Measuring Health: A Guide to Rating Scales and Questionnaires

Unraveling the Mystery of Health

Emerging evidence has shown that COVID-19 survivors could suffer from persistent symptoms. However, it remains unclear whether these symptoms persist over the longer term. This study aimed to systematically synthesise evidence on post-COVID symptoms persisting for at least 12 months. We searched PubMed and Embase for papers reporting at least one-year follow-up results of COVID-19 survivors published by 6 November 2021. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted to estimate pooled prevalence of specific post-COVID symptoms. Eighteen papers that reported one-year follow-up data from 8591 COVID-19 survivors were included. Fatigue/weakness (28%, 95% CI: 18–39), dyspnoea (18%, 95% CI: 13–24), arthromyalgia (26%, 95% CI: 8–44), depression (23%, 95% CI: 12–34), anxiety (22%, 95% CI: 15–29), memory loss (19%, 95% CI: 7–31), concentration difficulties (18%, 95% CI: 2–35), and insomnia (12%, 95% CI: 7–17) were the most prevalent symptoms at one-year follow-up. Existing evidence suggested that female patients and those with more severe initial illness were more likely to suffer from the sequelae after one year. This study demonstrated that a sizeable proportion of COVID-19 survivors still experience residual symptoms involving various body systems one year later. There is an urgent need for elucidating the pathophysiologic mechanisms and developing and testing targeted interventions for long-COVID patients.

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Long-Term Sequelae of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of One-Year Follow-Up Studies on Post-COVID Symptoms

Vascular depression is regarded as a subtype of late-life depression characterized by a distinct clinical presentation and an association with cerebrovascular damage. Although the term is commonly used in research settings, widely accepted diagnostic criteria are lacking and vascular depression is absent from formal psychiatric manuals such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition – a fact that limits its use in clinical settings. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, showing a variety of cerebrovascular lesions, including extensive white matter hyperintensities, subcortical microvascular lesions, lacunes, and microinfarcts, in patients with late life depression, led to the introduction of the term “MRI-defined vascular depression”. This diagnosis, based on clinical and MRI findings, suggests that vascular lesions lead to depression by disruption of frontal–subcortical–limbic networks involved in mood regulation. However, despite multiple MRI approaches to shed light on the spatiotemporal structural changes associated with late life depression, the causal relationship between brain changes, related lesions, and late life depression remains controversial. While postmortem studies of elderly persons who died from suicide revealed lacunes, small vessel, and Alzheimer-related pathologies, recent autopsy data challenged the role of these lesions in the pathogenesis of vascular depression. Current data propose that the vascular depression connotation should be reserved for depressed older patients with vascular pathology and evident cerebral involvement. Based on current knowledge, the correlations between intra vitam neuroimaging findings and their postmortem validity as well as the role of peripheral markers of vascular disease in late life depression are discussed. The multifold pathogenesis of vascular depression as a possible subtype of late life depression needs further elucidation. There is a need for correlative clinical, intra vitam structural and functional MRI as well as postmortem MRI and neuropathological studies in order to confirm the relationship between clinical symptomatology and changes in specific brain regions related to depression. To elucidate the causal relationship between regional vascular brain changes and vascular depression, animal models could be helpful. Current treatment options include a combination of vasoactive drugs and antidepressants, but the outcomes are still unsatisfying.

/pdf/vascular-depression-consensus-report-a-critical-update-3bg7t20auh.pdf

Vascular depression consensus report - a critical update.

http://www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.com/article/S1198743X21006297/pdf

Female gender is associated with long COVID syndrome: a prospective cohort study

Background: Depression is a prevalent and disabling condition in older persons (≥60 years) that increases the risk of mortality and negatively influences quality

/pdf/depression-and-quality-of-life-in-older-persons-a-review-1ndnuv1p2t.pdf

Depression and Quality of Life in Older Persons: A Review

This paper describes the study and results from a small-scale lab rig, build to test different riser slug control strategies without the huge costs involved in larger scale experiments. Earlier experiments on this small-scale rig have shown that it was possible to stabilize the flow using a PI controller with a pressure measurement located upstream the riser base as measurement (Sivertsen and Skogestad, 2005). During these earlier experiments, the slug flow behaved a bit differently from that observed in larger facilities. Instead of severe slugs where the gas entered the riser, the gas was released as Taylor bubbles. As one Taylor bubble managed to enter the riser, several more would quickly follow as the pressure drop across the riser decreased. To get a slug flow pattern that was closer to severe slugs, the length of the riser and the size of the gas buffer tank were increased. After implementing this new equipment, the slug flow regime resembled more the severe slugs seen in larger rigs. The aim now was to control the flow using only topside measurements and to compare with results found using upstream measurements. A controllability analysis was performed in order to screen the different measurement candidates using a model developed by Storkaas et al. (2003). The analysis showed that it should be possible to control the flow using only topside measurements. The results from this analysis were then used as a background for the experiments performed in the lab. The experimental results were successful. They showed that it was possible to control the flow and the results were actually better than predicted from the analysis. In fact, the results are comparable with the results obtained when using a pressure measurement upstream the riser (subsea measurement).

/pdf/small-scale-experiments-on-stabilizing-riser-slug-flow-4ppiaxmxe6.pdf

Small-scale experiments on stabilizing riser slug flow

Musculoskeletal pain (MSP) is one of the most frequent causes of sick leave from work, and is a common and potentially disabling condition. This study is based on the salutogenic perspective and investigates the relationship between personal, social, and functional health resources and work participation in a population reporting MSP. Analysis was performed on cross sectional data from the Nord-Trondelag Health Study, HUNT 3, in Norway. The sample of n= 6702 was extracted from HUNT 3, including a total of N= 50807 participants. Self-reported health (SRH) and, personal, social, and functional resources were assessed by a questionnaire. Reported sick leave was collected by interview at the point of time when the data were collected, from October 2006 until June 2008. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated statistically significant differences between the work group and sick leave group in self-rated health, work support, work control, work load, and feeling strong, and the model predicted 68% of the cases correctly. Females had a lower statistically significant probability (B= −.53) to be in the work group then men when suffering from MSP, with odds of 41%. There was a statistically significant relationship between health promoting resources such as SRH, feeling strong, absence of neuroticism, work load, work control, and work participation in MSP population.

/pdf/the-relationship-between-health-promoting-resources-and-work-2f9cfx2azv.pdf

The relationship between health promoting resources and work participation in a sample reporting musculoskeletal pain from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study, HUNT 3, Norway

Cascade control experiments of riser slug flow using topside measurements

Anti-slug control applied to two-phase flow provides a very challenging and important application for feedback control. It is important because it allows for operation that would otherwise be impossible, and challenging because of the presence of both RHP-poles and RHP-zeros. To conduct experiments on pipeline-riser anti-slug control, a small-scale slug-loop has been build. Theloop has been modeled andanalyzed usingasimplifiedmodel byStorkaas. The results from this analysis and experimental results using a PI-controller is presented in this paper. Some of the problems in the offshore oil industry that have received increasingly interest in the last years are related to multiphase flow. In multiphase flow different flow regimes can develop, depending on parameters such as flow rates, fluid properties and pipeline geometry. Slug flow is a flow regime which can cause a lot of problems for the production facilities. The slug flow is characterized by alternating bulks of gas and oil, and can be further divided into hydrodynamic and terrain induced slugging. Hydrodynamic slugs are caused by velocity differences between the phases and occur in near horizontal pipelines. These slugs are usually short and appear frequently. Terrain induced flow however, can contain a lot of liquid and therefore induce large pressure variations in the system. This flow is induced by low points in the pipeline geometry. When the low-point is realized by a downsloping pipe terminating in a riser, we get what is known as riser slugging. Because of the large and abrupt fluctuations in pipe pressure and gas and liquid flow rates at the outlet, these slugs cause huge problems for the processing equipment. Unwanted variations in the separator level give rise to poor separation and possible overfilling. The pressure fluctuations wear and tear on the equipment and can sometimes result in unplanned process shutdowns.

/pdf/anti-slug-control-experiments-on-a-small-scale-two-phase-ua1x0bfkq5.pdf

Heidi Sivertsen

Papers

Depression and Quality of Life in Older Persons: A Review

Small-scale experiments on stabilizing riser slug flow

The relationship between health promoting resources and work participation in a sample reporting musculoskeletal pain from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study, HUNT 3, Norway

Cascade control experiments of riser slug flow using topside measurements

Anti-slug control experiments on a small-scale two-phase loop