2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus in Scotland: geographically variable immunity in Spring 2010, following the winter outbreak.

We determined the age- and location-specific seroprevalence of antibodies against 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus in Scotland following the first two waves of infection. Serum samples collected following the winter outbreak were analysed by microneutralisation assay. The proportion of positive sera varied significantly between cities and, in the case of Inverness, between age groups (with younger adults more likely to be positive than older individuals). This study demonstrates that older people are no longer more likely to have antibodies against the virus than younger adults.

Psychosocial correlates of psychopathology in a national sample of the morbidly obese.

BACKGROUND: Although several studies have documented the existence of psychopathology in the morbidly obese, there is disagreement as to its extent and nature. The disagreement has been difficult to resolve because earlier studies have tended to use small, regional samples, and diverse, unstandardized approaches to measuring psychopathology. METHODS: To add clarity, the present study utilized an unusually large, national sample, all subjects of which were administered a standardized, comprehensive test of psychopathology (the MMPI-2), an intensive interview concerning psychosocial history, and a medical examination. Subjects' scores on the MMPI-2 were compared to available norms. The psychosocial interview yielded information about families of both origin and reference. Information about comorbidities, medications, and body mass index (BMI) were available from the medical examinations. Multiple regression analyses were performed to determine the variables that best predicted psychopathology and BMI. RESULTS: The percentage of subjects whose MMPI-2 scores exceeded and approached psychopathological levels was in excess of normative expectations. The 1,3,2 pattern of scale scores on this test expresses depressive disorder, with anxiety and somatization features. Regression analyses showed that abuse of the subject and of substances in the family of origin positively predicted, while education and number of children negatively predicted both psychopathology and BMI. CONCLUSIONS: Dysfunctionality in the family of origin may lead to obesity through such regressive coping styles as stress eating, but this can be offset by personal development and nurturance responsibilities.

Reduction in psychopathology following bariatric surgery for morbid obesity.

BACKGROUND: Although there has been some disagreement, there is growing evidence now that psychopathology is a comorbidity of morbid obesity among patients seeking bariatric surgery. The aim of this study was to determine whether psychopathology decreases following this surgery. METHODS: Utilizing a national sample, this study focused on pre- and post-surgery scores on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Second Edition (MMPI-2). The MMPI-2 was administered first during the pre-surgery medical examination, and again between 6 months and 1 year following surgery. RESULTS: Validity scale scores on the pre- and post-surgery MMPI-2s indicated that there was no impediment to interpreting the clinical scale scores of these tests. There was a pervasive pattern of statistically significant decreases in pre- to post-surgery clinical scale scores. Further, comparison of MMPI-2 clinical scale scores to available test norms showed that the number of participants showing signs of mental disorders was unusually high before surgery, and at or below the test norms following surgery. CONCLUSIONS: There is clear evidence in this study that psychopathology declines following bariatric surgery. The unusually high levels of psychopathology before surgery may be a joint function of the factors producing the morbid obesity, and a reaction to the obesity itself. That psychopathology declines following surgery to levels expected in the general population indicates that the patients were becoming more positive about their lives.

Effectiveness of hardiness, exercise and social support as resources against illness.

The effects of the resistance resources of personality hardiness, exercise, and social support, taken singly and in combination, on concurrent and prospective levels, and probability of illness were studied. In 1980, 85 male business executives identified as high in stressful events were tested for the three resistance resources. Predicting their illness scores in 1980 formed the concurrent aspect of the study. For the prospective aspect, illness scores in 1981 were available on 70 of the subjects. With regard to resistance resources, when there are none, one, two or three, the level and probability of both concurrent and prospective illness drop in a regular and marked fashion. These results highlight the importance of multiple resistance resources. Estimates of relative effectiveness indicate that hardiness is the most important of the resistance resources studied.

Clinical evaluation of sodium flouride chewable tablets in dental caries.

Chewable tablets containing low dosage flouride content were prepared using two varities of celluloses and their in vitro parameters were evaluated. An eighteen month clinical trial revealed that both these formulations were effective in controlling the caries. However, ethyl cellulose is proved to be superior to methylcellulose as a controlled release matrix material in controlling caries. Thus this study recommends ethylcellulose matrix tablets containing low flouride content is an efficacious and cost effective drug device in controlling dental caries.

Hardiness and mental health.

Previous theorizing and construct-validational research suggest that hardiness expresses psychological vitality and enhanced performance. Now that there is a psychometrically adequate, short measure of hardiness, it is worthwhile to investigate whether it is a quick index of mental health. Consequently, the relationship between hardiness and clinically relevant scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory was studied on undergraduates. The pattern of results suggests that hardiness is a general measure of mental health and that this is not an artifact of negative affectivity, which was controlled.

Type A and hardiness.

The study examined the relationship between the Type A behavior pattern and personality hardiness and predicted an interaction between the two that would be influential for illness onset. Type A and hardiness were found to be conceptually different and empirically independent factors. Under high stressful life events, male executives who were high in Type A and low in hardiness tended toward higher general illness scores than any other executives. Type A and hardiness emerge from this study as bases for extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, respectively.

Personality and exercise as buffers in the stress-illness relationship.

This study examined exercise and personality-based hardiness as independent buffers of the stressful event-illness relationship. Self-report measures of exercise, hardiness, stressful events and illness were obtained from 137 male business executives. Hardiness and exercise each interact with stressful events in decreasing illness. Further, subjects high in both hardiness and exercise remain more healthy than those high in one or the other only. These additive effects are consistent with the view that hardiness buffers by transforming the events themselves so as to decrease their stressfulness, whereas exercise buffers by decreasing the organismic strain resulting from experiencing stressful events.