The relationship between sense of coherence and emotional intelligence as individual health assets for mental health promotion in students and healthcare professionals: a scoping review.

Introduction: Workplace Mental health promotion in healthcare sector, is a global priority due to the stress associated with caregiving environments and the increase of mental health problems among health professionals and students. The role of emotional intelligence (EI) and sense of coherence (SOC) have been identified as critical health protectors. However, the relationship between them as well as the underlying mechanisms of these relationships on health benefits in this population is still unclear. Aim: To synthetize the existing literature on the relationship between emotional intelligence and sense of coherence, as well as their mutual impact on healthcare workers' and student's well-being. Method: A scoping review was conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines. A systematic search was conducted in PsyCINFO, CINHAL, SCOPUS and PUBMED databases, using key-terms such as students, health professionals, emotional intelligence, and sense of coherence. Results: A total of 11 articles were included, with a range of years from 2014 to 2022. Evidence was found to support the positive relationship between sense of coherence and emotional intelligence. The use of EI as a training pathway to improve SOC and health promoting behaviors is suggested. The benefits of intervening on these factors contribute to improved health professionals' and students' general well-being and motivation for a better performance, either in their studies or clinical work. Conclusion: The positive relationship between emotional intelligence and a sense of coherence has direct and indirect benefits on students' and healthcare professionals' well-being. Future studies should address longitudinal and experimental analysis to confirm these findings.

A concerted neuron-astrocyte program declines in ageing and schizophrenia.

Human brains vary across people and over time; such variation is not yet understood in cellular terms. Here we describe a relationship between people's cortical neurons and cortical astrocytes. We used single-nucleus RNA sequencing to analyse the prefrontal cortex of 191 human donors aged 22-97 years, including healthy individuals and people with schizophrenia. Latent-factor analysis of these data revealed that, in people whose cortical neurons more strongly expressed genes encoding synaptic components, cortical astrocytes more strongly expressed distinct genes with synaptic functions and genes for synthesizing cholesterol, an astrocyte-supplied component of synaptic membranes. We call this relationship the synaptic neuron and astrocyte program (SNAP). In schizophrenia and ageing-two conditions that involve declines in cognitive flexibility and plasticity1,2-cells divested from SNAP: astrocytes, glutamatergic (excitatory) neurons and GABAergic (inhibitory) neurons all showed reduced SNAP expression to corresponding degrees. The distinct astrocytic and neuronal components of SNAP both involved genes in which genetic risk factors for schizophrenia were strongly concentrated. SNAP, which varies quantitatively even among healthy people of similar age, may underlie many aspects of normal human interindividual differences and may be an important point of convergence for multiple kinds of pathophysiology.

Net benefit of smaller human populations to environmental integrity and individual health and wellbeing.

Introduction: The global human population is still growing such that our collective enterprise is driving environmental catastrophe. Despite a decline in average population growth rate, we are still experiencing the highest annual increase of global human population size in the history of our species-averaging an additional 84 million people per year since 1990. No review to date has accumulated the available evidence describing the associations between increasing population and environmental decline, nor solutions for mitigating the problems arising. Methods: We summarize the available evidence of the relationships between human population size and growth and environmental integrity, human prosperity and wellbeing, and climate change. We used PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science to identify all relevant peer-reviewed and gray-literature sources examining the consequences of human population size and growth on the biosphere. We reviewed papers describing and quantifying the risks associated with population growth, especially relating to climate change. Results: These risks are global in scale, such as greenhouse-gas emissions, climate disruption, pollution, loss of biodiversity, and spread of disease-all potentially catastrophic for human standards of living, health, and general wellbeing. The trends increasing the risks of global population growth are country development, demographics, maternal education, access to family planning, and child and maternal health. Conclusion: Support for nations still going through a demographic transition is required to ensure progress occurs within planetary boundaries and promotes equity and human rights. Ensuring the wellbeing for all under this aim itself will lower population growth and further promote environmental sustainability.

Does the healthy vaccinee bias rule them all? Association of COVID-19 vaccination status and all-cause mortality from an analysis of data from 2.2 million individual health records.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the validity of claims of the healthy vaccinee effect (HVE) in COVID-vaccine studies by analyzing associations between all-cause mortality (ACM) and COVID-19 vaccination status. METHODS: Approximately 2.2 million individual records from two Czech health insurance companies were retrospectively analyzed. Each age group was stratified according to the vaccination status (unvaccinated vs. individuals less than 4 weeks vs. more than 4 weeks from Doses 1, 2, 3, and 4 or more doses of vaccine). ACMs in these groups were computed and compared. RESULTS: Consistently over datasets and age categories, ACM was substantially lower in the vaccinated than unvaccinated groups regardless of the presence or absence of a wave of COVID-19 deaths. Moreover, the ACMs in groups more than 4 weeks from Doses 1, 2, or 3 were consistently several times higher than in those less than 4 weeks from the respective dose. HVE appears to be the only plausible explanation for this, which is further corroborated by a created mathematical model. CONCLUSIONS: In view of the presence of HVE, the baseline difference in the frailty of vaccinated and unvaccinated populations in periods without COVID-19 must be taken into account when estimating COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness from observational data.

Reference-Class Problems Are Real: Health-Adjusted Reference Classes and Low Bone Mineral Density.

Elselijn Kingma argues that Christopher Boorse's biostatistical theory (the BST) does not show how the reference classes it uses are objective and naturalistic. Recently, philosophers of medicine have attempted to rebut Kingma's concerns. I argue that these rebuttals are theoretically unconvincing, and that there are clear examples of physicians adjusting their reference classes according to their prior knowledge of health and disease. I focus on the use of age-adjusted reference classes to diagnose low bone mineral density in children. In addition to using the BST's age, sex, and species, physicians also choose to use other factors to define reference classes, such as pubertal status, bone age, body size, and muscle mass. I show that physicians calibrate the reference classes they use according to their prior knowledge of health and disease. Reference classes are also chosen for pragmatic reasons, such as to predict fragility fractures.

Four Defining Health Issues of the 2024 Presidential Election.

This Viewpoint discusses 4 defining health issues that will likely influence not only the 2024 presidential election but also congressional and state races.

Family Environment, Loneliness, Hope, and Subjective Well-Being of Asian Older Adults.

The current study examined the interactions between family environment, hope, and loneliness, and their subsequent influence on the subjective well-being (SWB) of 345 noninstitutionalized older adults (aged 60 years and above) in Singapore. Door-to-door surveys information was collected on family environment (cohesiveness, relationship closeness, and support), hope, loneliness, and SWB (life satisfaction, happiness, and absence of negative affect). Structural equation modelling was conducted to test competing hypotheses derived from life stress and integrated resource theories. The results revealed that family environment influenced SWB both directly and indirectly. Family environment decreased loneliness and increased SWB. Additionally, family environment influenced SWB by offering increased hope. Family environment sets the context for the SWB of older adults in Singapore. Families should therefore be targeted for interventions to reduce loneliness, increase psychological resources, and raise SWB during old age.

Household physical activity and subjective well-being: An international comparison among East Asian older adult populations.

PURPOSE: Engaging in lifelong physical activity has multiple health benefits for older populations. Household physical activity occupies older adults' awake time, and they can be an important energy expenditure during the day. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between older adults' household physical activity and subjective well-being in four East Asian societies. METHODS: The study design was a secondary data analysis. Data were retrieved from the module of Families 2016 in the database of the East Asian Social Survey. Participants were community-dwelling older adults with a mean age of 70.30±7.50 years and who lived in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Data were collected by interviews via structured questionnaires between 2016 and 2018. Descriptive analyses, independent t-tests, and an analysis of covariance were performed for the statistical analyses. RESULTS: In total, there were 3,432 valid responses. Participants who lived in Taiwan had significantly lower levels of total household physical activity than those living in other societies. Older adults' household physical activity was found to significantly differ by age, educational degree, gender, religion, marital status, occupation, and whether living alone. Older adults with high levels of household physical activity had significantly higher self-rated health and marital satisfaction than those with low levels. CONCLUSIONS: Household physical activity has potential benefits for subjective well-being across international older adult populations. Increasing household physical activity is recommended for older married couples to maintain marital satisfaction.