scholarly journals Causal effect of tooth loss on depression: evidence from a population-wide natural experiment in the USA

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Matsuyama ◽  
H. Jürges ◽  
M. Dewey ◽  
S. Listl
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Tooth Loss ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Antidepressant Drugs ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Behavioral Risk ◽  
Oral Diseases ◽  
Instrumental Variable Analysis ◽  
Water Fluoride

Abstract Aims Depression severely affects people's health and well-being. Oral diseases have been suggested to be associated with depression, but so far, there is no causal evidence. This study aimed to identify the causal effect of tooth loss on depression among US adults in a natural experiment study. Methods Instrumental variable analysis was conducted using data from 169 061 respondents born in 1940–1978 who participated in the 2006, 2008 or 2010 waves of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Random variation in tooth loss due to differential childhood exposure to drinking water fluoride was exploited as an instrument. Results US adults who were exposed to drinking water fluoride in childhood had more remaining teeth, therefore providing a robust instrument (F = 73.4). For each additional tooth loss, depressive symptoms according to the eight-item Patient Health Questionnaire depression (PHQ-8) score increased by 0.146 (95% CI 0.008–0.284), and the probability of having clinical depression (PHQ ⩾10) increased by 0.81 percentage points (95% CI −0.12 to 1.73). Conclusions Tooth loss causally increased depression among US adults. Losing ten or more teeth had an impact comparable to adults with major depressive disorder not receiving antidepressant drugs.

Exploring how independent directors view CSR inequality using a quasi-natural experiment

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 1159-1172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viput Ongsakul ◽  
Napatsorn Jiraporn ◽  
Pornsit Jiraporn
Keyword(s):  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Independent Directors ◽  
Board Independence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Instrumental Variable Analysis ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore corporate social responsibility (CSR) inequality, which is the inequality across different CSR categories. Higher inequality suggests a less balanced CSR policy. To determine if CSR inequality is beneficial or harmful, this paper investigates how independent directors view CSR inequality, using an exogenous regulatory shock introduced by the passage of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act. Design/methodology/approach To draw causality, this study relies on a quasi-natural experiment based on an exogenous regulatory shock that forced certain firms to raise board independence. This approach is significantly less vulnerable to endogeneity and is much more likely to show a causal effect. The results using propensity score matching, principal component analysis and instrumental-variable analysis are confirmed. Findings The difference-in-difference estimates show that independent directors view CSR inequality unfavorably. Specifically, board independence diminishes CSR inequality by approximately 34%-43%. Because the empirical strategy is based on a quasi-natural experiment, the results are more likely to show causality. The results also imply that CSR inequality is a crucially important aspect of CSR. Originality/value Although a substantial volume of research has examined CSR, one vital aspect of CSR has been largely unexplored. Filling this void in the literature, the CSR inequality is investigated. The study is the first to explore how independent directors view CSR inequality using a quasi-natural experiment.

scholarly journals Causal Effect of Tooth Loss on Functional Capacity in Older Adults in England: A Natural Experiment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuke Matsuyama ◽  
Stefan Listl ◽  
Hendrik Jürges ◽  
Richard G. Watt ◽  
Jun Aida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Functional Capacity ◽  
Tooth Loss ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Causal Effect

scholarly journals Does Happiness Improve Health? Evidence From a Randomized Controlled Trial

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 807-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kostadin Kushlev ◽  
Samantha J. Heintzelman ◽  
Lesley D. Lutes ◽  
Derrick Wirtz ◽  
Jacqueline M. Kanippayoor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Psychological Intervention ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Behavioral Risk ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance

Happier people are healthier, but does becoming happier lead to better health? In the current study, we deployed a comprehensive, 3-month positive psychological intervention as an experimental tool to examine the effects of increasing subjective well-being on physical health in a nonclinical population. In a 6-month randomized controlled trial with 155 community adults, we found effects of treatment on self-reported physical health—the number of days in the previous month that participants felt healthy or sick, as assessed by questions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Questionnaire. In a subsample of 100 participants, we also found evidence that improvements in subjective well-being over the course of the program predicted subsequent decreases in the number of sick days. Combining experimental and longitudinal methodologies, this work provides some evidence for a causal effect of subjective well-being on self-reported physical health.

scholarly journals Social Representations of Drinking Water in Schoolchildren and Parents from Two Schools in Zapopan, Mexico

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1871
Author(s):  
Alejandra María Corona-Romero ◽  
María Fernanda Bernal-Orozco ◽  
Gabriela Alejandra Grover-Baltazar ◽  
Barbara Vizmanos
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Functional Dimension ◽  
Health And Nutrition ◽  
Children And Parents ◽  
Unhealthy Diet ◽  
Practical Dimension

Childhood obesity and children being overweight has increased recently; although they are multi-causal problems, an unhealthy diet is a critical component. In Mexico, drinking water consumption in children from 9 to 18 years only reaches 30% of total fluid consumption. The aim of our study was to describe the social representations (SR) of drinking water in school-children and parents of two schools in Zapopan, Mexico. Associative free listing was used as an information gathering technique. Schoolchildren aged 8 to 12 years (n = 50) and parents (n = 23) from two elementary schools were selected by a convenience sampling from April to June 2015. A similarity analysis was performed using the co-occurrence index; with this, a similarity graph was obtained. Prototypical analysis was performed to explore the structure of the SR. Three dimensions were described in the children’s SR: a functional dimension related to health and nutrition, a practical dimension that describes the instruments used for its consumption, and a theoretical dimension that specifies the characteristics of water and its relationship with nature. In the parents’ SR, a functional dimension was also found; another dimension was described regarding the integral well-being that drinking water provides. A practical dimension describes the features related to its consumption. The investigation describes the structure of the water SR, which help to contextualize and explain the actions of schoolchildren and their parents regarding drinking water consumption.

The Causal Effect of Polls on Turnout Intention: A Local Randomization Regression Discontinuity Approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Pablo Brugarolas ◽  
Luis Miller
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Regression Discontinuity ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Causal Effect

Abstract This letter reports the results of a study that combined a unique natural experiment and a local randomization regression discontinuity approach to estimate the effect of polls on turnout intention. We found that the release of a poll increases turnout intention by 5%. This effect is robust to a number of falsification tests of predetermined covariates, placebo outcomes, and changes in the time window selected to estimate the effect. The letter discusses the advantages of the local randomization approach over the standard continuity-based design to study important cases in political science where the running variable is discrete; a method that may expand the range of empirical topics that can be analyzed using regression discontinuity methods.

scholarly journals Miserable Migrants? Natural Experiment Evidence on International Migration and Objective and Subjective Well-Being

2015 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 79-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Stillman ◽  
John Gibson ◽  
David McKenzie ◽  
Halahingano Rohorua
Keyword(s):  
International Migration ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being

scholarly journals The Impact of Teachers Unions on Teachers’ Well-Being Under Various Legal Institutions: Evidence From District–Teacher Matched Data

AERA Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 233285841986729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunice S. Han
Keyword(s):  
Multilevel Models ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Legal Environment ◽  
Legal Institutions ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Teachers Unions ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Matched Data ◽  
The Impact

This article examines how teachers unions affect teachers’ well-being under various legal institutions. Using a district–teacher matched data set, this study identifies the union effects by three approaches. First, I contrast teacher outcomes across different state laws toward unions. Second, I compare the union–nonunion differentials within the same legal environment, using multilevel models and propensity score matching. Finally, unexpected legal changes restricting the collective bargaining of teachers in four states form a natural experiment, allowing me to use the difference-in-difference estimation to identify the causal effect of weakening unionism on teacher outcomes. I find that (a) many teachers join unions even when bargaining is rarely or never available, and meet-and-confer or union membership rate affects teachers’ lives in the absence of a bargaining contract; (b) how unions influence teacher outcomes vary greatly by different legal environment; and (c) the changes in public policy limiting teachers’ bargaining rights significantly decrease teacher compensation.

scholarly journals Do Socioeconomic Conditions Explain Ethnic Inequalities in Tooth Loss among US Adults?

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 201
Author(s):  
Fatma W. Nazer ◽  
Wael Sabbah
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Differences ◽  
Tooth Loss ◽  
Family Income ◽  
The United States ◽  
Outcome Variable ◽  
Behavioral Risk ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Ethnic Inequalities

<p class="Pa7"><strong>Objective: </strong>To assess whether there are ethnic differences in tooth loss among adult Americans aged &lt;40 years and whether socioeconomic position attenuates these differences if they exist.</p><p class="Pa7"><strong>Methods: </strong>Data were from the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a health-related telephone cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of US adults. Tooth loss (one tooth or more) was used as the outcome variable. Ethnicity was the main explanatory variable. Family income, education and health insurance were also used in the analysis. Logistic regression models for tooth loss were constructed adjusting for demographic (age, sex, and ethnicity), socioeconomic indica­tors (income and education), health insur­ance, dental visits, smoking and diabetes.</p><p class="Pa7"><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 76,273 participants were included in the analysis. The prevalence of tooth loss was highest among Blacks (33.7%). Hispanics and other ethnic groups had a higher prevalence of tooth loss than Whites, 29.1% (95%CI: 27.7-30.6), 22.0% (95%CI: 20.3-23.8), and 20.8% (95%CI: 20.2-21.4), respectively. Blacks had odds ra­tios (OR) 1.98 (95%CI: 1.81-2.16) for tooth loss compared with Whites. After adjusting for socioeconomic positions (SEP), the rela­tionship attenuated but remained significant with OR 1.71 (95%CI: 1.55-1.90).</p><p class="Default"><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Despite recent changes in the health care system in the United States, ethnic inequalities in tooth loss still exist. Income and education partially explained ethnic differences in tooth loss among Americans aged &lt;40 years.</p><p class="Default"><em>Ethn Dis. </em>2018;28(3):201-206; doi:10.18865/ ed.28.3.201</p>

scholarly journals Use of probiotic bacteria to selectively modulate Candida albicans virulence in biofilms

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (7A) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Cummins ◽  
Megan Hughes ◽  
Julian Marchesi ◽  
Daniel Morse
Keyword(s):  
Candida Albicans ◽  
Cell Damage ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Oral Bacteria ◽  
Oral Diseases ◽  
Mixed Species ◽  
Pathogenic Potential ◽  
Virulence Gene Expression ◽  
Probiotic Strains

Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen present in the oral cavities of up to two-thirds of people. Despite typically existing as a commensal microorganism, it has pathogenic potential, particularly in older, immunocompromised individuals. A common Candida-associated infection is denture-associated stomatitis (DS), which presents clinically as areas of erythema on the palatal mucosa, and discomfort for the denture-wearer. In vitro, previous work has shown that the expression of C. albicans virulence factors varies according to its interactions with other oral microorganisms. Mature single- and mixed-species biofilms (with Candida and several strains of common oral bacteria) were grown on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) coupons, representing dentures. Additionally, to some coupons, individual probiotic strains were added. Total RNA was extracted, reverse transcribed and putative virulence gene expression was determined by RT-qPCR relative to ACT1, a housekeeping gene. Biofilm-infection assays of FADU and TR146 epithelial cell lines were also performed by pre-culturing cells, then adding single- or mixed-species inocula overnight. Quantification of cell damage determined by lactate dehydrogenase assay. Biofilm co-culture with the addition of certain probiotic strains downregulated C. albicans virulence genes in both short-term and long-term mixed-species biofilms. With an increasing aged population that is heavily reliant on the use of antibiotics that can negatively affect the microbiota of patients, there is a requirement to look at the benefits of prophylactics, from both an economic and patient well-being viewpoint. The results show the realistic possibility of using probiotics to prevent or restrict development of Candida-associated oral diseases.

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