Premature mortality attributable to COVID-19: potential years of life lost in 17 countries around the world, January–August 2020

Background Understanding the impact of the burden of COVID-19 is key to successfully navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of a larger investigation on COVID-19 mortality impact, this study aims to estimate the Potential Years of Life Lost (PYLL) in 17 countries and territories across the world (Australia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cyprus, France, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Peru, Norway, England & Wales, Scotland, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United States [USA]). Methods Age- and sex-specific COVID-19 death numbers from primary national sources were collected by an international research consortium. The study period was established based on the availability of data from the inception of the pandemic to the end of August 2020. The PYLL for each country were computed using 80 years as the maximum life expectancy. Results As of August 2020, 442,677 (range: 18–185,083) deaths attributed to COVID-19 were recorded in 17 countries which translated to 4,210,654 (range: 112–1,554,225) PYLL. The average PYLL per death was 8.7 years, with substantial variation ranging from 2.7 years in Australia to 19.3 PYLL in Ukraine. North and South American countries as well as England & Wales, Scotland and Sweden experienced the highest PYLL per 100,000 population; whereas Australia, Slovenia and Georgia experienced the lowest. Overall, males experienced higher PYLL rate and higher PYLL per death than females. In most countries, most of the PYLL were observed for people aged over 60 or 65 years, irrespective of sex. Yet, Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, Israel, Peru, Scotland, Ukraine, and the USA concentrated most PYLL in younger age groups. Conclusions Our results highlight the role of PYLL as a tool to understand the impact of COVID-19 on demographic groups within and across countries, guiding preventive measures to protect these groups under the ongoing pandemic. Continuous monitoring of PYLL is therefore needed to better understand the burden of COVID-19 in terms of premature mortality.

Masking for School-Age Children With Epilepsy: We Do Have Consensus!

Introduction This study was designed to assess current recommendations from child neurologists and epileptologists on masking for school-age children with epilepsy. Methods A 7-item survey was created and sent out to members of the Child Neurology Society and Pediatric Epilepsy Research Consortium in August of 2021 to assess current practice and provider recommendations on masking. Results One hundred four individuals participated with representation from all regions of the United States. Masking was recommended by 95.1%, with 63.4% (n = 66) noting exception of those with severe intellectual disability, autism, and behavioral problems. Of those who write exemption letters, 54% write these <5% of the time. Only 3% reported potential adverse events associated with masking. Conclusion Nearly all respondents recommended masking for school-age children with epilepsy. Potential risks of masking and adverse events were low. Improved guidance on masking is needed to ensure academic success of our patients with epilepsy.

Capability in Research on Cognition and Well-being in Ageing and Retirement

In this chapter, we outline our thoughts on capability in relation to previous and ongoing research projects conducted by the Adult Development and Ageing (ADA-Gero) Research Group located at the Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. More specifically, we relate our research on cognitive ageing and subjective well-being to the overarching capability framework implemented as a theoretical platform in the AgeCap research consortium.

The influence of drinkers on the affective status of representatives of their microsocial environment

The purpose of the work is to study the adverse influence of drinkers on the affective status of representatives of their microsocial environment. In four regions of Ukraine (Kharkiv, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as the city of Kyiv), during 2018—2021, 1742 people were examined, who belonged to three qualitatively different comparison groups: patients with alcohol dependence (AD) (393 people); healthy relatives of alcohol-dependent patients (274 people) and representatives of the general population (1075 people). Of these surveyed, respondents were identified who had drinkers in the environment: 288 persons among healthy people and 121 persons among patients with AD. Further research focused on this particular contingent. The main research tool was the questionnaire of the international research consortium GENAHTO (Gender, Alcohol, and Harms to Others) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). The obtained data were processed by methods of mathematical statistics (variance and cluster analysis) on a computer using Excel 2016 computational tables (with the Data Analysis package) and also the software package SPSS-15. It was shown that the presence of drinkers in environment of the women significantly increases the proportion of people with depressive disorders among them, while among the male respondents, this effect was not found. It was revealed that the presence of drinkers in environment of the women significantly increases the severity of such manifestations of depression as: insomnia, weight loss, sexual dysfunctions; suicidal tendencies and guilt. Using cluster analysis, the following typical symptom complexes (important for choosing the optimal therapeutic tactics) were established: insomnia-somatoform, hypochondriacal and anxiety-agitational (the latter — with a sense of guilt and an increased risk of suicidal activity).