Do Diet and Dietary Supplements Mitigate Clinical Outcomes in COVID-19?

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a pandemic and upheaval that health authorities and citizens around the globe are still grappling with to this day. While public health measures, vaccine development, and new therapeutics have made great strides in understanding and managing the pandemic, there has been an increasing focus on the potential roles of diet and supplementation in disease prevention and adjuvant treatment. In the literature, the impact of nutrition on other respiratory illnesses, including the common cold, pneumonia, and influenza, has been widely demonstrated in both animal and human models. However, there is much less research on the impact related to COVID-19. The present study discusses the potential uses of diets, vitamins, and supplements, including the Mediterranean diet, glutathione, zinc, and traditional Chinese medicine, in the prevention of infection and severe illness. The evidence demonstrating the efficacy of diet supplementation on infection risk, disease duration, severity, and recovery is mixed and inconsistent. More clinical trials are necessary in order to clearly demonstrate the contribution of nutrition and to guide potential therapeutic protocols.     

Optimizing Assessment of Risk and Protection for Diverse Adolescent Outcomes: Do Risk and Protective Factors for Delinquency and Substance Use Also Predict Risky Sexual Behavior?

Prevention Science - Assessments of youth risk and protective factors (RPFs) for substance use, delinquency, and violence have been used by communities to identify priorities and target them with...     

Choice of Care for Minor Trauma: Hospital or General Practice?

This paper analyses the question whether minor trauma shouldbe treated in hospital or general practice. It shows what kindof data are necessary and that this data can be obtained fromdifferent countries, with basic similarities in their healthcare system. In a period of tight budgets there is a tendencyto focus on a narrow economic analysis. This article, however,shows the complexity of the simple question of where minor traumashould be treated and stresses other important aspects whichshould supplement an economic analysis. These aspects are illustratedwith data from different investigations in Denmark and the UnitedKingdom.     

Do Social and Behavioral Characteristics Targeted by Preventive Interventions Predict Standardized Test Scores and Grades?

This study assessed whether characteristics of individuals that are predictors of youth problem behavior such as substance use, delinquency, and violence also predict academic achievement. Longitudinal data from 576 students participating in the Raising Healthy Children (RHC) project were analyzed. The RHC project is a study of students recruited from a suburban Pacific Northwest school district. Tenth-grade academic achievement was measured by scores on a standardized test administered to students in Washington State (as part of compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act) and by student self-report of grades. Measures of social and behavioral characteristics at seventh grade were based on data from student, parent, and teacher surveys. Researchers assessed overall correlations between 7th-grade predictors and 10th-grade academic achievement as well as partial correlations adjusted for demographic characteristics and scores on an earlier achievement test, the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, in 4th grade. Results indicated that higher levels of school bonding and better social, emotional, and decision-making skills were related to higher test scores and higher grades. Lower test scores and lower grades were predicted by elevated levels of attention problems, negative behavior of peers, and disruptive and aggressive behavior. Lower test scores also were predicted by early use of alcohol and cigarettes. These findings support the premise that school-based social development interventions that address specific risk factors, curb early manifestations of antisocial behavior, and promote school bonding and social and emotional skills are likely to improve student academic achievement.     

Do We Practice What We Preach? A Review of Actual Clinical Practice with Regards to Preconception Care Guidelines

Objectives: To review what past studies have found with regard to existing clinical practices and approaches to providing preconception care. Methods: A literature review between 1966 and September 2005 was performed using Medline. Key words included preconception care, preconception counseling, preconception surveys, practice patterns, pregnancy outcomes, prepregnancy planning, and prepregnancy surveys. Results: There are no current national recommendations that fully address preconception care; as a result, there is wide variability in what is provided clinically under the rubric of preconception care. Conclusions: In 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sponsored a national summit regarding preconception care and efforts are underway to develop a uniform set of national recommendations and guidelines for preconception care. Understanding how preconception care is presently incorporated and manifested in current medical practices should help in the development of these national guidelines. Knowing where, how, and why some specific preconception recommendations have been successfully adopted and translated into clinical practice, as well as barriers to implementation of other recommendations or guidelines, is vitally important in developing an overarching set of national guidelines. Ultimately, the success of these recommendations rests on their ability to influence and shape women's health policy.     

Is Hypersexuality Dimensional? Evidence for the DSM-5 from General Population and Clinical Samples

Hypersexual Disorder is currently being considered for inclusion in the DSM-5. To inform this process, we investigated the latent structure of the hypersexuality construct using Meehl’s (1995) taxometric method. Data on sexual interests and behaviors were obtained from 2,101 general population males and females in Sweden and 716 male sex offenders from the United States. Taxometric analyses of self-report indicators of hypersexuality supported a dimensional interpretation of latent structure in both samples. These findings suggest that individual differences in hypersexuality are quantitative (matter of degree) rather than qualitative (difference in kind) in nature, at least when self-report data were used. This is another way of saying that hypersexuality is organized along a continuum of increasing sexual frequency and preoccupation, with clinical cases of hypersexuality falling at the upper end of the continuum or dimension. We conclude that the proposed inclusion of Hypersexual Disorder in the DSM-5 should acknowledge the lack of non-arbitrary breaks in the latent symptoms continuum which runs from very low to very high engagement in sexual behavior and preoccupation. The diagnostic threshold should therefore be decided from an analysis of external data on severity, comorbidity, and prognosis for individuals with sub-threshold and full diagnoses, respectively. Additionally, dimensional assessment of Hypersexual Disorder should be part of clinical diagnostic practice.     

How Do Early Psychosis Services Define and Operationalize the Duration of Untreated Psychosis?

The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research - Reducing the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is a key aim of early psychosis (EP) care. However, substantial variability in how the...     

Do Maternal Caregiver Perceptions of Childhood Obesity Risk Factors and Obesity Complications Predict Support for Prevention Initiatives Among African Americans?

Objectives African American maternal caregiver support for prevention of childhood obesity may be a factor in implementing, monitoring, and sustaining children’s positive health behaviors. However, little is known about how perceptions of childhood obesity risk factors and health complications influence caregivers’ support of childhood obesity prevention strategies. The objective of this study was to determine if childhood obesity risk factors and health complications were associated with maternal caregivers’ support for prevention initiatives. Methods A convenience sample of maternal caregivers (N?=?129, ages 22–65 years) completed the childhood obesity perceptions (COP) survey. A linear regression was conducted to determine whether perceptions about childhood obesity risk factors and subsequent health complications influenced caregivers’ support for prevention strategies. Results Caregivers’ perceptions of childhood obesity risk factors were moderate (M?=?3.4; SD?=?0.64), as were their perceptions of obesity-related health complications (M?=?3.3; SD?=?0.75); however, they perceived a high level of support for prevention strategies (M?=?4.2; SD?=?0.74). In the regression model, only health complications were significantly associated with caregiver support (β?=?0.348; p?<?0.004). Conclusions Childhood obesity prevention efforts should emphasize health complications by providing education and strategies that promote self-efficacy and outcome expectations among maternal caregivers.     

Do Help-Seeking Intentions During Early Adolescence Vary for Adolescents Experiencing Different Levels of Depressive Symptoms?

PurposeTo investigate whether help-seeking intentions for depressive symptoms vary for adolescents experiencing low, mild-to-moderate, and high levels of depressive symptoms.MethodsA total of 5,362 participants aged 12–14 years had completed the baseline assessment for a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of a universal intervention designed to reduce depressive symptoms among high school students. The participants reported their help-seeking intentions in response to a vignette describing an individual experiencing depressive symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of a minor depressive disorder. Standard measures were used to assess participants' level of depressive symptoms and perceived level of social support.ResultsLogistic regression models examined relationships between help-seeking intentions and levels of depression, after adjustment for demographic characteristics and perceived support. As compared with those with low levels of depressive symptoms, adolescents with high levels of symptoms reported less intention to seek help from friends (odds ratio [OR] = .42) or family members (OR = .29). They were also four times more likely to report that they would not seek help from anybody (OR = 4.55). A similar pattern was evident during comparisons of help-seeking intentions reported by adolescents with mild-to-moderate levels of depressive symptoms versus those with low levels of symptoms.ConclusionsTargeted and universal interventions need to encourage peers and family members to actively engage with young adolescents experiencing depressive symptoms rather than waiting for them to initiate help-seeking. This is particularly important for adolescents experiencing higher levels of depressive symptoms who may not initiate help-seeking themselves.     

A Framework for Estimating Causal Effects in Latent Class Analysis: Is There a Causal Link Between Early Sex and Subsequent Profiles of Delinquency?

Prevention scientists use latent class analysis (LCA) with increasing frequency to characterize complex behavior patterns and profiles of risk. Often, the most important research questions in these studies involve establishing characteristics that predict membership in the latent classes, thus describing the composition of the subgroups and suggesting possible points of intervention. More recently, prevention scientists have begun to adopt modern methods for drawing causal inference from observational data because of the bias that can be introduced by confounders. This same issue of confounding exists in any analysis of observational data, including prediction of latent class membership. This study demonstrates a straightforward approach to causal inference in LCA that builds on propensity score methods. We demonstrate this approach by examining the causal effect of early sex on subsequent delinquency latent classes using data from 1,890 adolescents in 11th and 12th grade from wave I of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Prior to the statistical adjustment for potential confounders, early sex was significantly associated with delinquency latent class membership for both genders (p?=?0.02). However, the propensity score adjusted analysis indicated no evidence for a causal effect of early sex on delinquency class membership (p?=?0.76) for either gender. Sample R and SAS code is included in an Appendix in the ESM so that prevention scientists may adopt this approach to causal inference in LCA in their own work.     

Does the “Stages of Change” Construct Predict Cross-Sectional and Temporal Variations in Dietary Behavior and Selected Indicators of Diabetes Risk Among Norwegian-Pakistani Women?

The aim of this study is to explore the association between motivational “stage” and intake of selected foods, and risk factors for diabetes; and what degree of attendance in an intervention that was necessary to show movements across the motivational “stages of change”. Participants (n = 198, aged 25–62 years) were randomly assigned into intervention and control. Data collection: Interviews with a structured questionnaire, anthropometric and biochemical assessments. Intake of several food items and blood parameters at baseline differed according to motivational stage. Those who participated in at least four group sessions in the intervention were more likely to show a positive move through the “stages of change”. Those in low motivational stages at baseline had benefitted just as much from the intervention as those in higher stages. Intake of several food items corresponded to the motivational “stage”. High attendance in the intervention was necessary for a positive move through “stages of change”.     

Is Longer Waiting Time for Total Knee Replacement Associated with Health Outcomes and Medication Costs? Randomized Clinical Trial

BackgroundThe aim of this prospective randomized study was to evaluate the effect of waiting time (WT) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), knee pain and physical function, and the use and costs of medication of patients awaiting total knee replacement.MethodsWhen placed on the waiting list, 438 patients were randomized into a short waiting time (SWT ≤ 3 months) or a nonfixed waiting time (NFWT > 3 months) group. HRQoL was measured by the 15D, and pain and physical function by modified Knee Society Clinical Rating System at baseline, admission, and 3 and 12 months postoperatively. The costs of medication due to osteoarthritis were calculated at the same measurement points. All analyses were performed using the intention-to-treat principle.ResultsThe mean WT was 94 and 239 days in the SWT and NFWT groups, respectively. Apart from higher weekly cost of medication in the SWT group at admission and better HRQoL in the NFWT group 1 year postoperatively, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups in other outcomes during the follow-up.ConclusionThose in the SWT group had higher weekly costs of medication at admission, and reached better HRQoL 3 months earlier than those in the NFWT group, but the latter had better HRQoL after operation. Otherwise, the length of WT was not associated with different health and HRQoL outcomes in the groups.     

The Use of Experiential Learning in an Occupational Therapy Program: Can it Foster Skills for Clinical Practice?

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the effectiveness of the integration of experiential learning opportunities near the end of the occupational therapy students’ didactic education. Using a pretest–post-test questionnaire, journaling, and feedback from a focus group, results suggested that there was a significant improvement in occupational therapy students’ self-perception of their ability to perform a multitude of occupational therapy-related skills. The development of professional skills was also seen in the provision of client-centered care during occupational therapy interventions. Although clinical reasoning skills were enhanced, results indicated that it had a large impact on the students’ professional growth and development.