Concepts of health in different contexts: a scoping review.

The rationale of our study was that the World Health Organization's (WHO) definition of health from 1947 which includes "… complete physical, mental and social wellbeing…" does not fit the current societal viewpoints anymore. The WHO's definition of health implies that many people with chronic illnesses or disabilities would be considered unhealthy and complete wellbeing would be utopian and unfeasible for them. This is no longer uniformly accepted. Many alternative concepts of health have been discussed in the last decades such as 'positive health', which focusses on someone's capability rather than incapability,. However, the question remains whether a general health concept can guide all healthcare practices. More likely, health concepts need to be specified for professions or settings. The objective of our study was to create a structured overview of published concepts of health from different perspectives by conducting a scoping review using the PRISMA-ScR guideline. A literature search was conducted in Pubmed and Cinahl. Articles eligible for inclusion focussed on the discussion or the conceptualisation of health or health-related concepts in different contexts (such as the perspective of care workers' or patients') published since 2009 (the Dutch Health Council raised the discussion about moving towards a more dynamic perspective on health in that year). Seventy-five articles could be included for thematic analyses. The results showed that most articles described a concept of health consisting of multiple subthemes; no consensus was found on one overall concept of health. This implies that healthcare consumers act based on different health concepts when seeking care than care workers when providing care. Having different understandings of the concepts of health can lead to misunderstandings in practice. In conclusion, from every perspective, and even for every individual, health may mean something different. This finding stresses the importance that care workers' and healthcare consumers' meaning of 'health' has to be clear to all actors involved. Our review supports a more uniform tuning of healthcare between healthcare providers (the organisations), care workers (the professionals) and healthcare consumers (the patients), by creating more awareness of the differences among these actors, which can be a guide in their communication.

Trypsinogen IV, serotonin transporter transcript levels and serotonin content are increased in small intestine of irritable bowel syndrome patients.

Colorectal and small intestinal visceral hypersensitivity has been demonstrated in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Serine protease signalling via protease-activated receptor (PAR)-2 promotes hyperalgesia to mechanical distension. Furthermore, serotonergic pathways are involved in gastrointestinal visceral sensitivity. Abnormalities of serine protease and serotonergic signalling components have been identified in IBS colorectal mucosal biopsies. We determined the role of altered mucosal serine protease and serotonergic signalling in small intestine of IBS patients. Duodenal mucosal biopsies of 34 IBS patients (10 constipation-,11 diarrhoea-predominant and 13 alternating) and 20 healthy subjects (HS) were collected. Gene transcripts of PAR-2, trypsinogen IV, TPH-1, SERT (serotonin transport protein) and serotonin (5-HT(3)) subunits were quantified using real-time PCR and 5-HT content was measured by ELISA. Irritable bowel syndrome patients showed 1.5-fold higher trypsinogen IV mRNA level compared to HS (P = 0.016). SERT expression was 1.8-fold higher in IBS compared to HS (P = 0.007). Mucosal 5-HT content was 1.7-fold higher in IBS compared to HS (P = 0.015). The increase was 2.1-fold in IBS-C relative to HS (P = 0.018). Transcript levels of PAR-2, TPH-1 and 5-HT(3) receptor subunits did not differ between IBS and HS. In conclusion enhanced trypsinogen IV expression in IBS may cause increased PAR-2 activation. Increased SERT expression and mucosal 5-HT content in IBS suggest higher 5-HT availability. Both may contribute to small intestinal visceral hypersensitivity in IBS patients.