Is spirituality a component of wisdom? Study of 1,786 adults using expanded San Diego Wisdom Scale (Jeste-Thomas Wisdom Index)

OBJECTIVE

Wisdom has gained increasing interest among researchers as a personality trait relevant to well-being and mental health. We previously reported development of a new 24-item San Diego Wisdom Scale (SD-WISE), with good to excellent psychometric properties, comprised of six subscales: pro-social behaviors, emotional regulation, self-reflection (insight), tolerance for divergent values (acceptance of uncertainty), decisiveness, and social advising. There is controversy about whether spirituality is a marker of wisdom. The present cross-sectional study sought to address that question by developing a new SD-WISE subscale of spirituality and examining its associations with various relevant measures.

METHODS

Data were collected from a national-level sample of 1,786 community-dwelling adults age 20-82 years, as part of an Amazon M-Turk cohort. Participants completed the 24-item SD-WISE along with several subscales of a commonly used Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality, along with validated scales for well-being, resilience, happiness, depression, anxiety, loneliness, and social network.

RESULTS

Using latent variable models, we developed a Spirituality subscale, which demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties including a unidimensional factor structure and good reliability. Spirituality correlated positively with age and was higher in women than in men. The expanded 28-item, 7-subscale SD-WISE total score (called the Jeste-Thomas Wisdom Index or JTWI) demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties. The Spirituality subscale was positively correlated with good mental health and well-being, and negatively correlated with poor mental health. However, compared to other components of wisdom, the Spirituality factor showed weaker (i.e., small-to-medium vs. medium-to-large) association with the SD-WISE higher-order Wisdom factor (JTWI).

CONCLUSION

Similar to other components as well as overall wisdom, spirituality is significantly associated with better mental health and well-being, and may add to the predictive utility of the total wisdom score. Spirituality is, however, a weaker contributor to overall wisdom than components like pro-social behaviors and emotional regulation. Longitudinal studies of larger and more diverse samples are needed to explore mediation effects of these constructs on well-being and health.

Interaction between Alcohol Consumption and Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) Genotype with Cognition in Middle-Aged Men

OBJECTIVE

Heavy alcohol consumption is associated with poorer cognitive function in older adults. Although understudied in middle-aged adults, the relationship between alcohol and cognition may also be influenced by genetics such as the apolipoprotein (ApoE) ε4 allele, a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. We examined the relationship between alcohol consumption, ApoE genotype, and cognition in middle-aged adults and hypothesized that light and/or moderate drinkers (≤2 drinks per day) would show better cognitive performance than heavy drinkers or non-drinkers. Additionally, we hypothesized that the association between alcohol use and cognitive function would differ by ApoE genotype (ε4+ vs. ε4-).

METHOD

Participants were 1266 men from the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA; M age = 56; range 51-60) who completed a neuropsychological battery assessing seven cognitive abilities: general cognitive ability (GCA), episodic memory, processing speed, executive function, abstract reasoning, verbal fluency, and visuospatial ability. Alcohol consumption was categorized into five groups: never, former, light, moderate, and heavy.

RESULTS

In fully adjusted models, there was no significant main effect of alcohol consumption on cognitive functions. However, there was a significant interaction between alcohol consumption and ApoE ε4 status for GCA and episodic memory, such that the relationship of alcohol consumption and cognition was stronger in ε4 carriers. The ε4+ heavy drinking subgroup had the poorest GCA and episodic memory.

CONCLUSIONS

Presence of the ε4 allele may increase vulnerability to the deleterious effects of heavy alcohol consumption. Beneficial effects of light or moderate alcohol consumption were not observed.

Intestinal Virome in Patients With Alcoholic Hepatitis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Alcoholic hepatitis (AH) is a severe manifestation of alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) with high mortality. Although gut bacteria and fungi modulate disease severity, little is known about the effects of the viral microbiome (virome) in patients with ALD.

APPROACH AND RESULTS

We extracted virus-like particles from 89 patients with AH who were enrolled in a multicenter observational study, 36 with alcohol use disorder (AUD), and 17 persons without AUD (controls). Virus-like particles from fecal samples were fractionated using differential filtration techniques, and metagenomic sequencing was performed to characterize intestinal viromes. We observed an increased viral diversity in fecal samples from patients with ALD, with the most significant changes in samples from patients with AH. Escherichia-, Enterobacteria-, and Enterococcus phages were over-represented in fecal samples from patients with AH, along with significant increases in mammalian viruses such as Parvoviridae and Herpesviridae. Antibiotic treatment was associated with higher viral diversity. Specific viral taxa, such as Staphylococcus phages and Herpesviridae, were associated with increased disease severity, indicated by a higher median Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score, and associated with increased 90-day mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, intestinal viral taxa are altered in fecal samples from patients with AH and associated with disease severity and mortality. Our study describes an intestinal virome signature associated with AH.

Cognitive Practice Effects Delay Diagnosis; Implications for Clinical Trials

OBJECTIVE

Practice effects on cognitive tests obscure decline, thereby delaying detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This reduces opportunities for slowing Alzheimer's disease progression and can hinder clinical trials. Using a novel method, we assessed the ability of practice-effect-adjusted diagnoses to detect MCI earlier, and tested the validity of these diagnoses based on AD biomarkers.

METHODS

Of 889 Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative participants who were cognitively normal (CN) at baseline, 722 returned at 1-year-follow-up (mean age=74.9±6.8). Practice effects were calculated by comparing returnee scores at follow-up to demographically-matched individuals who had only taken the tests once, with an additional adjustment for attrition effects. Practice effects for each test were subtracted from follow-up scores. The lower scores put additional individuals below the impairment threshold for MCI. CSF amyloid-beta, phosphorylated tau, and total tau were measured at baseline and used for criterion validation.

RESULTS

Practice-effect-adjusted scores increased MCI incidence by 26% (p<.001). Adjustment increased proportions of amyloid-positive MCI cases (+20%) and reduced proportions of amyloid-positive CNs (-6%) (ps<.007). With the increased MCI base rate, adjustment for practice effects would reduce the sample size needed for detecting significant drug treatment effects by an average of 21%, which we demonstrate would result in multi-million-dollar savings in a clinical trial.

INTERPRETATION

Adjusting for practice effects on cognitive testing leads to earlier detection of MCI. When MCI is an outcome, this reduces recruitment needed for clinical trials, study duration, staff and participant burden, and can dramatically lower costs. Importantly, biomarker evidence also indicates improved diagnostic accuracy.

Intestinal Virome Signature Associated With Severity of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Alterations in the gut microbiome have been associated with the severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Previous studies focused exclusively on the bacteria in the microbiome; we investigated changes in the viral microbiome (virome) in patients with NAFLD.

METHODS

In a prospective, cross-sectional, observational study, we extracted RNA and DNA virus-like particles from fecal samples from 73 patients with NAFLD: 29 patients had an NAFLD Activity Score (NAS) of 0-4, 44 patients had an NAS of 5-8 or liver cirrhosis (LCI), 37 patients had F0-F1 fibrosis, and 36 patients had F2-F4 fibrosis. As controls, 9 individuals without liver disease and 13 patients with mild primary biliary cholangitis were included in the analysis. We performed shotgun metagenomic sequencing of virus-like particles.

RESULTS

Patients with NAFLD and NAS 5-8/LCI had a significant decrease in intestinal viral diversity compared with patients with NAFLD and NAS 0-4 or control individuals. The presence of more advanced NAFLD was associated with a significant reduction in the proportion of bacteriophages compared with other intestinal viruses. Using multivariate logistic regression analysis with leave-1-out cross validation, we developed a model, including a viral diversity index and simple clinical variables, that identified patients with NAS 5-8/LCI with an area under the curve of 0.95 (95% confidence interval, 0.91-0.99) and F2-F4 fibrosis with an area under the curve of 0.88 (95% confidence interval, 0.80-0.95). Addition of data on viral diversity significantly improved multivariate models, including those based on only clinical parameters or bacterial diversity.

CONCLUSIONS

In a study of fecal viromes from patients with NAFLD and control individuals, we associated histologic markers of NAFLD severity with significant decreases in viral diversity and proportion of bacteriophages. We developed a model based on fecal viral diversity and clinical data that identifies patients with severe NAFLD and fibrosis more accurately than models based only on clinical or bacterial data.

The effects of aspirin and N-3 fatty acids on telomerase activity in adults with diabetes mellitus

Type 2 Diabetes mellitus is associated with aging and shortened telomere length. Telomerase replaces lost telomeric repeats at the ends of chromosomes and is necessary for the replicative immortality of cells. Aspirin and the n3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are commonly used therapies in people with type 2 diabetes for reducing cardiovascular disease events, though their relation to telomerase activity is not well studied. We explored the effects of aspirin, EPA + DHA, and the combined effects of aspirin and EPA + DHA treatment on telomerase activity in 30 adults with diabetes mellitus. EPA and DHA ingestion alone increased telomerase activity then a decrease occurred with the addition of aspirin consumption. Crude (F-stat = 2.09, p = 0.13) and adjusted (F-stat = 2.20, p = 0.14) analyses of this decrease showed signs of a trend. These results suggest that aspirin has an adverse effect on aging in diabetics who have relatively high EPA and DHA ingestion.

Outcomes of Randomized Clinical Trials of Interventions to Enhance Social, Emotional, and Spiritual Components of Wisdom: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Importance

Wisdom is a neurobiological personality trait made up of specific components, including prosocial behaviors, emotional regulation, and spirituality. It is associated with greater well-being and happiness.

Objective

To evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to enhance individual components of wisdom.

Data Sources

MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases were searched for articles published through December 31, 2018.

Study Eligibility Criteria

Randomized clinical trials that sought to enhance a component of wisdom, used published measures to assess that component, were published in English, had a minimum sample size of 40 participants, and presented data that enabled computation of effect sizes were included in this meta-analysis.

Data Extraction and Synthesis

Random-effect models were used to calculate pooled standardized mean differences (SMDs) for each wisdom component and random-effects meta-regression to assess heterogeneity of studies.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Improvement in wisdom component using published measures.

Results

Fifty-seven studies (N = 7096 participants) met review criteria: 29 for prosocial behaviors, 13 for emotional regulation, and 15 for spirituality. Study samples included people with psychiatric or physical illnesses and from the community. Of the studies, 27 (47%) reported significant improvement with medium to large effect sizes. Meta-analysis revealed significant pooled SMDs for prosocial behaviors (23 studies; pooled SMD, 0.43 [95% CI, 0.22-0.3]; P = .02), emotional regulation (12 studies; pooled SMD, 0.67 [95% CI, 0.21-1.12]; P = .004), and spirituality (12 studies; pooled SMD, 1.00 [95% CI, 0.41-1.60]; P = .001). Heterogeneity of studies was considerable for all wisdom components. Publication bias was present for prosocial behavior and emotional regulation studies; after adjusting for it, the pooled SMD for prosocial behavior remained significant (SMD, 0.4 [95% CI, 0.16-0.78]; P = .003). Meta-regression analysis found that effect sizes did not vary by wisdom component, although for trials on prosocial behaviors, large effect sizes were associated with older mean participant age (β, 0.08 [SE, 0.04]), and the reverse was true for spirituality trials (β, -0.13 [SE, 0.04]). For spirituality interventions, higher-quality trials had larger effect sizes (β, 4.17 [SE, 1.07]), although the reverse was true for prosocial behavior trials (β, -0.91 [SE 0.44]).

Conclusions and Relevance

Interventions to enhance spirituality, emotional regulation, and prosocial behaviors are effective in a proportion of people with mental or physical illnesses and from the community. The modern behavioral epidemics of loneliness, suicide, and opioid abuse point to a growing need for wisdom-enhancing interventions to promote individual and societal well-being.

Functional Microbiomics Reveals Alterations of the Gut Microbiome and Host Co-Metabolism in Patients With Alcoholic Hepatitis

Alcohol-related liver disease is a major public health burden, and the gut microbiota is an important contributor to disease pathogenesis. The aim of the present study is to characterize functional alterations of the gut microbiota and test their performance for short-term mortality prediction in patients with alcoholic hepatitis. We integrated shotgun metagenomics with untargeted metabolomics to investigate functional alterations of the gut microbiota and host co-metabolism in a multicenter cohort of patients with alcoholic hepatitis. Profound changes were found in the gut microbial composition, functional metagenome, serum, and fecal metabolomes in patients with alcoholic hepatitis compared with nonalcoholic controls. We demonstrate that in comparison with single omics alone, the performance to predict 30-day mortality was improved when combining microbial pathways with respective serum metabolites in patients with alcoholic hepatitis. The area under the receiver operating curve was higher than 0.85 for the tryptophan, isoleucine, and methionine pathways as predictors for 30-day mortality, but achieved 0.989 for using the urea cycle pathway in combination with serum urea, with a bias-corrected prediction error of 0.083 when using leave-one-out cross validation. Conclusion: Our study reveals changes in key microbial metabolic pathways associated with disease severity that predict short-term mortality in our cohort of patients with alcoholic hepatitis.

High Protein Intake Is Associated With Histological Disease Activity in Patients With NAFLD

Overconsumption of carbohydrates and lipids are well known to cause nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), while the role of nutritional protein intake is less clear. In Western diet, meat and other animal products are the main protein source, with varying concentrations of specific amino acids. Whether the amount or composition of protein intake is associated with a higher risk for disease severity has not yet been examined. In this study, we investigated associations of dietary components with histological disease activity by analyzing detailed 14-day food records in a cohort of 61 patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD. Furthermore, we used 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing to detect associations with different abundances of the gut microbiota with dietary patterns. Patients with definite nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NAFLD activity score of 5-8 on liver biopsy) had a significantly higher daily relative intake of protein compared with patients with a NAFLD activity score of 0-4 (18.0% vs. 15.8% of daily protein-based calories, P = 0.018). After adjustment for several potentially confounding factors, a higher protein intake (≥17.3% of daily protein-based calories) remained associated with definite nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, with an odds ratio of 5.09 (95% confidence interval 1.22-21.25, P = 0.026). This association was driven primarily by serine, glycine, arginine, proline, phenylalanine, and methionine. A higher protein intake correlated with a lower Bacteroides abundance and an altered abundance of several other bacterial taxa. Conclusion: A high protein intake was independently associated with more active and severe histological disease activity in patients with NAFLD. Further studies are needed to investigate the potential harmful role of dietary amino acids on NAFLD, with special attention to meat as their major source.

Advanced machine learning methods in psychiatry: an introduction

Mental health questions can be tackled through machine learning (ML) techniques. Apart from the two ML methods we introduced in our previous paper, we discuss two more advanced ML approaches in this paper: support vector machines and artificial neural networks. To illustrate how these ML methods have been employed in mental health, recent research applications in psychiatry were reported.

Machine learning methods in psychiatry: a brief introduction

Machine learning (ML) techniques have been widely used to address mental health questions. We discuss two main aspects of ML in psychiatry in this paper, that is, supervised learning and unsupervised learning. Examples are used to illustrate how ML has been implemented in recent mental health research.

Intestinal Fungal Dysbiosis and Systemic Immune Response to Fungi in Patients With Alcoholic Hepatitis

Chronic alcohol consumption causes increased intestinal permeability and changes in the intestinal microbiota composition, which contribute to the development and progression of alcohol-related liver disease. In this setting, little is known about commensal fungi in the gut. We studied the intestinal mycobiota in a cohort of patients with alcoholic hepatitis, patients with alcohol use disorder, and nonalcoholic controls using fungal-specific internal transcribed spacer amplicon sequencing of fecal samples. We further measured serum anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA) as a systemic immune response to fungal products or fungi. Candida was the most abundant genus in the fecal mycobiota of the two alcohol groups, whereas genus Penicillium dominated the mycobiome of nonalcoholic controls. We observed a lower diversity in the alcohol groups compared with controls. Antibiotic or steroid treatment was not associated with a lower diversity. Patients with alcoholic hepatitis had significantly higher ASCA levels compared to patients with alcohol use disorder and to nonalcoholic controls. Within the alcoholic hepatitis cohort, patients with levels of at least 34 IU/mL had a significantly lower 90-day survival (59%) compared with those with ASCA levels less than 34 IU/mL (80%) with an adjusted hazard ratio of 3.13 (95% CI, 1.11-8.82; P = 0.031). Conclusion: Patients with alcohol-associated liver disease have a lower fungal diversity with an overgrowth of Candida compared with controls. Higher serum ASCA was associated with increased mortality in patients with alcoholic hepatitis. Intestinal fungi may serve as a therapeutic target to improve survival, and ASCA may be useful to predict the outcome in patients with alcoholic hepatitis.

Bacteriophage targeting of gut bacterium attenuates alcoholic liver disease

Chronic liver disease due to alcohol-use disorder contributes markedly to the global burden of disease and mortality1-3. Alcoholic hepatitis is a severe and life-threatening form of alcohol-associated liver disease. The gut microbiota promotes ethanol-induced liver disease in mice4, but little is known about the microbial factors that are responsible for this process. Here we identify cytolysin-a two-subunit exotoxin that is secreted by Enterococcus faecalis5,6-as a cause of hepatocyte death and liver injury. Compared with non-alcoholic individuals or patients with alcohol-use disorder, patients with alcoholic hepatitis have increased faecal numbers of E. faecalis. The presence of cytolysin-positive (cytolytic) E. faecalis correlated with the severity of liver disease and with mortality in patients with alcoholic hepatitis. Using humanized mice that were colonized with bacteria from the faeces of patients with alcoholic hepatitis, we investigated the therapeutic effects of bacteriophages that target cytolytic E. faecalis. We found that these bacteriophages decrease cytolysin in the liver and abolish ethanol-induced liver disease in humanized mice. Our findings link cytolytic E. faecalis with more severe clinical outcomes and increased mortality in patients with alcoholic hepatitis. We show that bacteriophages can specifically target cytolytic E. faecalis, which provides a method for precisely editing the intestinal microbiota. A clinical trial with a larger cohort is required to validate the relevance of our findings in humans, and to test whether this therapeutic approach is effective for patients with alcoholic hepatitis.

Study of Independent Living Residents of a Continuing Care Senior Housing Community: Sociodemographic and Clinical Associations of Cognitive, Physical, and Mental Health

OBJECTIVE

To examine associations of sociodemographic and clinical factors with cognitive, physical, and mental health among independent living older adults in a continuing care senior housing community (CCSHC).

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study at the independent living sector of a CCSHC in San Diego County, California. Participants included English-speaking adults aged 65-95 years, of which two-thirds were women. Of the 112 subjects recruited, 104 completed basic study assessments. The authors computed composite measures of cognitive, physical, and mental health. The authors also assessed relevant clinical correlates including psychosocial factors such as resilience, loneliness, wisdom, and social support.

RESULTS

The CCSHC residents were similar to a randomly selected community-based sample of older adults on most standardized clinical measures. In the CCSHC, physical health correlated with both cognitive function and mental health, but there was no significant correlation between cognitive and mental health. Cognitive function was significantly associated with physical mobility, satisfaction with life, and wisdom, whereas physical health was associated with age, self-rated physical functioning, mental well-being, and resilience. Mental health was significantly associated with income, optimism, self-compassion, loneliness, and sleep disturbances.

CONCLUSION

Different psychosocial factors are significantly associated with cognitive, physical, and mental health. Longitudinal studies of diverse samples of older adults are necessary to determine risk factors and protective factors for specific domains of health. With rapidly growing numbers of older adults who require healthcare as well as supportive housing, CCSHCs will become increasingly important sites for studying and promoting the health of older adults.

Post hoc power analysis: is it an informative and meaningful analysis?

Power analysis is a key component for planning prospective studies such as clinical trials. However, some journals in biomedical and psychosocial sciences ask for power analysis for data already collected and analysed before accepting manuscripts for publication. In this report, post hoc power analysis for retrospective studies is examined and the informativeness of understanding the power for detecting significant effects of the results analysed, using the same data on which the power analysis is based, is scrutinised. Monte Carlo simulation is used to investigate the performance of posthoc power analysis.

The p-value and model specification in statistics

The p value has been widely used as a way to summarise the significance in data analysis. However, misuse and misinterpretation of the p value is common in practice. Our result shows that if the model specification is wrong, the distribution of the p value may be inappropriate, which makes the decision based on the p value invalid.

Isoflurane Impacts Murine Melanoma Growth in a Sex-Specific, Immune-Dependent Manner: A Brief Report

The impact of volatile anesthetics on cancer progression has been observed for decades, but sex differences have not been described. Male and female immune systems vary considerably, and the immune system plays an important role in limiting cancer growth. Currently, mouse models describing the impact of volatile anesthetics on cancer growth are limited to same-sex models. In this brief report, we describe a sex-specific impact of isoflurane on melanoma growth observed in wild-type but not in immune-deficient mice. Future experimental designs related to anesthesia and cancer should evaluate the biological variable of sex in a systematic manner.

Assessment of 3-dimensional wisdom in schizophrenia: Associations with neuropsychological functions and physical and mental health

Recent decades have seen growing empirical research in wisdom as a complex, trait-based psychological characteristic. Wisdom has been shown to possess individual and societal benefits through associations with health and well-being, but it has not yet been evaluated in people with schizophrenia (PwS). In the current study, we administered a widely used, validated 3-dimensional wisdom scale that includes three interrelated dimensions: cognitive, reflective, and affective. We examined group differences in wisdom, as well as relationships between wisdom and sociodemographics, clinical symptoms, neurocognitive and functional performance, and mental and physical health in 65 stable adult outpatients with chronic schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 96 non-psychiatric comparison participants (NPCPs). Results showed that PwS had lower wisdom scores than NPCPs and that wisdom moderated relationships between diagnostic group and neurocognitive and functional performance; PwS with higher levels of wisdom demonstrated better cognitive performance than did PwS with lower levels of wisdom. In addition, wisdom was positively correlated with performances on multiple neurocognitive tasks in PwS, but not in NPCPs. Finally, reflective wisdom - representing accurate/unbiased introspection and perspective-taking - correlated with all mental health variables in PwS. Our results were limited by a cross-sectional design, but suggest that wisdom, especially reflective wisdom, may be associated with better cognitive performance and better physical and mental health in PwS. It is conceivable that interventions to enhance wisdom may have broad cognitive and mental and physical health benefits in individuals with chronic psychotic disorders.

Comparison of schizophrenia outpatients in residential care facilities with those living with someone: Study of mental and physical health, cognitive functioning, and biomarkers of aging

This paper aims to compare mental and physical health, cognitive functioning, and selected biomarkers of aging reflecting metabolic pathology and inflammation, in outpatients with schizophrenia from two residential settings: residential care facilities (RCFs) and living with someone in a house/apartment. This cross-sectional study examined community-dwelling adults with schizophrenia either in RCFs (N = 100) or in a house/apartment with someone (N = 76), recruited for two NIH-funded studies in San Diego. Assessments included measures of mental/physical health, cognitive function, and metabolic (glycosylated hemoglobin, cholesterol) and inflammatory (C-Reactive Protein, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha, Interleukin-6) biomarkers of aging. General logistic models were used to analyze factors associated with residential status. RCF residents had several indicators of worse prognosis (never being married, higher daily antipsychotic dosages, increased comorbidities and higher Framingham risk for coronary heart disease) than individuals living with someone. However, RCF residents had better mental well-being and lower BMI, as well as comparable biomarkers of aging as those living with someone. While the cross-sectional nature of the study does not allow us to infer causality, it is possible that the supportive environment of RCFs may have a positive impact on mental and physical health of persons with schizophrenia. Longitudinal follow-up studies are needed to test this hypothesis.

Sample sizes based on three popular indices of risks

Sample size justification is a very crucial part in the design of clinical trials. In this paper, the authors derive a new formula to calculate the sample size for a binary outcome given one of the three popular indices of risk difference. The sample size based on the absolute difference is the fundamental one, which can be easily used to derive sample size given the risk ratio or OR.

Guidance for use of weights: an analysis of different types of weights and their implications when using SAS PROCs

SAS and other popular statistical packages provide support for survey data with sampling weights. For example, PROC MEANS and PROC LOGISTIC in SAS have their counterparts PROC SURVEYMEANS and PROC SURVEYLOGISTIC to facilitate analysis of data from complex survey studies. On the other hand, PROC MEANS and many other classic SAS procedures also provide an option for including weights and yield identical point estimates, but different standard errors (SEs), as their corresponding survey procedures. This paper takes an in-depth look at different types of weights and provides guidance on use of different SAS procedures.

Sleep Disturbances and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Schizophrenia: Focus on Sex Differences

OBJECTIVES

Persons with schizophrenia, and women in particular, are at high risk for sleep disturbances and inflammatory activation. The sleep-inflammation link has been reported to be stronger in women within the general population. This study sought to examine the sleep-inflammation link in persons with schizophrenia and its relationship with demographic, clinical and cognitive variables.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional case-control study.

PARTICIPANTS

Community-dwelling outpatients with schizophrenia (N=144, 46% women) and non-psychiatric comparison (NC) participants (N=134, 52% women), age 26-65 years.

MEASUREMENTS

Reported sleep disturbances (sleep quality and duration), and mental and physical health were assessed. Cognitive assessments included executive functioning (Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System) and global cognitive functioning (Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status - modified.) Inflammatory biomarkers included pro-inflammatory cytokines [high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP), Interleukin (IL)-6, Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α)] and an anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10).

RESULTS

The schizophrenia group had longer sleep duration, worse sleep quality, and increased levels of hs-CRP, IL-6, and TNF-α compared to NCs. Women with schizophrenia were less likely to have good sleep quality and had elevated levels of hs-CRP and IL-6 compared to men with schizophrenia. In the schizophrenia group, worse sleep quality and global cognitive functioning were associated with higher hs-CRP and IL-6 levels. Female sex and younger age were also associated with higher hs-CRP levels.

CONCLUSIONS

Sleep disturbances and increased inflammation, which were common in schizophrenia, were associated in persons with schizophrenia. Moreover, women with schizophrenia had worse sleep quality and inflammation than men. Further examination of the sleep-inflammation links, their contribution to clinical outcomes, and sex-specific factors is warranted.

Sleep disturbance at pre-deployment is a significant predictor of post-deployment re-experiencing symptoms

Background: Insomnia is common in service members and associated with many mental and physical health problems. Recently, longitudinal data have been used to assess the impact of disturbed sleep on mental health outcomes. These studies have consistently shown relationships between sleep disturbance and development of mental illness. Objective: The present study examined the longitudinal relationship between sleep disturbance and PTSD symptomatology in a cohort of Marines and Navy Corpsmen deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan (n = 2,404) assessed prior to deployment, as well as at -3 and 6 months post-deployment. Additionally, we aimed to investigate the extent to which these relationships are moderated by combat-stress severity, and to what extent these findings are replicated in a second, separate cohort of Marines and Navy corpsmen (n = 938) assessed with identical measures prior to deployment and within 3 months of return. Method: The present study employed latent variable path models to examine the relationships between pre-deployment sleep disturbance and post-deployment re-experiencing symptoms. Initial cross-lagged path models were conducted on discovery and replication samples to validate the hypothesized predictive relationships. Follow up moderation path models were then conducted to include the effect of combat-stress severity on these relationships. Results: Initial cross-lagged models supported a significant relationship between pre-deployment sleep disturbance and future re-experiencing PTSD symptoms at all time points. Initial moderation models showed a small moderator effect of combat-stress severity, though the main predictive relationship between pre-deployment sleep disturbance and PTSD symptoms remained significant. The moderator effect was not significant in the replication sample. Conclusions: The results of this study support pre-deployment sleep disturbance as a risk factor for development of post-deployment PTSD symptoms. Interventions aimed at normalizing sleep may be important in preventive measures for PTSD.