ABSTRACT
Background Protective behaviors were essential for minimizing the spread of the virus during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It is often assumed that awareness of bodily sensations (interoception) can improve decision-making and facilitate adaptive behavior. Objective This paper investigates cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between different aspects of self-reported interoception, trait anxiety, COVID-related worry, and health protective behaviors. Methods The study was conducted on a community sample of 265 adults. The two data collection phases took place online, before (baseline) and during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary. Results Contrary to our expectations, neither cross-sectional nor longitudinal associations were found between protective behaviors and indicators of self-reported interoception. However, worry at baseline predicted protective behaviors during the second wave, even after controlling for socio-economical characteristics and protective behaviors at baseline. Conclusion Our results highlight the adaptivity of health-related worry when behavioral steps to avoid threats are known and available. Also, higher level of perceived interoception did not appear to be health protective under these circumstances. (AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Middle Aged , Anxiety , Health Behavior , Protective Factors , Interoception , COVID-19/epidemiology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Longitudinal Studies , Hungary/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Objectives Decreased thyroid volume has been related to increased prevalence of thyroid cancer. Subjects and methods One hundred and fourteen Hungarian adult twin pairs (69 monozygotic, 45 dizygotic) with or without known thyroid disorders underwent thyroid ultrasound. Thickness of the thyroid isthmus was measured at the thickest portion of the gland in the midline using electronic calipers at the time of scanning. Volume of the thyroid lobe was computed according to the following formula: thyroid height*width*depth*correction factor (0.63). Results Age-, sex-, body mass index- and smoking-adjusted heritability of the thickness of thyroid isthmus was 50% (95% confidence interval [CI], 35 to 66%). Neither left nor right thyroid volume showed additive genetic effects, but shared environments were 68% (95% CI, 48 to 80%) and 79% (95% CI, 72 to 87%), respectively. Magnitudes of monozygotic and dizygotic co-twin correlations were not substantially impacted by the correction of covariates of body mass index and smoking. Unshared environmental effects showed a moderate influence on dependent parameters (24-50%). Conclusions Our analysis support that familial factors are important for thyroid measures in a general twin population. A larger sample size is needed to show whether this is because of common environmental (e.g. intrauterine effects, regional nutrition habits, iodine supply) or genetic effects.
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Gene-Environment Interaction , Thyroid Gland , Cross-Sectional Studies , Genetic Predisposition to Disease/epidemiology , Hungary/epidemiology , Organ Size/genetics , Prevalence , Risk Assessment , Thyroid Gland/anatomy & histology , Twins, Dizygotic/genetics , Twins, Monozygotic/geneticsABSTRACT
Objetivo - Comparar coeficientes de mortalidade por infarto agudo do miocárdio (IAM) e doenças cerebrovasculares, específicos por idade em capitais situadas em regiöes metropolitanas do Brasil, às taxas de outros países. Métodos - Os dados de mortalidade das capitais brasileiras foram obtidos a partir do Sistema de Informaçäo de Mortalidade, do Ministério da Saúde. Os óbitos e taxas de mortalidade relativos aos outros países foram obtidos a partir de publicaçäo especializada da Organizaçäo Mundial de Saúde. Resultados - Nas capitais estudadas, cerca de 50 por cento dos ósbitos masculinos por doença isquêmica do coraçäo ocorreram no grupo etário menor de 65 anos de idade, enquanto em outros países, esta proporçäo situou-se em torno dos 25 por cento. O risco de morrer por IAM nos homens, entre 35 e 44 anos, foi 3 vezes mior do que o norte-americano. Os coeficientes de mortalidade por doenças cerebrovasculares também apresentaram maior magnitude em nosso meio, comparando-se aos outros países estudados. Conclusäo - Ao contrário do que se imagina, as enfermidades cardiovasculares näo constituem, no Brasil, causa de óbito importante apenas nos grupos mais idosos. Estes resultados sugerem a necessidade de investigaçäo específica em nosso meio, bem como a urgência da implantaçäo de programas de controle