scholarly journals Increased chronic disease prevalence among the younger generation: Findings from a population-based data linkage study to inform chronic disease ascertainment among reproductive-aged Australian women

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0254668
Author(s):  
Melissa L. Harris ◽  
Nicholas Egan ◽  
Peta M. Forder ◽  
Deborah Loxton

Background Chronic disease represents an ongoing public health challenge in Australia with women disproportionately affected and at younger ages compared to men. Accurate prevalence and ascertainment of chronic disease among women of reproductive age at the population level is essential for meeting the family planning and reproductive health challenges that chronic diseases pose. This study estimated the prevalence of chronic disease among younger Australian women of reproductive age, in order to ascertain key conditions that would benefit from targeted family planning support strategies. Methods and findings Population-level survey data from the 1973–78 and 1989–95 cohorts of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health were linked to health service use, pharmaceutical, cancer and cause of death data to ascertain the prevalence and chronic disease trends for ten chronic health conditions associated with poor maternal and foetal outcomes. Individual chronic disease algorithms were developed for each chronic disease of interest using the available linked datasets. Lifetime prevalence of chronic disease varied substantially based on each individual data source for each of the conditions of interest. When all data sources were considered, all conditions with the exception of mental health conditions were higher among women in the 1973–78 cohort. However, when focused on point prevalence at similar ages (approximately 25–30 years), the chronic disease trend for women in the 1989–95 cohort was substantially higher, particularly for mental health conditions (70.4% vs 23.6%), diabetes (4.5% vs 1.3%) and multimorbidity (17.9% vs 9.1%). Conclusions Given the low concordance between individual data sources, the use of multiple data sources are recommended for chronic disease research focused on women of reproductive age. In order to reduce the increasing chronic disease and multimorbidity trend among women, strategic chronic disease interventions are required to be implemented in childhood and adolescence to ensure the long-term health of not only current but also future generations.

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 576-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith J Prochaska ◽  
Emily F Gates ◽  
Kevin C Davis ◽  
Karen Gutierrez ◽  
Yvonne Prutzman ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction People living with mental health conditions (MH+) are more likely to smoke cigarettes than people without mental health conditions (MH−) and to experience tobacco-related disparities. The Tips From Former Smokers® (Tips®) campaign is a proven population-level strategy for motivating smokers to quit. In 2016, Tips included ads featuring Rebecca, a former smoker with depression. We evaluated self-reported frequency of exposure to the Rebecca and other Tips ads in association with quit intentions and quit attempts among MH+ and MH− smokers. Methods Intentions to quit and past 6-month quit attempts lasting at least 24 hours were reported from a two-wave longitudinal online survey conducted before and after the 2016 Tips campaign with a nationally representative sample of US adult cigarette smokers with (MH+, N = 777) and without (MH−, N = 1806) lifetime mental health conditions. Results In 2016, among MH+ respondents, greater exposure to the Rebecca ads was significantly associated with increased odds of intending to quit in the next 30 days (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.40, p < .05) and with reporting a quit attempt in the past 6 months (AOR = 1.25, p < .05). Among MH− respondents, greater exposure to the other Tips ads was associated with increased odds of making a quit attempt (AOR = 1.19, p < .05). Conclusions Exposure to the Rebecca ads was associated with a greater likelihood of intentions to quit and quit attempts among MH+ smokers; whereas, exposure to the other (non-mental-health-related) Tips ads was associated with a greater likelihood of quit attempts among MH− smokers. Implications National media campaigns are an important population-level strategy for reaching specific population groups who are experiencing tobacco-related disparities. The findings support the inclusion of ads featuring people living with mental health conditions in national tobacco education media campaigns, such as Tips.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Daly ◽  
Eric Robinson

ObjectiveThere is growing concern that the COVID-19 crisis may have long-standing mental health effects across society particularly amongst those with pre-existing mental health conditions. In this observational population-based study, we examined how psychological distress changed following the emergence of the COVID-19 crisis in the United States and tested whether certain population subgroups were vulnerable to persistent distress during the crisis. MethodsWe analyzed longitudinal nationally representative data from eight waves of the Understanding America Study (UAS) collected between March 10th and July 20th, 2020 (N = 7319 Observations = 46145). Differences in distress trends were examined by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and household income and by the presence of a pre-existing mental health diagnosis. Psychological distress was assessed using the standardized total score on the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4). ResultsOn average psychological distress increased significantly by 0.27 standard deviations (95% CI [0.23,0.31], p&lt;.001) from March 10-18 to April 1-14, 2020 as the COVID-19 crisis emerged and lockdown restrictions began in the US. Distress levels subsequently declined to mid-March levels by June, 2020 (d =-.31, 95% CI [-0.34,-0.27], p&lt;.001). Across the sociodemographic groups examined and those with pre-existing mental health conditions we observed a sharp rise in distress followed by a recovery to baseline distress levels. ConclusionsThis study identified substantial increases in distress in the US during the emergence of the COVID-19 crisis that largely diminished in the weeks that followed and suggests that population level resilience in mental health may be occurring in response to the pandemic.


Diabetes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 70-LB
Author(s):  
ALEJANDRA M. WIEDEMAN ◽  
YING FAI NGAI ◽  
AMANDA M. HENDERSON ◽  
CONSTADINA PANAGIOTOPOULOS ◽  
ANGELA M. DEVLIN

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiting Xie

BACKGROUND Many people are affected by mental health conditions, yet its prevalence in certain populations are not well documented. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to describe the attributes of people with mental health conditions in U.S and SG in terms of: perception of mental health recovery and its correlates such as strengths self-efficacy, resourcefulness and stigma experience. With the findings, not only could the knowledge base for mental health recovery in both countries be enhanced but interventions and policies relating to self-efficacy, resourcefulness and de-stigmatization for mental health recovery could be informed. METHODS A A cross-sectional, descriptive study with convenience sample of 200 community dwelling adults were selected, 100 pax from the United States (U.S) and 100 pax from Singapore (SG). Adults with serious mental illnesses without substance abuse impacting on their recovery were recruited. Participants completed self-administered questionaires measuring their mental health recovery, strengths self-efficacy, resourcefulness and stigma experience. RESULTS This study offered the unique opportunity to examine mental health recovery as well as its correlates such as strengths self-efficacy, resourcefulness and stigma experience from both the United States and Singapore. While the perception of mental health recovery and positive attributes like strengths self-efficacy and resourcefulness remained strong in participants with serious mental illnesses across both countries, people with serious mental illnesses in both countries still experienced negative perception like stigma. The findings would not only inform strategies to promote mental health recovery but also enhance the focus on correlates such as strengths self-efficacy and resourcefulness across both countries. CONCLUSIONS The findings would not only inform strategies to promote mental health recovery but also enhance the focus on correlates such as strengths self-efficacy and resourcefulness across both countries.


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