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Aim. To assess five-year changes of somatic risk factors and comorbidities in patients with angina of effort.Material and methods. The study included 320 patients (143 men and 177 women aged 40-69 years) with coronary artery disease (CAD), class I-III angina of effort. Patients underwent examinations in 2012 in three medical centers of the Republic of Ingushetia (Russia), and in 2017 they were invited for a second complex examination with questionnaires, biochemical analysis, and instrumentation.Results. Over the five-year follow-up, there was an increase of men with class III effort angina up to 45%; a similar trend was observed in women. Both men and women experienced a three-fold increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes. Initially and during the follow-up, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was diagnosed 2 times more often in men than in women, which may be associated with smoking. A small increase in the total cholesterol level was recorded in the cohort; among women, these changes were significant. Target levels reach no more than 20% of patients. A significant increase of blood glucose levels over the 5-year period was observed in a cohort of men and women with effort angina.Conclusion. Over the 5-year follow-up, there was a clinical deterioration of the effort angina, which is associated with an increase in the incidence of some somatic diseases and the severity of the main behavioral and biological risk factors.

Objective: To identify determinants within 3 different domains (ie, somatic comorbidities, cognitive functioning, and neuropsychiatric symptoms [NPS]) of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) over time in memory clinic patients without dementia. Methods: This longitudinal multicenter cohort study with a 3-year observation period recruited 315 individuals (age: 69.8 ± 8.6, 64.4% males, Mini-Mental State Examination score 26.9 ± 2.6). A multivariable explanatory model was built using linear mixed effects models (forward selection per domain) to select determinants for self-perceived HRQoL over time, as measured by the EuroQoL-5D visual analogue scale (EQ VAS). Results: Mean HRQoL at study entry was 69.4 ± 15.6. The presence of agitation, appetite and eating abnormalities, and eyes/ears/nose (ie, sensory impairment) comorbidities were associated with a change in HRQoL over time. Agitation was most strongly associated with HRQoL over time. Conclusions: The association of somatic comorbidities and NPS in memory clinic patients with course of HRQoL shows that these should receive more awareness, detection, and monitoring by clinicians.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of common somatic comorbidities among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive patients in Croatia in the first pandemic wave, and assess the differences in clinical outcomes depending on the presence of comorbidities. ----- Methods: We analyzed data from patients confirmed to be SARS-CoV-2-positive from February through May 2020. The data were obtained from clinical laboratories, primary health care providers, and hospitals. Previously recorded comorbidities, including diabetes, cancer, circulatory diseases, chronic pulmonary, and kidney disease, were analyzed. ----- Results: Among 2249 patients, 46.0% were men (median age 51 years; median disease duration 27 days). Hospitalization was required for 41.8% patients, mechanical ventilation for 2.5%, while 4.7% of all patients died. Patients who died were significantly older (median 82 vs 50 years, P

Therapeutic strategies in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) must take into account the characteristics of elderly people, who often have somatic comorbidities. Moreover, demented patients are more frequently frailer than older people. They have a higher number of admissions to hospital, a greater prevalence of complications and an increased risk of death. Therapeutic decisions for these patients have to be approached cautiously: aging, a more elevated comorbidity/polytherapy index and frailty contribute to enhance the risk of pharmacological adverse events and drug interactions. The aim of the present study was to focus on risk–benefit profile of pharmacological therapy for AD in relation to somatic comorbidities that often affect these patients. A Medline search (from 2001 to 2012) was performed using as key words dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, drug treatment, somatic comorbidities, side effects/adverse events and elderly. Cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) and memantine represent the main pharmacological strategies effective in reducing the progression of cognitive decline and functional loss in AD. Many conditions very common in the elderly may restrict the use of ChEIs and/or treatment efficacy in AD patients. Memantine has a good efficacy and tolerability profile with better safety in pulmonary, cardiovascular and central nervous system comorbidities compared to ChEIs. Drug interactions with memantine are also more favorable since they concern mostly drugs not commonly used in the elderly. Only a careful evaluation of the associated somatic diseases, taking into account different drugs safety indexes and tolerability, can lead to personalized treatment management, in order to maximize drug efficacy and optimize quality of life.

BACKGROUND: Using two logistic regression models, we determined the associates of poor physical and mental health related quality of life (HRQoL) among beta thalassemia patients.METHODS: In this cross-sectional study which was conducted during 2006 and 2007 in outpatient adult thalassemia clinic, Blood Transfusion Organization, Tehran, Iran, Short Form 36 (SF-36) was used for measuring HRQoL in 179 patients with beta thalassemia (major/intermedia). We determined scores higher than third quartiles of obtained PCS and MCS scores as the cutoff points of good HRQoL. Poor HRQoL was defined scores lower than first quartiles of obtained PCS and MCS scores. Two distinct logistic regression models were used to derive associated variables including demographic, clinical, and psychological factors.RESULTS: The regression models suggested that poor physical HRQoL was positively associated with somatic comorbidities (OR = 1.472, CI = 1.021-2.197, p = 0.048) and depression score (OR = 8.568, CI = 2.325-31.573, p = 0.001). The variables that were associated with poor mental HRQoL were anxiety score (OR = 9.409, CI = 1.022-89.194, p = 0.049) and depression score (OR = 20.813, CI = 4.320-100.266, p < 0.001).CONCLUSIONS: Depression is associated with both poor physical and mental HRQoL among patients with major/intermedia beta thalassemia, however somatic comorbidities and anxiety are associated with poor physical and mental HRQoL, respectively.KEYWORDS: Thalassemia, Health Related Quality of Life, Anxiety, Depression, Somatic Comorbidities.

IntroductionA rich body of literature dealt with somatic comorbidities of psychiatric illnesses. However, relatively few explored the association of somatic and psychiatric comorbidities with psychiatric treatment success.ObjectiveObjective of this analysis was to explore chronic somatic and psychiatric comorbidities association with the average number of psychiatric re-hospitalisations annually.MethodsThis cross-sectional analysis was done on the baseline data of prospective cohort study “Somatic comorbidities in psychiatric patients” started during 2016 at Psychiatric hospital Sveti Ivan, Zagreb, Croatia. We included 798 patients. Outcome was the average number of psychiatric re-hospitalisations annually since the diagnosis. Predictors were number of chronic somatic and psychiatric comorbidities. Covariates that we controlled were sex, age, BMI, marital status, number of household members, education, work status, duration of primary psychiatric illness, CGI–severity at diagnosis, treatment with antidepressants and antipsychotics.ResultsInteraction of somatic and psychiatric comorbidities was the strongest predictor of the average number of psychiatric re-hospitalisations annually (P < 0.001). Mean number of re-hospitalisations annually adjusted for all covariates, was increasing from 0.60 in patients with no chronic comorbidities, up to 1.10 in patients with ≥ 2 somatic and ≥ 2 psychiatric comorbidities.ConclusionSomatic and psychiatric comorbidities are independently associated with the psychiatric treatment success. Further studies should look at possible causal pathways between them, and interdisciplinary treatment of psychiatric patients is urgently needed.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.