The impact of concealable chronic health conditions on college students’ academic outcomes: A two-wave study

College students ( N = 125) with concealable chronic health conditions (CCHCs) completed online surveys at the beginning and end of the semester assessing stigma experiences and academic outcomes. Correlations showed stigma, alienation, and lack of campus fit were associated with greater illness-related academic interference ( ps < 0.001), negative academic self-comparison ( ps < 0.001), academic anxiety ( ps < 0.001), academic dissatisfaction ( ps < 0.001), and lower expected grades (except alienation; ps < 0.001–0.03) over time. Hierarchical multiple regressions identified a lack of campus fit as an important predictor across academic outcomes ( ps < 0.001–0.019). Students with CCHCs face health- and stigma-related challenges that can interfere with academic performance.

A Multinational Longitudinal Study Incorporating Intensive Methods to Examine Caregiver Experiences in the Context of Chronic Health Conditions: Protocol of the ENTWINE-iCohort

Informal caregivers are those who provide unpaid care to a relative or friend with a chronic illness, disability or other long-lasting health or care need. Providing informal care in the context of chronic health conditions presents a significant global challenge. Examination of the determinants of informal caregivers’ behaviour, especially in terms of motivations and willingness to provide/receive care, is crucial to understanding the nature of caregiver and care recipient experiences. A large group of international researchers have co-operated to execute the ENTWINE iCohort-a multinational, transdisciplinary, longitudinal study incorporating intensive methods to examine caregiver experiences in the context of chronic health conditions. The aim of ENTWINE-iCohort is to investigate the broad spectrum of factors, i.e., cultural, personal, geographical, relational, psychological, and economic that may affect motivations, willingness to provide or receive care, among diverse groups of informal caregivers and their care recipients, in different countries that have different care systems. Study questionnaires will be disseminated on-line in nine countries: Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Israel, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and the UK. Cross-sectional and longitudinal multivariate analysis, including intensive longitudinal and dyadic data analysis will be applied to examine the relative contribution of the above factors to caregiver or care recipient wellbeing.

Older Adults Mount Less Durable Humoral Responses to a Two-dose COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Regimen, but Strong Initial Responses to a Third Dose

Background. Two-dose mRNA vaccines reduce COVID-19 related hospitalization and mortality, but immune protection declines over time. As such, third vaccine doses are now recommended, particularly for older adults. We examined immune response durability up to 6 months after two vaccine doses, and immunogenicity after a third vaccine dose, in 151 adults ranging in age from 24 to 98 years. Methods. Specimens were collected from 81 healthcare workers (median age 41 years), 56 older adults (median 78 years) and 14 COVID-19 convalescent individuals (median 48 years), at one, three and six months following the second dose, and from 15 HCW, 28 older adults and 3 convalescent individuals at one month following a third dose. Binding antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor binding domain were quantified using a commercial immunoassay. Virus neutralizing activity was assessed using a live SARS-CoV-2 infection assay. Results. Compared to healthcare workers, older adults displayed ~0.3 log10 lower peak binding antibodies one month after the second dose (p<0.0001) and modestly faster rates of antibody decline thereafter (p=0.0067). A higher burden of chronic health conditions was independently associated with faster rates of antibody decline after correction for age, sociodemographic factors, and vaccine-related variables. Peak neutralizing activity was 4-fold lower in older adults one month after the second dose (p<0.0001) and became undetectable in the majority of individuals by six months. One month after a third dose, binding antibodies and neutralizing activities surpassed peak values achieved after two doses in both healthcare workers and older adults, and differences between these groups were no longer statistically significant. Compared to both naive groups, convalescent individuals displayed slower rates of binding antibody decline (p<0.006) and maintained higher neutralizing activity six months after the second dose. Conclusions. Immune responses to two-dose COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are overall weaker in older adults, and also decline more quickly over time, compared to younger adults. A third COVID-19 mRNA vaccine dose enhanced binding and neutralizing antibodies to levels higher than those observed after two vaccine doses, but the rate of decline of these responses should be monitored, particularly in older adults with a higher burden of chronic health conditions.

Adding a fatigue item to the EQ-5D-5L improves its psychometric performance in the general population

Background Fatigue is a common and often disturbing sequela of serious chronic health conditions. In the widely applied HRQL instrument, the EQ-5D, this aspect is not included directly, for its assumed lack of additional information. We investigated the validity of this assumption by determining the gain—if any—of an additional fatigue item to the EQ-5D-5L in a general population sample. Methods A Dutch general population sample (including diseased people) completed a web-based survey including the EQ-5D-5L and the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ). The RPQ fatigue item was used to create the EQ-5D-5L + Fatigue. We head-to-head compared the psychometric performance contrasting the EQ-5D-5L and EQ-5D-5L + Fatigue: distribution (e.g. ceiling), informativity cf. Shannon's indices, convergent validity, domain dependency, and explanatory power. Results were compared between subgroups with and without ≥ 1 chronic health condition. Results The study population consisted of 3027 persons of whom 52% had a chronic health condition. The mean EQ-5D-5L utility score was 0.83 and 48% experienced some degree of fatigue. Adding the fatigue item to the EQ-5D-5L decreased the ceiling effect, increased absolute informativity (Hʹ = 6.44 vs. Hʹ = 4.90) and relative informativity (Jʹ = 0.46 vs. Jʹ = 0.42). The extra fatigue item slightly increased convergent validity (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient = − 0.61 vs. − 0.62). Domain dependency analysis showed that all EQ-5D-5L domains are dominant over the fatigue item. Explanatory power of the EQ-5D-5L + Fatigue was higher compared to the EQ-5D-5L (R2 = 0.42 vs. 0.39). The gain is substantially larger in the subgroup with chronic health conditions. Conclusions Adding a fatigue item to the EQ-5D-5L improved all psychometric performance criteria of the enriched instrument in the general population. Effects are substantially larger in the subgroup with chronic health conditions, indicating that adding a fatigue item to the EQ-5D-5L is especially relevant in evaluating the HRQL of diseased people.

THE LIMFLOW SYSTEM FOR NO-OPTION CRITICAL LIMB ISCHEMIA (CLI) PATIENTS

Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is a common health problem among adults. CLI is a progressive type of peripheral artery disease associated with non-healing ulceration and ischemic pain at rest. Patients with CLI may suffer from gangrene, a consequence of arterial occlusive disease. Patients with CLI have a high-risk of developing chronic health issues such as hyperlipidemia, renal failure, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. The health and well-being of patients with CLI is low and heterogeneously complex. Patients with CLI cope with complex and chronic health issues that often require appropriate treatment and management. The newly developed Limflow system is the promising future for vascular interventions in CLI patients.

Psychometric Validation of the Wisconsin Community Participation Scale in a Sample of People with Chronic Health Conditions and Disabilities Living in the Community

Increasing community participation can reduce the risk for functional disabilities; participation is influenced by person and environment contextual factors. Development and validation of a brief community participation assessment can advance and support evidence-based assessment in clinical rehabilitation counseling practice. It will be an invaluable rehabilitation and public health surveillance tool that can be used to gauge the health conditions and participation of people with disabilities. The current study evaluated and validated the Wisconsin Community Participation Scale (WCPS) in 982 individuals with chronic health conditions and disabilities. Participants indicated five most meaningful life roles: (a) being able to get around with or without help, (b) live independently with or without help, (c) live a healthy lifestyle, (d) work, and (e) leisure and recreation activities. The WCPS scores were positively associated with physical health, mental health, and life satisfaction and negatively related to functional disability in the theoretically expected directions. The WCPS can help rehabilitation counselors assess their clients’ current level of participation in meaningful life roles that are important to them. Rehabilitation counselors can use the WCPS assessment data to guide treatment planning and empower clients to build confidence and self-efficacy to participate in personally meaningful activities in the community.