social exclusion

OBJECTIVE: To determine the health status of the homeless population who spend the night on the streets and in shelters (extreme residential exclusion), with reference to their quality of life, self-perceived health, comorbidity and access to health resources. METHOD: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on a sample of 263 homeless people in the city of Valencia by means of a nocturnal count and using the EQ-5D-3L Health Related Quality of Life questionnaire and questions from the European Quality of Life Survey for Spain...

BACKGROUND: The concept of Positive Health (PH) has gained increasing attention as a way of measuring individuals' ability to adapt in the face of contextual challenges. However, a suitable measurement instrument for PH that encompasses contextual factors has not yet been developed. This paper responds to this need by developing a Context-specific Positive Health (CPH) measurement instrument that aligns with the Capability Approach (CA). METHODS: The measurement instrument was developed and tested among a representative sample of 1002 Dutch internet survey panel members with diverse sociodemographic backgrounds...

BACKGROUND: Palliative care in low- or middle-income country (LMIC) humanitarian settings is a new area, experiencing a degree of increased momentum over recent years. The review contributes to this growing body of knowledge, in addition to identifying gaps for future research. The overall aim is to systematically explore the evidence on palliative care needs of patients and/or their families in LMIC humanitarian settings. METHODS: Arksey and O'Malley's (Int J Soc Res Methodol...

Self-identification as a victim of violence may lead to increased negative emotions and stress and thus, may change both structure and function of the underlying neural network(s). In a trans-diagnostic sample of individuals who identified themselves as victims of violence and a matched control group with no prior exposure to violence, we employed a social exclusion paradigm, the Cyberball task, to stimulate the re-experience of stress. Participants were partially excluded in the ball-tossing game without prior knowledge...

INTRODUCTION: Prenatal drug exposure (PDE) is one of the most important causes of child harm, but comprehensive information about the long-term outcomes of the families is difficult to ascertain. The Joining the Dots cohort study uses linked population data to understand the relationship between services, therapeutic interventions and outcomes of children with PDE. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Information from routinely collected administrative databases was linked for all births registered in New South Wales (NSW), Australia between 1 July 2001 and 31 December 2020 (n=1 834 550)...

OBJECTIVE: Vaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (vNOTES) is an emerging surgical procedure that combines the advantages of the vaginal approach with laparoscopic vision and instrumentation [1]. Shorter hospitalization and lower postoperative pain associated to vNOTES [2] may be explained by the advantages of this innovative surgical approach (such as absence of abdominal incisions, shorter operating time, lower insufflation pressure) [2;3]. Ovarian tissue cryopreservation allows to preserve reproductive and endocrine functions in young women with oncological disease at risk of premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) caused by gonadotoxic treatments [4]...

This paper discusses the forced digitalization of activism brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in the case of the transnational environmental youth movement Fridays for Future (FFF). Theoretically, we engage with social movement action repertoires to study the shifts in protest tactics associated with the social restrictions during the early stages of the pandemic. A qualitative content analysis of 781 posts across all 27 national FFF Facebook pages in the European Union reveals four clusters of digital action types: digital contentious actions; online information and education; digital community engagement and online partnership development...

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic restricted public worship in many religious communities. This article explores how the amateur singers in Eastern Orthodox Christian church choirs coped with the 2-month liturgical lockdown in Finland during the spring of 2020. During the lockdown, only a limited number of singers were allowed to perform in worship, which was live streamed on social media. Based on a mixed-methods online survey, the article focuses on the psychological impact of the lockdown on individual church singers; their views of the spiritual, physical, mental and communal dimensions of singing in worship; and the methods of coping that their responses reveal...

This research investigates how COVID-19 has affected experiences of people with disabilities in low- and middle-income contexts. A qualitative approach was used to collect data as the pandemic progressed from 75 participants in Nigeria, Bangladesh, Nepal, Kenya, and Uganda. The research aimed to be inclusive of people with disabilities by asking the participants directly about their perspectives with a narrative interview method being employed to gain each person's unique insights. A participatory thematic analysis of the data, followed by a spatial analysis process, produced rich and highly individualized accounts of the spatiocultural experiences relating to how people with disabilities had occupied both private and public space during the pandemic...

While the HIV/AIDS epidemic has informed the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a lack of understanding of the empirical links between stigmas associated with COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS. Surveying 247 adults in the United States online, this study aims to examine the relationships between COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS stigmas in order to understand how they are similar and different from each other, taking into consideration the context relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic. Four scales of stigmas conveying different attitudes (i...

The development of information technology (IT) has an essential role in education today. Most teachers in Indonesia utilize the traditional method rather than the advancement of IT. Through digital media, the social science learning process becomes fascinating, improves students' skills, and is more engaging. However, implementing Information Technology-based Learning (ITBL) takes a lot of work. It comes with tremendous challenges that should be addressed carefully. Many previous studies explain the feasibility of the media, its effectiveness, and the advantages of using IT-based learning media...

PURPOSE: As of the end of 2022, over 20 million women worldwide, aged 15 and above, are living with HIV. Stigma remains a formidable barrier for women living with HIV/AIDS, hindering their access to healthcare and exacerbating health disparities. Indeed, some women living with HIV/AIDS can successfully confront and overcome stigma. There remains a paucity of qualitative research exploring the stigma coping strategies of women living with HIV/AIDS in China. This study was aimed to gain the deeper understanding of stigma experienced by women living with HIV/AIDS and coping strategies...

OBJECTIVES: Difficulties in interpersonal relationships intensify negative emotions and act as risk and maintenance factors for eating pathology in eating disorders. Rejection sensitivity refers to the tendency to react sensitively to a rejection. Patients with eating disorders experience difficulties in interpersonal relationships because of their high sensitivity to rejection. Cognitive bias modification interpretation (CBM-I) is a treatment developed to correct interpretation bias for social and emotional stimuli...

BACKGROUND: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder that can significantly impact an individual's ability to socially integrate and adapt. It's crucial to identify key factors associated with ASD. Recent studies link both birth asphyxia (BA) and febrile seizures (FS) separately to higher ASD prevalence. However, investigations into the interplay of BA and FS and its relationship with ASD are yet to be conducted. The present study mainly focuses on exploring the interactive effect between BA and FS in the context of ASD...

BACKGROUND: Further study is warranted to determine the association between estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) or albuminuria and the risk of death from diverse causes. METHODS: We screened >10 million general health screening examinees who received health examinations conducted in 2009 using the claims database of Korea. After the exclusion of those previously diagnosed with renal failure and those with missing data, 9,917,838 individuals with available baseline kidney function measurements were included...

Not much is known about the perpetrators of male homicide in South Africa, which has rates seven times the global average. For the country's first ever male homicide study we describe the epidemiology of perpetrators, their relationship with victims and victim profiles of men killed by male versus female perpetrators. We conducted a retrospective descriptive study of routine data collected through forensic and police investigations, calculating victim and perpetrator homicide rates by age, sex, race, external cause, employment status and setting, stratified by victim-perpetrator relationships...

OBJECTIVE: There is emerging evidence for an increased prevalence of autism in children of mothers with a migration background. To date, the mechanisms underlying this relationship are poorly understood. We investigated whether prenatal stress exposure mediates the association between maternal migration and child autistic traits, assessing first- and second-generation migrant mothers in the Netherlands and their children. METHOD: The study was embedded in the prospective population-based Generation R cohort...

Prophages, viral sequences integrated into bacterial genomes, can be beneficial and costly. Despite the risk of prophage activation and subsequent bacterial death, active prophages are present in most bacterial genomes. However, our understanding of the selective forces that maintain prophages in bacterial populations is limited. Combining experimental evolution with stochastic modeling, we show that prophage maintenance and loss are primarily determined by environmental conditions that alter the net fitness effect of a prophage on its bacterial host...

INTRODUCTION: Problematic behavior and drug use are behaviors of social concern, especially in adolescence. There are school factors that can contribute to their development or prevent them. The objective was to establish explanatory models of the relationship between various school variables with the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis; determining its direct and/or indirect relationship with problematic behaviors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was cross-sectional with a sample of 346 students (Main Age=14...

BACKGROUND: A progressive decrease in exclusive breastfeeding (BF) is observed in Latin America and the Caribbean compared with global results. The possibility of being breastfed and continuing BF for > 6 months is lower in low birth weight than in healthy-weight infants. AIM: To identify factors associated with BF maintenance and promotion, with particular attention to low- and middle-income countries, by studying geographic, socioeconomic, and individual or neonatal health factors...