Introduction: With the rapid increase in the prevalence of the Internet and/or smartphone usage worldwide in the last decade, engagement in internet gaming and social media may be problematic and may lead to negative consequences on mental and physical health among young adults. The main objectives of the present study are (1) to investigate how internet gaming and social media impact on physical activity, sleep quality, quality of life (QoL), and academic performance of university students in Hong Kong and (2) to investigate how physical activity and sleep associate with QoL and academic performance of university students in Hong Kong. Methods: This study employed a longitudinal design with 3-month duration. Hong Kong university students (n = 15; 4 males; mean age = 26.87 years) completed the questionnaires, wore a device to measure their physical activity and sleep, provided screen time data showing the time usage of applications on gaming and social media categories, and academic transcript for the study. Results: Internet gaming was negatively correlated with physical activity and psychological QoL (r_s = −0.49 to −0.62); social media use was negatively correlated with physical activity and sleep quality (r_s = −0.48 to −0.63); internet gaming and smartphone addiction were negatively correlated with academic performance (r_s = −0.51 to −0.53); physical activity was positively correlated with psychological QoL (r_s = 0.49). Conclusion: The results emphasized that internet gaming and smartphone addiction tend to have negative impact on physical activity, psychological QoL, sleep, and academic performance. The findings may be regarded as a direction for health-care providers to develop and evaluate the intervention to treat the specific type of internet/smartphone overuse.

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Introduction: Social networking sites (SNSs) are popular, and there is a concern regarding its addiction among the young adults. The present study aimed to find the correlates of SNS addiction among the undergraduate health professionals. Methods: This was a 6-month, cross-sectional, and observational study of 730 undergraduate health professionals of government medical, dental, and physiotherapy colleges of Jamnagar, Gujarat, India. Participants were selected using stratified random sampling from the medical, dental, and physiotherapy government colleges. The Social Media Disorder Scale was used to detect the SNS addiction, the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) Scale was used to find the severity of FOMO, the Perceived Stress Scale was used to detect the severity of stress, and the Insomnia Severity Index was used to detect the severity of insomnia in health professionals. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and multiple regression analysis were used for analysis of data. Results: The prevalence rate of SNS addiction was 15.02% among the undergraduate health professionals. Participants with addiction were using SNS widely (hostel, home, college, and leisure hours), spent more time and money on Internet, started SNS use before 5 years, and reported FOMO. They also reported moderate-to-severe stress and insomnia. Conclusion: SNS addiction is prevalent in undergraduate health professionals. High level of FOMO, perceived stress, and insomnia among the health professionals are important correlates with SNS addiction.

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Introduction: Nepal has one of the highest prevalences of hypertension in South Asia, which also causes other cardiovascular diseases. However, no studies investigated the prevalence and risk factors of hypertension by urban-rural stratification. Methods: We used a machine learning, Boruta algorithm to select risk factors and a tenfold random forest classifier to evaluate their performance. Finally, multivariate logistic regression estimated crude and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals for knowledge generation. Results: The study included 7825 participants (urban: 4939; rural: 2886), where rural participants were slightly older (median: 37 years; interquartile range: 26–53) and females were more hypertensive (urban: n = 606, 34.5%; rural: n = 308, 31.2%). The prevalence of hypertension was 35.6% in urban and 34.1% in rural regions. The odds of hypertension increased in rural regions for advancing age, provinces (province 4 and 5), and ecological zones (hill and terai). Overweight and obese participants were more likely to have hypertension in both regions. Conclusion: The study recommends the rigorous improvement of public health programs in rural regions of province 4 and 5, concentrating on Dalit and Janajati older males from hill and terai ecological zones. Overweight and obese people from both regions also need special focus. Finally, policymakers and government officials have to tailor campaigns differently for robust implementation of the essential health-care package and multisectoral action plans to prevent and control hypertension.

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Introduction: Participation in leisure activities is greatly associated with the health and well-being of older adults. This study investigated the role of leisure activities in predicting the quality of life of community-dwelling older adults. Methods: In this descriptive and cross-sectional study, 141 older adults were selected by cluster sampling method from public places. Data were collected through demographic characteristics, leisure time activities, and Lipad QoL questionnaires. The questionnaires were completed through face-to-face interviews. A regression model was used for data analysis. Results: The mean age of older adult participants was 70.36 years (standard deviation = 8.99; range: 60–100 years) and 63.8% were male. The results also showed a low level of leisure time engagement and high level of QoL among older adults. The results of the current study indicated that education level and leisure time activity engagement were associated with a better QoL. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, engagement in leisure activities is related to improvements in the QoL of community-dwelling older adults. It is recommended that policymakers and families plan for and implement leisure time activities for older adults.

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Introduction: As a major cause of mortality, coronary artery diseases (CAD) have become an important health priority in recent years. They can affect physical, mental, and social aspects of health and one's perception of wellness and general health. The present study is aimed at determining and comparing the general health status of coronary artery patients in two age groups: Under 45 and 45 and older. Methods: This descriptive–analytical study was conducted with 368 participants. The subjects were selected from March to June 2018 using convenience sampling from Tabriz's Madani Heart Center and Shohada Hospital and then divided equally into four groups: Under 45 CAD patients; under 45 non-CAD patients; 45 and older CAD patients; and 45 and older non-CAD patients. The non-CAD patients were matched to the CAD patients regarding age (±3 years) and sex. The data collection instrument was a 28-item General Health Questionnaire that was administered in interviews with the participants. The data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics. Results: The general health mean scores of the participants were as follows: under 45 CAD patients (41.75 ± 8.80) and their counterpart control group (61.35 ± 7.65); 45 and older CAD patients (40.02 ± 11.22) and their counterpart control group (65.40 ± 6.45). There was a significant difference between the scores of the case and control groups in both age groups (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The results showed that disruption of general health is one of the influential factors in the incidence of CAD. To prevent such diseases, special attention should be given to the instruction of the factors that affect general health and its improvement.

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Introduction: This exploratory cross-sectional study examined the effect of depression on neuropsychological and community function among major depressive disorder (MDD) outpatients without comorbidity in comparison with healthy controls (HCs). Methods: Sixty-nine participants (23 for each group) participated in the study. They were assessed on psychological, neuropsychological function, and community function skills. Results: The results revealed that first episode MDD and recurrent episodes MDD outpatients still have a significantly higher level of depression, impaired mental state, and executive function and worse community function compared with HCs. Intervariable relationships analysis revealed qualitative differences between the three groups. Conclusion: The study provides preliminary evidence that MDD outpatients may need more targeted cognitive and psychosocial interventions to improve their executive and community function skills. Larger-scale studies to increase the validity and generalizability of the pilot data are suggested.

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