scholarly journals Prevalence of Skin Reactions and Self-Reported Allergies in 5 Countries with Their Social Impact Measured through Quality of Life Impairment

Author(s):  
Samir Salah ◽  
Charles Taieb ◽  
Anne’ Laure Demessant ◽  
Marek Haftek

Background: The prevalence of allergies increases worldwide. Allergies may increase the risk of skin reactions. Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of allergies and skin reactions in the adult population, the strength of their relationship, and their impact on the quality of life. Methods: An online survey was conducted in a representative population of 11,067 adults from China, USA, Brazil, Russia, and France. Results: Overall, 35.6% of respondents reported having allergies, they were predominantly fair-skinned women, and younger than responders reporting no allergy. Among patients reporting allergies, 68.6% declared that their allergy makes their skin reacts. A strong association between allergy and major skin reactions was observed, which were associated with skin discomforts such as itching, burning, and pain. Skin discomforts were associated with an increased risk of quality of life alteration. Conclusions: Quantifying the prevalence and the association of allergies with skin reactions and discomfort sensations is critical to evaluating the impact on quality of life. Since skin barrier alteration is hypothesized as a risk factor and a route of sensitization for allergy development, the daily use of topical treatments, such as moisturizers, could help prevent allergic skin reactions, discomfort and impaired quality of life in individuals with an altered skin barrier.

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neethu. P. S ◽  
Abdul Rafeeque T. C

On December 26, 2004, a massive undersea earthquake off the west coast of Northern Sumatra in Indonesia with a Richter-scale magnitude of 9.0 caused a giant tsunami that devastated the shorelines of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and several other countries. In India the tsunami severely affected the coastal regions of the eastern state of Tamil Nadu, the union territory of Pondicherry, and the western state of Kerala. The tsunami had a huge human, physical, economic and social impact. Natural disasters like this have a negative impact on individuals‘ mental health. Not only do disaster survivors have an increased risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Norris FH, 2002) and other mental ailments (McFarlane AC, Papay P, 1992), but their quality of life may also be curtailed (Chou FH,2004; Heo JH, 2008; Tsai KY et al, 2007). The purpose of study was to analyze the impact of PTSD on quality of life and subjective well-being of peoples in tsunami affected area at Pondicherry through a comparison between affected and unaffected population. Sample of the present study include 260 subjects, 130 tsunami victims (F=60 & M=70) and 130 unaffected people (F=60 & M=70) aged between 25-40 years, who has been identified through the Posttraumatic Disorder Check List PCL (Weathers et al, 1993) from Pondicherry, India. That who are having the history of psychiatry disorders and who had death or other traumas in family in last 1 year is excluded from the victims group. Subjective wellbeing inventory (Diener et al, 1985) and WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) were used to collecting data. The study found that there is significant difference between PTSD victims and unaffected people in quality of life and subjective well-being. PTSD had influenced in quality of life and subjective well-being of peoples of Pondicherry.


Author(s):  
Mohsen Alyami ◽  
Julia Vajda De Albuquerque ◽  
Christian U. Krägeloh ◽  
Hussain Alyami ◽  
Marcus A Henning

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has been very disruptive and thus likely to result in substantial challenges to mental health. This study aimed to investigate the effects of fear of COVID-19 on mental well-being and quality of life among Saudi adult population, and to evaluate the impact of perceived social support. A total of 1029 Saudi adults with a mean age of 33.7 years (SD 11.5) took part in an anonymous online survey. Path analysis indicated that fear of COVID-19 was directly associated with mental well-being, which in turn was associated with lower quality of life. Perceived social support had more influence on quality of life than mental well-being. No direct link between fear of COVID-19 and quality of life was found. These findings emphasize the importance of having effective systems, in addition to social support, in place in order to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental well-being and quality of life.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Stella Epifanio ◽  
Federica Andrei ◽  
Giacomo Mancini ◽  
Francesca Agostini ◽  
Marco Andrea Piombo ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the world in the year 2020 has put a strain on our ability to cope with events and revolutionized our daily habits. On 9 March, Italy was forced to lockdown to prevent the spread of the infection, with measures including the mandatory closure of schools and nonessential activities, travel restrictions, and the obligation to spend entire weeks in the same physical space. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures on quality of life (QoL) in a large Italian sample, in order to investigate possible differences in QoL levels related to both demographic and pandemic-specific variables. A total of 2251 Italian adults (1665 women, mainly young and middle adults) were recruited via a snowball sampling strategy. Participants were requested to answer to an online survey, which included demographic and COVID-related information items, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). The results showed statistically significant differences in QoL depending on a number of variables, including sex, area of residence in Italy, and being diagnosed with a medical/psychiatric condition. To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess QoL during COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, therefore the present findings can offer guidelines regarding which social groups are more vulnerable of a decline in QoL and would benefit of psychological interventions.


Author(s):  
Phillip D. Stevenson ◽  
Christopher A. Mattson ◽  
Kenneth M. Bryden ◽  
Nordica A. MacCarty

More than ever before, engineers are creating products for developing countries. One of the purposes of these products is to improve the consumer’s quality of life. Currently, there is no established method of measuring the social impact of these types of products. As a result, engineers have used their own metrics to assess their product’s impact, if at all. Some of the common metrics used include products sold and revenue, which measure the financial success of a product without recognizing the social successes or failures it might have. In this paper we introduce a potential metric, the Product Impact Metric (PIM), which quantifies the impact a product has on impoverished individuals — especially those living in developing countries. It measures social impact broadly in five dimensions: health, education, standard of living, employment quality, and security. The PIM is inspired by the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) created by the United Nations Development Programme. The MPI measures how the depth of poverty within a nation changes year after year, and the PIM measures how an individual’s quality of life changes after being affected by an engineered product. The Product Impact Metric can be used to predict social impacts (using personas that represent real individuals) or measure social impacts (using specific data from products introduced into the market).


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Sarwar Mir

Background: It is well-known that acne vulgaris is a common malady of adolescence and is easily recognized Objective: To evaluate the level of impact among acne patients on their quality of life. Methods: A total of 200 patients studied. Acne severity was graded using Global Acne Grading System (GAGS) after the clinical diagnosis. All the patients went through self-administered questionnaire of Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI) to fill out, to assess the reflection of patients’ experiences and perceptions. Result: Out of 200 patients, 114(57.0%) were females and 86(43.0%) were males. The maximum number of patients was in the age group of 16-20 years (142/200, 71%). Out of total 86 males, 50 (58.3%) had moderate to severe acne, whereas 62(54.38%) females had such a severe acne. 50.87% (58/114) of females had high CADI scores in comparison to only 27.9(24/86) of males. The impact on quality of life was more in the age-group of 21-30 years even though in this age group clinical severity of acne was mild to moderate only. Conclusion: Study found that individuals with acne had profound emotional, as well as, social impact on their quality of life.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna M. Hood ◽  
Hanne Stotesbury ◽  
Jennifer Murphy ◽  
Melanie Kölbel ◽  
April Slee ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Behavioral mitigation strategies to slow the spread of COVID-19 have resulted in sweeping lifestyle changes, with short and long-term psychological, well-being, and quality of life implications. The Attitudes About COVID-19 and Health (ATTACH) study focuses on understanding attitudes and beliefs whilst considering the impact on mental and physical health and the influence of broader demographic and geographic factors on attitudes, beliefs, and mental health burden. OBJECTIVE In this assessment of our first wave of data collection, we provide baseline cohort descriptives of ATTACH study participants in the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), and Mexico. Additionally, we assess responses to daily poll questions related to COVID-19 and conduct a cross-sectional analysis of baseline assessments collected in the UK between June 26 and October 31, 2020. METHODS The ATTACH study uses smartphone-app technology and online survey data collection. Participants completed poll questions twice daily related to COVID-19 and a monthly survey assessing mental health, social isolation, physical health, and quality of life. Poll question responses were graphed using 95% Clopper-Pearson (exact) tests with 95% confidence intervals. Pearson correlations, hierarchical linear regression analyses, and generalized linear models assessed relationships, predictors of self-reported outcomes, and group differences, respectively. RESULTS By October 31, 2020, 1405, 80, and 90 participants had consented to participate in the UK, USA, and Mexico, respectively. Descriptive data for the UK daily poll questions indicated that participants were generally following social distancing measures, but worry and negative impacts on families increased as the pandemic progressed. Although participants generally reported feeling that the reasons for current measures had been made clear, there was low trust that the government was doing everything in its power to meet public needs. In the UK, 1282 participants also completed a monthly survey (95% white, 72% female, 21% key or essential workers). Nineteen percent of UK participants reported a pre-existing mental health disorder, 31% reported a pre-existing chronic medical illness, and 35% were over 65. Fifty-seven percent of participants reported being more sedentary since the pandemic began, and 41% reported reduced access to medical care. Those with poorer mental health outcomes lived in more deprived neighborhoods, in larger households (ps < .05), had more pre-existing mental health disorders and medical conditions, and were younger than 65 years (all ps < .001). CONCLUSIONS Communities who have been exposed to additional harm during the COVID-19 pandemic were experiencing worse mental outcomes. Factors including having a medical condition, or living in a deprived neighborhood or larger household were associated with heightened risk. Future longitudinal studies should investigate the link between COVID-19 exposure, mental health, and sociodemographic and residential characteristics.


2021 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-81
Author(s):  
N. Zhachko ◽  
◽  
T. Nespriad’ko-Monborgne ◽  
I. Skrypnyk ◽  
M. Zhachko ◽  
...  

Summary: The search for and development of methods for determining the quality of life is an urgent problem of foreign and domestic medicine, and the state of dental health plays a very important role. An important role in human communication plays the maxillofacial area. Therefore, the most important areas and defects associated with the communication process – defects in the frontal area, smile, change of pronunciation, spitting during the conversation – all these signs accompany a number of anomalous processes. Objective: to assess the impact of dental status on the quality of life of the adult population in the presence of the disease periodontal disease in combination with musculoskeletal dysfunction in patients with dental anomalies and deformities. Materials and methods. To study this goal, a survey of 283 patients who applied was conducte with complaints of aesthetic defect of the dentition, combined with the presence of joint pain and periodontal disease of varying severity. Results. A complete analysis of factors that significantly affected the quality of life of patients with a number of diseases was obtained oral cavity. Conclusions. Deficiencies related to oral health reduce the quality of life of our patients, and the treatment significantly changes its quality depending on age, sex and method. But for the best results positive changes in the quality of life of the patient dentists can expect only by conducting a comprehensive treatment. Key words: quality of life, dental health correction.


Rheumatology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Bechman ◽  
Kapil Halai ◽  
Sam Norton ◽  
Andrew P Cope ◽  
Kimme L Hyrich ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at an increased risk of infection. Most attention has been given to serious infections, but these are the tip of the iceberg. Non-serious infections (NSI) are far more frequent, and although not life-threatening, have potential to impact treatment outcomes (drug survival) and quality of life. Our objective was to describe frequency of NSI and compare incidence of NSI by biologic drug within the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register (BSRBR-RA). Methods The BSRBR-RA is a prospective observational cohort study. NSI was identified as not requiring hospitalisation, intravenous therapy or leading to disability or death. Infections were captured from clinician questionnaires and patient diaries. Individuals were considered ‘at risk’ from the date of commencing biologic treatment for 3 years. Drug exposure was defined by agent; TNF inhibitor, IL-6 inhibitor, anti-CD20 or csDMARD only. To account for a high frequency of events, a multiple-failure Cox model was used. Multivariable adjustment included age, gender, DAS28-ESR, HAQ-DI, disease duration, smoking, steroid usage, year recruited to BSRBR-RA, line of biologic therapy and cumulative infection number. Results There were 17,304 NSI in 10,099 patients, with an event rate of 27.0 per year (95% CI 26.6 to 27.4). Increasing age, female gender, comorbidity burden, corticosteroid therapy, DAS28 and HAQ-DI were associated with an increased risk of NSI. The rate of NSI was numerically lowest with csDMARDs. Compared to TNFi, IL-6 inhibitor had a higher risk of NSI, whilst the csDMARD cohort had a lower risk. Between the TNFi agents, adalimumab had a higher risk than etanercept (Table 1). Conclusion These results confirm that NSI is a frequent occurrence for patients, which historically has received little attention in research literature. The data suggest biologics increase the risk of NSI, especially IL-6 inhibition. Whilst unmeasured confounding must be considered, the magnitude of effects are large and it seems likely that a causal link between targeted immunosuppression and NSI risk exists. Further research is needed to understand the impact of NSI on clinical outcomes including drug survival and quality of life. Disclosures K. Bechman: None. K. Halai: None. S. Norton: None. A.P. Cope: None. K.L. Hyrich: Honoraria; AbbVie paid to the institution and grant income from Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb for activities outside of this work. J.B. Galloway: Honoraria; for speaking or attending conferences from AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Janssen, Pfizer and Union Chimique Belge.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
Paola Gnerre ◽  
Domenico Montemurro ◽  
Andrea P. Rossi ◽  
Costantino Troise ◽  
Carlo Palermo ◽  
...  

The Italian Parliament has excluded hospital physicians from the application of the European Work Time Directive (EWTD), which imposes a maximum workweek of 48 h and compulsory resting periods. This resulted in extended and excessive work time for the category. This paper is aimed at evaluating the impact of this legislation gap, by assessing the presence of excessive work-related stress and risk for burnout syndrome among Italian physicians working in public hospitals. This observational study is based on an on-line survey conducted on a sample of 1925 Italian doctors (covering a wide range of age, work experience and contractual positions) from October 2014 to February 2015. The questionnaire included 30 questions concerning their personal and professional life (<em>e.g</em>., assessment of workloads, number of uncomfortable or extra shifts, unused days-off, <em>etc</em>.). On the basis of the results, it can be inferred that the average Italian doctor working in public hospitals is under considerable stress at work with negative consequences on his health. He is exposed to high risk of suffering from sleep disorders and cardiovascular diseases (due to the lack of time for private practice and eating regular meals). Overall, his perception is that his job worsens his quality of life. This study shows the relevance of the risk of burnout among Italian physicians employed in public hospitals due to severe workload and work conditions. The resulting impact on the quality of care and the significant cost involved - both in human and economic terms - calls for significant emergency measures by the Italian health work organization. An important increase and prolonged working time is associated with a worsening of the objective cognitive performance and an increase of clinical risk, but also to an increased risk of diseases for operators and of the burnout syndrome. Our survey shows that lack of application of the EWTD has adverse effects on the quality of life and performance of Italian doctors. Failure to respond by all Italian doctors is the greatest limitation of our survey.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison R. Fleming ◽  
Michael J. Leahy

Researchers and policy makers have proposed that quality of life (QOL) is an important and useful way to measure the impact of services, although practical application of QOL in rehabilitation has been limited. In this study, a comprehensive framework (the International Classification of Functioning [ICF]) is used to compare the relationship between QOL and function in key life areas in a sample of adults with disabilities receiving vocational services (n = 224). Results of a multiple regression analysis indicated that level of education, duration of disability, difficulty with social relationships and inclusion, the impact of the disability or health condition on the person or his or her family, and relational support and attitudes of family, friends, and acquaintances showed significant relationships with QOL. This study highlights the role of the social impact of disability on QOL and provides support for the use of the ICF for conceptualizing disability and its impact in a way that is inclusive of personal and environmental factors.


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