Allostatic Load and Allostatic Overload: Preventive and Clinical Implications

Enhancing Conceptual Clarity regarding the Construct of Moral Injury

BACKGROUND

The construct of "moral injury" is used widely in the research literature and media to broadly describe the impact of events involving perceived violations of one's sense of right and wrong (herein referred to as "potentially morally injurious events" [PMIEs]).

SUMMARY

In this theoretical review, we provided a brief overview of the "moral injury" construct and its limitations including the lack of consensus-drawn boundaries and operational definitions to guide hypothesis-driven research. We discussed whether this construct can be reliably distinguished from established psychiatric diagnoses and psychological constructs and the inherent challenges in separating or classifying the impact of high-magnitude stressful life events that likely form the majority of PMIEs. Assessments that purportedly measure "moral injury" are reviewed and limitations are discussed such as shared measurement variance with established psychological instruments.

KEY MESSAGES

We identified conceptual strategies for investigating behavioral and neurobiological features of PMIEs that could be used to inform the field of traumatic stress. We concluded that the construct of "moral injury" may provide an interpretive framework for positing why someone may be beset by guilt, shame, and/or rage whereas existing psychiatric diagnoses such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression provide comprehensive descriptions regarding what someone might experience following extremely stressful events. We proposed directions to better clarify the boundaries of "moral injury" versus established psychiatric categories that could be used to enhance the conceptualization and assessment of this construct.

Association of allostatic load with functional disability in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study

OBJECTIVES

Allostatic load (AL) is an index that manifests as cumulative wear and tear on multiple physiological systems resulting from repeated adaptation to stressors throughout the life course. Higher AL was found to be associated with increased risk of adverse health outcomes, but studies on functional disability among large Chinese older population were limited. We aimed to investigate the associations of AL with functional disability among Chinese older adults.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

This prospective cohort study included 5880 older adults who were at least 50 years old and participated in the CHARLS at baseline (2011 wave), with 3 follow-ups (2013, 2015 and 2018 waves). We selected 11 biomarkers from 4 physiological systems to construct AL. AL score was classified into three categories based on tertiles: 0-1 (low burden), 2-3 (medium burden) and 4-11 (high burden). Functional disability was assessed by activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Multivariable logistic regression models examined the association between baseline AL, transitions of AL burden and incidence of functional disability.

RESULTS

In cross-sectional analyses, medium and high AL burden were associated with an increased prevalence of ADL disability, while association was only significant between high AL burden and IADL disability. During the 7-year follow-up, 1102 and 1777 participants incident ADL disability and IADL disability, respectively. Those with medium and high AL burden had an increased risk of new-onset ADL disability than those with low AL burden ("medium": OR = 1.25, 95%CI = 1.01, 1.55; "high": OR = 1.69, 95%CI = 1.32, 2.18). As for IADL disability, association was only significant in "high" group (OR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.24, 1.83). We also found keep medium/high AL burden in 2011 and 2015 was associated with new-onset ADL (OR = 2.27, 95%CI = 1.50, 3.44) and IADL disability (OR = 1.51, 95%CI = 1.11, 2.05) in 2018.

CONCLUSION

These results show that higher AL predicts functional disability among Chinese older adults. Monitoring AL and paying close attention to those with medium/high AL burden may aid prevention of adverse health outcomes, thus giving a healthier ageing experience to a large proportion of the population.

Clinical Interviewing: An Essential but Neglected Method of Medicine

Clinical interviewing is the basic method to understand how a person feels and what are the presenting complaints, obtain medical history, evaluate personal attitudes and behavior related to health and disease, give the patient information about diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment, and establish a bond between patient and physician that is crucial for shared decision making and self-management. However, the value of this basic skill is threatened by time pressures and emphasis on technology. Current health care trends privilege expensive tests and procedures and tag the time devoted to interaction with the patient as lacking cost-effectiveness. Instead, the time spent to inquire about problems and life setting may actually help to avoid further testing, procedures, and referrals. Moreover, the dialogue between patient and physician is an essential instrument to increase patient's motivation to engage in healthy behavior. The aim of this paper was to provide an overview of clinical interviewing and its optimal use in relation to style, flow and hypothesis testing, clinical domains, modifications according to settings and goals, and teaching. This review points to the primacy of interviewing in the clinical process. The quality of interviewing determines the quality of data that are collected and, eventually, of assessment and treatment. Thus, interviewing deserves more attention in educational training and more space in clinical encounters than it is currently receiving.