This study aimed to assess knowledge, lifestyle behaviours, and sociodemographic associations regarding hypertension control among adults in urban Ghana.

Hypertension is a major contributor to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in Ghana. However, data on population-level knowledge of its risk factors and related lifestyle behaviours in urban settings remain limited.

A cross-sectional analytical survey was conducted between August 2023 and September 2024 across four urban regions. Using stratified convenience sampling, 7096 adults aged 18–67+ years were recruited. Data on sociodemographic, lifestyle behaviours, and hypertension knowledge were collected via a structured questionnaire.

Participants had a mean age of 37.27 (±8.73) years, with a majority being female (63.85%) and married (97.66%). Educational attainment varied. Females constituted most hypertensive cases, particularly for stage 2 hypertension, while males had a notably higher prevalence of pre-hypertension among those aged 27–53 years. Age and body mass index showed significant positive correlations with systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p < 0.01). Men were significantly more likely to smoke and consume alcohol (p < 0.01). Logistic regression indicated that regular exercise reduced the odds of hypertension diagnosis (OR = 0.72, CI: 0.54–0.96), while older age increased the odds. The study underscores the need for targeted public health strategies. Priorities include promoting physical activity and weight management, alongside smoking/alcohol cessation programs tailored for high-risk men. Early intervention for younger adults with pre-hypertension and enhanced educational outreach for less-educated groups are crucial.

Prevention of child maltreatment – incorporating physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect and exposure to domestic violence – is a clearly defined global policy priority. Global Burden of Disease studies have focused on estimating burden attributable to childhood sexual abuse omitting other forms of child maltreatment. This study aims to estimate burden attributable to child maltreatment using data from the first comprehensive national study, the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS), accounting for the co-occurrence of multiple forms, the complex impact of multi-type maltreatment and the contribution of interrelated factors.

We estimated burden attributable to child maltreatment by age and gender for Australia in 2021. Risk–outcome pairs that met criteria for sufficient evidence for a causal relationship were included. Relative risks were estimated as a function of exposure based on data from the ACMS incorporating increased risk with multi-type maltreatment and adjustment for confounding. Levels of exposure in each of the 32 mutually exclusive combinations or patterns of child maltreatment were estimated based on ACMS data by age and gender. The theoretical minimum risk exposure level was determined as no exposure to child maltreatment in the population and population attributable fractions (PAFs) were calculated. Attributable mortality, years of life lost, years lived with disability and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were estimated by multiplying PAFs by the relevant burden of disease estimates by age and gender for Australia in 2021. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of the results. Uncertainty was propagated into attributable burden estimates using Monte Carlo simulation methods.

Overall, child maltreatment accounted for 6.6% (95% uncertainty interval (UI), 6.2–6.9%) of all DALYs for women and 6.4% (95% UI, 6.0–6.7%) of all DALYs for men in Australia in 2021. An estimated 71.2% of self-harm, 57.1% of anxiety disorders and 49.3% of major depressive disorder (MDD) DALYs in women, and 63.8% of self-harm, 55.9% of anxiety disorders and 42.9% of MDD DALYs in men were attributable to child maltreatment.

Child maltreatment contributes to a substantial proportion of burden of disease in Australia, equivalent to leading lifestyle-related risk factors such as high body mass index, high blood pressure and smoking. This research significantly advances knowledge of the disease burden attributable to child maltreatment and provides novel methodology for measuring the impact of all five forms of child maltreatment combined on mental health and health risk behaviours nationally and globally.

The triglyceride–glucose (TyG) index, a surrogate marker for insulin resistance, has been associated with depressive symptoms, but findings are inconsistent and predominantly based on cross-sectional studies. This study investigated whether the TyG index is associated with incident depression independent of genetic predisposition and explored potential risk factors underlying this association.

A total of 335,586 UK Biobank participants without baseline depression were included. Incident depression cases were extracted by linking electronic health records. Polygenic risk scores quantified genetic predisposition. Cox proportional hazards models examined the associations. We further evaluated the contribution of socioeconomic status (education, employment, and Townsend Deprivation Index), lifestyle factors (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and sleep duration), biological indicators (body mass index and total cholesterol), and health conditions (hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease). No preregistered protocol was used.

During a mean follow-up of 13.1 years, 14,096 (4.2%) individuals developed depression. Compared with the lowest TyG quartile (Q1), the fully adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for Q2, Q3, and Q4 were 1.051 (1.000–1.104), 1.078 (1.025–1.134), and 1.144 (1.086–1.206), respectively (P for trend <0.001). Per standard deviation increment in the TyG index was associated with a 5.9% (3.9%–7.8%) higher risk of depression. Individuals with both high TyG levels and high genetic predisposition had the highest risk, although no significant interaction was observed. All adjusted risk factors appeared to attenuate 63.9% of the association.

A higher TyG index was associated with increased risk of incident depression, independent of genetic predisposition.

In the US, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death and disability. Cost-related medication non-adherence (CRMN) can have serious consequences and worsen CVD outcomes. We examined the relationship between CVD risk factors and CRMN among US adults.

CDC’s 2019–2021 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data were used to examine CRMN among adults, categorized into three groups based on reported risk factors. We used chi-square tests, and logistic regression to determine factors associated with CRMN.

Among 49,464 participants, young, unmarried individuals, females, less educated, and participants from the South had higher CRMN than older, married individuals, males, and those with higher education residing in the other regions. Current smokers and those with more CVD risk factors also reported higher CRMN than former and never-smokers. Conversely, those aged 65 or older, with high-income, and excellent self-rated health had lower CRMN than younger participants, low-income families, and those with poor self-rated health. Public insurance and Medicaid participants had lower CRMN than uninsured (OR 0.13, 95% CI, 0.04–0.45, and OR 0.24, 95% CI, 0.15–0.36). Stratified analysis by diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia, revealed participants with high-income had lower odds of CRMN (OR 0.38, 95% CI, 0.28–0.50; OR 0.39, 95% CI, 0.28–0.58; OR 0.37, 95% CI, 0.27–0.51 respectively) than those with lower- incomes.

Adults under 65 with more CVD risk factors and lacking insurance coverage are at higher risk of CRMN. Therefore, strengthening prescription drug coverage and targeted interventions are necessary to reduce CRMN among those with cardiovascular risk factors.

Secondary intracranial infections are common and severe complications in patients with viral encephalitis, contributing to higher mortality, prolonged hospitalization and increased healthcare burden. Evidence on risk factors, pathogen spectrum and resistance patterns remains limited, and predictive models tailored to this population are lacking.

We conducted a single-center retrospective cohort study, including 160 consecutive patients diagnosed with viral encephalitis. Clinical, therapeutic, laboratory and microbiological data were extracted from hospital records. Independent risk factors were identified using multivariate logistic and Cox regression. Predictive performance was assessed by receiver operating characteristic analysis. Pathogen distribution and antimicrobial resistance profiles were analyzed descriptively.

During a median follow-up of 16 days, 50 patients (31.3%) developed secondary intracranial infections, corresponding to an incidence of 2.9 events per 1000 patient-days. Independent predictors included older age (adjusted OR 1.39 per 10 years, P = 0.021), comorbidities (OR 2.18, P = 0.048), corticosteroid use ≥7 days (OR 2.45, P = 0.025), ≥2 invasive procedures (OR 2.92, P = 0.007) and elevated CSF protein (OR 2.36, P = 0.037). The multivariable risk score achieved an area under the curve of 0.86 (95% CI 0.80–0.92). Pathogen analysis revealed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (24.0%) and Acinetobacter baumannii (20.0%) as predominant isolates, both showing high multidrug resistance, including carbapenem resistance rates of 70% in A. baumannii.

Secondary intracranial infections occur frequently in viral encephalitis and are strongly associated with host vulnerability. The predominance of MRSA and carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii underscores the urgent need for tailored infection control and antimicrobial strategies in neurocritical care.

Psychiatric comorbidities are common in first-episode psychosis (FEP) and hinder recovery. Problem gambling (PBG), despite potentially serious clinical consequences, remains under-investigated in this population. This study aimed to estimate the incidence of PBG in FEP and identify predictive factors.

This prospective cohort study was conducted at two FEP programmes in Quebec, Canada. Individuals aged 18–35 years diagnosed with FEP between November-1-2019 and January-31-2023 were screened for PBG using the Problem Gambling Severity Index through May-1-2023. The primary outcome was incident PBG. Time-varying Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for candidate predictors.

Among 520 individuals without prior PBG (mean age = 24.6±4.0 years; 28.8% women), 18 developed PBG during a mean follow-up of 478 days, yielding an incidence rate of 2.6 cases/ 100 person-years. In site-adjusted analyses, white ethnicity (HR = 9.7; 95%CI = 1.3–74.8), incomplete high school education (HR = 2.8; 95%CI = 1.1–7.2), stimulant use disorder (HR=2.8; 95%CI = 1.0–7.3), use of D2/D3-5-HT1A partial agonists (HR = 4.6; 95%CI = 1.5–14.1), and prior non-problematic gambling (HR = 3.1; 95%CI = 1.1–8.4) predicted increased risk. Thirteen cases occurred during aripiprazole treatment, which remained associated with increased PBG risk after multivariable adjustment (adjusted HR = 4.7; 95%CI = 1.6–13.9).

Despite the limited number of incident cases, these results suggest that PBG is relatively common PBG and is associated with potential risk factors, including white ethnicity, incomplete high school education, stimulant use disorder, prior non-problematic gambling, and treatment with D2/D3-5-HT1A partial agonists, particularly aripiprazole. These findings underscore the importance of routine screening for PBG and risk-informed antipsychotic prescribing in FEP.

Our study aimed to explore risk factors for medium–giant coronary artery aneurysms in children with Kawasaki disease.

6,540 eligible children with Kawasaki disease who were diagnosed in Wuhan Children’s Hospital from January 2011 to December 2023 were retrospectively analysed. The clinical and laboratory data were compared between medium–giant group and non–medium–giant group.

A total of 6,540 patients with Kawasaki disease were included, and 162 (2.5%) developed medium–giant coronary artery aneurysms, of whom 56 (0.9%) were giant. Univariate analysis showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups in 22 variables (P< 0.05). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression analysis revealed that intravenous immunoglobulin resistance, haemoglobin, platelet count, and albumin were the most significant risk factors for medium–giant coronary artery aneurysms. The result of binary logistic regression analysis showed that intravenous immunoglobulin resistance (OR = 6.474, 95%CI = 4.399 ∼ 9.528, P< 0.001), platelet count elevation (OR = 1.003, 95%CI = 1.002 ∼ 1.004, P< 0.001), and albumin reduction (OR = 0.912, 95%CI = 0.879 ∼ 0.946, P< 0.001) were independent risk factors affecting the occurrence of medium–giant coronary artery aneurysms, and the area under the curve of the regression model was 0.75, with a sensitivity of 62.3% and a specificity of 79.2%.

Intravenous immunoglobulin resistance, platelet counts elevation, and albumin levels reduction may be significant predictors of medium–giant coronary artery aneurysms and can serve as a reference for early diagnosis of medium–giant coronary artery aneurysms.