Psychosomatic complaints and sense of coherence among adolescents in a county in Sweden: a cross-sectional school survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Over the last five to ten years there has been an increase in psychosomatic complaints (PSC) in Swedish children. The objective of the study was to examine the relation between PSC and sense of coherence (SOC).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional school survey in the county of Västmanland, Sweden. All 16- and 19-year old adolescents present at school on the day of the survey were asked to complete a questionnaire in their classrooms during a one-lesson hour session under the supervision of their teachers. Totally 3,998 students in both private and public schools, studying in ninth grade elementary school or third grade secondary school participated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results from our study show that there is a statistically significant relation between PSC and SOC among adolescents. It also shows that adolescents with a weak SOC score have more symptoms of PSC.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our study indicates that SOC can help the adolescents to choose a coping strategy that is appropriate for the situation and thereby may prevent them from developing PSC. However, additional studies are needed to confirm our findings.</p

An Internet-based emotion regulation intervention versus no intervention for non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents:a statistical analysis plan for a feasibility randomised clinical trial

BACKGROUND: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has a lifetime prevalence of 17% in adolescents in the general population and up to 74% in adolescents with psychiatric disorders. NSSI is one of the most important predictors of later suicidal behaviour and death by suicide. The TEENS feasibility trial was initiated to assess the feasibility and safety of Internet-based Emotion Regulation Individual Therapy for Adolescents (ERITA) as an add-on to treatment as usual in 13–17-year-old patients with NSSI referred to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. METHODS: The TEENS feasibility trial is a randomised clinical trial with a parallel-group design. The trial intervention is an 11-week online therapy which is tested as an add-on to treatment as usual versus treatment as usual. The primary feasibility outcomes are the fraction of participants who (1) completed 12 weeks of follow-up interview or assessment, (2) consented to inclusion and randomisation out of all eligible participants, and (3) were compliant with the experimental intervention, assessed as completion of at least six out of eleven modules in the programme. Since this is a feasibility trial, we did not predefine a required sample size. The exploratory clinical outcome, the frequency of NSSI episodes, assessed using Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory – Youth version (DSHI-Y), at the end of intervention, is planned to be the future primary outcome in a larger pragmatic definitive randomised clinical trial. After completion of the feasibility trial, blinded data will be analysed by two independent statisticians blinded to the intervention, where ‘A’ and ‘B’ refer to the two groups. A third party will compare these reports, and discrepancies will be discussed. The statistical report with the analyses chosen for the manuscript is being tracked using a version control system, and both statistical reports will be published as a supplementary material. Based on the final statistical report, two blinded conclusions will be drawn by the steering group. DISCUSSION: We present a pre-defined statistical analysis plan for the TEENS feasibility trial, which limits bias, p-hacking, data-driven interpretations. This statistical analysis plan is accompanied by a pre-programmed version-controlled statistical report with simulated data, which increases transparency and reproducibility. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.govNCT04243603. Registered on 28 January 2020 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13063-021-05406-2

Estimated Time for Occurrence of Smoking-Related Consequences among Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Women

Objectives: To study time estimates by women smokers for when smoking-related consequences will occur given continuing or quitting smoking. The relationship of these estimates to pregnancy and intent to quit smoking was also investigated. Methods: Over a two-week period, eighty women, selected to constitute four subgroups formed by pregnant vs. non-pregnant and trying vs. not trying to quit smoking, rated times at which they would expect smoking-related consequences to occur given continuing or quitting smoking. Results: Somatic health consequences were estimated to occur later than consequences related to mood and social relations. All consequences were estimated to occur later given quitting smoking. Pregnancy had an effect on the estimated time that consequences would occur, with pregnant women estimating earlier occurrence of consequences related to mood and social relations than non-pregnant women did. Conclusion: Health messages should stress consequences for somatic health in quitting smoking, since outcomes later in time might have too low a value to exert a positive effect on decisions to quit smoking

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Body and soul : Studies on health and psychosomatic complaints among adolescents in Sweden

Objective: The aim of this thesis is to describe the health of the adolescents with special emphasis on psychosomatic complaints. Method: Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to get a insight into the adolescents health. The results presented in papers I-IV are based on the records from the five cross-sectional school surveys that so far have been conducted under the name of "Survey of Adolescent Life in Vestmanland", SALVe surveys. For papers I-III, data were collected from the second cross-sectional study performed in1998. The data of paper IV, came from all five surveys conducted in 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2006. In paper V, focus group discussions were used to obtain the adolescents views on the cause of psychosomatic complaints. Main findings: The self-reported general health of the adolescents as a group was good. However, when the group was divided; first, by gender and thereafter into weight groups, there were relatively large differences in their perceived health. The large increase in overweight and obesity that was reported by other authors was also found in our study. The obese boys experienced many more symptoms off ill health including those that are related to psychosomatic complaints than the other boys. Sense of coherence had a big influence on the development of psychosomatic complaints. Individuals with a high sense of coherence had fewer psychosomatic symptoms. Boys scored higher than girls in sense of coherence scale, as has been found in other studies. Girls had higher prevalence of psychosomatic complaints than the boys. The increase in reported psychosomatic complaints over a twelve-year period among girls were twofold over the period studied. The boys did not have the same development, there was a slight increase over time but, on the whole, the prevalence remained more or less constant. In the focus group discussions there were big differences in the opinion between the boys and the girls on the causes of psychosomatic complaints. With the boys discussing physical factors while the girls emotional factors. Conclusions: The development of health problems over time between the genders is very different. The girls as a group seems to be suffering from many more health related problems than the boys. This makes it important to consider this in tailoring for any kind of interventions