Search

Purpose: This study assessed state anxiety as a function of speech recognition testing using three clinical measures of speech in noise and one clinical measure of dichotic speech recognition. Method: Thirty young adults, 30 middle-age adults, and 25 older adults participated. State anxiety was measured pre-and post-speech recognition testing using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Speech recognition was measured with the Revised Speech Perception in Noise Test, the Quick Speech-in-Noise Test, the Words-in-Noise Test, and the Dichotic Digits Test (DDT). Results: Speech recognition performance was as expected--Older adults performed significantly poorer on all measures as compared to the young adults and significantly poorer on the Revised Speech Perception in Noise Test, the Quick Speech-in-Noise Test, and the Words-in-Noise Test as compared to the middle-age adults. On average, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scores increased post-testing, with the middle-age adults exhibiting significantly greater increases in state anxiety as compared to the young and older adults. Increases in state anxiety were significantly greater for the DDT relative to the speech-in-noise tests for the middle-age adults only. Poorer DDT recognition performance was associated with higher levels of state anxiety. Conclusions: Increases in state anxiety were observed after speech-in-noise and dichotic listening testing for all groups, with significant increases seen for the young and middle-age adults. Although the exact mechanisms could not be determined, multiple factors likely influenced the observed increases in state anxiety, including task difficulty, individual proficiency, and age.

Summary: The MJA–Lancet Countdown on health and climate change in Australia was established in 2017 and produced its first national assessment in 2018 and annual updates in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. It examines five broad domains: health hazards, exposures and impacts; adaptation, planning and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co‐benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement. In this, the sixth report of the MJA–Lancet Countdown, we track progress on an extensive suite of indicators across these five domains, accessing and presenting the latest data and further refining and developing our analyses.Our results highlight the health and economic costs of inaction on health and climate change. A series of major flood events across the four eastern states of Australia in 2022 was the main contributor to insured losses from climate‐related catastrophes of $7.168 billion — the highest amount on record. The floods also directly caused 23 deaths and resulted in the displacement of tens of thousands of people.High red meat and processed meat consumption and insufficient consumption of fruit and vegetables accounted for about half of the 87 166 diet‐related deaths in Australia in 2021. Correction of this imbalance would both save lives and reduce the heavy carbon footprint associated with meat production.We find signs of progress on health and climate change. Importantly, the Australian Government released Australia's first National Health and Climate Strategy, and the Government of Western Australia is preparing a Health Sector Adaptation Plan. We also find increasing action on, and engagement with, health and climate change at a community level, with the number of electric vehicle sales almost doubling in 2022 compared with 2021, and with a 65% increase in coverage of health and climate change in the media in 2022 compared with 2021.Overall, the urgency of substantial enhancements in Australia's mitigation and adaptation responses to the enormous health and climate change challenge cannot be overstated. Australia's energy system, and its health care sector, currently emit an unreasonable and unjust proportion of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. As the Lancet Countdown enters its second and most critical phase in the leadup to 2030, the depth and breadth of our assessment of health and climate change will be augmented to increasingly examine Australia in its regional context, and to better measure and track key issues in Australia such as mental health and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic climate change appears to be increasing the frequency, duration and intensity of extreme weather events. Such events have already had substantial impacts on socioeconomic development and population health. Climate change's most profound impacts are likely to be on food, health systems and water. This paper explores how climate change will affect food, human health and water in China. Projections Indicate that the overall effects of climate change, land conversion and reduced water availability could reduce Chinese food production substantially--although uncertainty Is Inevitable in such projections. Climate change will probably have substantial impacts on water resources--e.g. changes in rainfall patterns and increases in the frequencies of droughts and floods in some areas of China. Such impacts would undoubtedly threaten population health and well-being in many communities. In the short-term, population health in China is likely to be adversely affected by Increases in air temperatures and pollution. In the medium to long term, however, the indirect impacts of climate change--e.g. changes in the availability of food, shelter and water, decreased mental health and well-being and changes in the distribution and seasonality of infectious diseases--are likely to grow in importance. The potentially catastrophic consequences of climate change can only be avoided if all countries work together towards a substantial reduction in the emission of so-called greenhouse gases and a substantial increase in the global population's resilience to the risks of climate variability and change. Le changement climatique anthropique est a l'origine d'une augmentation de la frequence, de la duree et de l'intensite de phenomenes meteorologiques extremes. Ces phenomenes ont deja eu des consequences notables sur le developpement socioeconomique et la sante des populations. Les effets les plus marques du changement climatique se manifesteront certainement au niveau de l'alimentation, des systemes sanitaires et de l'eau. Cet article examine la maniere dont le changement climatique affectera l'alimentation, la sante humaine et l'eau en Chine. Selon les previsions, les effets globaux du changement climatique, la conversion des terres et la diminution de l'eau disponible pourraient considerablement reduire la production alimentaire chinoise, bien que de telles previsions comportent inevitablement un certain degre d'incertitude. Le changement climatique aura probablement des consequences importantes sur les ressources en eau, avec par exemple des modifications des regimes de precipitations ou encore des secheresses et des inondations plus frequentes dans certaines regions de Chine. Ces effets mettront indubitablement en peril la sante et le bien-etre de nombreuses communautes. A court terme, la sante des populations en Chine devrait se trouver affectee par l'augmentation des temperatures de l'air et de la pollution. Sur le moyen et le long terme, cependant, ce sont les effets indirects du changement climatique (par ex., changements au niveau de la disponibilite des denrees alimentaires, de l'eau et des lieux de residence, degradation de la sante mentale et du bien-etre des personnes, changements dans la repartition et la saisonnalite des maladies infectieuses) qui devraient prendre de l'importance. Les consequences potentiellement catastrophiques du changement climatique ne peuvent etre evitees que si tous les pays ouuvrent ensemble en vue de reduire sensiblement les emissions de gaz a effet de serre et d'augmenter la resilience de la population mondiale face aux risques de variabilite et de changement climatiques. Parece que el cambio climatico antropogenico esta aumentando la frecuencia, duracion e intensidad de fenomenos meteorologicos extremos. Tales fenomenos ya han afectado enormemente el desarrollo socioeconomico y la salud publica. Los efectos mas profundos del cambio climatico tienen posibilidades de afectar a la alimentacion, los sistemas sanitarios y el agua. En este articulo se explora como influira el cambio climatico en la alimentacion, la salud publica y el agua en China. Las previsiones indican que los efectos generales del cambio climatico, la conversion del suelo y la menor disponibilidad de agua podrian reducir la produccion de alimentacion en China de forma sustancial, a pesar de que la incertidumbre es inevitable en dichas previsiones. Es probable que el cambio climatico afecte de manera importante a los recursos de agua, por ejemplo, cambios en los patrones de las precipitaciones y aumentos de la frecuencia de las sequias y las inundaciones en algunas zonas de China. Sin duda, tales impactos amenazaran la salud publica y el bienestar de muchas comunidades. A corto plazo, la salud publica china se vera perjudicada por los aumentos de la temperatura del aire y la contaminacion. Sin embargo, de medio a largo plazo, es probable que aumente la importancia de los efectos indirectos del cambio climatico, como los cambios de la disponibilidad de alimentos, refugioy agua, una reduccion del bienestar y la salud mental y cambios en la propagacion y estacionalidad de enfermedades infecciosas. Las posibles consecuencias catastroficas del cambio climatico pueden evitarse unicamente si todos los paises trabajan juntos para reducir en gran medida la emision de los conocidos gases de efecto invernadero y para aumentar la resistencia de la poblacion mundial ante los riesgos de la variabilidad y el cambio climaticos., Introduction The consequences of climate change will be felt in all of the world's continents, countries and populations. (1) As climate change proceeds, continuing temperature increases and changes in precipitation [...]

Summary: The MJA–Lancet Countdown on health and climate change in Australia was established in 2017 and produced its first national assessment in 2018 and annual updates in 2019, 2020 and 2021. It examines five broad domains: climate change impacts, exposures and vulnerability; adaptation, planning and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co‐benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement. In this, the fifth year of the MJA–Lancet Countdown, we track progress on an extensive suite of indicators across these five domains, accessing and presenting the latest data and further refining and developing our analyses.Within just two years, Australia has experienced two unprecedented national catastrophes — the 2019–2020 summer heatwaves and bushfires and the 2021–2022 torrential rains and flooding. Such events are costing lives and displacing tens of thousands of people. Further, our analysis shows that there are clear signs that Australia's health emergency management capacity substantially decreased in 2021.We find some signs of progress with respect to health and climate change. The states continue to lead the way in health and climate change adaptation planning, with the Victorian plan being published in early 2022. At the national level, we note progress in health and climate change research funding by the National Health and Medical Research Council. We now also see an acceleration in the uptake of electric vehicles and continued uptake of and employment in renewable energy.However, we also find Australia's transition to renewables and zero carbon remains unacceptably slow, and the Australian Government's continuing failure to produce a national climate change and health adaptation plan places the health and lives of Australians at unnecessary risk today, which does not bode well for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]