Experience of loneliness on well-being among young individuals: A systematic scoping review

A systematic scoping review was conducted to explore the current evidence on the experience of loneliness influencing well-being among youths. The electronic databases Scopus, APA PsycINFO, Emerald Insight and One Search were used to identify relevant studies, followed by an analysis of the text words contained in the title and abstract, and of the index terms used to describe the article. Reference lists of all shortlisted articles were searched for additional studies. 20 studies (quantitative, qualitative and mixed) published in the English language were identified for inclusion. Findings illustrate that the experience of loneliness is a complex, evolutionary process influenced by relational and environmental factors. Results from the studies identified factors that promote lower experience of loneliness and better well-being in future life stages. Future research can substantiate the issues related to young individuals being socially isolated from others for a prolonged duration.

Eyelid malignancies in young individuals: clinical peculiarities

OBJECTIVE

The incidence of malignant eyelid tumors is considerably increasing, even in young patients. The purpose of this study was to identify particularities in individuals under 40 years of age affected by eyelid malignancies.

METHODS

Clinical charts of patients under 40 years of age who underwent eyelid tumor excision from 2014 to 2020 in two reference centers, one in Brazil and one in the USA, were reviewed. Demographic and outcome measures included: age, gender, skin phototype, comorbidities, diagnosis, time until diagnosis, lesion location, recurrence and metastasis. In addition, associated characteristics, including chronic sun exposure, intentional tanning (outdoor or artificial), history of smoking, use of sunscreen, family history of skin cancer and exposure to pesticides or herbicides, were reviewed.

RESULTS

A total of 24 malignant eyelid tumors from 17 patients were identified. Twelve (70.6%) patients were female, and the most prevalent tumor was basal cell carcinoma (62.5%). Three (17.6%) patients had xeroderma pigmentosum and presented with multiple lesions. Family history of skin cancer was reported by 47% of patients. Prolonged sun exposure was reported by 41.2%; history of smoking and intentional tanning were reported by 23.5 and 17.6%, respectively, and might have played a role in carcinogenesis.

CONCLUSIONS

Although uncommon in young subjects, eyelid malignancies present some peculiarities in individuals under 40 years of age. Our results suggest that women with family history of skin cancer and history of chronic exposure to ultraviolet radiation are at risk. Association with genetic syndromes is also relevant among younger age groups.

Acute Diverticulitis: A Rare Cause of Abdominal Pain

There is an increasing incidence of diverticulosis and diverticulitis in the younger populations; and its occurrence in very young individual is concerning. Here we report a rare and interesting case of a 20-year-old man who presented with 3-day history of epigastric abdominal pain associated with diarrhea and nausea. His abdominal examination revealed mild tenderness in the right lower abdominal quadrant. Computed tomography (CT) scan of abdomen with intravenous contrast revealed scattered diverticula throughout the colon with focal thickening, pericolonic infiltrative changes suggestive of acute diverticulitis in the distal ascending colon. He was treated with intravenous hydration and antibiotics and discharged when his clinical status improved. He underwent colonoscopy 1 month later which showed pan diverticulosis. This case illustrates the importance of considering acute diverticulitis in the differential diagnosis of right lower quadrant pain when evaluating a young patient.

"Presumed cardiac" arrest in children and young adults: A misnomer?

AIM

To use a novel methodology to assess the incidence and specific causes of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) within a young urban cohort.

METHODS

All EMS attended OHCA patients in a large urban area, between 2009 and 2012, aged 2-45 years, treated or untreated, who died or survived, and that were designated as "no obvious cause" etiology by trained data abstractors were included. Using multisource (medical and coroner) records, an expert panel adjudicated the causes of the OHCAs as: confirmed cardiac causes, confirmed non- cardiac causes, and other causes.

RESULTS

Of a total of 1993 cases EMS designated as "no obvious cause", only 29.9% (595/1993) were due to confirmed cardiac causes; the rest were due to other causes (non-cardiac etiologies): confirmed drug overdose (n=624), trauma (n=108), cancer (n=69), complex chronic care (n=65) and non-cardiac acute illness - mostly vascular, infectious, and metabolic (n=376). The annual incidence rate of "no obvious cause" OHCAs after initial field classification was 12.97/100,000 pt. years (95% CI 12.40, 13.50), compared to 3.87/100,000 pt. years (95% CI 3.56, 4.18) for the confirmed cardiac OHCAs after adjudication. The predominant underlying etiologies of confirmed cardiac OHCAs were coronary heart disease and structural heart disease.

CONCLUSIONS

In young adults with OHCA, confirmed cardiac causes were responsible in a minority of cases, and they differed in presentation from those with confirmed non- cardiac causes. Establishing rigorous case ascertainment strategies with linkage to multiple data sources will facilitate a more reliable evaluation of the causes of these events.

Comparing the performance of the EQ-5D-3L and the EQ-5D-5L in young Portuguese adults

BACKGROUND

Some studies have reported a ceiling effect in EQ-5D-3L, especially in healthy and/or young individuals. Recently, two further levels have been included in its measurement model (EQ-5D-5L). The purposes of this study were (1) to assess the properties of the EQ-5D-5L in comparison with the standard EQ-5D-3L in a sample of young adults, (2) to foreground the importance of collecting qualitative data to confirm, validate or refine the EQ-5D questionnaire items and (3) to raise questions pertaining to the wording in these questionnaire items.

METHODS

The data used came from a sample of respondents aged 30 or under (n = 624). They completed both versions of the EQ-5D, which were compared in terms of feasibility, level of inconsistency and ceiling effect. Agreement between the instruments was assessed using correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman plots. Known-groups validity of the EQ-5D-5L was also assessed using non-parametric tests. The discriminative properties were compared using receiver operating characteristic curves. Finally, four interviews were conducted for retrospective reports to elicit respondents' understanding and perceptions of the format, instructions, items, and responses.

RESULTS

Quantitative results show a ceiling effect reduction of 25.3 % and a high level agreement between both indices. Known-groups validity was confirmed for the EQ-5D-5L. Explorative interviews indicated ambiguity and low degree of certainty in regards to conceptualizing differences between levels moderate-slight across three dimensions.

CONCLUSIONS

The EQ-5D-5L performed better than the EQ-5D-3L. However, the explorative interviews demonstrated several limitations in the EQ-5D questionnaire wording and high context-dependent answers point to lack of illnesses' experience amongst young adults.