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Bulled N, Singer M. Conceptualizing COVID-19 syndemics: A scoping review. JOURNAL OF MULTIMORBIDITY AND COMORBIDITY 2024; 14:26335565241249835. [PMID: 38682155 PMCID: PMC11055430 DOI: 10.1177/26335565241249835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/01/2024]
Abstract
Background COVID-19's heavy toll on human health, and its concentration within specific at-risk groups including the socially vulnerable and individuals with comorbidities, has made it the focus of much syndemic discourse. Syndemic theory recognizes that social factors create the conditions that support the clustering of diseases and that these diseases interact in a manner that worsens health outcomes. Syndemics theory has helped to facilitate systems-level approaches to disease as a biosocial phenomenon and guide prevention and treatment efforts. Despite its recognized value, reviews of syndemics literature have noted frequent misuse of the concept limiting its potential in guiding appropriate interventions. Objective To review how the term 'syndemic' is defined and applied within peer-reviewed literature in relation to COVID-19. Design A scoping review of definitions within COVID-19 literature published between January 1, 2020 to May 15, 2023 was conducted. Searches took place across six databases: Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, JSTOR, MEDLINE/Pubmed, PsycINFO and Scopus. PRISMA-ScR guidelines were followed. Results Content analysis revealed that COVID-19 has varied clustered configurations of communicable-non-communicable diseases and novel communicable disease interactions. Spatial analysis was presented as a new strategy to evidence syndemic arrangements. However, syndemics continue to be regarded as universal, with continued misunderstanding and misapplication of the concept. Conclusion This review found that current applications of syndemics remain problematic. Recommendations are made on the design of syndemic studies. A syndemic framework offers an opportunity for systems-level thinking that considers the full complexity of human-disease interactions and is useful to inform future pandemic preparations and responses.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Merrill Singer
- Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
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Mesías-Gazmuri J, Folch C, Palacio-Vieira J, Bruguera A, Egea-Cortés L, Forero CG, Hernández J, Miró JM, Navarro J, Riera M, Peraire J, Alonso-García L, Díaz Y, Casabona J, Reyes-Urueña J. Syndemic conditions and quality of life in the PISCIS Cohort of people living with HIV in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands: a cross sectional study. Health Qual Life Outcomes 2023; 21:42. [PMID: 37165368 PMCID: PMC10173626 DOI: 10.1186/s12955-023-02120-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/12/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND People living with HIV (PLWH) face structural and psychosocial factors that affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We aimed to evaluate how syndemic conditions affected HRQoL in PLWH. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 861 PLWH, to determine whether syndemic conditions (monthly income; sexual satisfaction; depressive symptoms; social role satisfaction; social isolation; cognitive function; nicotine dependence; perception of stigma) have an effect on HRQoL. A linear regression model and measures of Additive Interaction (AI) were used to determine the effects of syndemic conditions on HRQoL, controlling for other risk factors. RESULTS Overall, the most frequently observed were stigma perception (56.9%), poor cognitive function (50.6%) and the perception of social isolation (51.6%). The presence of depressive symptoms was the risk factor most associated with worse Physical Health (PH) (B 3.93, 2.71-5.15) and Mental Health (MH) (B 5.08, 3.81-6.34) in linear regression model. Specifically, an interaction was observed between poor cognitive function and poor satisfaction with social role on worse PH and MH (AI 2.08, 0.14-4.02; AI 2.69, 0.15-5.22, respectively); and low income and perception of stigma (AI 2.98, 0.26-5.71), low income and perception of social isolation (AI 2.79, 0.27-5.32), and low income and poor satisfaction with social role (AI 3.45, 0.99-5.91) on MH. CONCLUSION These findings provide evidence that syndemic factors impact HRQoL. HIV prevention programs should screen and address co-occurring health problems to improve patient-centered health care and outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jocelyn Mesías-Gazmuri
- Centre of Epidemiological Studies of HIV/AIDS and STI of Catalonia (CEEISCAT), Health Department, Generalitat de Catalunya, Badalona, Spain
- Germans Trias I Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Campus Can Ruti, Badalona, Spain
- PhD in Methodology of Biomedical Research and Public Health, Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Spain
| | - Cinta Folch
- Centre of Epidemiological Studies of HIV/AIDS and STI of Catalonia (CEEISCAT), Health Department, Generalitat de Catalunya, Badalona, Spain.
- Germans Trias I Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Campus Can Ruti, Badalona, Spain.
- CIBER Epidemiología Y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.
| | - Jorge Palacio-Vieira
- Centre of Epidemiological Studies of HIV/AIDS and STI of Catalonia (CEEISCAT), Health Department, Generalitat de Catalunya, Badalona, Spain
- Germans Trias I Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Campus Can Ruti, Badalona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología Y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Andreu Bruguera
- Centre of Epidemiological Studies of HIV/AIDS and STI of Catalonia (CEEISCAT), Health Department, Generalitat de Catalunya, Badalona, Spain
- Germans Trias I Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Campus Can Ruti, Badalona, Spain
- PhD in Methodology of Biomedical Research and Public Health, Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología Y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Laia Egea-Cortés
- Centre of Epidemiological Studies of HIV/AIDS and STI of Catalonia (CEEISCAT), Health Department, Generalitat de Catalunya, Badalona, Spain
| | - Carlos G Forero
- Department of Medicine. School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Sant Cugat, Spain
| | - Juan Hernández
- Grupo de Trabajo Sobre Tratamientos del VIH (gTt), Barcelona, Spain
| | - José M Miró
- Infectious Diseases Service. Hospital Clínic-IDIBAPS. University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBERINFEC, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jordi Navarro
- Infectious Diseases Department. Hospital, Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Joaquim Peraire
- Infectious Diseases Department. Hospital, Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain
- Hospital Joan XXIII, IISPV, Universitat Rovira I Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
| | - Lucía Alonso-García
- Centre of Epidemiological Studies of HIV/AIDS and STI of Catalonia (CEEISCAT), Health Department, Generalitat de Catalunya, Badalona, Spain
| | - Yesika Díaz
- Centre of Epidemiological Studies of HIV/AIDS and STI of Catalonia (CEEISCAT), Health Department, Generalitat de Catalunya, Badalona, Spain
- Germans Trias I Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Campus Can Ruti, Badalona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología Y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Jordi Casabona
- Centre of Epidemiological Studies of HIV/AIDS and STI of Catalonia (CEEISCAT), Health Department, Generalitat de Catalunya, Badalona, Spain
- Germans Trias I Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Campus Can Ruti, Badalona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología Y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
- Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Preventive Medicine, Univ Autonoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Spain
| | - Juliana Reyes-Urueña
- Centre of Epidemiological Studies of HIV/AIDS and STI of Catalonia (CEEISCAT), Health Department, Generalitat de Catalunya, Badalona, Spain
- Germans Trias I Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Campus Can Ruti, Badalona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología Y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
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Ouafik MR, Buret L, Scholtes B. Mapping the current knowledge in syndemic research applied to men who have sex with men: A scoping review. Soc Sci Med 2022; 306:115162. [PMID: 35779501 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 06/17/2022] [Accepted: 06/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Men who have sex with Men (MSM) represent a population affected by numerous health conditions. Syndemic theory has been used as a framework to study the health of MSM for nearly 20 years. However, the literature is plagued by a lack of consensus regarding what constitutes a synergy in a syndemic and recent reviews have shown that most of the papers published thus far have failed to demonstrate a synergy nor describe the bio-social interaction needed to account for a true syndemic. Moreover, to our knowledge, none of the existing reviews have focused specifically on MSM. This scoping review aims to fill this gap by mapping in detail how syndemic research on MSM has been conducted. A systematic database search was conducted between 2020 and 2021 and 115 studies were included. Our findings showed a lack of diversity regarding the location, design, subpopulation, and outcomes studied. In addition, the syndemic conditions, as well as their measurement, were not focused enough to ensure the robustness and reproducibility of the findings. Furthermore, our results support previous reviews showing a lack of empirical data to support disease interaction in syndemic research applied to MSM. Our review offers some important recommendations to help move the field forward in future work and describes some promising methodological advances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxence R Ouafik
- Research Unit of Primary Care and Health, General Practice Department, University of Liège, Quartier Hôpital B23, Avenue Hippocrate 13, 4000, Liège, Belgium.
| | - Laetitia Buret
- Research Unit of Primary Care and Health, General Practice Department, University of Liège, Quartier Hôpital B23, Avenue Hippocrate 13, 4000, Liège, Belgium.
| | - Beatrice Scholtes
- Research Unit of Primary Care and Health, General Practice Department, University of Liège, Quartier Hôpital B23, Avenue Hippocrate 13, 4000, Liège, Belgium.
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Vereeken S, Peckham E, Gilbody S. Can we better understand severe mental illness through the lens of Syndemics? Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:1092964. [PMID: 36683979 PMCID: PMC9853558 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1092964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Current health care systems do not sufficiently address contributors, also known as modifiable behavior factors, to severe mental illnesses (SMI). Instead treatment is focused on decreasing symptom-experience rather than reducing the detrimental effect of biological predisposition and behavioral influences on illness. Health care services and patients alike call for a more comprehensive, individual approach to mental health care, especially for people with SMI. A Syndemics framework has been previously used to identify ecological and social contributors to an HIV epidemic in the 1990s, and the same framework is transferable to mental health research to identify the relationship between contributing factors and the outcomes of SMI. Using this approach, a holistic insight into mental illness experience could inform more effective health care strategies that lessen the burden of disease on people with SMI. In this review, the components of a Syndemic framework, the scientific contributions to the topic so far, and the possible future of mental health research under the implementation of a Syndemic framework approach are examined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silke Vereeken
- Mental Health and Addiction, Health Sciences, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Emily Peckham
- Mental Health and Addiction, Health Sciences, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Simon Gilbody
- Mental Health and Addiction, Health Sciences, University of York, York, United Kingdom.,Hull York Medical School, York, United Kingdom
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