This study aims to determine health-related quality of life (QoL) and the related factors from the perspective of social determinants of health among children.

Childhood is the most intense period of life, and environmental factors surrounding children, as well as individual lifestyle factors, are related to the child’s physical and mental well-being. To our knowledge, there is a lack of studies evaluating the relationship between determinants of health and the QoL of healthy children in general.

This cross-sectional study was executed in the Bayrakli district of Izmir city. Stratified clustered sampling was used including 24 schools and 3367 7th-grade children, and 1284 students were targeted (50% prevalence, 95% CI, %5 margins of error, 2.25 design effect, and 20% replacement). The response rate was 84.9% (n = 1090). The Turkish KID-KINDL Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire for Children was used to assess QoL. Independent variables were examined in four layers using Dahlgren’s Determinants of Health Model: basic characteristics, lifestyle factors, family characteristics, and life conditions.

The mean QoL score was 71.3 ± 12.6. Our study explained 31.7% of the variance in QoL. Higher QoL scores were associated with better health status, perceived academic achievement, normal/thin body perception, physical activity (PA), and adequate sleep duration. Living with both parents and having fewer siblings positively influenced QoL. Moreover, the presence of structural problems in the household and poorer health perceptions were associated with lower QoL scores (P < 0.05) This study highlighted the multifaceted nature of QoL in Turkish children, revealing the importance of various determinants of health. The results show that in order to improve the general well-being of this population, interventions and policies are required that concentrate on elements including health status, academic accomplishment, body perception, physical activity, family structure, and living situations.

Identifying the correlates of mental health resilience (MHR)—defined as the discrepancy between one’s reported current mental health and one’s predicted mental health based on their physical performance—may lead to strategies to alleviate the burden of poor mental health in aging adults. Socioeconomic factors, such as income and education, may promote MHR via modifiable factors, such as physical activity and social networks.

A cross-sectional study was conducted. Multivariable generalized additive models characterized the associations between socioeconomic and modifiable factors with MHR.

Data were taken from the population-based Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), which collected data at various data collection sites across Canada.

Approximately 31,000 women and men between the ages of 45 and 85 years from the comprehensive cohort of the CLSA.

Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Physical performance was measured objectively using a composite of grip strength, sit-to-stand, and balance performance. Socioeconomic and modifiable factors were measured by self-report questionnaires.

Household income, and to a lesser extent, education were associated with greater MHR. Individuals reporting more physical activity and larger social networks had greater MHR. Physical activity accounted for 6% (95% CI: 4 to 11%) and social network accounted for 16% (95% CI: 11 to 23%) of the association between household income and MHR.

The burden of poor mental health in aging adults may be alleviated through targeted interventions involving physical activity and social connectedness for individuals with lower socioeconomic resources.

Educational attainment is a well-documented predictor of later-life cognition, but less is known about upstream contextual factors. This study aimed to identify which early-life contextual factors uniquely predict later-life global cognition and whether educational attainment mediates these relationships.

Participants were drawn from the Michigan Cognitive Aging Project (N = 485; Mage = 63.51; SDage = 3.13; 50% non-Hispanic Black). Early-life exposures included U.S. region of elementary school (Midwest, South, Northeast), average parental education, household composition (number of adults (1, 2, 3+), number of children), school racial demographics (predominantly White, predominantly Black, diverse), self-reported educational quality, and school type (public/private). Later-life global cognition was operationalized with a factor score derived from a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Sequential mediation models controlling for sociodemographics estimated total, direct, and indirect effects of early-life contextual factors on cognition through educational attainment (years).

Higher educational quality, higher parental education, and attending a private school were each associated with better cognition; attending a predominantly Black or diverse school and reporting three or more adults in the household were associated with lower cognition. After accounting for educational attainment, associations remained for educational quality, school type, and reporting three or more adults in the household. Indirect effects through educational attainment were observed for school region, educational quality, school racial demographics, and parental education.

School factors appear to consistently predict later-life cognition more than household factors, highlighting the potential long-term benefits of school-level interventions for cognitive aging. Future research should consider additional mediators beyond educational attainment such as neighborhood resources and childhood adversity.

The aim of this study was to assess variations in presentation and outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) across race/ethnicity at a large Texas metroplex hospital.

A retrospective cohort study was performed.

Although COVID-19 patients demonstrated significant socioeconomic disparities, race/ethnicity was not a significant predictor of intensive care unit (ICU) admission (P = 0.067) or case fatality (P = 0.078). Hospital admission varied by month, with incidence among Black/African-American and Hispanic/Latino patients peaking earlier in the pandemic timeline (P < 0.001). Patients reporting Spanish as their primary language were significantly more likely to be admitted to the ICU (odds ratio, 1.75; P = 0.007).

COVID-19 patients do not demonstrate significant racial/ethnic disparities in case fatality, suggesting that state-wide disparities in mortality rate are rooted in infection risk rather than hospital course. Variations in admission rates by race/ethnicity across the timeline and increased ICU admission among Spanish-speaking patients demonstrate the need to pursue tailored interventions on both a community and structural level to mitigate further health disparities throughout the pandemic and after.

The aim of this study was to examine the incidence of food insecurity and affecting factors in households with children in Turkey during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

This is a cross-sectional study. The participants were recruited by the snowball sampling method, and the data were collected by means of a link sent to their smartphones through their social media accounts. This study included 211 households with at least 1 child.

The study revealed that 21.8% households had food insecurity that was not at the hunger threshold. The monthly income of 80.6% of the households was below the poverty line and monthly income decreased in more than half of the households during the pandemic. Food insecurity increased 2.5 times when the households comprised workers or self-employed individuals (odds ratio [OR] = 2.529; P = 0.002), increased 3 times when the monthly income of the households decreased (OR = 3.131; P = 0.000), and increased 2 times when total monthly income of the household fell below poverty line during the pandemic (OR = 2.001; P = 0.049).

It is determined that nearly half the households have food insecurity and that the pandemic poses a risk in terms of food security. We recommend that public health studies should be planned to ensure accessibility to healthy foods.

Socioeconomic risk factors may contribute to geographic variation in diseases, but studies are limited due to lack of large available cohorts.

A geographic analysis was performed of the association between socioeconomic risk factors and the distribution of vestibular schwannomas in adults diagnosed with sporadic vestibular schwannomas through the National Health Services in the West of Scotland from 2000 to 2015.

A total of 511 sporadic vestibular schwannomas were identified in a population of over 3.1 million. Prevalence of vestibular schwannomas were lowest in cases with good health (–0.64, 95 per cent confidence interval: –0.93,–0.38; p = 0.002) and level 1 qualifications (–0.562, 95 per cent confidence interval: –0.882 to –0.26; p = 0.01). However, these risk factors did not demonstrate consistent linearity of correlations. Prevalence was lower in people originating from European Union accession countries from April 2001 to March 2011 (–0.63, 95 per cent confidence interval: –0.84 to –0.43; p = 0.002). No correlation between distribution of vestibular schwannomas and socioeconomic risk factors met our threshold criteria (± 0.7).

This study demonstrated that there is little variation in distribution of vestibular schwannomas by socioeconomic risk factors.

Maternal antenatal anxiety is very common, and despite its short- and long-term effects on both mothers and fetus outcomes, it has received less attention than it deserves in scientific research and clinical practice. Therefore, we aimed to estimate the prevalence of state anxiety in the antenatal period, and to analyze its association with demographic and socioeconomic factors.

A total of 1142 pregnant women from nine Italian healthcare centers were assessed through the state scale of the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory and a clinical interview. Demographic and socioeconomic factors were also measured.

The prevalence of anxiety was 24.3% among pregnant women. There was a significantly higher risk of anxiety in pregnant women with low level of education (p < 0.01), who are jobless (p < 0.01), and who have economic problems (p < 0.01). Furthermore, pregnant women experience higher level of anxiety when they have not planned the pregnancy (p < 0.01), have a history of abortion (p < 0.05), and have children living at the time of the current pregnancy (p < 0.05).

There exists a significant association between maternal antenatal anxiety and economic conditions. Early evaluation of socioeconomic status of pregnant women and their families in order to identify disadvantaged situations might reduce the prevalence of antenatal anxiety and its direct and indirect costs.

This article assesses the nutritional status of Indigenous women from 14 to 49 years of age in Brazil.

Sample size was calculated for each region considering a prevalence of 50 % for all disease outcomes, a relative error of 5 % and a CI of 95 %. In the initial data analysis, the prevalence of excess weight and obesity was calculated according to independent variables. Multivariate multilevel hierarchical analyses were conducted based on a theoretical model of two ranked blocks.

The 2010 Indigenous population in Brazil was 896 000, with approximately 300 Indigenous ethnic groups, making Brazil one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the Americas and the world.

Of the total target sample of 6722 women evaluated by the National Survey, thirty did not participate, 939 were not eligible for analyses due to pregnancy or unknown pregnancy status, and thirty-nine were excluded due to missing anthropometric data.

The evaluation of nutritional status was completed for 5714 non-pregnant women (99·3 % of eligible participants for this outcome). High prevalence rates were encountered for both excess weight (46·2 %) and obesity (15·8 %) among the sampled women. In the multivariate analyses, higher socioeconomic indicators, market-integrated living conditions and less reliance on local food production, as well as increased age and parity were associated with excess weight and obesity.

Results point to distinct patterns of associations between socioeconomic indicators and the occurrence of excess weight and obesity among Indigenous women, which have potentially significant implications from a public policy perspective for Indigenous peoples in Brazil.

The evidence informing the management of cardiovascular risk in patients with psychiatric disorders is weak.

This cohort study used data from all patients, aged ≥ 30, registered in 140 primary care practices (n = 524,952) in London to estimate the risk of developing diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, tobacco consumption, obesity, and physical inactivity, between 2005 and 2015, for patients with a previous diagnosis of schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, bipolar or personality disorder. The role of antidepressants, antipsychotics and social deprivation in these associations was also investigated. The age at detection of cardiovascular risk factor was compared between patients with and without psychiatric disorders. Variables, for exposures and outcomes, defined from general practitioners records, were analysed using multivariate regression.

Patients with psychiatric disorders had an increased risk for cardiovascular risk factors, especially diabetes, with hazard ratios: 2.42 (2.20–2.67) to 1.31 (1.25–1.37), hyperlipidemia, with hazard ratios: 1.78 (1.60–1.97) to 1.25 (1.23–1.28), and obesity. Antidepressants, antipsychotics and social deprivation did not change these associations, except for smoking and physical inactivity. Antidepressants were associated with higher risk of diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia. Antipsychotics were associated with a higher risk of diabetes. Antidepressants and antipsychotics were associated with lower risk of other risk factors. Patients with psychiatric conditions have later detection of cardiovascular risk factors. The interpretation of these results should acknowledge the lower rates of detection of risk factors in mentally ill patients.

Cardiovascular risk factors require special clinical attention among patients with psychiatric disorders. Further research could study the effect of antidepressants and antipsychotics on cardiovascular risk factors.

The aim of this study was to investigate the basic preparedness of rural community pharmacies to continue operations during and immediately following a disaster.

In 2014, we conducted a telephone survey (N = 990) of community pharmacies in 3 rural areas: North Dakota/South Dakota, West Virginia, Southern Oregon/Northern California regarding whether they had a formal disaster/continuity plan, offsite data backup, emergency power generation, and/or had a certified pharmacy immunizer on staff. Logistic regression and chi square were performed using Stata 11.1.

Community pharmacies in rural areas (≤50.0 persons/mile2) were less likely to have emergency power (odds ratio [OR] = 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.32-1.07) or certified pharmacy immunizer on staff (OR = 0.47; 95% CI: 0.34-0.64). Pharmacies in lower income areas were less likely to have emergency power and offsite data backup or a formal disaster plan (OR = 0.70; 95% CI: 0.49-0.99) compared with pharmacies in higher income areas. Community pharmacies in areas of higher percent elderly population were less likely to have emergency power (OR = 0.54; 95% CI: 0.39-0.73), or certified pharmacy immunizer on staff (OR = 0.65; 95% CI: 0.47-0.91) compared with chain pharmacies in areas with lower percent elderly population.

Being in a rural, low-income, or high-elderly area was associated with lower likelihood of basic preparedness of community pharmacies.

Total laryngectomy is considered the primary treatment modality for advanced laryngeal carcinoma. This study assessed the quality of life in patients after total laryngectomy, and ascertained whether quality of life is affected by socioeconomic status.

Forty-seven patients (20 state- and 27 private-sector) who underwent total laryngectomy between 1998 and 2014 responded to the University of Washington Quality of Life Questionnaire, the Voice-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire and the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire.

Significant differences were found in socioeconomic status between state- and private-sector patients (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in overall quality of life between groups (p = 0.210). State-sector patients scored significantly higher Voice-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire scores (p = 0.043). Perception of illness did not differ significantly between groups.

Overall quality of life after total laryngectomy appears to be similar in patients from different socioeconomic backgrounds. However, patients from lower socioeconomic circumstances have better voice-related quality of life. The results illustrate the importance of including socioeconomic status when reporting voice outcomes in total laryngectomy patients.

To compare chronic suppurative otitis media prevalence in rural and urban primary school children in Bangladesh, and to determine its relationship with specific sociodemographic factors.

In this cross-sectional survey, 681 rural primary school children from Shibpur upazilla, Narsingdi district, and 964 urban primary school children from Dhaka Metropolitan City, underwent an ENT check-up by doctors trained in ENT. Their parents or guardians were interviewed with regard to their sociodemographic status and other related issues using a pre-tested protocol.

In this study, 6.02 per cent of the rural primary school children and 2.07 per cent of the urban primary school children had chronic suppurative otitis media. (Overall, 3.71 per cent of the children had the disorder.) The disorder was slightly more prevalent among girls than boys in both rural (6.05 vs 5.98 per cent) and urban (2.33 vs 1.82 per cent) communities. There was a significant association between the presence of chronic suppurative otitis media in children and: parents' or guardians' occupation and their annual income, housing type, family size, maternal education, and bathing habit.

Improvement of associated sociodemographic factors would reduce the prevalence and resultant complications of chronic suppurative otitis media in primary school children in developing countries.