mutton was 0.00073