Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

About: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a education organization based out in Leuven, Belgium. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 61109 authors who have published 176584 publications receiving 6210872 citations.

Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) guidelines—2016 revision

Abstract: Background Allergic rhinitis (AR) affects 10% to 40% of the population. It reduces quality of life and school and work performance and is a frequent reason for office visits in general practice. Medical costs are large, but avoidable costs associated with lost work productivity are even larger than those incurred by asthma. New evidence has accumulated since the last revision of the Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) guidelines in 2010, prompting its update. Objective We sought to provide a targeted update of the ARIA guidelines. Methods The ARIA guideline panel identified new clinical questions and selected questions requiring an update. We performed systematic reviews of health effects and the evidence about patients' values and preferences and resource requirements (up to June 2016). We followed the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) evidence-to-decision frameworks to develop recommendations. Results The 2016 revision of the ARIA guidelines provides both updated and new recommendations about the pharmacologic treatment of AR. Specifically, it addresses the relative merits of using oral H1-antihistamines, intranasal H1-antihistamines, intranasal corticosteroids, and leukotriene receptor antagonists either alone or in combination. The ARIA guideline panel provides specific recommendations for the choice of treatment and the rationale for the choice and discusses specific considerations that clinicians and patients might want to review to choose the management most appropriate for an individual patient. Conclusions Appropriate treatment of AR might improve patients' quality of life and school and work productivity. ARIA recommendations support patients, their caregivers, and health care providers in choosing the optimal treatment.

Job Insecurity and Psychological Well-being: Review of the Literature and Exploration of Some Unresolved Issues

Abstract: Research on the psychological consequences of job insecurity is reviewed, showing that job insecurity reduces psychological well-being and job satisfaction, and increases psychosomatic complaints and physical strains. Next, three additional research questions are addressed, since these questions did not receive much attention in previous research. First, does the impact of job insecurity on workers differ according to their professional position, gender, and age? Second, how important is job insecurity compared to other stressors on the workfloor? Third, how important is job insecurity compared to the impact of unemployment? To analyse these issues, data were used from a Belgian plant, part of a European multinational company in the metalworking industry (N = 336). The results of this exploratory study showed that job insecurity was associated with lower well-being (score on the GHQ-12), after controlling for background variables, such as gender and age. A significant interaction with gender occurred, ind...