How do Swedish day center attendees with psychiatric disabilities view their worker role? A structural equation modeling study

Abstract

Aim: To investigate how day center attendees with psychiatric disabilities perceived their worker role and the importance of current work situation and personal factors in that respect.

Methods: Two-hundred attendees completed the Worker Role Self-assessment and questionnaires addressing possible predictors of the worker role: current employment situation, satisfaction with that situation, and a personal factor (encompassing self-esteem, self-mastery and engagement). Structural equation modeling was used.

Results: A model indicated two worker role factors; belief in a future worker role (WR1) and current capacities and routines (WR2). WR1 was positively influenced by having a job, younger age and the personal factor. Satisfaction with current work situation (usually unemployment) was negatively associated with WR1. The personal factor was single predictor of WR2. The attendees rated WR2 more positively than WR1.

Conclusions: The personal factor was crucial for both WR1 and WR2. Work-related factors were only important for WR1. The more negative rating of belief in a future worker role may be interpreted as mistrust in the services. The attendees’ positive ratings of capacities indicate, however, that they had a rehabilitation potential to develop. Enhancing self-esteem, mastery and engagement may be an avenue for staff in efforts to support the attendee’s worker role.     

Peripheral blood leukocyte telomere length is associated with age but not renal function: A cross-sectional follow-up study

Objectives

We aimed to evaluate the relationship between baseline renal function and changes in telomere length in Han Chinese.

Methods

The telomere restriction fragment (TRF) length of leukocytes in the peripheral blood was measured in healthy volunteers recruited in 2014. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated based on serum creatinine (Scr) and serum cystatin C (CysC)-eGFRcys and eGFRScr-cys through the Cockcroft-Gault formula (eGFRC-G) or the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI / eGFRCKD-EPI) equation. The correlation between telomere length changes over time and renal function was analyzed.

Results

Leukocyte TRF lengths were negatively correlated to age (r = -0.393, p < 0.001) and serum CysC (r = -0.180, p < 0.01), while positively associated with eGFRCKD-EPI, eGFRC-G, eGFRcys, and eGFRScr-cys (r = 0.182, 0.122, 0.290, and 0.254 respectively, p < 0.01). The 3-year change of telomere length was 46 bp/years. When adjusted for age, the associations between telomere length changes and baseline, subsequent TRF lengths, and serum CysC were no longer present. No association was observed between TRF length changes and renal function.

Conclusion

The rate of telomere length changes was affected by age and baseline telomere length. The telomere length changes might be important markers for aging.

     

Trends der Lungenkrebsinzidenz nach histologischem Subtyp bei Männern und Frauen in Deutschland

Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz - Beim Lungenkrebs werden verschiedene histologische Subtypen unterschieden. Im Wesentlichen sind dies das kleinzellige Karzinom,...     

Psychological effects of belonging to a Facebook weight management group in overweight and obese adults: Results of a randomised controlled trial

This study was conducted to test whether the weight outcomes in an online social networking group were mediated by changes to psychological outcome measures in overweight and obese individuals, following a weight management programme delivered via Facebook. The data analysed in this study were collected during a three‐armed, randomised, controlled clinical weight management trial conducted with overweight and obese adults over 24 weeks. Two intervention groups were given the same weight management programme: one within a Facebook group, along with peer support from other group members (the Facebook Group); the other group received the same programme in a pamphlet (the Pamphlet Group). A Control Group was given standard care. The primary outcome was weight; secondary outcomes included the following domains from self‐reported questionnaires: energy intake and expenditure; psychological health, social relationships, physical health, quality of life, depression, anxiety, stress, health anxiety, happiness, as well as Facebook Group participants’ opinion of this group. The Facebook Group experienced a reduction in their baseline weight measurement by week 24, significantly compared to the Control Group (p = .016). The Facebook Group recorded a significant increase in the psychological health domain during the trial (at week 12) relative to their baseline measurement, and significant compared to the Control Group (p = .022). Mediation analysis indicated a statistical trend, but not statistical significance, for psychological health as a mediator to weight loss in the Facebook Group. While both intervention groups showed significant changes in psychological outcome measures, the Facebook Group was the only group to experience statistically significant weight loss by the end of the 24 weeks. Therefore, an examination of other psychological and/or behavioural outcome measures undertaken in larger studies in the future may help to identify significant mediators to improved weight loss outcomes in online social networking groups.     

A rapid diagnosis of anaerobic infection in the oro-maxillary region by gas-liquid chromatography

The relationship between volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in pus and infecting bacterial species was examined in order to establish a rapid identification system for anaerobic microorganisms in purulent inflammation in the oro-maxillary region. VFAs were detected by the direct injection of pus into gas-liquid chromatography (GLC). Bacterial examination was carried out by anaerobic culture using blood agar plates. The bacterial identification was carried out mainly according to the VPI manual. Analysis of the direct VFA patterns of each sample resulted in 5 groups. The following bacterial species were the main isolates in each group: Streptococcus intermedius in Group A, Peptostreptococcus micros in Group B, Fusobacterium nucleatum in Group C, Bacteroides gingivalis in Group D, and Peptostreptococcus anaerobius in Group E. The profile of VFAs produced in the PYG culture medium of the above isolated bacteria was compared with the direct VFA patterns. Agreement ratios between direct and PYG VFA patterns were as follows: Group A, 47.1%; Groups B and C, 45.0%; Group D, 87.5%; and Group E, 62.9%. The acetic acid concentration was more than 14 x 10(-4) meq/ml in Group B, the butyric acid concentration was more than 7 x 10(-4) meq/ml in Group C, and the iso-caproic acid concentration was more than 14 x 10(-4) meq/ml in Group E. In these cases, it was found that the agreement ratios between the direct and PYG FVA pattern were high. In Group D, irrespective of the concentration of iso-valeric acid detected, the agreement ratio was very high. The antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates was studied. Efficiency rates of ABPC, PIPC, CCL, CEZ, CMZ, SBT/CPZ, JM, CLDM, MINO and GM were relatively low and resistant rates were high for the gram-negative rods.     

Angiolipoma of the tongue: report of a case

Angiolipoma is a rare variety of lipoma in the maxillofacial region. Only eight cases have been documented so far. A case in which an angiolipoma occurred within the tongue of a 49-year-old man is described here. The difference from earlier cases occurring in the tongue is noted. Close follow-up has, as yet, revealed no recurrence.