Social Health and Behavior

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Obesity imposes considerably high economic costs on the health-care system. It is proposed that 10% of health-care costs belong to direct and indirect effects of obesity. Taking measures to prevent, manage, and treat obesity is costly. However, some benefits can be obtained by reducing economic costs and by improving health in the future. This study aimed to systematically review the costs caused by obesity. We systematically searched the English language literature indexed in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases (January 2000 to September 2017). Articles were included if direct and indirect costs of obesity were assessed among participants at the age of more than 18 years. Key terms including economic burden, medical cost, nonmedical cost, and obesity were used for this search. From a total of 20 studies, 9 papers found to be relevant for reviewing. According to these papers, obesity accounts for 31.8% of direct costs (health-care costs related to obesity) and 68.1% of indirect costs (costs related for reducing productivity and production value). Therefore, obese people spend 32% more for medical costs compared to people with normal weight. Due to great number of short-term and long-term complications of obesity and its potential economic impact, efforts are needed to be taken to facilitate health interventions and social policies. Nationally, as obesity imposes high costs on people and health-care system which should fund most of these costs, developing plans to decrease these costs are needed.

Introduction: Inadequate sleep is common among adolescents. Females have been found to have higher sleep requirement than that in males. This study aimed at (1) investigating the associations of sleep duration with smartphone dependence and a health-promoting lifestyle, and (2) identifying predictor(s) of inadequate sleep among adolescent females. Methods: This questionnaire-based cross-sectional study recruited 385 female junior college students (mean age: 17.50 ± 3.30 years) at a single tertiary education institute in December 2014. The questionnaire comprised three parts: (1) demographic/anthropometric characteristics (i.e., age, body mass index) and habits of alcohol/tobacco consumption, (2) smartphone dependence score according to the participant's response to four questions rated with five-point Likert scale, and (3) scores on compliance with six dimensions of the health-promoting lifestyle profile (HPLP), including nutrition, health responsibility, self-actualization, interpersonal support, exercise, stress management, and total score. Correlations of the study parameters and sleep adequacy (defined as ≥7 h) were investigated. Results: The mean sleep duration of the participants was 7.35 ± 1.49 h. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated significant negative correlation between smartphone dependence and sleep duration (P < 0.01), as well as positive associations of sleep duration with the nutrition (P < 0.01), health responsibility (P < 0.05), stress management (P < 0.01) dimensions, and total score (P = 0.01) of HPLP. Stepwise regression further showed that smartphone dependence was the only significant predictor of inadequate sleep (B: −0.06; standard error: 0.02; P < 0.01). Conclusion: The results of the present study underscore the importance of promoting a healthy lifestyle including prevention of smartphone dependence in maintaining healthy sleep habits in adolescent females.

Introduction: The professional quality of life is a type of emotion that every person perceives to his/her job. This study aimed to evaluate the professional quality of life among health-care providers including physicians, nurses, and midwives and its related factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018. Participants were 464 doctors, nurses, and midwives working in educational hospitals of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences selected using a convenience method. Data were collected using demographic information questionnaire and Persian version of the professional quality of life questionnaire. Multivariate linear regression models were used to examine the related factors. Results: In the present study, 464 health-care providers including 150 doctors, 161 midwives, and 153 nurses participated. Their mean age was 32.29 ± 6.88 years. The majority of them (56.2%) reported a moderate job satisfaction. The mean (standard deviation) of participants' scores in the domains of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress was 38.84 (6.23), 13.53 (4.34), and 27.05 (5.70), respectively. The regression model showed that high and medium job satisfaction, monthly income, and work shift arrangements were significant predictors for all domains of professional quality of life. Conclusion: Physicians, midwives, and nurses had a moderate professional quality of life. Factors such as high job satisfaction, monthly income, and work shift arrangements partly predicted their professional quality of life. Therefore, paying enough attention to improving job satisfaction and improving working conditions and income might improve the professional quality of life of health-care providers, and consequently, the quality of patient care.

Children and adolescents constitute more than half of the global refugee population, and almost one-third of first-time asylum seekers in the European Union (EU) during 2015 were under 18 years of age. Syria, in particular, accounts for a substantial proportion of young refugees and asylum seekers because the ongoing civil war has led to almost 5 million Syrians fleeing their country and becoming refugees during the past 7 years. Being a child or adolescent refugee or asylum seeker carries an increased risk of developing mental illness, and such displaced young people are known to experience problems in accessing health-care support. The present article draws on examples from Syria in order to (i) Highlight mental health issues that typically arise in children and adolescent refugees and asylum seekers entering Europe and (ii) discuss how changes to health systems and policies in European countries receiving refugees and asylum seekers can be better aligned with global efforts to improve the mental health of young displaced immigrants. In general, research findings indicate that there is a need for better awareness, intra-agency collaboration, and cultural sensitivity toward the mental health needs of this immigrant population. Furthermore, there is also a need for EU countries to better respond to posttraumatic stress disorder and other typical refugee and asylum seeker mental health problems by more closely aligning national policies with global initiatives to improve the mental health of young displaced immigrants.

Introduction: Patients with hematological diseases (HDs) experience a variety of physiological and psychological symptoms. The purpose was to examine how anxiety, depressive symptoms, insomnia, and mastery are associated with perceived social support and mental health in patients with HDs. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a convenience sample of 120 patients with HDs participated at a Swedish University hospital. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Perceived social support, mental health, insomnia, and mastery were measured using Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey, the Mental Component Score from the Short-Form Health Survey-12, and Minimal Insomnia Symptoms Scale and Pearlin Mastery Scale, respectively. Structural equation modeling was performed to analyze the data. Results: Associations between depressive symptoms and perceived social support differed depending on the insomnia symptom scores. Conclusion: Health-care personnel should routinely assess not only patients' levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms but also their insomnia to identify areas suitable for interventions to improve social support, as well as patient's mental health.

Online since 10^th May 2018