Diffusion MRI of the Hippocampus.

The hippocampus is a brain structure that plays key roles in a variety of cognitive processes. Critically, a wide range of neurological disorders are associated with degeneration of the hippocampal microstructure, defined as neurons, dendrites, glial cells, and more. Thus, the hippocampus is a key target for methods that are sensitive to these microscale properties. Diffusion MRI is one such method, which can noninvasively probe neural architecture. Here we review the extensive use of diffusion MRI to capture hippocampal microstructure in both health and disease. The results of these studies indicate that (1) diffusion tensor imaging is sensitive but not specific to the hippocampal microstructure; (2) biophysical modeling of diffusion MRI signals is a promising avenue to capture more specific aspects of the hippocampal microstructure; (3) use of ultra-short diffusion times have shown unique laminar-specific microstructure and response to hippocampal injury; (4) dispersion of microstructure is likely abundant in the hippocampus; and (5) the angular richness of the diffusion MRI signal can be leveraged to improve delineation of the internal hippocampal circuitry. Overall, extant findings suggest that diffusion MRI offers a promising avenue for characterizing hippocampal microstructure.

Lifetime familiarity cue effects for autobiographical memory.

Recollecting an autobiographical memory requires a cue to initiate processes related to accessing and then elaborating on a past personal experience. Prior work has shown that the familiarity of a cue can influence the autobiographical memory retrieval process. Extending this work, we tested how familiarity accrued from cumulative lifetime exposures associated with the cue-as well as associated semantic knowledge-can affect how we access and remember autobiographical memories. In Experiment 1, we measured reaction times to access and report memories in response to cue words. In Experiment 2 we examined the details with which participants described memories in response to cue words. For both experiments, participants provided estimates of lifetime exposure and semantic knowledge for each cue. In Experiment 1, we found a cue's lifetime exposure, independent of semantic knowledge, led to quicker memory access. In Experiment 2, we found the lifetime exposure and semantic knowledge of a cue interactively affected the specificity of a described autobiographical memory. These results provide new evidence that the amount of lifetime exposure associated with a cue, both independently and interactively with semantic knowledge, influences how autobiographical memories are accessed and described.Clinical trial This was not a clinical trial.Trial Registration Number (TRN) N/A.

Correction: The contribution of drug import to the cost of tuberculosis treatment: A cost analysis of longer, shorter, and short drug regimens for Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000567.].

Organization of pRF size along the AP axis of the hippocampus and adjacent medial temporal cortex is related to specialization for scenes versus faces.

The hippocampus is largely recognized for its integral contributions to memory processing. By contrast, its role in perceptual processing remains less clear. Hippocampal properties vary along the anterior-posterior (AP) axis. Based on past research suggesting a gradient in the scale of features processed along the AP extent of the hippocampus, the representations have been proposed to vary as a function of granularity along this axis. One way to quantify such granularity is with population receptive field (pRF) size measured during visual processing, which has so far received little attention. In this study, we compare the pRF sizes within the hippocampus to its activation for images of scenes versus faces. We also measure these functional properties in surrounding medial temporal lobe (MTL) structures. Consistent with past research, we find pRFs to be larger in the anterior than in the posterior hippocampus. Critically, our analysis of surrounding MTL regions, the perirhinal cortex, entorhinal cortex, and parahippocampal cortex shows a similar correlation between scene sensitivity and larger pRF size. These findings provide conclusive evidence for a tight relationship between the pRF size and the sensitivity to image content in the hippocampus and adjacent medial temporal cortex.

Involuntary memory signals in the medial temporal lobe.

We highlight recent progress in neuroimaging and neuropsychological research on memory mechanisms in the medial temporal lobe that speaks to the involuntary nature of memory retrieval processes. We suggest that evidence form these studies supports Barzykowski and Moulin's proposal that memory signals involved in experiences of familiarity and déjà vu can be generated in the absence of retrieval intentionality.

Depressive symptoms and their association with age, chronic conditions and health status among middle-aged and elderly people in peri-urban Tanzania.

Background: Depression is a global mental health challenge. We assessed the prevalence of depressive symptoms and their association with age, chronic conditions, and health status among middle-aged and elderly people in peri-urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Methods: Depressive symptoms were measured in 2,220 adults aged over 40 years from two wards of Dar es Salaam using the ten-item version of the Center of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10) and a cut-off score of 10 or higher. The associations of depressive symptoms with age, 13 common chronic conditions, multimorbidity, self-rated health and any limitation in six activities of daily living were examined in univariable and multivariable logistic regressions. Results: The estimated prevalence of depressive symptoms was 30.7% (95% CI 28.5-32.9). In univariable regressions, belonging to age groups 45-49 years (OR 1.35 [95% CI 1.04-1.75]) and over 70 years (OR 2.35 [95% CI 1.66-3.33]), chronic conditions, including ischemic heart disease (OR 3.43 [95% CI 2.64-4.46]), tuberculosis (OR 2.42 [95% CI 1.64-3.57]), signs of cognitive problems (OR 1.90 [95% CI 1.35-2.67]), stroke (OR 1.56 [95% CI 1.05-2.32]) and anemia (OR 1.32 [95% CI 1.01-1.71]) and limitations in activities of daily living (OR 1.35 [95% CI 1.07-1.70]) increased the odds of depressive symptoms. Reporting good or very good health was associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms (OR 0.48 [95% CI 0.35-0.66]). Ischemic heart disease and tuberculosis remained independent predictors of depressive symptoms in multivariable regressions. Conclusion: Depressive symptoms affected almost one in three people aged over 40 years. Their prevalence differed across age groups and was moderated by chronic conditions, health status and socioeconomic factors.

Mapping the macrostructure and microstructure of the in vivo human hippocampus using diffusion MRI.

The hippocampus is classically divided into mesoscopic subfields which contain varying microstructure that contribute to their unique functional roles. It has been challenging to characterize this microstructure with current magnetic resonance based neuroimaging techniques. In this work, we used diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) and a novel surface-based approach in the hippocampus which revealed distinct microstructural distributions of neurite density and dispersion, T1w/T2w ratio as a proxy for myelin content, fractional anisotropy, and mean diffusivity. We used the neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) model optimized for grey matter diffusivity to characterize neurite density and dispersion. We found that neurite dispersion was highest in the cornu ammonis (CA) 1 and subiculum subfields which likely captures the large heterogeneity of tangential and radial fibres, such as the Schaffer collaterals, perforant path, and pyramidal neurons. Neurite density and T1w/T2w were highest in the subiculum and CA3 and lowest in CA1, which may reflect known myeloarchitectonic differences between these subfields. Using a simple logistic regression model, we showed that neurite density, dispersion, and T1w/T2w measures were separable across the subfields, suggesting that they may be sensitive to the known variability in subfield cyto- and myeloarchitecture. We report macrostructural measures of gyrification, thickness, and curvature that were in line with ex vivo descriptions of hippocampal anatomy. We employed a multivariate orthogonal projective non-negative matrix factorization (OPNNMF) approach to capture co-varying regions of macro- and microstructure across the hippocampus. The clusters were highly variable along the medial-lateral (proximal-distal) direction, likely reflecting known differences in morphology, cytoarchitectonic profiles, and connectivity. Finally, we show that by examining the main direction of diffusion relative to canonical hippocampal axes, we could identify regions with stereotyped microstructural orientations that may map onto specific fibre pathways, such as the Schaffer collaterals, perforant path, fimbria, and alveus. These results highlight the value of combining in vivo dMRI with computational approaches for capturing hippocampal microstructure, which may provide useful features for understanding cognition and for diagnosis of disease states.

Separate but not independent: Behavioral pattern separation and statistical learning are differentially affected by aging.

Our brains are capable of discriminating similar inputs (pattern separation) and rapidly generalizing across inputs (statistical learning). Are these two processes dissociable in behavior? Here, we asked whether cognitive aging affects them in a differential or parallel manner. Older and younger adults were tested on their ability to discriminate between similar trisyllabic words and to extract trisyllabic words embedded in a continuous speech stream. Older adults demonstrated intact statistical learning on an implicit, reaction time-based measure and an explicit, familiarity-based measure of learning. However, they performed poorly in discriminating similar items presented in isolation, both for episodically-encoded items and for statistically-learned regularities. These results indicate that pattern separation and statistical learning are dissociable and differentially affected by aging. The acquisition of implicit representations of statistical regularities operates robustly into old age, whereas pattern separation influences the expression of statistical learning with high representational fidelity and is subject to age-related decline.

Perirhinal cortex automatically tracks multiple types of familiarity regardless of task-relevance.

Perirhinal cortex (PrC) has long been implicated in familiarity assessment for objects and corresponding concepts. However, extant studies have focused mainly on changes in familiarity induced by recent exposure in laboratory settings. There is an increasing appreciation of other types of familiarity signals, in particular graded familiarity accumulated throughout one's lifetime. In prior work (Duke et al., 2017, Cortex, 89, 61-70), PrC has been shown to track lifetime familiarity ratings when participants make related judgements. A theoretically important characteristic of familiarity is its proposed automaticity. Support for automaticity comes from a documented impact of recent stimulus exposure on behavioral performance, and on PrC signals, under conditions in which this exposure is not task relevant. In the current fMRI study, we tested whether PrC also tracks lifetime familiarity of object concepts automatically, and whether this type of familiarity influences behavior even when it is not task relevant. During scanning, neurotypical participants (N = 30, age range 18-40, 7 males) provided animacy judgements about concrete object concepts presented at differing frequencies in an initial study phase. In a subsequent test phase, they made graded judgements of recent or lifetime familiarity. Behavioral performance showed sensitivity to lifetime familiarity even when it was not relevant for the task at hand. Across five sets of fMRI analyses, we found that PrC consistently tracked recent and lifetime familiarity of object concepts regardless of the task performed. Critically, while several other temporal-lobe regions also showed isolated familiarity effects, none of them tracked familiarity with the same consistency. These findings demonstrate that PrC automatically tracks multiple types of familiarity. They support models that assign a broad role in the representation of information about object concepts to this structure.

Dentate Gyrus Integrity Is Necessary for Behavioral Pattern Separation But Not Statistical Learning.

Pattern separation, the creation of distinct representations of similar inputs, and statistical learning, the rapid extraction of regularities across multiple inputs, have both been linked to hippocampal processing. It has been proposed that there may be functional differentiation within the hippocampus, such that the trisynaptic pathway (entorhinal cortex > dentate gyrus > CA3 > CA1) supports pattern separation, whereas the monosynaptic pathway (entorhinal cortex > CA1) supports statistical learning. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the behavioral expression of these two processes in B. L., an individual with highly selective bilateral lesions in the dentate gyrus that presumably disrupt the trisynaptic pathway. We tested pattern separation with two novel auditory versions of the continuous mnemonic similarity task, requiring the discrimination of similar environmental sounds and trisyllabic words. For statistical learning, participants were exposed to a continuous speech stream made up of repeating trisyllabic words. They were then tested implicitly through a RT-based task and explicitly through a rating task and a forced-choice recognition task. B. L. showed significant deficits in pattern separation on the mnemonic similarity tasks and on the explicit rating measure of statistical learning. In contrast, B. L. showed intact statistical learning on the implicit measure and the familiarity-based forced-choice recognition measure. Together, these results suggest that dentate gyrus integrity is critical for high-precision discrimination of similar inputs, but not the implicit expression of statistical regularities in behavior. Our findings offer unique new support for the view that pattern separation and statistical learning rely on distinct neural mechanisms.

Examining the engram encoding specificity hypothesis in mice.

According to the encoding specificity hypothesis, memory is best recalled by retrieval cues that overlap with training cues. Human studies generally support this hypothesis. However, memories are thought to be stored in neuronal ensembles (engrams), and retrieval cues are thought to reactivate neurons in an engram to induce memory recall. Here, we visualized engrams in mice to test whether retrieval cues that overlap with training cues produce maximal memory recall via high engram reactivation (engram encoding specificity hypothesis). Using variations of cued threat conditioning (pairing conditioned stimulus [CS] with footshock), we manipulated encoding and retrieval conditions along multiple domains, including pharmacological state, external sensory cue, and internal optogenetic cue. Maximal engram reactivation and memory recall occurred when retrieval conditions closely matched training conditions. These findings provide a biological basis for the encoding specificity hypothesis and highlight the important interaction between stored information (engram) and cues available at memory retrieval (ecphory).

Accuracy of pedicle screw placement using neuronavigation based on intraoperative 3D rotational fluoroscopy in the thoracic and lumbar spine.

INTRODUCTION: In spinal surgery, precise instrumentation is essential. This study aims to evaluate the accuracy of navigated, O-arm-controlled screw positioning in thoracic and lumbar spine instabilities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Posterior instrumentation procedures between 2010 and 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Pedicle screws were placed using 3D rotational fluoroscopy and neuronavigation. Accuracy of screw placement was assessed using a 6-grade scoring system. In addition, screw length was analyzed in relation to the vertebral body diameter. Intra- and postoperative revision rates were recorded. RESULTS: Thoracic and lumbar spine surgery was performed in 285 patients. Of 1704 pedicle screws, 1621 (95.1%) showed excellent positioning in 3D rotational fluoroscopy imaging. The lateral rim of either pedicle or vertebral body was protruded in 25 (1.5%) and 28 screws (1.6%), while the midline of the vertebral body was crossed in 8 screws (0.5%). Furthermore, 11 screws each (0.6%) fulfilled the criteria of full lateral and medial displacement. The median relative screw length was 92.6%. Intraoperative revision resulted in excellent positioning in 58 of 71 screws. Follow-up surgery due to missed primary malposition had to be performed for two screws in the same patient. Postsurgical symptom relief was reported in 82.1% of patients, whereas neurological deterioration occurred in 8.9% of cases with neurological follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Combination of neuronavigation and 3D rotational fluoroscopy control ensures excellent accuracy in pedicle screw positioning. As misplaced screws can be detected reliably and revised intraoperatively, repeated surgery for screw malposition is rarely required.

Costs and import costs of past, present, and future TB drug regimens: a case study for Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) drugs and their import are costly. We assessed how shorter TB drug regimens, which were non-inferior or superior in recent TB trials, can affect the costs for purchasing and importing TB drugs. METHODS: We estimated the drug costs and import costs of 39 longer and shorter TB drug regimens using TB drug prices from the Global Drug Facility and import cost estimates for a TB program in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan. Drug regimens from recent TB trials were compared with TB drug regimens following present or past World Health Organization recommendations. RESULTS: We estimated an import cost of $4.19 and a drug cost of $43 per standard 6-month drug-sensitive (DS)-TB regimen. A new 17-week DS-TB regimen from the TBTC Study 31 currently requires more tablets and is more expensive to import ($6.08) and purchase ($233). The TB program can substantially decrease import costs ($2.26-14) and drug costs ($391-2308) per multidrug-resistant (MDR)-TB regimen when using new 6-month or shorter drug regimens from the Nix-TB, NExT, TB PRACTECAL, ZeNix, or BEAT TB trials instead of 9-20-month regimens with import costs of $9.96-507 and drug costs of $354-15 028. For a commonly used 20-month all-oral, bedaquiline-containing MDR-TB regimen, we estimated costs of $41 for drug import and $1773 for drug purchase. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of a new and shorter DS-TB regimen may increase the costs for drug purchase and import. The implementation of new and shorter MDR-TB regimens may decrease the costs for drug purchase and/or drug import.

[Health and Professional Satisfaction of Freelance and Employed Midwives: Results of a Survey of Midwives in Baden-Wuerttemberg]. / Gesundheit und berufliche Zufriedenheit von freiberuflichen und angestellten Hebammen: Ergebnisse einer Hebammenbefragung in Baden-Württemberg.

BACKGROUND: A shortage of midwives has been the subject of discussion in Germany in recent years. In this study, we asked midwives in Baden-Wuerttemberg about their health and professional satisfaction. METHOD: In collaboration with the Baden-Wuerttemberg Midwives Association, an online midwives survey was conducted from October 16 to December 10, 2017. Using a visual analog scale (0-100 points), the WHO-5 questionnaire (0-100 points) and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (0-100 points), data on health, well-being and burnout were collected. Job satisfaction was assessed on a 7-point Likert scale. Seven hundred and twenty-two midwives participated in the survey. For this study, 545 to 608 data sets were analyzed. RESULTS: Of the studied midwives, 78.1% rated their health as good or very good (≥60 points). No statistically significant difference was observed between freelance midwives, employed midwives, and midwives who worked in both occupation forms (P=0.12). Midwives who were exclusively (15.0%) or partially (12.6%) employed were more likely to have very low well-being (≤25 points) than freelance midwives (7.3%; P=0.023). In addition, midwives who were exclusively (41.5%) or partially (39.4%) employed were more likely to have a moderate or high risk of burnout (≥50 points) than freelance midwives (20.6%; P<0.001). A lower health rating, lower well-being or higher burnout risk were associated with higher professional dissatisfaction in one or more domains. In multivariable analyses, higher burnout risk in particular was associated with higher job dissatisfaction in various domains. CONCLUSIONS: A large proportion of midwives in our study showed symptoms of depression and/or burnout. On average, the health status of midwives seems to be above the health status of women from the general population in Germany, but the well-being of midwives below. We recommend further investigation of how the stress of midwives can be reduced in the course of advancing midwifery and obstetric care structures.

Out-of-pocket Expenses and Time Spent on Clinic Visits Among HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Users and Other Clinic Attendees in Eswatini.

User costs constitute a barrier to the uptake of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), but their magnitude appears rarely assessed. In this prospective observational study, we assessed self-reported out-of-pocket expenses (OOPE) and time spent on clinic visits during a PrEP demonstration project in Eswatini. At six public primary care clinics, 240 PrEP users and other clinic attendees were interviewed after a clinic visit. Among the 79.2% of clinic attendees reporting any medical OOPE (e.g., expenses for consultations or drugs) and/or non-medical OOPE (e.g., expenses for transport, food, or phone use), the median total OOPE was $1.36 (IQR 0.91-1.96). Non-medical OOPE occurred mostly due to transport expenses. The median travel time for a clinic visit was 1.0 h (IQR 0.67-2.0). The median time spent in the clinic was 2.0 h (IQR 1.15-3.0). The median opportunity cost of a clinic visit was $7.54 (IQR 5.42-11) when valuing time spent on a clinic visit with Eswatini's per-capita gross domestic product. Our findings can guide measures to reduce the user costs of PrEP in Eswatini and other contexts in which oral PrEP is provided through health care facilities.

RESUMEN: Los costes de los usuarios constituyen un obstáculo para la adopción de la profilaxis previa a la exposición al VIH (PrEP), pero su magnitud rara vez se evalúa. En este estudio observacional prospectivo, evaluamos los gastos de bolsillo (OOPE) declarados por los propios usuarios y el tiempo dedicado a las visitas clínicas durante un proyecto de demostración de la PrEP en Eswatini. En seis clínicas públicas de atención primaria, se entrevistó a 240 usuarios de la PrEP y a otros asistentes a la clínica después de una visita a la misma. Entre el 79,2% de los asistentes a las clínicas que declararon algún OOPE médico (por ejemplo, gastos por consultas o medicamentos) y/o OOPE no médico (por ejemplo, gastos de transporte, comida o uso del teléfono), la mediana del OOPE total fue de 1,36 dólares (IQR: 0,91­1,96). Los gastos no médicos se debieron principalmente a los gastos de transporte. La mediana del tiempo de viaje para una visita a la clínica fue de 1,0 horas (IQR 0,67­2,0). La mediana del tiempo empleado en la clínica fue de 2 horas (IQR 1,15­3,0). La mediana del coste de oportunidad de una visita a la clínica fue de 7,65 dólares (IQR 5,55­11) al valorar el tiempo dedicado a una visita a la clínica con el producto interior bruto per cápita de Eswatini. Nuestros resultados pueden orientar las medidas para reducir los costes de uso de la PrEP en Eswatini y en otros contextos en los que se suministra la PrEP oral a través de los centros de salud.

Automated hippocampal unfolding for morphometry and subfield segmentation with HippUnfold.

Like neocortical structures, the archicortical hippocampus differs in its folding patterns across individuals. Here, we present an automated and robust BIDS-App, HippUnfold, for defining and indexing individual-specific hippocampal folding in MRI, analogous to popular tools used in neocortical reconstruction. Such tailoring is critical for inter-individual alignment, with topology serving as the basis for homology. This topological framework enables qualitatively new analyses of morphological and laminar structure in the hippocampus or its subfields. It is critical for refining current neuroimaging analyses at a meso- as well as micro-scale. HippUnfold uses state-of-the-art deep learning combined with previously developed topological constraints to generate uniquely folded surfaces to fit a given subject's hippocampal conformation. It is designed to work with commonly employed sub-millimetric MRI acquisitions, with possible extension to microscopic resolution. In this paper, we describe the power of HippUnfold in feature extraction, and highlight its unique value compared to several extant hippocampal subfield analysis methods.

Human resource needs and costs for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis provision in nurse-led primary care in Eswatini and opportunities for task sharing.

BACKGROUND: The global expansion of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) includes health systems that face a shortage of skilled health care workers (HCWs). We estimated the human resource needs and costs for providing PrEP in nurse-led primary care clinics in Eswatini. Furthermore, we assessed potential cost savings from task sharing between nurses and other HCW cadres. METHODS: We conducted a time-and-motion and costing study in a PrEP demonstration project between August 2017 and January 2019. A form for recording time and performed activities ("motion") was filled by HCWs of six primary care clinics. To estimate the human resource needs for specific PrEP activities, we allocated recorded times to performed PrEP activities using linear regression with and without adjusting for a workflow interruption, that is, if a client was seen by different HCWs or by the same HCW at different times. We assessed a base case in which a nurse provides all PrEP activities and five task shifting scenarios, of which four include workflow interruptions due to task sharing between different HCW cadres. RESULTS: On average, PrEP initiation required 29 min (95% CI 25-32) of HCW time and PrEP follow-up 16 min (95% CI 14-18). The HCW time cost $4.55 (uncertainty interval [UI] 1.52-9.69) for PrEP initiation and $2.54 (UI 1.07-4.64) for PrEP follow-up when all activities were performed by a nurse. Time costs were $2.30-4.25 (UI 0.62-9.19) for PrEP initiation and $1.06-2.60 (UI 0.30-5.44) for PrEP follow-up when nurses shared tasks with HCWs from lower cadres. Interruptions of the workflow added, on average, 3.4 min (95% CI 0.69-6.0) to the time HCWs needed for a given number of PrEP activities. The cost of an interrupted workflow was estimated at $0.048-0.87 (UI 0.0098-1.63) depending on whose time need increased. CONCLUSIONS: A global shortage of skilled HCWs could slow the expansion of PrEP. Task shifting to lower-cadre HCW in nurse-led PrEP provision can free up nurse time and reduce the cost of PrEP provision even if interruptions associated with task sharing increase the overall human resource need.

A Review of the Effectiveness, Feasibility, and Acceptability of Art Therapy for Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Art therapy has been widely offered to reduce symptoms of psychological disturbance. Pooled evidence about its effectiveness in epidemic contexts, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, has not been yet established. This study reviewed the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of art therapy on children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic and past epidemics. We searched PubMed/Medline, PsycINFO, CENTRAL (Cochrane Library), and CINAHL for articles on art therapy during COVID-19. Included studies reported improvements in measures of mental health, sleep quality, and psychological well-being in children with or without disabilities in the epidemic context. Results also showed that art therapy was highly feasible and accepted by children and adolescents as well as their families during epidemics in reviewed studies. Art therapy can be effective at improving various aspects of mental health, sleep quality, and psychological well-being. More empirical evidence is needed with larger sample sizes and longer duration of interventions.

Burnout among midwives and attitudes toward midwifery: A cross-sectional study from Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

INTRODUCTION: Midwifery services are a cornerstone of maternal care, but the mental health of midwives is at risk in many work settings. The aim of this study was to assess burnout and attitudes toward midwifery among midwives in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey among midwives was conducted from 16 October to 10 December 2017. Burnout was assessed using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). RESULTS: A total of 602 survey respondents were studied; 48.3%, 38.2%, and 23.3% of midwives reported moderate or high (CBI score ≥50) levels of personal burnout, work-related burnout, and client-related burnout, respectively. Midwives with moderate or high burnout in at least one CBI dimension worked more weekly hours, were more commonly employed, and worked more frequently in the hospital. In turn, midwives with low burnout levels worked fewer weekly hours, more commonly freelance, and more frequently community based (all p<0.001). Moderate or high burnout levels were associated with a reduced likelihood to recommend midwifery as a profession (OR=0.34; 95% CI: 0.23-0.49) and an increased likelihood to intent leaving the profession (OR=3.39; 95% CI: 2.0-5.9) in a multivariable regression adjusting for midwife characteristics and work practices. CONCLUSIONS: Burnout symptoms were common among midwives. Burnout could be a health risk for midwives and a challenge to the profession by discouraging present and future midwives from practicing midwifery.

A Systematic Scoping Review on Migrant Health Coverage in Thailand.

(1) Background: Thailand is a major migrant receiving country and pioneer of migrant health policy in the ASEAN region. However, on the ground, coverage of migrants is faced with multiple barriers. (2) Objectives: We aim to scope and analyse the types of available evidence on migrant health coverage in Thailand and identify knowledge gaps. Specifically, we characterise the literature along year of publication, migrant subpopulation, health domain, scope of coverage, methods, study design, objectives and results. (3) Methods: We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Cochrane Database, Worldwide Science and the Asian Citation Index for peer-reviewed and grey literature in October 2021 for studies analysing original data on health coverage of migrants in Thailand. To conceptualise health coverage, we used the three dimensions availability, accessibility and acceptability. (4) Results: 101 articles were included in the final analysis. Sixty-three were published after 2016, 39 focused on migrant workers and 18 on migrants in general. Forty-two concentrated on health in broader terms, followed by reproductive and maternal health (n = 31). Thirty-eight assessed coverage of specific services and 36 health coverage in general. Migrants themselves and key informants were the main data sources in 80 and 43 of the articles, respectively. Forty publications were qualitative, while 38 applied quantitative methods (22% descriptive; 7% analytical). Among the health coverage components, 79 articles included aspects of accessibility, followed by acceptability (n = 59) and availability (n = 30). (5) Conclusions: While there is a high number and broad range of studies on migrant health coverage in Thailand, we found that research on migrant subgroups, such as victims of trafficking and migrant children, as well as on the health domains, non-communicable diseases and occupational and mental health is neglected.