OBJECTIVES Fatigue is a frequently experienced and patient-relevant complaint in RA. Disease activity, anaemia and pain are regarded as disease-related factors that may lead to fatigue in RA. However, psychosocial factors may also play a role in maintaining severe fatigue. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of severe fatigue in RA patients, to study patient perception...

PURPOSE Unfavourable exposure to psychosocial work factors threatens older employees' mental health, and their sustained employment. This study assesses whether an improved compared to stable unfavourable and stable favourable exposure to psychosocial work factors is associated with a change in mental health in older employees at 3-year follow-up. METHODS The current study used data from the ...

Background: Childhood maltreatment (CM) can increase the risk of psychosocial risk factors in adulthood (e. g. intimate partner violence, financial problems, substance abuse or medical problems). The transition to parenthood presents those affected by CM with particular challenges, in addition to usual birth-related stressors. Methods: In this cross-sectional study a total of 240 women were int...

BACKGROUND Mortality rates are much more favourable in Western European countries than in those of Eastern Europe. Health behaviour and psychosocial factors have been suggested to be important contributors to East-West differences in mortality and health status. METHODS To compare reported health status as well as health behaviours and psychosocial factors which may be related to unequal heal...

In this article, we review empirical research on the role of individuals' current environmental contexts, cognitive styles, and developmental histories as risk factors for the onset, course, and expression of bipolar spectrum disorders. Our review is focused on the following over arching question: Do psychosocial factors truly contribute risk to the onset, course, or expression of bipolar disor...

In January 1990, a well-established heart transplant program added a psychosocial evaluation procedure to its medical evaluation of potential transplant recipients. To determine the predictive value of psychosocial evaluation for decisions to list patients for a transplant and for ultimate clinical outcomes, we reviewed records of 191 patients who underwent psychosocial evaluation in the subseq...

PURPOSE We examined mental health and psychosocial functioning in adolescents with esophageal atresia (EA) and searched for predictors of impaired outcome. METHODS The study group comprised 21 adolescents with EA and 1 or both parents. A comparison group comprised 36 adolescents from the general population. Mental health, self-esteem, psychosocial functioning, and parental/family functioning ...

Psychosocial variables play a substantial role in the IBS condition of many patients. Evaluating and addressing adverse psychosocial factors is important to achieve satisfactory clinical outcomes with those patients. This can be achieved efficiently through psychosocial interviewing, establishing a solid therapeutic relationship, and judicious and tactful application of psychotropic medications...

Psychosocial stress has been shown to contribute to neurodegenerative changes and has been discussed as a pathogenic element in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, studies investigating this aspect are rare. We performed a case-control study on 50 clinically diagnosed probable AD patients and 90 controls consisting of surgical patients. Interviews were performed by trained personnel, using a que...

BACKGROUND Although the occupational health field has identified psychosocial factors as risk factors for low back pain that causes disability, the association between disabling low back pain and psychosocial factors has not been examined adequately in Japanese hospital workers. Therefore, this study examined the association between low back pain, which interfered with work, and psychosocial fa...