Dog owner mental health is associated with dog behavioural problems, dog care and dog-facilitated social interaction: a prospective cohort study.

Despite numerous qualitative and cross-sectional studies investigating how dog-related factors may impact owners' well-being, empirical studies to test these causal effects are lacking. This prospective cohort study examined the correlation and potential causal effect of 17 dog-related factors with six well-being outcomes (depression, anxiety, loneliness, suicidal ideation, hedonic well-being and eudaimonic well-being) in dog owners. Over a four-week period, 709 adult dog owners reported their weekly well-being and occurrence of each dog-related factor (e.g. how many times they ran with their dogs). A random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) with significance threshold set at 0.001 was used. Six factors correlated with poorer owner well-being (i.e. aggressive dog behaviour, fearful dog behaviour, poor dog health, failure to provide for the dog, lack of control over the dog, and dog presence). Only 'friendly conversation with others due to the dog' correlated with better well-being. Purposeful reductions in the frequency of dog behavioural and health-related issues are likely to improve owner well-being, as well as greater consistency in dog care (i.e. provide for the dog) and more engagement in friendly dog-facilitated social interactions. No potential causal effects were significant. Further studies investigating causal relationships are essential to improve people's well-being through dog ownership.

The importance of SNOMED CT concept specificity in healthcare analytics.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare data frequently lack the specificity level needed to achieve clinical and operational objectives such as optimising bed management. Pneumonia is a disease of importance as it accounts for more bed days than any other lung disease and has a varied aetiology. The condition has a range of SNOMED CT concepts with different levels of specificity. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to quantify the importance of the specificity of an SNOMED CT concept, against well-established predictors, for forecasting length of stay for pneumonia patients. METHOD: A retrospective data analysis was conducted of pneumonia admissions to a tertiary hospital between 2011 and 2021. For inclusion, the primary diagnosis was a subtype of bacterial or viral pneumonia, as identified by SNOMED CT concepts. Three linear mixed models were constructed. Model One included known predictors of length of stay. Model Two included the predictors in Model One and SNOMED CT concepts of lower specificity. Model Three included the Model Two predictors and the concepts with higher specificity. Model performances were compared. RESULTS: Sex, ethnicity, deprivation rank and Charlson Comorbidity Index scores (age-adjusted) were meaningful predictors of length of stay in all models. Inclusion of lower specificity SNOMED CT concepts did not significantly improve performance (ΔR2 = 0.41%, p = .058). SNOMED CT concepts with higher specificity explained more variance than each of the individual predictors (ΔR2 = 4.31%, p < .001). CONCLUSION: SNOMED CT concepts with higher specificity explained more variance in length of stay than a range of well-studied predictors. IMPLICATIONS: Accurate and specific clinical documentation using SNOMED CT can improve predictive modelling and the generation of actionable insights. Resources should be dedicated to optimising and assuring clinical documentation quality at the point of recording.

Theoretical Foundations to the Impact of Dog-Related Activities on Human Hedonic Well-Being, Life Satisfaction and Eudaimonic Well-Being.

Cross-sectional comparisons of well-being between dog owners and non-owners commonly generate inconsistent results. Focusing on the uniqueness of the relationship might help address this issue and provide a stronger foundation for dog-related psychotherapeutic interventions. This study aims to evaluate the impact of dog-related activities (e.g., exercising the dog) on owner hedonic well-being, life satisfaction and eudaimonic well-being. It was also hypothesised that psychological closeness to the dog would affect these well-being outcomes. For this study, 1030 dog owners aged over 18 years old answered an online questionnaire about the impact of 15 groups of dog-related activities on their well-being. Ordinal regressions were used to estimate the mean response (and its uncertainty) for each outcome, while conditioning for psychological closeness to the dog and controlling for several key covariates. Tactile interactions and dog playing were significantly more beneficial than other activities for hedonic well-being, and dog training and dog presence for eudaimonic well-being. In contrast, dog health issues and behavioural problems were linked to decrements in these well-being outcomes. Higher psychological closeness to the dog predicted greater improvement in well-being in positive dog-related activities. Our quantitative study validates the general findings of previous qualitative work and lays the groundwork for future longitudinal studies.

Spatial distribution of early red lesions is a risk factor for development of vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Diabetic retinopathy is characterised by morphological lesions related to disturbances in retinal blood flow. It has previously been shown that the early development of retinal lesions temporal to the fovea may predict the development of treatment-requiring diabetic maculopathy. The aim of this study was to map accurately the area where lesions could predict progression to vision-threatening retinopathy. METHODS: The predictive value of the location of the earliest red lesions representing haemorrhages and/or microaneurysms was studied by comparing their occurrence in a group of individuals later developing vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy with that in a group matched with respect to diabetes type, age, sex and age of onset of diabetes mellitus who did not develop vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy during a similar observation period. RESULTS: The probability of progression to vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy was higher in a circular area temporal to the fovea, and the occurrence of the first lesions in this area was predictive of the development of vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy. The calculated peak value showed that the risk of progression was 39.5% higher than the average. There was no significant difference in the early distribution of lesions in participants later developing diabetic maculopathy or proliferative diabetic retinopathy. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: The location of early red lesions in diabetic retinopathy is predictive of whether or not individuals will later develop vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy. This evidence should be incorporated into risk models used to recommend control intervals in screening programmes for diabetic retinopathy.