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Background: Past traumatic experiences have been reported to lower stress tolerance, thereby increasing job strain. However, the relationship between past traumatic experiences and employee sickness absence is poorly understood. Aims: This study explores the relationship between sickness absence and past traumatic experience with regard to the amount of time lapsed after the experience, job strain and other mental health states such as depression and anxiety. Methods: A total of 3238 workers were assessed for levels of traumatic stress, depressive status, anxiety and job stress. Results: Odds ratios of the presence of traumatic experiences to sickness absence, adjusted for sex, age and depressive and anxiety states, were presented according to the length of time that had passed since the traumatic events. The odds ratio in the 0-1 Years Group was 1.75 (p < 0.05), and the odds ratio for the 19+ Years Group was 1.46 (p < 0.1). Conclusions: Past traumatic events are related to sickness absence. Sickness absence resulting from a past traumatic experience is important with respect to industrial health. Key words: industrial health, job strain, post-traumatic stress disorder, sickness absence

The present study aims to determine the quality of life (QOL) and general mental health of leprosy patients compared with the general population, and evaluate contributing factors such as socio-economic characteristics and perceived stigma. A total of 189 patients (160 outpatients, 29 inpatients) and 200 controls without leprosy or other chronic diseases were selected from Dhaka district, Bangladesh, using stratified random sampling. A Bangladeshi version of a structured questionnaire including socio-demographic characteristics--the Bangla version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment BREF (WHOQOL-BREF)--was used to assess QOL; a Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) was used to evaluate general mental health; the Barthel Index to control activities of daily living (ADL); and the authors' Perceived Stigma Questionnaire was used to assess perceived stigma of patients with leprosy. Medical records were examined to evaluate disability grades and impairment. QOL and general mental health scores of leprosy patients were worse than those of the general population. Multiple regression analysis revealed that factors potentially contributing to the deteriorated QOL of leprosy patients were the presence of perceived stigma, fewer years of education, the presence of deformities, and a lower annual income. Perceived stigma showed the greatest association with adverse QOL. We conclude that there is an urgent need for interventions sensitive to the effects of perceived stigma, gender, and medical conditions to improve the QOL and mental health of Bangladeshi leprosy patients. Keywords: Leprosy; Quality of life; Mental health; Perceived stigma; Bangladesh

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.04.013 Byline: Takashi Izutsu (a), Atsuro Tsutsumi (b), Akramul Md. Islam (c), Seika Kato (d), Susumu Wakai (e), Hiroshi Kurita (f) Keywords: Bangladesh; Developing countries; Mental health; Slum; Quality of life; Urbanization; Gender Abstract: This study aims to clarify the quality of life (QOL), mental health, and nutritional status of adolescents in Dhaka city, Bangladesh by comparing non-slum areas and slums, and to find the factors associated with their mental health problems. A sample of 187 boys and 137 girls from non-slum areas, and 157 boys and 121 girls from slums, between 11-18 years old were interviewed with a questionnaire consisting of a Bangla translation of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment Instrument (WHOQOL-BREF), Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ), Youth Self-Report (YSR) and other questions. The height and weight of the respondents were measured. All significant differences in demographic characteristics, anthropometric measures, and WHOQOL-BREF were found to reflect worse conditions in slum than in non-slum areas. Contrarily, all differences in SRQ and YSR were worse in non-slum areas for both genders, except that the 'conduct problems' score for YSR was worse for slum boys. Mental states were mainly associated with school enrolment and working status. Worse physical environment and QOL were found in slums, along with gender and area specific mental health difficulties. The results suggest gender specific needs and a requirement for area sensitive countermeasures. Author Affiliation: (a) National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan (b) Hyogo Institute for Traumatic Stress, Japan (c) BRAC, Dhaka, Bangladesh (d) Faculty of Health Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan (e) Department of International Community Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Japan (f) Department of Mental Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Japan

Exposure to natural and human-made disasters is associated with long-term health consequences, including for mental health. Parents who have lost children, particularly their only children, in any circumstances are also at increased risk of developing mental health problems. The aim of this study was to review the available evidence about the psychological and social consequences for parents who had faced these circumstances simultaneously through losing children in a disaster. Systematic searching of the English and Chinese language literatures about the psychological and social functioning of bereaved parents after disasters revealed that a small number of studies met inclusion criteria. The results showed that bereaved parents had more mental health problems than bereaved spouses and non-bereaved parents, and mothers appeared to be more vulnerable to mental health problems than fathers. Potential protective factors for bereaved parents' mental health included having psychological interventions, having adequate social support, seeing their children's bodies and having a subsequent baby. Although the literature was modest and methodologically diverse, there was a consistent finding that parents who have lost children in disasters were at high risk of suffering mental health problems, especially bereaved mothers. As there was little evidence, further studies are needed to understand the best advice and interventions to offer bereaved parents and provide enhanced mental health care of such bereaved populations after disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although international business travel is increasing, there is a lack of research on its repercussions for mental health. This study analysed the long-term influence of international business travel on the mental health status by comparing depression, anxiety and job stress between workers with and without international assignment experience.The subjects were divided into an ëexperienced groupí composed of 70 male workers who had experienced an overseas assignment of at least six months, and a ënon-experienced groupí consisting of 2,163 male workers who had not. To assess the mental health status, Zungís Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Sheehanís Patient Rated Anxiety Scale (Sheehan) were employed. The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) was used to examine job stress. In addition, information about the characteristics of the overseas assignments was collected.The experienced group had significantly higher scores for job control, supervisor support and coworker support in the JCQ, while no differences were observed for the SDS and Sheehan. Whether or not the subjects travelled abroad with their families, whether or not they went against their will, and whether or not they enjoyed their stay had no effects on their mental health. Job demand had a significantly positive correlation with the duration of the assignment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective. To assess whether having a subsequent child had an effect on the mental health of Chinese mothers who lost a child during an earthquake. Methods. A cross-sectional survey of bereaved mothers was conducted 30 to 34 months after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake using individual structured interviews to assess sociodemographic characteristics, post-disaster experiences and mental health. The interviews incorporated standardized psychometric measures of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complicated grief (CG). Social support was also assessed. An adjusted model taking potential confounders into account was used to explore any association between psychological symptoms and the birth of a subsequent child. Findings. The prevalence of psychological symptoms was higher in mothers who did not have a child after losing the first one. In an adjusted model, symptoms of anxiety (odds ratio, OR: 3.37; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.51-7.50), depression (OR: 9.47; 95% CI: 2.58-34.80), PTSD (OR: 5.11; 95% CI: 2.31-11.34) and CG (OR: 10.73; 95% CI: 1.88-61.39) were significantly higher among the 116 women without a subsequent child than among the 110 mothers who had another child after bereavement. More than two thirds of the mothers with new infants had clinically important psychological symptoms. Conclusion. Women who have lost an only child in a natural disaster are especially vulnerable to long-term psychological problems, especially if they have reached an age when conception is difficult. Research should focus on developing and evaluating interventions designed to provide women with psychosocial support and reproductive health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study examined the association between sexual risk behaviors and drug and alcohol use among young people in a juvenile classification home., Methods: The subjects completed a questionnaire including demographic information, questions on sexual risk behaviors, Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-20), Adolescent Alcohol Involvement Scale (AAIS) and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE)., Results: Median of the lifetime number of sex partners was 2. The mean age for first engaging in sexual intercourse was 14.81. Non-school-attendance, higher DAST-20 and AAIS scores produced significant odds ratios for having a greater number of sex partners, and higher DAST-20 scores produced a significant association with an earlier sexual debut., Conclusion: This study indicated association between sexual risk behaviors and substance use among young men.