Mental Health Evacuation Rate in USCENTCOM.

BACKGROUND: Mental health diagnosis requiring further treatment is one of the top reasons for medical evacuation in the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR) as of 2022. This study establishes a baseline in which the effectiveness of medical interventions can be measured to determine if they have an impact on the rate of evacuation out of USCENTCOM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study period was January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2021. Individual evacuation data including date of initial movement and necessary specialty care requirements originating from the USCENTCOM AOR were acquired via U.S. Transportation Command's Regulating and Command & Control Evacuation System. The base evacuation rate was calculated for each month, and evacuation rates were analyzed for variations. RESULTS: For the entire study period, the mean monthly evacuation rate was 0.44 evacuations per 1,000 people in the AOR (95% CI, 0.41-0.47). There was no statistically significant difference between any monthly evacuation rate (P = .505). There is a statistically significant difference in the mean evacuation rates for calendar years (P = .003). The highest evacuation rate occurred in 2021. CONCLUSIONS: The study establishes a benchmark mental health evacuation rate. This rate will be useful for assessing mental health evacuation reduction initiatives in the USCENTCOM AOR.

Economic, Psychological, and Emotional Well-Being of Pregnant Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: The intersection between perinatal mental health and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic remains of significant public health importance. The current study examined the emotional and financial well-being and predictors of elevated depressive symptoms among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This online survey was conducted with 2118 women ≥18 years old who were pregnant at the time of the survey and living in the United States or Puerto Rico. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, with scores ≥10 indicative of elevated depressive symptoms. The final logistic regression model included housing insecurity, financial distress, COVID-19 diagnosis, exposure to COVID-19, and demographic covariates. RESULTS: More than half the sample (53.8%) had elevated depressive symptoms. In logistic regression analyses, the odds of having elevated depressive symptoms were significantly higher for participants reporting housing insecurity (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.56; 95% CI, 1.22-2.01), financial distress (aOR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.17-2.12), COVID-19 diagnosis (aOR, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.53-4.17), and COVID-19 exposure (aOR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.07-1.86), after adjusting for covariates. The association of elevated depressive symptoms with housing insecurity was especially strong among those who experienced COVID-19 (aOR, 6.04; 95% CI, 2.15-17.0). DISCUSSION: Our findings are consistent with previous literature revealing that diagnosis, exposure, concerns about family, and effects on financial stability were related to depressive symptoms during the pandemic. The relationships between financial and housing concerns with elevated depressive symptoms, independent of concerns about infection in family members, suggest that there may be direct and indirect effects of the pandemic on mental health.

Role of the hydrolytic-acidogenic phase on the removal of bisphenol A and sildenafil during anaerobic treatment.

This paper presents the main results of the removal of two pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), bisphenol A (BPA) and sildenafil (SDF), by applying anaerobic biological batch tests. The biomass used was previously acclimatized and the experiment lasted 28 days. The effect of factors such as compound (BPA and SDF), concentration and type of inoculum was assessed, considering the factorial experimental design. The results indicated that evaluated factors did not significantly affect the PPCPs elimination in the evaluated range with a confidence level of 95%. On the other hand, the removal percentages obtained with BPA were mainly related to mechanisms, such as sorption and abiotic reactions. Regarding SDF, biodegradation was the predominant mechanism of removal under the experimental conditions of this study; however, the degradation of SDF was partial, with percentages lower than 43% in the tests with hydrolytic/acidogenic inoculum (H/A) and lower than 41% in the tests with methanogenic inoculum (MET). Finally, these findings indicated that hydrolysis/acidogenesis phase is a main contributor to SDF biodegradation in anaerobic digestion. The study provides a starting point for future research that seeks to improve treatment systems to optimize the removal of pollutants from different water sources.