The impact of gardening on well-being, mental health, and quality of life: an umbrella review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Gardening and horticultural therapy (HT) has been widely recognised as a multicomponent approach that has affected a broad range of health and well-being outcomes. The aim of this umbrella review and meta-analysis was to compare the findings of previous reviews on the impact of multiple gardening interventions and gardening attributes on different well-being constructs. METHODS: Electronic databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were searched from inception to December 2022. Interventional and observational reviews were eligible for inclusion in this umbrella review. Outcome measures included mental well-being, health status and quality of life. The key exposure variables were gardening and horticultural therapy. Narrative synthesis was used to evaluate the overall impact of gardening and HT on study outcomes. For a subsample of studies with available quantitative data, a random effect meta-analysis was conducted. RESULTS: This umbrella review included 40 studies (10 interventional studies, 2 observational studies, and 28 mixed interventional and observational studies). The reviewed studies reported an overall positive impact of gardening activities on several measures of mental well-being, quality of life, and health status. Meta-analysis showed a significant and positive effect of gardening and HT activities on well-being (effect size (ES) 0.55, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.23, 0.87, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Evidence from observational and interventional studies supports a positive role for gardening and HT activities on well-being and general health. Interventional studies with horticultural-based therapies were effective in improving well-being and quality of life both in the general population and vulnerable subgroups. The high degree of heterogeneity in the included studies cautions against any direct clinical implications of the study findings.

COVID-19 ethnic inequalities in mental health and multimorbidities: protocol for the COVEIMM study.

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated ethnic health inequalities, particularly in people with multiple long-term health conditions, the interplay with mental health is unclear. This study investigates the impact of the pandemic on the association of ethnicity and multimorbidity with mortality/service use among adults, in people living with severe mental illnesses (SMI). METHODS: This study will utilise secondary mental healthcare records via the Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) and nationally representative primary care records through the Clinical Practice Interactive Research Database (CPRD). Quasi-experimental designs will be employed to quantify the impact of COVID-19 on mental health service use and excess mortality by ethnicity, in people living with severe mental health conditions. Up to 50 qualitative interviews will also be conducted, co-produced with peer researchers; findings will be synthesised with quantitative insights to provide in-depth understanding of observed associations. RESULTS: 81,483 people in CRIS with schizophrenia spectrum, bipolar or affective disorder diagnoses, were alive from 1st January 2019. Psychiatric multimorbidities in the CRIS sample were comorbid somatoform disorders (30%), substance use disorders (14%) and personality disorders (12%). In CPRD, of 678,842 individuals with a prior probable diagnosis of COVID-19, 1.1% (N = 7493) had an SMI diagnosis. People in the SMI group were more likely to die (9% versus 2% in the non-SMI sample) and were more likely to have mental and physical multimorbidities. CONCLUSION: The effect of COVID-19 on people from minority ethnic backgrounds with SMI and multimorbidities remains under-studied. The present mixed methods study aims to address this gap.

Depressive and anxiety symptomatology among people with asthma or atopic dermatitis: A population-based investigation using the UK Biobank data.

The present study investigated the association of depression and anxiety symptomatology (DAS) with asthma and atopic dermatitis (AD) diagnosis during mid-adult years. The study employed data from 502,641 participants in the UK Biobank. Neutrophils to Lymphocytes Ratios (NLRs) of patients with asthma and AD were calculated and evaluated in relation to DAS, measured via the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4). Age of asthma or AD onset association with DAS were also estimated. Multivariable regression analyses were implemented among participants with asthma or AD, compared to those without these disorders. Out of 58,833 participants with asthma and 13,462 with AD, the prevalence of DAS was 11.7% and 2.7%, respectively. DAS increased among participants with either asthma or AD, being highest within patients having both (ß = 0.41, 95% confidence interval (95%CI), 0.34,0.49). NLR showed a linear increase with PHQ scores in asthma patients, (tertile 1, ß = 0.30, 95% CI, 0.27,0.34; tertile 2, ß = 0.36, 95%CI, 0.32,0.39, and tertile 3, ß = 0.43, 95%CI, 0.39,0.46). An inverted U-shaped association was seen between age of asthma onset and PHQ, with the 40-59 age group (ß = 0.54, 95%CI, 0.48,0.59) showing the highest risk followed by the 60+ (ß = 0.43, 95%CI, 0.34,0.51 and 20-39 groups (ß = 0.32, 95%CI, 0.27,0.38). Similar patterns emerged within AD. Asthma and AD were associated with increased DAS during mid-adult years, being strongest among participants reporting both disorders. A dose-response relationship between NLR and DAS was observed. Asthma or AD onset during mid-adult years (40-59) were associated with the highest increment in DAS.

Long-term trends in antithrombotic drug prescriptions among adults aged 80 years and over from primary care: a temporal trends analysis using electronic health records.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to estimate trends in antithrombotic prescriptions from 2001 to 2015 among people aged 80 years and over within clinical indications. METHODS: A prospective cohort study with 215,559 participants registered with the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink from 2001 to 2015 was included in the analyses. The prevalence and incidence of antiplatelet and anticoagulant drugs were estimated for each year and by five clinical indications. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of antithrombotic prescriptions among patients aged over 80 years and diagnosed with atrial fibrillation increased from 53% in 2001 to 77% in 2015 (Ptrend <.001). Anticoagulant prescriptions rates also increased five-fold in older adults with atrial fibrillation from around 10% in 2001 to 46% in 2015 (Ptrend <.001). Clopidogrel-prescribing rates in patients aged over 80 years and with venous thrombosis increased from 0.4% in 2001 to 10% in 2015 (Ptrend <.001). Warfarin-prescribing rates in older patients with venous thrombosis increased from 13% in 2001 to 21% in 2015 (Ptrend <.001). CONCLUSIONS: The use of antithrombotic drugs increased from 2001 to 2015 in people aged 80 years and over across multiple clinical indications. Assessing the benefits and harms of antithrombotic drugs across different clinical indications in older people is a priority.

Cardiovascular risk assessment and treatment in chronic inflammatory disorders in primary care.

OBJECTIVE: To compare differences in cardiovascular (CV) risk factors assessment and management among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with that of matched controls. METHODS: A matched cohort study was conducted using primary care electronic health records for one London borough. All patients diagnosed with RA or IBD, and matched controls registered with local general practices on 12th of January 2014 were identified. The study compared assessment and treatment of CV risk factors (blood pressure, body mass index, cholesterol and smoking) in the year before, the year after, and 5 years after RA and IBD diagnosis. RESULTS: A total of 1121 patients with RA and 1875 patients with IBD were identified and matched with 4282 and, respectively, 7803 controls. Patients with RA were 25% (incidence rate ratio, 1.25, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.35) more likely to have a CV risk factor measured compared with matched controls. The difference declined to 8% (1.08, 1.04 to 1.14) over 5 years of follow-up. The corresponding figures for IBD were 26% (1.26, 1.16 to 1.38) and 10% (1.10, 1.05 to 1.15). Patients with RA showed higher antihypertensive prescription rates during 5 years of follow-up (OR, 1.37, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.65) and patients with IBD showed higher statin prescription rates in the year preceding diagnosis (2.30, 1.20 to 4.42). Incomplete CV risk assessment meant that QRISK scores could be calculated for less than a fifth (17%) and clinical recording of CV disease (CVD) risk scores among patients with RA and IBD was 11% and 6%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The assessment and treatment of vascular risk in patients with RA and IBD in primary care is suboptimal, particularly with reference to CVD risk score calculation.

Patterns of anti-inflammatory drug use and risk of dementia: a matched case-control study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is limited primary-care-based evidence about a potential association between anti-inflammatory therapy and dementia subtypes. The present study addressed this limitation by using electronic health records from a large primary care database. METHOD: A case-control study was implemented using electronic medical records. Cases had a diagnosis of dementia between 1992 and 2014. Up to four controls matched on age, gender, family practice and index date were selected for each case. Use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and glucocorticoid drugs represented the exposure variables. Primary outcome measures included all-cause dementia and main dementia subtypes, including Alzheimer disease (AD), vascular dementia (VaD) and Lewy body dementia (LBD). Data were analysed using conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: The study identified 31,083 patients with AD, 23,465 with VaD and 1694 with LBD. Ever-used NSAIDs were associated with a modest increase in the risk of all-cause dementia (odds ratio 1.04, 95% confidence interval 1.02-1.05, P < 0.006), whilst no association was apparent for ever-used glucocorticoids (0.98, 0.96-1.01, P = 0.152). There was no evidence for an association between NSAIDs and AD (1.03, 0.99-1.06, P = 0.07) or LBD (1.13, 0.99-1.29, P = 0.08). However, a significant increase in the risk for VaD (1.33, 1.29-1.38, P < 0.001) was observed. Similar patterns emerged for glucocorticoid therapy. CONCLUSION: In a large primary care population, there was no robust evidence for a potential association between anti-inflammatory drugs and risk of AD or LBD. NSAIDs and glucocorticoid drugs were associated with higher risk of VaD.

Leisure-time physical activity over the life course and cognitive functioning in late mid-adult years: a cohort-based investigation.

BACKGROUND: The objective of the present study was to estimate the association between different leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) parameters from 11 to 50 years and cognitive functioning in late mid-adulthood. METHOD: The study used a prospective birth cohort study including participants in the UK National Child Development Study (NCDS) from age 11 to 50 years. Standardized z scores for cognitive, memory and executive functioning at age 50 represented the primary outcome measures. Exposures included self-reported LTPA at ages 11, 16, 33, 42, 46 and 50 years. Analyses were adjusted for important confounders including educational attainment and long-standing illness. RESULTS: The adjusted difference in cognition score between women who reported LTPA for at least 4 days/week in five surveys or more and those who never reported LTPA for at least 4 days/week was 0.28 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.20-0.35], 0.10 (95% CI 0.01-0.19) for memory score and 0.30 (95% CI 0.23-0.38) for executive functioning score. For men, the equivalent differences were: cognition 0.12 (95% CI 0.05-0.18), memory 0.06 (95% CI -0.02 to 0.14) and executive functioning 0.16 (95% CI 0.10-0.23). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides novel evidence about the lifelong association between LTPA and memory and executive functioning in mid-adult years. Participation in low-frequency and low-intensity LTPA was positively associated with cognitive functioning in late mid-adult years for men and women. The greatest benefit emerged from participating in lifelong intensive LTPA.

Validity of cancer diagnosis in a primary care database compared with linked cancer registrations in England. Population-based cohort study.

AIMS: The present study aimed to evaluate the validity of cancer diagnoses and death recording in a primary care database compared with cancer registry (CR) data in England. METHODS: The eligible cohort comprised 42,556 participants, registered with English general practices in the General Practice Research Database (GPRD) that consented to CR linkage. CR and primary care records were compared for cancer diagnosis, date of cancer diagnosis and death. Read and ICD cancer code sets were reviewed and agreed by two authors. RESULTS: There were 5216 (91% of CR total) cancer events diagnosed in both sources. There were 494 (9%) diagnosed in CR only and 213 (4%) that were diagnosed in GPRD only. The predictive value of a GPRD cancer diagnosis was 96% for lung cancer, 92% for urinary tract cancer, 96% for gastro-oesophageal cancer and 98% for colorectal cancer. 'False negative' primary care records were sometimes accounted for by registration end dates being shortly before cancer diagnosis dates. The date of cancer diagnosis was median 11 (interquartile range -6 to 30) days later in GPRD compared with CR. Death records were consistent for the two sources for 3337/3397 (99%) of cases. CONCLUSION: Recording of cancer diagnosis and mortality in primary care electronic records is generally consistent with CR in England. Linkage studies must pay careful attention to selection of codes to define eligibility and timing of diagnoses in relation to beginning and end of record.

Foster care, residential care and public care placement patterns are associated with adult life trajectories: population-based cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Childhood experiences of public care may be associated with adult psychosocial outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the associations of four public care exposures: type of placement, length of placement, age at admission to care and number of placements, as well as the reasons for admission to public care with emotional and behavioural traits at age 30 years. METHODS: Participants included 10,895 respondents at the age 30 survey of the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) who were not adopted and whose care history was known. Analyses were adjusted for individual, parental and family characteristics in childhood. RESULTS: Cohort members with a public care experience presented lower childhood family socio-economic status compared with those in the no public care group. After adjusting for confounding, exposure to both foster and residential care, longer placements and multiple placements were associated with more extensive adult emotional and behavioural difficulties. Specifically, residential care was associated with increased risk of adult criminal convictions (OR = 3.09, 95% CI: 2.10-4.55) and depression (1.81, 1.23-2.68). Multiple placements were associated with low self-efficacy in adulthood (OR = 3.57, 95% CI: 2.29, 5.56). Admission to care after the age of 10 was associated with increased adult criminal convictions (OR = 6.03, 95% CI: 3.34-10.90) and smoking (OR = 3.32, 95% CI: 1.97-5.58). CONCLUSION: Adult outcomes of childhood public care reflect differences in children's experience of public care. Older age at admission, multiple care placements and residential care may be associated with worse outcomes.

Cross-country variation in sleep disturbance among working and older age groups: an analysis based on the European Social Survey.

BACKGROUND: Sleep disturbance is a common complaint in the general population. There is, however, little cross-national comparative evidence on the prevalence of sleep disturbance and its association with age. METHODS: Cross-sectional data from the third wave of the European Social Survey were used to compare both the prevalence of sleep disturbances and its relationship to age among 27,103 respondents over the age of 40 years from 23 European countries. The outcome measures for the study were based on the proportion of respondents reporting restless sleep over the past week and percentage change in the reporting of restless sleep between the 41-65 age group and the 66 and over age group. RESULT: The prevalence rate of sleep disturbance varied between and within age groups, as well as between the 23 European countries. Depressive symptoms (OR = 4.14), anxiety (OR = 2.80), and general health (OR = 1.52) were the strongest correlates of sleep disturbance among both the 41-65 age group and the over 66 age group. The highest positive correlation with change in restless sleep reports occurred with respect to health deterioration. Satisfaction with living standards showed the strongest negative association with change in restless sleep reports. CONCLUSION: There is considerable variation in reports of sleep disturbance across different European countries. Being in an older age group appears to be associated with worsening sleep, though not always. Different patterns of sleep disturbance seem to indicate the considerable variability of the aging experience across Europe.

Do adult emotional and behavioural outcomes vary as a function of diverse childhood experiences of the public care system?

BACKGROUND: Longitudinal data from the 1970 British Cohort Study were used to examine the long-term adult outcomes of those who, as children, were placed in public care. METHOD: Multivariate logistic estimation models were used to determine whether public care and placement patterns were associated with adult psychosocial outcomes. Seven emotional and behavioural outcomes measured at age 30 years were considered: depression, life dissatisfaction, self-efficacy, alcohol problems, smoking, drug abuse, and criminal convictions. RESULTS: The analyses revealed a significant association between public care status and adult maladjustment on depression [odds ratio (OR) 1.74], life dissatisfaction (OR 1.45), low self-efficacy (OR 1.95), smoking (OR 1.70) and criminal convictions (OR 2.13). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the present study findings suggest that there are enduring influences of a childhood admission to public care on emotional and behavioural adjustment from birth to adulthood. Some of the associations with childhood public care were relatively strong, particularly with respect to depression, self-efficacy and criminal convictions.