Young people are most vulnerable to suicidal behaviours but least likely to seek help. A more elaborate study of the intrinsic and extrinsic correlates of suicidal ideation and behaviours particularly amid ongoing population-level stressors and the identification of less stigmatising markers in representative youth populations is essential.

Participants (n = 2540, aged 15–25) were consecutively recruited from an ongoing large-scale household-based epidemiological youth mental health study in Hong Kong between September 2019 and 2021. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt were assessed, alongside suicide-related rumination, hopelessness and neuroticism, personal and population-level stressors, family functioning, cognitive ability, lifetime non-suicidal self-harm, 12-month major depressive disorder (MDD), and alcohol use.

The 12-month prevalence of suicidal ideation, ideation-only (no plan or attempt), plan, and attempt was 20.0, 15.4, 4.6, and 1.3%, respectively. Importantly, multivariable logistic regression findings revealed that suicide-related rumination was the only factor associated with all four suicidal outcomes (all p < 0.01). Among those with suicidal ideation (two-stage approach), intrinsic factors, including suicide-related rumination, poorer cognitive ability, and 12-month MDE, were specifically associated with suicide plan, while extrinsic factors, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) stressors, poorer family functioning, and personal life stressors, as well as non-suicidal self-harm, were specifically associated with suicide attempt.

Suicide-related rumination, population-level COVID-19 stressors, and poorer family functioning may be important less-stigmatising markers for youth suicidal risks. The respective roles played by not only intrinsic but also extrinsic factors in suicide plan and attempt using a two-stage approach should be considered in future preventative intervention work.

There is an association between anterior cerebral artery vessel asymmetry and anterior communicating artery aneurysm, presumably based on flow dynamics. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential relationship between aortic arch branching patterns and incidence of intracranial aneurysm.

This study included patients scanned over 1 year at our tertiary care center who underwent high-resolution imaging (computed tomography angiography or digital subtracted angiogram) of the head and neck arteries, aortic arch, and superior mediastinum. Exclusion criteria included patients with suboptimal images. Patient age, gender, aortic arch branching pattern, and the presence, location, and number of aneurysms were documented.

Among the 1082 patients analyzed, 250 (23%) patients had a variant aortic arch branching pattern, 22 (8.8%) of whom had aneurysms. There were 104 patients with 126 aneurysms, with majority of patients with normal aortic arch branching pattern (n = 82, 79%). The most common variant was a common origin of the left common carotid artery and brachiocephalic trunk with or without direct origin of the left vertebral artery. Twenty-two patients with aneurysms had an aberrant aortic arch (21%), compared to 232 patients without an aneurysm (24%). Fischer exact test showed no statistically significant difference between the incidence of aneurysm with different aortic arch variant groups (two-tailed p-value = 0.715).

To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the association between aortic arch branching patterns and incidence of intracranial aneurysm. No significant association was found between aortic arch branching pattern and the incidence of intracranial aneurysm.

To identify a posteriori dietary patterns among women planning pregnancy and assess the reproducibility of these patterns in a subsample using two dietary assessment methods.

A semi-quantitative FFQ was administered to women enrolled in the Singapore PREconception Study of long-Term maternal and child Outcomes study. Dietary patterns from the FFQ were identified using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). In a subsample of women (n 289), 3-d food diaries (3DFD) were also completed and analysed. Reproducibility of the identified patterns was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in the subsample, and goodness of fit of the CFA models was examined using several fit indices. Subsequently, EFA was conducted in the subsample and dietary patterns of the FFQ and the 3DFD were compared.

Singapore.

1007 women planning pregnancy (18–45 years).

Three dietary patterns were identified from the FFQ: the ‘Fish, Poultry/Meat and Noodles’ pattern was characterised by higher intakes of fish, poultry/meat and noodles in soup; ‘Fast Food and Sweetened Beverages’ pattern was characterised by higher intakes of fast food, sweetened beverages and fried snacks; ‘Bread, Legumes and Dairy’ pattern was characterised by higher intakes of buns/ethnic breads, nuts/legumes and dairy products. The comparative fit indices from the CFA models were 0·79 and 0·34 for the FFQ and 3DFD of the subsample, respectively. In the subsample, three similar patterns were identified in the FFQ while only two for the 3DFD.

Dietary patterns from the FFQ are reproducible within this cohort, providing a basis for future investigations on diet and health outcomes.

Due to shortages of N95 respirators during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is necessary to estimate the number of N95s required for healthcare workers (HCWs) to inform manufacturing targets and resource allocation.

We developed a model to determine the number of N95 respirators needed for HCWs both in a single acute-care hospital and the United States.

For an acute-care hospital with 400 all-cause monthly admissions, the number of N95 respirators needed to manage COVID-19 patients admitted during a month ranges from 113 (95% interpercentile range [IPR], 50–229) if 0.5% of admissions are COVID-19 patients to 22,101 (95% IPR, 5,904–25,881) if 100% of admissions are COVID-19 patients (assuming single use per respirator, and 10 encounters between HCWs and each COVID-19 patient per day). The number of N95s needed decreases to a range of 22 (95% IPR, 10–43) to 4,445 (95% IPR, 1,975–8,684) if each N95 is used for 5 patient encounters. Varying monthly all-cause admissions to 2,000 requires 6,645–13,404 respirators with a 60% COVID-19 admission prevalence, 10 HCW–patient encounters, and reusing N95s 5–10 times. Nationally, the number of N95 respirators needed over the course of the pandemic ranges from 86 million (95% IPR, 37.1–200.6 million) to 1.6 billion (95% IPR, 0.7–3.6 billion) as 5%–90% of the population is exposed (single-use). This number ranges from 17.4 million (95% IPR, 7.3–41 million) to 312.3 million (95% IPR, 131.5–737.3 million) using each respirator for 5 encounters.

We quantified the number of N95 respirators needed for a given acute-care hospital and nationally during the COVID-19 pandemic under varying conditions.

Depression and anxiety are among the most common mental health conditions treated in primary care. They frequently co-occur and involve recommended treatments that overlap. Evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) shows specific stepped care interventions to be cost-effective in improving symptom remission. However, most RCTs have focused on either depression or anxiety, which limits their generalisability to routine primary care settings. This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a collaborative stepped care (CSC) intervention to treat depression and/or anxiety among adults in Australian primary care settings.

A quasi-decision tree model was developed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a CSC intervention relative to care-as-usual (CAU). The model adapted a CSC intervention described in a previous Dutch RCT to the Australian context. This 8-month, cluster RCT recruited patients with depression and/or anxiety (n = 158) from 30 primary care clinics in the Netherlands. The CSC intervention involved two steps: (1) guided self-help with a nurse at a primary care clinic; and (2) referral to specialised mental healthcare. The cost-effectiveness model adopted a health sector perspective and synthesised data from two main sources: RCT data on intervention pathways, remission probabilities and healthcare service utilisation; and Australia-specific data on demography, epidemiology and unit costs from external sources. Incremental costs and incremental health outcomes were estimated across a 1-year time horizon. Health outcomes were measured as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to remitted cases of depression and/or anxiety. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were measured in 2019 Australian dollars (A$) per DALY averted. Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses were performed to test the robustness of cost-effectiveness findings.

The CSC intervention had a high probability (99.6%) of being cost-effective relative to CAU. The resulting ICER (A$5207/DALY; 95% uncertainty interval: dominant to 25 345) fell below the willingness-to-pay threshold of A$50 000/DALY. ICERs were robust to changes in model parameters and assumptions.

This study found that a Dutch CSC intervention, with nurse-delivered guided self-help treatment as a first step, could potentially be cost-effective in treating depression and/or anxiety if transferred to the Australian primary care context. However, adaptations may be required to ensure feasibility and acceptability in the Australian healthcare context. In addition, further evidence is needed to verify the real-world cost-effectiveness of the CSC intervention when implemented in routine practice and to evaluate its effectiveness/cost-effectiveness when compared to other viable stepped care interventions for the treatment of depression and/or anxiety.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represents an unprecedented threat to mental health. Herein, we assessed the impact of COVID-19 on subthreshold depressive symptoms and identified potential mitigating factors.

Participants were from Depression Cohort in China (ChiCTR registry number 1900022145). Adults (n = 1722) with subthreshold depressive symptoms were enrolled between March and October 2019 in a 6-month, community-based interventional study that aimed to prevent clinical depression using psychoeducation. A total of 1506 participants completed the study in Shenzhen, China: 726 participants, who completed the study between March 2019 and January 2020 (i.e. before COVID-19), comprised the ‘wave 1’ group; 780 participants, who were enrolled before COVID-19 and completed the 6-month endpoint assessment during COVID-19, comprised ‘wave 2’. Symptoms of depression, anxiety and insomnia were assessed at baseline and endpoint (i.e. 6-month follow-up) using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), respectively. Measures of resilience and regular exercise were assessed at baseline. We compared the mental health outcomes between wave 1 and wave 2 groups. We additionally investigated how mental health outcomes changed across disparate stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, i.e. peak (7–13 February), post-peak (14–27 February), remission plateau (28 February−present).

COVID-19 increased the risk for three mental outcomes: (1) depression (odds ratio [OR] = 1.30, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04–1.62); (2) anxiety (OR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.16–1.88) and (3) insomnia (OR = 1.37, 95% CI: 1.07–1.77). The highest proportion of probable depression and anxiety was observed post-peak, with 52.9% and 41.4%, respectively. Greater baseline resilience scores had a protective effect on the three main outcomes (depression: OR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.19–0.37; anxiety: OR = 1.22, 95% CI: 0.14–0.33 and insomnia: OR = 0.18, 95% CI: 0.11–0.28). Furthermore, regular physical activity mitigated the risk for depression (OR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.79–0.99).

The COVID-19 pandemic exerted a highly significant and negative impact on symptoms of depression, anxiety and insomnia. Mental health outcomes fluctuated as a function of the duration of the pandemic and were alleviated to some extent with the observed decline in community-based transmission. Augmenting resiliency and regular exercise provide an opportunity to mitigate the risk for mental health symptoms during this severe public health crisis.

Brief measurements of the subjective experience of stress with good predictive capability are important in a range of community mental health and research settings. The potential for large-scale implementation of such a measure for screening may facilitate early risk detection and intervention opportunities. Few such measures however have been developed and validated in epidemiological and longitudinal community samples. We designed a new single-item measure of the subjective level of stress (SLS-1) and tested its validity and ability to predict long-term mental health outcomes of up to 12 months through two separate studies.

We first examined the content and face validity of the SLS-1 with a panel consisting of mental health experts and laypersons. Two studies were conducted to examine its validity and predictive utility. In study 1, we tested the convergent and divergent validity as well as incremental validity of the SLS-1 in a large epidemiological sample of young people in Hong Kong (n = 1445). In study 2, in a consecutively recruited longitudinal community sample of young people (n = 258), we first performed the same procedures as in study 1 to ensure replicability of the findings. We then examined in this longitudinal sample the utility of the SLS-1 in predicting long-term depressive, anxiety and stress outcomes assessed at 3 months and 6 months (n = 182) and at 12 months (n = 84).

The SLS-1 demonstrated good content and face validity. Findings from the two studies showed that SLS-1 was moderately to strongly correlated with a range of mental health outcomes, including depressive, anxiety, stress and distress symptoms. We also demonstrated its ability to explain the variance explained in symptoms beyond other known personal and psychological factors. Using the longitudinal sample in study 2, we further showed the significant predictive capability of the SLS-1 for long-term symptom outcomes for up to 12 months even when accounting for demographic characteristics.

The findings altogether support the validity and predictive utility of the SLS-1 as a brief measure of stress with strong indications of both concurrent and long-term mental health outcomes. Given the value of brief measures of mental health risks at a population level, the SLS-1 may have potential for use as an early screening tool to inform early preventative intervention work.

Antibiotics are commonly used in intensive care units (ICUs), yet differences in antibiotic use across ICUs are unknown. Herein, we studied antibiotic use across ICUs and examined factors that contributed to variation.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from Ontario’s Critical Care Information System (CCIS), which included 201 adult ICUs and 2,013,397 patient days from January 2012 to June 2016. Antibiotic use was measured in days of therapy (DOT) per 1,000 patient days. ICU factors included ability to provide ventilator support (level 3) or not (level 2), ICU type (medical-surgical or other), and academic status. Patient factors included severity of illness using multiple-organ dysfunction score (MODS), ventilatory support, and central venous catheter (CVC) use. We analyzed the effect of these factors on variation in antibiotic use.

Overall, 269,351 patients (56%) received antibiotics during their ICU stay. The mean antibiotic use was 624 (range 3–1460) DOT per 1,000 patient days. Antibiotic use was significantly higher in medical-surgical ICUs compared to other ICUs (697 vs 410 DOT per 1,000 patient days; P < .0001) and in level 3 ICUs compared to level 2 ICUs (751 vs 513 DOT per 1,000 patient days; P < .0001). Higher antibiotic use was associated with higher severity of illness and intensity of treatment. ICU and patient factors explained 47% of the variation in antibiotic use across ICUs.

Antibiotic use varies widely across ICUs, which is partially associated with ICUs and patient characteristics. These differences highlight the importance of antimicrobial stewardship to ensure appropriate use of antibiotics in ICU patients.

To assess the Framingham risk score as a prognostic tool for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss patients.

Medical records were reviewed for unilateral idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss patients between January 2010 and October 2017. The 10-year risk of developing cardiovascular disease was calculated. Patients were subdivided into groups: group 1 – Framingham risk score of less than 10 per cent (n = 28); group 2 – score of 10 to less than 20 per cent (n = 6); and group 3 – score of 20 per cent or higher (n = 5).

Initial pure tone average and Framingham risk score were not significantly associated (p = 0.32). Thirteen patients in group 1 recovered completely (46.4 per cent), but none in groups 2 and 3 showed complete recovery. Initial pure tone average and Framingham risk score were significantly associated in multivariable linear regression analysis (R2 = 0.36). The regression coefficient was 0.33 (p = 0.003) for initial pure tone average and −0.67 (p = 0.005) for Framingham risk score.

Framingham risk score may be useful in predicting outcomes for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss patients, as those with a higher score showed poorer hearing recovery.

There have been many changes in the treatment of bipolar disorder.

It is necessary to develop guidelines that can more aptly respond to cultural issues and specifics in different countries.

The Korean Medication Algorithm for Bipolar Disorder (KMAP-BP) was firstly published in 2002, with updates in 2006 and 2010. This third update reviewed the experts' consensus of opinion on the pharmacological treatments of bipolar disorder.

The newly revised questionnaire composed of 55 key questions about clinical situations including 223 sub-items was sent to the experts.

Combination of mood stabilizer (MS) and atypical antipsychotic (AAP) was the first-line treatment option in acute mania. For the management of severe psychotic bipolar depression, combination of MS and AAP, combination of AAP and LTG, combination of MS, AAP and AD or LTG, combination of AAP and AD, and combination of AAP, AD and LTG was the first-line treatments. Combination of MS and AAP was the treatment of choice for management of mixed features. Combination of MS and AAP, MS or AAP monotherapy was the first-line options for management of maintenance phase after manic episode. For maintenance treatment after bipolar I depression, combination of MS and AAP, combination of MS and LTG, combination of AAP and LTG, MS or LTG monotherapy, and combination of MS, AAP and LTG were the first-line options.

Despite the limitations of expert consensus guideline, KMAP-BP 2014 may reflect the current patterns of clinical practice and recent researches.

This cross-sectional study was aimed to investigate the factors associated with bipolar disorder in pregnant female, including sociodemographic parameters, social support, social conflict, suicidal idea and sleep.

A total of 84 pregnant female were recruited. They filled out self-completing questionnaires on sociodemographic factors, obstetric history, depressive symptoms and bipolarity. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Korean version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Bipolarity was assessed using the Korean version of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (K-MDQ).

Nineteen participants (22.6%) had positive K-MDQ scores, suggesting the present of bipolarity. Positive EPDS group had twenty subjects (25%) who had depressive symptoms. The diathesis of bipolar disorder was associated with marital dissatisfaction, social conflict, depression and sleep. The multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the only poor sleep was a risk of bipolarity.

Pregnant female with bipolarity were more depressed and sleep problems than those without bipolarity. The results showed that the most important factor of influencing bipolarity was sleep.

This study aimed to explore thedifference in emotional recognition of musical auditory stimulation and artfulvisual stimulation between helathy people and patients with schizophrenia.

20 songs and 20 paintings thatcontained sad or cheerful emotions were presented to 123 patients withschizophrenia and 224 healthy people as control group. The subjects were askedto tell about their emotions that they had felt from each musical auditorystimulation and artful visual stimulation. To measure such emotions, the Emotional Empathy Scale was used. The level of psychopathology in patientsgroup were evaluated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Formal Thought Disorder Rating Scale.

The correct answer rate to musical auditoryand artful visual stimulation of the patient group was significantly lower than that of thecontrol group. Thepatient group showed lower emotional empathic ability compared to the controlgroup. In the patient group, the correct answer rate to musical and artfulstimulation showed a negative correlation with score with Formal ThoughtDisorder Rating Scale.

Patients with schizophrenia have difficulties inprecise emotional recognition to auditory and visual stimulations, and this isassociated with lowered empathic ability and thinking disorder of patients withschizophrenia. If an psychosocial rehabilitation program or psychotherapy isimplemented to patients with schizophrenia, it is deemed to be necessary to make a mediation to improve the emotional recognition and expression ability of patients with schizophrenia.

This study was aimed to discover the correlation between those getting tattoos and their psychopathology relating to their delinquent behavior and emotional problems.

Date for this study was collected from 19-year-old men who were receiving a physical examination for conscription at the Korea Military Manpower Administration. 400 data sheets were collected among them. All of sjubjects were evaluated on the following measures: sociodemographic variants, Juvernile delinquency scale, State-trait anger expression inventory, Beck depression inventory, State-triat anxiety inventory, and Positive affect and negative affect schedule.

In comparison with those without tattooes, those with a tattoo scored higher in the scales that were related to delinquency, anger, depression, and negateive emotion. Furthermore, there were positive correlations between the number of tattoos and the scores for the Juvenile delinquent tendency and behavior scale as well as on the State-triat anxiety scale.

Those with tattoos had experienced anger, anxiety, and depression more strongly in comparison with those without tattoos. These reults recommended that tattooed males should be evaluated more on their regrading psychopathology compared to those without tattoos.

The aim of this study was to monitor changes of prescription trends for bipolar disorder in inpatient settings in one university hospital.

A retrospective chart review was performed and data of 188 cases (2009–2012) and 118 cases (1998–2001) with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder were collected. Data on demographic variables, duration of hospitalization, kinds of psychotropic medications and the patterns of prescription over each four-year period were analyzed.

The proportion of patients with manic episode was decreased, whereas those of mixed and depressive episodes were increased. The use of lithium was decreased with the increased use of valproate. Increased use of lamotrigine in depressive episode was prominent. The use of combination treatment with mood stabilizers and antipsychotics was almost same level in both periods. The use of typical antipsychotics was significantly decreased and that of atypical antipsychotics was increased. Especially, the use of quetiapine showed great increase. In bipolar depression, the use of antidepressant was increased.

Data showed that quetiapine monotherapy had favorable effect on acute manic symptoms and well tolerated. Also this result suggests that quetiapine monotherapy may improve the self-perceived quality of sleep without any daytime impairment following sleep in acute manic patients.