Studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic found high occurrence of suicidal thoughts and behaviours (STBs) among healthcare workers (HCWs). The current study aimed to (1) develop a machine learning-based prediction model for future STBs using data from a large prospective cohort of Spanish HCWs and (2) identify the most important variables in terms of contribution to the model’s predictive accuracy.

This is a prospective, multicentre cohort study of Spanish HCWs active during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 8,996 HCWs participated in the web-based baseline survey (May–July 2020) and 4,809 in the 4-month follow-up survey. A total of 219 predictor variables were derived from the baseline survey. The outcome variable was any STB at the 4-month follow-up. Variable selection was done using an L1 regularized linear Support Vector Classifier (SVC). A random forest model with 5-fold cross-validation was developed, in which the Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) and undersampling of the majority class balancing techniques were tested. The model was evaluated by the area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUROC) curve and the area under the precision–recall curve. Shapley’s additive explanatory values (SHAP values) were used to evaluate the overall contribution of each variable to the prediction of future STBs. Results were obtained separately by gender.

The prevalence of STBs in HCWs at the 4-month follow-up was 7.9% (women = 7.8%, men = 8.2%). Thirty-four variables were selected by the L1 regularized linear SVC. The best results were obtained without data balancing techniques: AUROC = 0.87 (0.86 for women and 0.87 for men) and area under the precision–recall curve = 0.50 (0.55 for women and 0.45 for men). Based on SHAP values, the most important baseline predictors for any STB at the 4-month follow-up were the presence of passive suicidal ideation, the number of days in the past 30 days with passive or active suicidal ideation, the number of days in the past 30 days with binge eating episodes, the number of panic attacks (women only) and the frequency of intrusive thoughts (men only).

Machine learning-based prediction models for STBs in HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic trained on web-based survey data present high discrimination and classification capacity. Future clinical implementations of this model could enable the early detection of HCWs at the highest risk for developing adverse mental health outcomes.

NCT04556565

Peer victimization predicts the development of mental health symptoms in the transition to adolescence, but it is unclear whether and how parents and school environments can buffer this link.

We analyzed two-year longitudinal data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, involving a diverse sample of 11 844 children across the United States (average at baseline = 9.91 years; standard deviation = 0.63; range = 8.92–11.08; complete case sample = 8385). Longitudinal associations between peer victimization and two-year changes in mental health symptoms of major depression disorder (MDD), separation anxiety (SA), prodromal psychosis (PP), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were examined including a wide range of covariates. Mixed linear models were used to test for the moderating effects of parental warmth and prosocial school environment.

20% of children experienced peer victimization. Higher exposure to peer victimization was associated with increases in MDD, SA, and ADHD symptoms. Parental warmth was associated with decreases in MDD symptoms but did not robustly buffer the link between peer victimization and mental health symptoms. Prosocial school environment predicted decreases in PP symptoms and buffered the link between peer victimization and MDD symptoms but amplified the link between peer victimization and SA and ADHD symptoms.

Peer victimization is associated with increases in mental health symptoms during the transition to adolescence. Parental warmth and prosocial school environments might not be enough to counter the negative consequences of peer victimization on all mental health outcomes.

The prevalence of medical illnesses is high among patients with psychiatric disorders. The current study aimed to investigate multi-comorbidity in patients with psychiatric disorders in comparison to the general population. Secondary aims were to investigate factors associated with metabolic syndrome and treatment appropriateness of mental disorders.

The sample included 54,826 subjects (64.73% females; 34.15% males; 1.11% nonbinary gender) from 40 countries (COMET-G study). The analysis was based on the registration of previous history that could serve as a fair approximation for the lifetime prevalence of various medical conditions.

About 24.5% reported a history of somatic and 26.14% of mental disorders. Mental disorders were by far the most prevalent group of medical conditions. Comorbidity of any somatic with any mental disorder was reported by 8.21%. One-third to almost two-thirds of somatic patients were also suffering from a mental disorder depending on the severity and multicomorbidity. Bipolar and psychotic patients and to a lesser extent depressives, manifested an earlier (15–20 years) manifestation of somatic multicomorbidity, severe disability, and probably earlier death. The overwhelming majority of patients with mental disorders were not receiving treatment or were being treated in a way that was not recommended. Antipsychotics and antidepressants were not related to the development of metabolic syndrome.

The finding that one-third to almost two-thirds of somatic patients also suffered from a mental disorder strongly suggests that psychiatry is the field with the most trans-specialty and interdisciplinary value and application points to the importance of teaching psychiatry and mental health in medical schools and also to the need for more technocratically oriented training of psychiatric residents.

To investigate the occurrence of traumatic stress symptoms (TSS) among healthcare workers active during the COVID-19 pandemic and to obtain insight as to which pandemic-related stressful experiences are associated with onset and persistence of traumatic stress.

This is a multicenter prospective cohort study. Spanish healthcare workers (N = 4,809) participated at an initial assessment (i.e., just after the first wave of the Spain COVID-19 pandemic) and at a 4-month follow-up assessment using web-based surveys. Logistic regression investigated associations of 19 pandemic-related stressful experiences across four domains (infection-related, work-related, health-related and financial) with TSS prevalence, incidence and persistence, including simulations of population attributable risk proportions (PARP).

Thirty-day TSS prevalence at T1 was 22.1%. Four-month incidence and persistence were 11.6% and 54.2%, respectively. Auxiliary nurses had highest rates of TSS prevalence (35.1%) and incidence (16.1%). All 19 pandemic-related stressful experiences under study were associated with TSS prevalence or incidence, especially experiences from the domains of health-related (PARP range 88.4–95.6%) and work-related stressful experiences (PARP range 76.8–86.5%). Nine stressful experiences were also associated with TSS persistence, of which having patient(s) in care who died from COVID-19 had the strongest association. This association remained significant after adjusting for co-occurring depression and anxiety.

TSSs among Spanish healthcare workers active during the COVID-19 pandemic are common and associated with various pandemic-related stressful experiences. Future research should investigate if these stressful experiences represent truly traumatic experiences and carry risk for the development of post-traumatic stress disorder.

To estimate dietary fluoride intake (F) over the course of pregnancy and the overall adjusted difference in dietary F intake by pregnancy stages and levels of compliance with dietary recommendations.

Secondary data analysis from a longitudinal pregnancy cohort study in a population exposed to fluoridated salt. Women were followed during the early, middle and late stages of their pregnancy (n 568). The dietary intake of recommended prenatal nutrients according to Mexican dietary guidelines and F intake (mg/d) was estimated with a validated FFQ. Data were summarised with descriptive statistics. Levels of F intake were compared with the USA’s Institute of Medicine adequate intake (AI) of 3 mg/d for pregnancy. Adjusted differences in F intake by pregnancy stages and levels of compliance with recommendations were estimated using random effects models.

Mexico City.

Women participating in the Early Life Exposures in Mexico to ENvironmental Toxicants (ELEMENT) project, from 2001 to 2003.

Median dietary F intake throughout pregnancy ranged from 0·64 (interquartile range (IQR) 0·38) in the early to 0·70 (IQR 0·42) in the middle, and 0·72 (IQR 0·44) mg/d in the late stage (0·01 mg F/kg per d). Corresponding adjusted intakes of F were 0·72 (95 % CI 0·70, 0·74), 0·76 (95 % CI 0·74, 0·77) and 0·80 (95 % CI 0·78, 0·82) mg/d. Women who were moderately and highly compliant with Mexican dietary recommendations ingested, on average, 0·04 and 0·14 mg F/d more than non-compliant women (P < 0·005).

Dietary F intake was below current AI, was greater with the progression of pregnancy and in women who were moderately and highly compliant with dietary recommendations.

To explore the extent to which staff members in long-term care facilities (LTCF) have experienced situations of sexual harassment, how they commonly and ideally manage the situation, and how their work position influences their responses.

Cross-sectional quantitative study, using the vignette technique.

A total of 2,196 staff-members who were currently working in Spanish LTCF participated in the study. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Questions regarding sexual harassment were analysed by a vignette that described a case of sexual harassment. Participants had to choose common and best practices for dealing with the case, and report the frequency with which they had experienced similar situations.

The results indicate that 29.9% of participants had experienced an episode of sexual harassment in a LTCF similar to the one presented in the vignette. Responses to the situation were diverse and there were significant differences between common and perceived best practices. Differences were also found depending on the work position of the participant (manager, technical staff or nursing assistant).

There is a need for a fuller recognition of the sexual needs of older people. However, the presence of inappropriate sexual behavior must also be acknowledged. The right of staff to work in an environment free of harassment must be respected. The need for explicit institutional guidelines and training opportunities is discussed.

We aim to provide a conversion between Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, to predict the MMSE result based on ACE-III, thus avoiding the need for both tests, and improving their comparability.

Equipercentile equating method was used to elaborate a conversion table using a group of 400 participants comprising healthy controls and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Then, reliability was assessed in a group of 100 healthy controls and patients with AD, 52 with primary progressive aphasia and 22 with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

The conversion table between ACE-III and MMSE denoted a high reliability, with intra-class correlation coefficients of 0.940, 0.922, and 0.902 in the groups of healthy controls and AD, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, and primary progressive aphasia, respectively.

Our conversion table between ACE-III and MMSE suggests that MMSE may be estimated based on the ACE-III score, which could be useful for clinical and research purposes.

Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III) is a screening test that was recently validated for diagnosing dementia. Since it assesses attention, language, memory, fluency, and visuospatial function separately, it may also be useful for general neuropsychological assessments. The aim of this study was to analyze the tool's ability to detect early stages of Alzheimer's disease and to examine the correlation between ACE-III scores and scores on standardized neuropsychological tests.

Our study included 200 participants categorized as follows: 25 healthy controls, 48 individuals with subjective memory complaints, 47 patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and 47 mild Alzheimer's disease, and 33 patients with other neurodegenerative diseases.

The ACE-III memory and language domains were highly correlated with the neuropsychological tests specific to those domains (Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.806 for total delayed recall on the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test vs. 0.744 on the Boston Naming Test). ACE-III scores discriminated between controls and patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (AUC: 0.906), and between controls and patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AUC: 0.978).

Our results suggest that ACE-III is a useful neuropsychological test for assessing the cognitive domains of attention, language, memory, and visuospatial function. It also enables detection of Alzheimer's disease in early stages.