Mechanisms by which childhood personality traits influence adult health status: Educational attainment and healthy behaviors.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to test a life span health behavior model in which educational attainment and health behaviors (eating habits, smoking, and physical activity) were hypothesized as mechanisms to account for relations between teacher ratings of childhood personality traits and self-reported health status at midlife. Design: The model was tested on 1,054 members of the Hawaii Personality and Health cohort, which is a population-based cohort participating in a longitudinal study of personality and health spanning 40 years from childhood to midlife. Outcome: Childhood Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Intellect-Imagination influenced adult health status indirectly through educational attainment, healthy eating habits, and smoking. Several direct effects of childhood traits on health behaviors and health status were also observed. Conclusion: The model extends past associations found between personality traits and health behaviors or health status by identifying a life-course pathway based on the health behavior model through which early childhood traits influence adult health status. The additional direct effects of personality traits indicate that health behavior mechanisms may not provide a complete account of relations between personality and health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

'Public health status and perspectives' 1997. II. Developments in health status]

As a part of the report 'Public health status and forecasts' 1997 recent developments in the health status of the Dutch population and its determinants are described. Developments until the year 2015 are forecast on the basis of expected demographic and epidemiologic trends, according to expert opinions. Important findings are the unfavourable trends in lifestyle factors in adolescents and the expected increase by 25-60% in 2015 of the prevalence of diseases of old age like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, dementia, chronic nonspecific lung diseases, visual and hearing impairments and diseases of the locomotor system.     

Educational attainment and transitions in functional status among older Taiwanese

Moderating effects of meal composition on psychomotor performance impairment and feelings after alcohol were examined in a between-subjects design. Fifty-one male volunteers fasted or received either a high carbohydrate (85% energy) or a high protein (94% energy) meal. Alcohol was administered at a dose to achieve a blood alcohol level (BAL) of 60 mg/100 ml, as a placebo. Subjects performed a dual task of primary tracking and secondary reaction time and a five-choice reaction time task. Feelings were also assessed by rating. The high carbohydrate meal reduced BAL at peak and 2 h after drinking, but a high protein meal had no significant effect. Although performance was impaired by alcohol, neither meal significantly reduced impairment and there was no effect of meal type on performance in the placebo condition. However, alcohol increased rated intoxication and the high carbohydrate meal reduced this effect. Subjects who had consumed high protein meals had more negative affect 2 h after alcohol than did subjects who had consumed high carbohydrate meals or fasted. It is concluded that there is only a weak relationship between BAL and performance impairment and food has only limited effects on impairment, although it reduces BAL.     

Rural women. Lifestyle and health status

This article presented a "snapshot" of the concerns and issues confronting America's rural women. The discussion highlighted demographic, economic, and sociocultural factors that impact the health status of women living in diverse rural environments. Recommendations were proposed to assist nurses to better address the health concerns of these women.     

Preventive health practices and perceived health status among women over 50

Changes in the immunoreactivity of laminin have been demonstrated in a variety of tissues undergoing injury-regeneration process and during nephrogenesis. Studies in vitro revealed that laminin is important in many cellular functions such as growth, differentiation, and cell communication. This study examined the changes of laminin in the extracellular matrix (ECM) of proximal straight tubules (PST) in the outer stripe of the outer medulla after renal ischemia, an area where most morphological damage occurred. Anesthetized male Sprague-Dawley adult rats underwent a 30-min temporary occlusion of the left renal artery. The inulin clearance (Cin) of the postischemic left kidneys was significantly decreased at 30 min, 1 day, 2 days, and 5 days after the injury, and at 7 and 10 days after the injury it rose to a level not significantly different from the sham-operated controls. Using immunogold electron microscopy, the density of immunoreactive laminin (gold-conjugated laminin grains/micron2 ECM area) in PST where flattened PST cells were present was decreased at 1 day and 2 days, and at 5 days, a time when the renal function was still depressed, it returned to a level not significantly different from that in controls. These changes were not observed in those PST or proximal convoluted tubules in which morphology was intact. Further studies are needed to determine if these changes in laminin of damaged PST cells have any significant role during their recovery from the ischemic injury.     

Women's health status and gender inequality in China

This paper examines the health status of women in China by reviewing levels and trends of female mortality at several phases of a woman's life cycle focusing on infancy girlhood, childbearing and old age. The mortality rates of Chinese women and men are compared for the period 1950-1990 as are comparisons with women in selected countries. The cause-specific death rate, expressed as a percentage of all deaths, and the burden of disease, measured in terms of the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), are used to reflect the changing patterns of female diseases and causes of deaths. Significant improvement in the health status of Chinese women since 1950 is widely acknowledged as a major achievement for a developing country with the largest population in the world, but the differentials in women's health by region and urban/rural areas are considerable. The Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI) indicates that the overall level of physical well-being of Chinese women has increased in recent decades, but disparity in health between men and women still exists. The Gender-Related Development Index (GDI) further reveals that China has achieved significant progress in women's health during the past four decades, but far less has been achieved with respect to gender equality overall. The final sections of the paper focus on the discussion of some health problems faced by the female population during the process of economic reform since the 1980 s. In order to promote gender equality between women and men, concerns on women's health care needs are highlighted.     

Prevalence of Porphyromonas gingivalis and periodontal health status

Periodontitis is a common, progressive disease that eventually affects the majority of the population. The local destruction of periodontitis is believed to result from a bacterial infection of the gingival sulcus, and several clinical studies have provided evidence to implicate Porphyromonas gingivalis. If P. gingivalis is a periodontal pathogen, it would be expected to be present in most subjects with disease and rarely detected in subjects with good periodontal health. However, in most previous studies, P. gingivalis has not been detected in the majority of subjects with disease, and age-matched, periodontally healthy controls were not included for comparison. The purpose of the study reported here was to compare the prevalence of P. gingivalis in a group with periodontitis to that of a group that is periodontally healthy. A comprehensive sampling strategy and a sensitive PCR assay were used to maximize the likelihood of detection. The target sequence for P. gingivalis-specific amplification was the transcribed spacer region within the ribosomal operon. P. gingivalis was detected in only 25% (46 of 181) of the healthy subjects but was detected in 79% (103 of 130) of the periodontitis group (P < 0.0001). The odds ratio for being infected with P. gingivalis was 11.2 times greater in the periodontitis group than in the healthy group (95% confidence interval, 6.5 to 19.2). These data implicate P. gingivalis in the pathogenesis of periodontitis and suggest that P. gingivalis may not be a normal inhabitant of a periodontally healthy dentition.     

Family status and self-reported health in West Germany

This paper describes an active learning-based education tool which enables dental students to learn preventive techniques relevant to patient dental health behaviour. 2 studies were conducted involving 33, 2nd year (study 1) and 9, 3rd year (study 2) undergraduate dental students. In study 1, snacking behaviour and its antecedents were analysed from detailed 3-day diet diaries completed by the students. Study 2 entailed the students changing one aspect of their sugar/diet behaviour using self-management techniques. It is concluded that dental students can successfully (a) identify antecedents to sugar snacking behaviours on several levels, i.e., cognitive, emotional and situational, (b) set goals and use behaviour change techniques to modify these behaviours, and (c) appreciate that this experience is relevant to similar preventive techniques that they will use in clinical practice. Training in the application of these skills to their own maladaptive behaviours provides a strong educational tool based on psycho-educational theories.     

Beyond status: Relating status inequality to performance and health in teams.

Status structures in organizations are ubiquitous yet largely ignored in organizational research. We offer a conceptualization of team status inequality, or the extent to which status positions on a team are dispersed. Status inequality is hypothesized to be negatively related to individual performance and physical health for low-status individuals when uncooperative behavior is high. Trajectories of the outcomes across time are also explored. Analyses using multilevel modeling largely support our hypotheses in a sample of National Basketball Association players across six time points from 2000 to 2005. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A taxonomy of health status instruments

Clinicians and policymakers are recognizing the importance of measuring health related quality of life (HRQL) to inform patient management and policy decisions. Self or interviewer administered questionnaires can be used to measure cross sectional differences in quality of life between patients at a point in time (discriminative instruments) or longitudinal changes in HRQL within patients over time (evaluative instruments). Both discriminative and evaluative instruments must be valid (really measuring what they are supposed to measure) and have a high ratio of signal to noise (reliability and responsiveness, respectively). Reliable discriminative instruments are able to reproducibly differentiate between persons. Responsive evaluative measures are able to detect important changes in HRQL over time, even if those changes are small. HRQL should be interpretable--that is, clinicians and policymakers must be able to identify differences in scores that correspond to trivial, small, moderate, and large differences. Two basic approaches to quality of life measurement are available: generic instruments that attempt to provide a summary of health related quality of life; and specific instruments that focus on problems associated with individual disease states, patient groups, or areas of function. Generic instruments include health profiles and instruments that generate health utilities. The approaches are not mutually exclusive. Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses and may be suitable under different circumstances. Investigations in HRQL have led to instruments suitable for detecting minimally important effects in clinical trials, measuring the health of populations, and for providing information for policy decisions.     

'Public health status and perspectives' 1997. IV. Health status and life expectancy weighted

The construction of composite measures of population health status meets the need to combine data on mortality and morbidity into one single population health index. Such indices can serve in principle to monitor population health status over time, or as support for the allocation of resources. In the framework of the 'Dutch public health status and forecasts report' for 1997 several calculations, new for the Netherlands, are made along the lines of both the 'health expectancy and the 'disability-adjusted life years' (DALY) concepts.     

Home dampness and respiratory health status in european children

BACKGROUND: Living in a damp home has been associated with impaired respiratory health in previous studies, but objective data on lung function variability and atopy have been lacking from most studies. OBJECTIVES: Data collected in the winter of 1993-1994 in the framework of the PEACE study (Pollution Effects on Asthmatic Children in Europe) were used to study the association between home dampness and Peak Flow (PEF) variability, frequency of respiratory symptoms and relief medication use during the period of observation. METHODS: Children were selected with a screening questionnaire on the basis of positive answers to questions on symptoms of asthma and chronic cough. Children were instructed to perform PEF measurements with Miniwright PEF meters twice daily over a period of 2 months. Parents kept diaries on respiratory symptoms and medication use of their children. Data on demographic and housing characteristics were derived from a parent-administered questionnaire. As indicators for home dampness reported moisture stains and moulds were used. Children were tested for atopy with skin-prick tests. Data from 1614 children from 13 centres in 10 different countries were available for analysis. Linear regression models and prevalence rate ratios were used to investigate the association between home dampness and PEF variability and the period prevalence of cough, phlegm, lower and upper respiratory symptoms and bronchodilator use. RESULTS: In atopic children, PEF variability was positively related to self-reported moulds but not to moisture stains. The period prevalence of cough and upper respiratory symptoms was significantly higher in children living in houses with reported moulds, compared with 'dry' homes. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that self-reported moulds in homes are associated with objective as well as subjective markers of airway lability in European children with chronic respiratory symptoms.     

Health for all: analyzing health status and determinants

Several clinical disorders are strongly influenced by hormones involved in appetite and weight regulation. Obesity and eating disorders are of major importance, because they are associated with severe morbidity and considered to be among the greatest health problems in the Western world today. This review describes recent findings in hormonal regulation of food intake by substances acting both centrally, such as corticotropin-releasing factor, neuropeptide Y and leptin, and peripherally, such as cholecystokinin and somatostatin. Sex hormones and glucocorticoids play an important role in long-term regulation of metabolism. The role of these hormones in appetite and weight changes during life as well as during pregnancy and lactation is discussed. Furthermore, the development of obesity and eating disorders is influenced, in particular, by steroid hormones. Treatment with sex hormones, as in hormone replacement therapy, affects appetite and weight and may have beneficial effects in preventing android obesity. Currently, there is great effort in developing endogenous neurohumoral substances into effective drugs for the treatment of obesity and eating disorders. Leptin and neuropeptide Y analogues are of interest as potential antiobesity agents.     

Constructing social metrics for health status indexes

The relationship between cellular (B-cell) responses and the development of casein-induced amyloidosis was explored. The main findings are: (1) B-cell abnormalities are more pronounced in amyloid susceptible CBA/J than in amyloid resistant A/J mice; these include increased mitogen responses to SIII, PI:C and DXS, and enhanced primary immune responses to T-independent antigens; (2) CBA/J amyloid spleen cell suspensions appear to be enriched with antibody dependent killer cells and precursors of antibody-forming cells; these abnormalities are not seen in casein treated A/J mice. This hitherto unrecognized proliferation of immunoblasts in casein-treated CBA/J animals raises the possibility that B cell-macrophage interaction may play an important role in the pathogenesis of amyloid disease.