Prevalence of Allergic Diseases and Risk Factors of Wheezing in Korean Military Personnel

The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis, as well as the risk factors of wheezing among young adults in the Korean military. Young military conscripts in five areas completed a modified International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire. For subjects with current wheeze in one sample area, baseline spirometry and bronchodilator response were measured. For subjects without a significant response to bronchodilator (improvement in FEV1 of more than 200 mL and 12%), methacholine challenge tests (MCT) were also performed. Of 3,359 subjects that completed the questionnaire, 354 (10.5%) had current wheeze, 471 (14.0%) had current allergic rhinitis, and 326 (9.7%) had current eczema. Current wheeze was associated with family history of allergic disease, overweight, current smoking, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis. Of 36 subjects with current wheeze who underwent PFT with or without MCT in the Anyang area, 24 (66.7%) were confirmed to have current asthma. In conclusion, the prevalence of allergic disease in young adults of Korean military is not low, and the risk factors of wheezing include family history of allergic disease, overweight, current smoking, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis

Research on stress and smoking: progress and problems

Despite evidence that smoking behaviour increases in the context of stress, there has yet to be a clear-cut demonstration that nicotine intake is similarly enhanced. Although nicotine intake has been shown to reduce reported anxiety in the context of stress, the controlling conditions (type of stressor, intensity, temporal relationships, etc.) need further exploration. Recent findings involving nicotine's effects on the hypophyseal-adrenal axis provide a new perspective on these issues, in that increased nicotine intake during exposure to a stressor may represent, at least in part, behavioral compensation for diminished sensitivity to nicotine brought about by nicotine-stimulated corticosteroid release. Corticosteroids may decrease central nervous system excitability in a way that could account for anxiety reduction; on the other hand, anxiety reduction may be an epiphenomenon with respect to the reinforcement of smoking behaviour. The integration of behavioural, physiological, and biochemical research exemplified by the above approach should lead to a better understanding of stress and smoking.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73317/1/j.1360-0443.1991.tb01815.x.pd

Relationship of tridimensional personality questionnaire scores and smoking variables in female and male smokers

The Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) was developed by Cloninger (1986) to measure heritable variation in three patterns of response to environmental stimuli: novelty seeking, harm avoidance, and reward dependence. Cloninger (1987) used the TPQ to identify two types of alcoholism: Type I (low novelty seeking, high harm avoidance and reward dependence; both male and female) and Type 2 (high novelty seeking, low harm avoidance and reward dependence; predominantly male). To determine whether characteristic patterns exist in smokers, we administered the TPQ to 119 female and 121 male smokers, along with the Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire (FTQ, a measure of nicotine dependence), the Russell Motives for Smoking Questionnaire (RMSQ), and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI/trait).Compared with a normative sample, our sample exhibited elevated scores on the Novelty-Seeking scale; female smokers were somewhat overrepresented in the highest quartile of the Harm-Avoidance scale; both genders tended to be clustered in the lower quartiles of the Sentimentality-Attachment-Dependence subscale of the Reward-Dependence scale and in the highest quartile of the Persistence subscale. Female smokers showed a significant positive association between Harm Avoidance and FTQ scores, and Harm Avoidance was positively correlated with several RMSQ factors (including Addictive smoking) in both genders. These findings suggest that the likelihood of becoming a smoker may be a function of novelty seeking and reward dependence, whereas degree of dependence or addiction once the habit is entrained may be linked to harm avoidance. Our observations establish the potential utility of the TPQ as a tool for examining environmental and heritable variation in smoking behavior and may contribute to improved strategies for prevention and treatment of smoking.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/30311/1/0000713.pd

Five-year workplace wellness intervention in the NHS

aims: Poor health and well-being has been observed among NHS staff and has become a key focus in current public health policy. The objective of this study was to deliver and evaluate a five-year employee wellness programme aimed at improving the health and well-being of employees in a large NHS workplace. method: A theory-driven multi-level ecological workplace wellness intervention was delivered including health campaigns, provision of facilities and health-promotion activities to encourage employees to make healthy lifestyle choices and sustained behaviour changes. An employee questionnaire survey was distributed at baseline (n= 1,452) and at five years (n= 1,134), including measures of physical activity, BMI, diet, self-efficacy, social support, perceived gen-eral health and mood, smoking behaviours, self-reported sickness absence, perceived work performance and job satisfaction. results: Samples were comparable at baseline and follow-up. At five years, significantly more respondents actively travelled (by walking or cycling both to work and for non-work trips) and more were active while at work. Significantly more respondents met current recommendations for physical activity at five years than at baseline. Fewer employers reported ‘lack of time’ as a barrier to being physically active following the intervention. Significantly lower sickness absence, greater job satisfaction and greater organisational commitment was reported at five years than at baseline. conclusions: Improvements in health behaviours, reductions in sickness absence and improvements in job satisfaction and organisational commitment were observed following five years of a workplace wellness intervention for NHS employees. These findings suggest that health-promoting programmes should be embedded within NHS infrastructure

Opiates, cocaine and alcohol combinations in accidental drug overdose deaths in New York City, 1990-98

Aims Accidental drug overdose contributes substantially to mortality among drug users. Multi-drug use has been documented as a key risk factor in overdose and overdose mortality in several studies. This study investigated the contribution of multiple drug combinations to overdose mortality trends. Design We collected data on all overdose deaths in New York City between 1990 and 1998 using records from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). We standardized yearly overdose death rates by age, sex and race to the 1990 census population for NYC to enable comparability between years relevant to this analysis. Findings Opiates, cocaine and alcohol were the three drugs most commonly attributed as the cause of accidental overdose death by the OCME, accounting for 97.6% of all deaths; 57.8% of those deaths were attributed to two or more of these three drugs in combination. Accidental overdose deaths increased in 1990–93 and subsequently declined slightly in 1993–98. Changes in the rate of multi-drug combination deaths accounted for most of the change in overdose death rates, whereas single drug overdose death rates remained relatively stable. Trends in accidental overdose death rates within gender and racial/ethnic strata varied by drug combination suggesting different patterns of multi-drug use among different subpopulations. Conclusions These data suggest that interventions to prevent accidental overdose mortality should address the use of drugs such as heroin, cocaine and alcohol in combination.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40256/2/Coffin_Opiates, Cocaine and Alcohol Combinations_2003.pd

Factores asociados al consumo de drogas ilícitas en estudiantes de secundaria, universitarios y población general en Colombia

Tesis doctoralSegún los estudios poblacionales que se realizan en Colombia desde 1992, el consumo de drogas ilegales crece en Colombia de manera sostenida. Tales estudios presentan análisis descriptivos, distribuciones porcentuales y prevalencias, sin que se ahonde en el escrutinio de los factores que están incidiendo en las cifras de consumo. Con el interés de ahondar en la comprensión de éste fenómeno, facilitar su predicción y contribuir con su atención integral, en esta investigación se propone identificar factores individuales, familiares y del contexto, asociados al consumo de drogas ilegales en Colombia. Para alcanzar dichos propósitos se realizan dos investigaciones: 1) una revisión sistemática sobre los factores que inciden en el consumo de drogas ilegales y 2) la formulación de tres modelos de factores asociados al consumo de drogas ilegales en Colombia y la clasificación del tipo de consumidores, a partir de los factores identificados previamente. Se analizaron las bases de datos de estudios nacionales realizados con población general, estudiantes de secundaria y estudiantes universitarios, en las cuales se utilizó la metodología del Sistema Interamericano de Datos Uniformes sobre Consumo de Drogas. Inicialmente se establecieron en cada uno de los tres grupos analizados, los factores relacionados con el consumo de sustancias ilícitas y las clases latentes de consumidores, los cuales permitieron plantear tres modelos de factores asociados al consumo, uno para cada población. Se encontró que el consumo de drogas ilícitas en el último año, se asoció en las tres poblaciones, con tener amigos y familiares consumidores de drogas ilícitas; haber iniciado el consumo de tabaco y alcohol, y tener una baja percepción del riesgo con respecto al uso de marihuana. Por su parte, con el análisis de clases latentes se identificaron tres clases entre los consumidores de drogas ilícitas en la población general, seis clases entre escolares y cuatro clases entre universitarios. Los resultados indican factores que pueden ser considerados para orientar la prevención del consumo de drogas ilegales y su atención integral.1. INTRODUCCIÓN 2. JUSTIFICACIÓN Y PLANTEAMIENTO DEL PROBLEMA 3. OBJETIVOS 4. ESTUDIO 1: REVISIÓN SISTEMÁTICA SOBRE LOS FACTORES ASOCIADOS AL RIESGO DEL CONSUMO DE DROGAS ILEGALES 5. ESTUDIO 2: FORMULACIÓN DE MODELOS DE CONSUMO DE DROGAS ILÍCITAS EN COLOMBIA, CON ESTUDIANTES DE SECUNDARIA, UNIVERSITARIOS Y POBLACIÓN GENERAL 6.REFERENCIAS 7. ANEXOSDoctoradoDoctor en Psicologí