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Being diagnosed with cancer and coping with fears about potential death might trigger acute distress. Previous research found that patients with cancer are 1.85 times more at risk of developing mental illness. Whereas previous studies investigated the risk of schizophrenia, no studies have investigated the risk of individual psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations. This was an analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing involving 7586 adults of whom 1082 have cancer. There were 19 (0.3%) who self-reported hallucinations, and logistic regression showed that cancer patients had higher odds of hallucinating. Loneliness, discrimination, poor job satisfaction, poor life satisfaction, anxiety, low level of autonomy/control and having restless sleep were also associated with hallucinations. Cancer patients had higher odds of poor life satisfaction, which was also predicted by loneliness, discrimination, job satisfaction, anxiety symptoms, autonomy/control and restless sleep. Further results of a moderated mediation model showed that cancer, loneliness, and job satisfaction were directly associated with hallucinations, and life satisfaction was a mediator. Anxiety symptoms also moderated the relationships with hallucinations. Cancer is associated with a higher risk of hallucinations, and other aspects of mental wellbeing (e.g., anxiety and life satisfaction) are also important. Interventions are needed which safeguard mental health after cancer diagnosis and during treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None to declare., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The World Health Organization recognises that sexual harassment is an occupational hazard in medicine, but the prevalence of sexual harassment by patients is unknown. This global meta-analysis found that a pooled prevalence of 45.13% of 18 803 physicians from several specialities (e.g. internal medicine and surgery) have ever experienced it. Hospitals should implement protective measures such as panic alarms for night shifts and isolated wards., (© 2024 The Author(s). Internal Medicine Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Royal Australasian College of Physicians.)

Based on the vulnerability-stress model and coping theory, this study of 1920 people in Scotland investigated how sex, age, occupational factors, anxiety, depression and maladaptive coping behaviours are associated with cardiovascular health. Structural equation modelling and serial Sobel mediation tests were conducted. Anxiety was associated with past arrhythmia, whereas depression was associated with past heart attacks, stroke and angina. Females reported more anxiety, past arrhythmia, confectionary and alcohol consumption, whereas males had more heart attacks. Confectionary consumption was associated with past arrhythmia, and alcohol consumption was associated with past heart attacks. Being older was associated with depression, past stroke, arrhythmia and alcohol consumption. Being younger was associated with anxiety and smoking. Depression and smoking mediated the relationship between type of working and cardiovascular health history, potentially because of socioeconomic factors. Clinicians can use these results to advise clients about cardiovascular risks associated with anxiety, depression, demographics and health-related coping behaviours., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Objectives: The aims were to compare the frequency with which male and female cardiologists experience sexism and to explore the types of sexism experienced in cardiology., Methods: A validated questionnaire measuring experiences of sexism and sexual harassment was distributed online to 890 UK consultant cardiologists between March and May 2018. χ 2 tests and pairwise comparisons with a Bonferroni correction for multiple analyses compared the experiences of male and female cardiologists., Results: 174 cardiologists completed the survey (24% female; 76% male). The survey showed that 61.9% of female cardiologists have experienced discrimination of any kind, mostly related to gender and parenting, compared with 19.7% of male cardiologists. 35.7% of female cardiologists experienced unwanted sexual comments, attention or advances from a superior or colleague, compared with 6.1% of male cardiologists. Sexual harassment affected the professional confidence of female cardiologists more than it affected the confidence of male cardiologists (42.9% vs 3.0%), including confidence with colleagues (38% vs 10.6%) and patients (23.9% vs 4.6%). 33.3% of female cardiologists felt that sexism hampered opportunities for professional advancement, compared with 2.3% of male cardiologists., Conclusion: Female cardiologists in the UK experience more sexism and sexual harassment than male cardiologists. Sexism impacts the career progression and professional confidence of female cardiologists more, including their confidence when working with patients and colleagues. Future research is urgently needed to test interventions against sexism in cardiology and to protect the welfare of female cardiologists at work., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)