Influence of light at night on allergic diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Allergic diseases impose a significant global disease burden, however, the influence of light at night exposure on these diseases in humans has not been comprehensively assessed. We aimed to summarize available evidence considering the association between light at night exposure and major allergic diseases through a systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: We completed a search of six databases, two registries, and Google Scholar from inception until December 15, 2023, and included studies that investigated the influence of artificial light at night (ALAN, high vs. low exposure), chronotype (evening vs. morning chronotype), or shift work (night vs. day shift work) on allergic disease outcomes (asthma, allergic rhinitis, and skin allergies). We performed inverse-variance random-effects meta-analyses to examine the association between the exposures (ALAN exposure, chronotype, or shiftwork) and these allergic outcomes. Stratification analyses were conducted by exposure type, disease type, participant age, and geographical location along with sensitivity analyses to assess publication bias. RESULTS: We included 12 publications in our review. We found that exposure to light at night was associated with higher odds of allergic diseases, with the strongest association observed for ALAN exposure (OR: 1.88; 95% CI: 1.04 to 3.39), followed by evening chronotype (OR: 1.35; 95% CI: 0.98 to 1.87) and exposure to night shift work (OR: 1.33; 95% CI: 1.06 to 1.67). When analyses were stratified by disease types, light at night exposure was significantly associated with asthma (OR: 1.62; 95% CI: 1.19 to 2.20), allergic rhinitis (OR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.60 to 2.24), and skin allergies (OR: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.09 to 1.91). We also found that the association between light at night exposure and allergic diseases was more profound in youth (OR: 1.63; 95% CI: 1.07 to 2.48) than adults (OR: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.63). Additionally, we observed significant geographical variations in the association between light at night exposure and allergic diseases. CONCLUSIONS: Light at night exposure was associated with a higher prevalence of allergic diseases, both in youth and adults. More long-term epidemiological and mechanistic research is required to understand the possible interactions between light at night and allergic diseases.

Circadian rhythmicity in schizophrenia male patients with and without substance use disorder comorbidity.

Circadian rhythmicity is associated to clinical variables that play an important role in both schizophrenia (SZ) and substance use disorders (SUD), although the characteristics of the coexistence of these two diagnoses (SZ +) remain mostly unknown. Hence, we studied a sample of 165 male patients divided in three groups each of 55, according to their diagnoses (SZ + , SZ, and SUD), as well as a healthy control (HC; n = 90) group. Alongside with sociodemographic and clinical variables, circadian rhythms were registered through a sleep-wake data structured interview, a circadian typology questionnaire, and distal skin temperature (DST) using the Thermochron iButton every 2 min during 48 h. Analyses showed that SZ + and SZ patients presented a longer sleep (delay in wake-up time) and mostly an intermediate circadian typology, while SUD patients slept less hours, displaying a morning typology. The DST showed the highest daily activation and stability for the SUD group, even when compared with the HC group. The presence of schizophrenia (SZ + and SZ) was related to a DST pattern with a reduced amplitude determined by a wakefulness impairment, which was more pronounced for SZ patients whose sleep period was adequate. The assessment of circadian rhythms in under treatment male patients with SZ should be focused on the diurnal period as a possible marker of either treatment adherence or patient's recovery, irrespective of the presence of a comorbid SUD. Further research with additional objective measures may provide knowledge transferable to therapeutic strategies and could be useful to establish possible endophenotypes in the future.

Network analysis of multiple risk factors for mental health in young Colombian adults.

BACKGROUND: A considerable proportion of young adults are affected by psychological distress at any time and an important fraction of them may develop mental disorders. Use of novel approaches for the analysis of data from multiple psychological scales might facilitate the identification of key indicators of mental health. AIMS: The aim of current study was to examine the relationship between multiple risk factors for mental illness, using a network analysis perspective. METHODS: A sample of 334 young Colombian adults (mean age = 21.7) were evaluated with validated scales measuring several psychosocial factors previously associated with mental health (e.g. worry, sleep problems, suicidal ideation, childhood abuse, alcohol related-problems and personality traits). A total of 24 nodes were included in the network analysis and topology, centrality, and stability of the networks were studied. RESULTS: Specific nodes that occupied critical positions in the network were identified, with worry, perceived distress and low energy being the most central nodes. CONCLUSIONS: Our explorative findings suggest that a network analysis might identify risk factors that have a central role in the multiple dimensions of emotional health in young adults. These novel analyses could have important applications for the understanding of the psychological functioning affecting mental health.

Personality traits and health-related quality of life: the mediator role of coping strategies and psychological distress.

BACKGROUND: The study of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important topic in mental health around the globe. However, there is the need for more evidence about the cumulative influence of psychological variables on HRQOL. The main aim of the study was to evaluate how specific personality traits might explain scores in HRQOL and to explore how this relationship might be mediated by coping styles and psychological distress. METHODS: Young Colombian subjects (N = 274) were included (mean age: 21.3; SD = 3.8). The Short-Form Health Survey was used to measure HRQOL. For assessment of psychological variables, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, The Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations and the short version of Big Five Inventory were used. RESULTS: The personality trait that was the best predictor of HRQOL was openness to experience, forming an explanatory model for HRQOL, along with emotional coping style and depressive and anxious symptoms. Emotional coping style and psychological distress were significant mediators of the relationship between openness and HRQOL. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide additional data about the cumulative influence of specific psychological variables on HRQOL, in a mostly young female Latin American sample.

Comparison of health-related quality of life among men with different co-existing severe mental disorders in treatment for substance use.

BACKGROUND: Patient-perceived health-related quality of life has become an important outcome in health care as an indicator of treatment effectiveness and recovery for patients with substance use disorder. As no study has assessed health-related quality of life among male patients with substance use disorder and co-existing severe mental illness, we compared health-related quality of life among patients with substance use disorder and the following severe mental illness diagnosis in Barcelona, Spain: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and examined the associations with clinically related variables. Additionally, we compared results for health-related quality of life in patients with substance use disorder and severe mental illness, with Spanish population norms. METHODS: We assessed 107 substance use disorder male patients using the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey comparing results across three groups with: comorbid schizophrenia (n = 37), comorbid bipolar disorder (n = 34), and comorbid major depressive disorder (n = 36). Multiple analyses of variance were performed to explore health-related quality of life by the type of co-existing SMI and linear regression analyses examined clinical correlates for the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey dimensions for each group. RESULTS: There were differences in Physical Functioning, Vitality and the Physical Composite Scale among groups. Poorer Physical Functioning was observed for patients with comorbid schizophrenia (80.13±3.27) and major depressive disorder (81.97±3.11) compared with comorbid bipolar disorder patients (94.26±1.93). Patients with substance use disorder and schizophrenia presented lower scores in Vitality (41.6±2.80) than those with co-existing bipolar disorder (55.68±3.66) and major depressive disorder (53.63±2.92). Finally, results in the Physical Composite Scale showed lower scores for patients with comorbid schizophrenia (51.06±1.41) and major depressive disorder (51.99±1.87) than for those with bipolar disorder (60.40±2.17). Moreover, all groups had poorer health-related quality of life, especially Social Functioning, Role-Emotional and Mental Health, compared with population norms. Different clinical variables (e.g. medical disease comorbidity, severity of addiction, psychiatric symptomatology, suicide attempts, drug relapses) were related to different health-related quality of life dimensions depending on the co-existing severe mental illness. CONCLUSIONS: Among male patients with substance use disorder, co-existing severe mental illness may influence some health-related quality of life dimensions and clinically related variables. Such differences may require tailored therapeutic interventions.

Substance use and suicide risk in a sample of young Colombian adults: An exploration of psychosocial factors.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Young adults might engage in many risk behaviors, including alcohol and drug use, which could lead to mental health problems, such as suicide. The aim of this study was to examine specific psychosocial and clinical factors that could influence the possible relationship between polysubstance use (PSU) and suicide risk in a sample of young Colombian participants. METHODS: A sample of 274 young participants (mean age = 21.3 years) was evaluated with two substance use screening tests (ASSIST and AUDIT) and five scales for clinical and psychosocial factors and suicide risk: The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale, Zung Self-Rating Anxiety scale, Family APGAR, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and the Plutchik Suicide Risk scale. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Use of cannabis and tobacco was significantly correlated with suicide risk in the total sample (p < .05). Depressive and anxiety symptoms, family functioning, and emotional abuse during childhood were significantly associated with suicide risk (p < .001), while alcohol use, anxiety symptoms, and family functioning were variables significantly related to PSU. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are consistent with previous evidence suggesting a relationship between substance use, several psychosocial factors, and suicide risk in young participants. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: Our study is one of the first reports the relationship between substance use and suicide risk in a Latin American population. (Am J Addict 2017;26:388-394).

Functional polymorphisms in BDNF and COMT genes are associated with objective differences in arithmetical functioning in a sample of young adults.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the molecular genetics of complex human behaviors and functions remains a substantial challenge for the neurosciences. Previous studies have shown a genetic basis for individual differences in mathematical functioning; however, the specific genes remain to be completely identified. In the present study, we explored the possibility that 2 functional polymorphisms in candidate genes could be associated with differences in arithmetical performance. METHODS: A computerized test to analyze performance in basic arithmetical calculations (additions and subtractions) was applied to 168 healthy young Colombian participants using the PEBL (Psychology Experiment Building Language) battery. DNA samples were genotyped for 2 functional SNPs in candidate genes: brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-Val66Met and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT)-Val158Met. RESULTS: We found significant differences for arithmetical processing scores between genotypes. For BDNF, Val/Val subjects had a worse performance (p value: 0.025) and for COMT, Val/Val carriers had a better performance (p value: 0.006). A multivariate model, including both BDNF and COMT genes, accounted for 7.1% of the variance in math processing scores. DISCUSSION: To our knowledge, this is the first study finding associations of polymorphisms in BDNF and COMT genes with quantitative measures of numerical aptitude in healthy young participants. A future study of other genes involved in neural plasticity could be helpful to identify genetic correlates of arithmetical functioning, which will be important for the understanding of normal human behaviors and related neuropsychiatric disorders.

Common functional polymorphisms in SLC6A4 and COMT genes are associated with circadian phenotypes in a South American sample.

The molecular study of circadian rhythms in humans could be an excellent approach to understand the relation between genes and behavior. It is possible that variations in genes involved in neurotransmission and/or synaptic plasticity, such as catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) could be of particular interest in understanding human circadian phenotypes. The aim of this study is to analyze the possible and novel associations of the functional polymorphisms in COMT and SLC6A4 genes (Val158Met and 5-HTTLPR) and circadian phenotypes in healthy Colombian subjects. 191 university students were genotyped for two functional polymorphisms in COMT and SLC6A4 genes (rs4680 and rs4795541). We applied two scales to measure phenotypic patterns of human circadian rhythms: Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). We found a significant association between 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and morning preference score (CSM) (p = 0.027) using an overdominant genotypic model and association of COMT Val158Met with daytime sleepiness (ESS scores) (p = 0.038) in a genotypic recessive model. These results were supported by differences in genotype frequencies between circadian typologies for SLC6A4 gene (p = 0.007) and categories of diurnal sleepiness for COMT gene (p = 0.032). Our results suggest, for the first time, a significant relationship between functional SLC6A4 and COMT polymorphisms with specific human circadian phenotypes: morning preference and diurnal sleepiness. These results need to be replicated in other populations. Further study of functional polymorphisms in other synaptic genes could be of relevance for the identification of novel candidate genes for circadian phenotypes, and related endophenotypes of neuropsychiatric importance, in healthy humans.

A more accurate assessment of circadian typology is achieved by asking persons to indicate their preferred times rather than comparing themselves with most people.

The aim of the present work was to compare two circadian questionnaires: the Preference Scale (PS) and the reduced version of the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ). A sample of 849 (35.10% men) university students, 421 of whom were Spanish (27.55% men; mean age 21.07 + 2.31) and 428 Italian (42.52% men; mean age 23.26 + 3.01), were administered both questionnaires. Gender (higher morningness in women) and nationality (higher eveningness in Spaniards) differences were replicated with rMEQ but not with PS, in which an inverse association between nationality and circadian preference was observed (i.e. higher morningness in Spaniards). Taking into account that the formulation of the rMEQ items, with its specific times, makes the answers less influenced by socio-cultural bias, we conclude that rMEQ is preferable to PS when evaluating circadian preference in young adults.

The Japanese version of the reduced morningness-eveningness questionnaire.

Circadian typology, or "morningness" and "eveningness," is generally assessed using the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), a 19-item scale that could be burdensome in large-scale surveys. To overcome this, a 5-item version known as the reduced morningness-eveningness questionnaire (rMEQ), which is sensitive to the assessment of circadian typology, was developed; however, a validated Japanese version of the rMEQ is yet to be established. This study aimed to develop and validate the Japanese version of the rMEQ. Five essential items for the rMEQ were selected from existing Japanese MEQ data (N = 2,213), and the rMEQ was compiled. We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis for the psychometric properties of the rMEQ and confirmed its robust one-factor structure for evaluating morningness-eveningness (GFI = 0.984, AGFI = 0.951, CFI = 0.935, and RMSEA = 0.091). Reliability was evaluated via internal consistency of rMEQ items using Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω, and the values were 0.618 and 0.654, respectively. The rMEQ scores strongly correlated with MEQ (ρ = 0.883, p < 0.001), and classification agreement (Morning, Neither, and Evening types) between rMEQ and MEQ was 77.6% (Cramer's V = 0.643, Weighted Cohen's κ = 0.72), confirming the validity. The Japanese rMEQ may be a valuable tool for the efficient assessment of circadian typologies.

Executive functioning in individuals with schizophrenia and/or cocaine dependence.

OBJECTIVE: Although little is known about neurocognition in Dual Diagnosis, it has been suggested that Schizophrenia (SZ) patients with comorbid substance use belong to a subgroup with lower genetic vulnerability to develop SZ and, consequently, they show better executive and social premorbid functioning. The first aim of this study was to assess the executive functioning, and the second one was to explore the effect of age of onset of substance use in neurocognition in SZ patients with cocaine dependence. METHODS: The total sample consisted of 95 male patients, aged 20 to 60 years, divided in three groups: one group with SZ and cocaine dependence (SZ+; n = 30), another group with SZ without cocaine dependence (SZ-; n = 30), and a control group with cocaine dependence without psychiatric comorbidity (COC; n = 35). RESULTS: We found a better executive functioning in both SZ+ and COC than SZ-. We observed a worse performance of SZ+ patients compared with COC in cognitive set-shifting regardless the age of onset of consumption. CONCLUSIONS: The results agree with the hypothesis of a lower genetic vulnerability in SZ+ patients to develop psychosis compared with SZ-, who develop it without any additional trigger. However, future research is needed to clarify the current knowledge gaps.

[Dual diagnosis and personality traits: current situation and future research directions]. / Patología dual y rasgos de personalidad: situación actual y líneas futuras de trabajo.

Dual diagnosis (DD) is the co-occurrence, in the same person, of a mental disorder (MD) and a substance use disorder (SUD). Nowadays, the study of the personality with DD is realized mainly from a categorical view, focusing on the detection of personality disorders and not on the traits associated to DD and the possible differential profile compared to those patients with only MD or SUD. Studies analyzing personality traits of patients with DD and their possible differential profile are very limited. However, existing data indicates that DD patients show higher levels of Sensation Seeking, Impulsivity, Harm Avoidance and Neuroticism; and lower levels of Persistence, Self-Direction, Self-Transcendence and Cooperation. Therefore, DD is associated to personality characteristics that suggest more disruptive behaviors, fewer resources for recovering and keeping abstinent and worse prognosis compared to those with only one disorder. Progress in the characterization of personality traits in DD, taking into consideration the methodological aspects to be improved could allow better adaptation of the integrated treatment of these patients in the future.

Recent Advances in Dual Disorders (Addiction and Other Mental Disorders).

In clinical mental health practice, the presence of Dual Disorders (DDs), defined as the comorbidity of at least one Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and another mental disorder in the same person [...].

Circadian functioning and quality of life in substance use disorder patients with and without comorbid schizophrenia.

Sleep disturbances are strongly linked with mental diseases such as substance use disorder (SUD) or schizophrenia (SZ) which can have a detrimental impact on quality of life (QOL), especially when both disorders are comorbid (dual disorder). In absence of studies about both circadian characteristics and QOL in patients with SUD and comorbid SZ (SUD + SZ), we examined a sample of 155 male under treatment, 75 with SUD + SZ and 80 only with SUD. Circadian functioning was evaluated by chronotype, social jet-lag and sleep quality (using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, PSQI), while the QOL was obtained by the World Health Organization's Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL)-BREF. SUD + SZ patients were more evening type than SUD, and this chronotype was linked to polydrug use in total sample and SUD + SZ group. We observed that the comorbidity did not lead to worse sleep quality in the SUD and SUD + SZ patients. QOL was poorer in SUD + SZ patients, who showed a negative association of Physical health, Psychological health and Social relationship with suicide attempts and severity of SZ. Lastly, patients with worse QOL also reported poorer sleep quality suggesting that treatment could include circadian adjustments along with a focused approach to lifestyle improvement.

Neuropsychological functioning of patients with major depression or bipolar disorder comorbid to substance use disorders: A systematic review.

Major depression disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) are usual comorbidities in patients with substance use disorders (SUD), a condition known as dual disorder (DD). MDD, BD and SUD are associated with cognitive impairment, potentially leading to a greater functional impairment in the context of DD. OBJECTIVES: To review the existing data on the cognitive impairment in DD patients with comorbid MDD or BD, considering the influence of the depressive symptomatology. METHODS: Following the PRISMA protocol 19 studies were selected from the last 17 years, 13 of which focused on BD, five on MDD and one included both diagnoses. RESULTS: Studies based in BD+SUD showed that the most affected cognitive domains were attention and executive functions, but not all of them found a greater impairment due to the comorbidity. While fewer studies were found for depression, MDD+SUD works point to a similar impairment cognitive pattern. Furthermore, depression improvement could be associated to better cognitive performance. LIMITATIONS: More standardized research is needed regarding the influence of depression on cognitive performance of DD patients, especially on those with comorbid MDD. Factors such as main substance, abstinence, or MDD/BD-related variables should be considered. Unstudied factors, like gender or circadian rhythms, are proposed to improve knowledge in this area. CONCLUSIONS: Current studies suggest that DD could potentiate cognitive impairment in BD, MDD and SUD. However, additional research is needed to improve the understanding of comorbidity to apply more individualized therapies in the treatment of these patients, considering the interference of their neurocognitive functioning.

COVID-19 severity is related to poor executive function in people with post-COVID conditions.

Patients with post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) conditions typically experience cognitive problems. Some studies have linked COVID-19 severity with long-term cognitive damage, while others did not observe such associations. This discrepancy can be attributed to methodological and sample variations. We aimed to clarify the relationship between COVID-19 severity and long-term cognitive outcomes and determine whether the initial symptomatology can predict long-term cognitive problems. Cognitive evaluations were performed on 109 healthy controls and 319 post-COVID individuals categorized into three groups according to the WHO clinical progression scale: severe-critical (n = 77), moderate-hospitalized (n = 73), and outpatients (n = 169). Principal component analysis was used to identify factors associated with symptoms in the acute-phase and cognitive domains. Analyses of variance and regression linear models were used to study intergroup differences and the relationship between initial symptomatology and long-term cognitive problems. The severe-critical group performed significantly worse than the control group in general cognition (Montreal Cognitive Assessment), executive function (Digit symbol, Trail Making Test B, phonetic fluency), and social cognition (Reading the Mind in the Eyes test). Five components of symptoms emerged from the principal component analysis: the "Neurologic/Pain/Dermatologic" "Digestive/Headache", "Respiratory/Fever/Fatigue/Psychiatric" and "Smell/ Taste" components were predictors of Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores; the "Neurologic/Pain/Dermatologic" component predicted attention and working memory; the "Neurologic/Pain/Dermatologic" and "Respiratory/Fever/Fatigue/Psychiatric" components predicted verbal memory, and the "Respiratory/Fever/Fatigue/Psychiatric," "Neurologic/Pain/Dermatologic," and "Digestive/Headache" components predicted executive function. Patients with severe COVID-19 exhibited persistent deficits in executive function. Several initial symptoms were predictors of long-term sequelae, indicating the role of systemic inflammation and neuroinflammation in the acute-phase symptoms of COVID-19." Study Registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov , identifier NCT05307549 and NCT05307575.

Better characterizing sleep beliefs for personalized sleep health promotion: the French sleep beliefs scale validation study.

Background: The Sleep Beliefs Scale (SBS) is a well-known tool to design and monitor personalized sleep health promotion at an individual and population level. The lack of an established French version limits the development of effective interventions targeting these populations. Thus, the aim of this study was to validate the French version of the SBS in a representative sample of the general population. Methods: Quota sampling was used to recruit 1,004 participants (18-65 years, mean age: 43 years, 54% of female) who underwent an online survey to complete the SBS, and to assess sleep schedules, sleep quality and disorders, and mental health. Cronbach's α coefficient, confirmatory factor analysis, item-internal consistency (IIC), and item discriminant validity (IDV) of the SBS were computed to assess internal validity while bivariate associations with sleep schedules, sleep quality and disorders, and mental health were used to assess external convergent and discriminant validity. Results: The mean score on the SBS was 12.3 ± 4.9. Item 19 ("Quiet & Dark") showed the highest rate of correct answers (n = 801, 79.8%), while item 20 ("Recovering sleep") showed the lowest rate of correct answers (n = 246, 24.5%). Overall, the SBS showed satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.87) and confirmed the three-factor structure proposed by the original study. All items were found consistent (IIC > 0.4) and discriminant (IIC > IDV) except for item 20 ("recovering lost sleep by sleeping for a long time"). Females, older participants, and subjects with short time-in-bed, poor sleep quality, insomnia, and circadian rhythm disorder had higher SBS scores while participants with depressive symptoms had lower SBS scores. Conclusion: We successfully translated and validated the French version of the SBS in a representative sample, making it a reliable instrument for researchers and clinicians to assess and target sleep beliefs. Correct answers vary from 25 to 80% which underlines the importance of continuing sleep health promotion campaigns by targeting poorly understood behaviors. Our findings also shed light on the fickleness of beliefs that are prone to vary within individuals across time, in step with societal changes. Several associated factors were identified, thus contributing to our understanding of sleep beliefs and offering insights for personalized approaches to enhance sleep health and overall well-being.

COVID-19 infodemic and health-related quality of life in patients with chronic respiratory diseases: A multicentre, observational study.

Background: The explosion of information, misinformation and disinformation (the "infodemic") related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on digital and social media is reported to affect mental health and quality of life. However, reports assessing the COVID-19 infodemic on health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with chronic diseases are scarce. In this study, we investigated the associations between the infodemic and HRQL in uninfected individuals with pre-existing chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other CRDs. Methods: We conducted a multi-national, cross-sectional, observational study in Canada, India, New Zealand and the United Kingdom where we distributed a set of digitised questionnaires among 1018 participants with chronic respiratory diseases who were not infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus at least three months prior to the study. We collected information about the infodemic such as news watching or social media use more than usual during the pandemic. HRQL was assessed using the short form of the chronic respiratory questionnaire (SF-CRQ). Demographic information, comorbidities, compliance, mental health, behavioural function, and social support were also recorded. We analysed the direct and indirect relationships between infodemic and HRQL using structural equation models (SEM). Results: Of all participants, 54% were females and had a mean (standard deviation (SD)) age of 53 (17) years. We found that higher infodemic was associated with worse emotional function (regression coefficient ß = -0.08; 95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.14 to -0.01), which means a one SD change of the higher infodemic latent variable was associated with a 0.08 SD change of emotional function level. The association between higher infodemic and worse emotional function was mediated by worse mental health and behavioural functions but is marginally ameliorated by improved social support. In stratification analysis, we found significant disease and country-wise variations in the associations between infodemic and SF-CRQ domain scores. Conclusions: These results provide new evidence that the COVID-19 infodemic significantly influences the HRQL in patients with CRDs through a complex interplay between mental health, behavioural function, and social support. This new dimension of research also opens avenues for further research on infodemic-related health effects in other chronic diseases.

Less Social Deprivation Is Associated With Better Health-Related Quality of Life in Asthma and Is Mediated by Less Anxiety and Better Sleep Quality.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in asthma have mainly focused on clinical and environmental determinants. Little is known about the role of social determinants on HRQoL in asthma. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the association between social deprivation and HRQoL in asthma. METHODS: A total of 691 adult asthmatics from Canada, India, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom were administered a digital questionnaire containing demographic information and questions about social and psychological attributes, sleep disturbances, and alcohol abuse. HRQoL was measured using the Short Form of the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (SF-CRQ). We analyzed the direct and indirect relationships between social deprivation and HRQoL using structural equation models with social deprivation as a latent variable. We tested for mediation via anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, and alcohol abuse. RESULTS: We found that less social deprivation (latent variable) was directly associated with better SF-CRQ domain scores such as dyspnea (regression coefficient ß: 0.33; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.07 to 0.58), fatigue (ß: 0.39; 95% CI: 0.14 to 0.64), and emotional function (ß: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.11 to 0.62), but with the worse mastery score (ß: -0.29; 95% CI: -0.55 to -0.03); however, those associations varied across participating countries. We also observed that among all individual social deprivation indicators, education, companionship, emotional support, instrumental support, and social isolation were directly associated with HRQoL, and the relationship between social deprivation and HRQoL was mediated through anxiety and sleep disturbances. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated that less social deprivation was directly, and indirectly through less anxiety and better sleep quality, associated with better HRQoL in asthma.

Cognitive performance and dehydration.

No matter how mild, dehydration is not a desirable condition because there is an imbalance in the homeostatic function of the internal environment. This can adversely affect cognitive performance, not only in groups more vulnerable to dehydration, such as children and the elderly, but also in young adults. However, few studies have examined the impact of mild or moderate dehydration on cognitive performance. This paper reviews the principal findings from studies published to date examining cognitive skills. Being dehydrated by just 2% impairs performance in tasks that require attention, psychomotor, and immediate memory skills, as well as assessment of the subjective state. In contrast, the performance of long-term and working memory tasks and executive functions is more preserved, especially if the cause of dehydration is moderate physical exercise. The lack of consistency in the evidence published to date is largely due to the different methodology applied, and an attempt should be made to standardize methods for future studies. These differences relate to the assessment of cognitive performance, the method used to cause dehydration, and the characteristics of the participants.