The Relationship Between Spirituality and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Syrian Adolescents in Jordan.

The civil war in Syria began in 2011 and escalated over years resulting in one of the largest humanitarian crises since the Second World War. Injury, loss, poverty, and immigration trapped the Syrian population in a diversity of psychological disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Spirituality has, on the other hand, been consistently reported as a resilient factor against developing mental disorders. Hence, spirituality or religiosity have been incorporated in clinical and psychotherapeutic practice for several mental disorders. We explored the association between spirituality and the development of PTSD symptoms among Syrian refugee adolescents in Jordanian schools. A sample of 418 Syrian adolescent students (age range between 12-16 years) from Jordanian schools in the northern part of the country were enrolled in the study after informing on study context and objectives. The study questionnaire included sample demographics, smoking status, PTSD checklist - Civilian Version (PCL-C), two spirituality-targeting questions, and trauma and loss history. `Almost half of participants (N = 196) showed moderate PTSD symptoms while around 30% (N = 124) had a severe level of PTSD symptoms. On the other hand, 3 out of four students perceived themselves as highly spiritual. The study resulted in a positive correlation between belief in God and God's thankfulness. Furthermore, increased spirituality level did not appear to lower the risk of developing PTSD symptoms. Spiritual self-perception of Syrian refugee adolescents showed neither protective nor aggravating effect of on the occurrence of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Additional research and more accurate tools are needed to assess the potential impact of spiritual/religious values towards PTSD symptoms among adolescents.

Thoracic Spine CT Hidden Treasures: Lung Assessment and Extraspinal Findings in Patients with Vertebral Fractures Studied with Full FOV during Breath Hold: Technical Note.

Thoracic spine CTs are usually performed during free breathing and with a narrow field of view; this common practice systematically excludes the assessment of lungs and other extraspinal structures, even if these have been irradiated during the examination. At our institution we perform thoracic spine CT during breath hold with additional full FOV reconstructions; this allows us to also evaluate lungs and extraspinal pathologies in the same examination with no added costs or further radiation exposure. If this simple and costless technical change is routinely applied to thoracic spine CT many concomitant extraspinal pathologies can be ruled out, from neoplasms to pneumonia; the suggested modification also allows an early diagnosis and avoids recalling and re-irradiating the patient in case these findings are partially included in the study. This practice can be further useful during the current pandemic in order to screen any lung opacities suspicious for COVID-19.

Iron deficiency anaemia and low BMI among adolescent girls in India: the transition from 2005 to 2015.

OBJECTIVE: The current study explored changes in trend of anaemia and BMI among currently pregnant nullipara adolescent women against socio-economic determinants in India from 2005 through 2015. The association between anaemia in currently pregnant nullipara adolescent women v. currently pregnant nullipara older women of reproductive age was also explored. DESIGN: We used the 2005 and the 2015 nationally representative Indian Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). The outcomes of interest, anaemia and BMI, were measured based on the DHS methodology following WHO standards and indicators. Place of residence, educational attainment and wealth quintiles were used as determinants in the analysis. SETTING: India. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 696 adolescent girls from the India 2005 DHS and 3041 adolescent girls from the India 2015 DHS. RESULTS: The 10-year transition from 2005 to 2015 showed differences between the least and most wealthy sections of society, with heaviest gains in anaemia reduction over time among the latter (from 50·0 to < 40·0 %). The odds of anaemia were significantly higher among the adolescent population when compared with adult women both in 2005 and in 2015 (OR = 1·2). CONCLUSIONS: Despite an overall improvement in the prevalence of both BMI < 18·5 and anaemia among adolescents nullipara in India, the adjusted risk of anaemia in the latter category was still significantly higher as compared with their adult counterparts. Since the inequalities evidenced during the first round of DHS remained unchanged in 2015, more investments in universal health care are needed in India.

Household contact with pets and birds and risk of lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: Contact with household pets has been suggested to be inversely associated with lymphoma risk. METHODS: We tested the hypothesis in a case-control study of lymphoma in the Sardinia region of Italy. Cases were 326 patients, first diagnosed with lymphoma in 1999-2003. Controls were 464 population controls, frequency matched to cases by age, gender, and area of residence. In person interviews included self-reported household contact with pets and birds, type of pet(s), and age at starting contact. RESULTS: Frequent contact with birds was inversely associated with lymphoma, and particularly B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (odds ratio [OR] = 0.6, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.4, 0.9). Contact with chickens accounted for this inverse association, which was strongest for first contact occurring at age ≤8 years (OR = 0.4, 95% CI: 0.2, 1.0). No association was observed when first contact occurred at age 9 or older. Contact with any pets was inversely associated with risk of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (OR = 0.4, 95% CI: 0.2, 1.0), but not other lymphoma subtypes. CONCLUSION: Our results support the hypothesis that early-life exposure to pets, birds and particularly with chickens might be associated with a reduced risk of lymphoma.