The Chornobyl catastrophe (ChC) has impacted on depopulation and mental health of the survivors, however, the rate of demographic aging and mental health survey remain at issue.

To determine the rate of demographic aging of ChC survivors and to analyze the state of their mental health survey.

Information from the Ministry of Health and the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, Clinical and Epidemiological Register, the State Register of ChC survivors, and clinical neuropsychiatric data were analyzed.

In 2018, compared to 1995, the number of the ChC survivors decreased by 987 thousand with high level of aging: ChC clean-up workers – 59.0%; evacuees – 25.0%, and residents of radioactively contaminated territories (RCT) – 30.7%. There are negative tendencies in age parameters of survival of the RCT population. Long-term mental health disorders and neuropsychiatric effects in the ChC survivors have been identified, which may indicate an accelerated aging. Neurophysiological and molecular-biological atypia of aging processes under an exposure to low doses of and low dose rate of ionizing radiation have been found. Existing statistical and registry data underestimate the level of mental disorders in the population of Ukraine, including the ChC survivors by an order of magnitude.

The negative tendencies in age parameters of survival indicate the need to continue research to identify the factors “responsible” for such changes. Mental health disorders and neuropsychiatric effects in the ChC survivors are underestimated. It is necessary to create a national psychiatric registry of Ukraine and long-term (lifelong) monitoring of survivors.

No significant relationships.

Prior studies have indicated that both high and low school grades are associated with development of bipolar disorder (BD), but these studies have not adjusted for parental history of mental disorder, which is a likely confounder. Furthermore, the association between school grades and bipolar I disorder (BD-I) has not been studied. Therefore, we aimed to study the association between school exam grades and subsequent development of BD and BD-I while adjusting for parental history of mental disorder.

We conducted a register-based nationwide cohort study following 505 688 individuals born in Denmark between 1987 and 1995. We investigated the association between school exam grades and development of BD or BD-I with a Cox model adjusting for family history of mental disorder and other potential confounders.

During follow-up, 900 individuals were diagnosed with BD and 277 of these with BD-I. The risk for BD and BD-I was significantly increased for individuals not having completed the exams at term [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) for BD (aHR=1.71, 95% CI: 1.43–2.04) and for BD-I (aHR=1.57, 95% CI: 1.13–2.19)]. Also, having low exam grades in mathematics was associated with increased risk of both BD (aHR=2.41, 95% CI: 1.27–4.59) and BD-I (aHR=2.71, 95% CI: 1.41–5.21). Females with very high exam grades in Danish (percentile group>97.7) had a significantly increased risk of BD-I (aHR=2.49, 95% CI: 1.19–5.23).

The potential to develop BD seems to affect the school results of individuals negatively even before BD is diagnosed – with females having the potential to develop BD-I as a possible exception.

On 07 July 2005, four bombs were detonated in London, killing 52 members of the public. Approximately 700 individuals received treatment either at the scene or at nearby hospitals.

Significant concerns about the potential long-term psychological and physical health effects of exposure to the explosions were raised immediately after the bombings. To address these concerns, a public health register was established for the purpose of following-up with individuals exposed to the explosions.

Invitations to enroll in the register were sent to individuals exposed to the explosions. A range of health, emergency, and humanitarian service records relating to the response to the explosions were used to identify eligible individuals. Follow-up was undertaken through self-administered questionnaires. The number of patients exposed to fumes, smoke, dust, and who experienced blood splashes, individuals who reported injuries, and the type and duration of health symptoms were calculated. Odds ratios of health symptoms by exposure for greater or less than 30 minutes were calculated.

A total of 784 eligible individuals were identified, of whom, 258 (33%) agreed to participate in the register, and 173 (22%) returned completed questionnaires between 8 to 23 months after the explosions. The majority of individuals reported exposure to fumes, smoke, or dust, while more than two-fifths also reported exposure to blood. In addition to cuts and puncture wounds, the most frequent injury was ear damage. Most individuals experienced health symptoms for less than four weeks, with the exception of hearing problems, which lasted longer. Four-fifths of individuals felt that they had suffered emotional distress and half of them were receiving counseling.

The results indicated that the main long-term health effects, apart from those associated with traumatic amputations, were hearing loss and psychological disorders. While these findings provide a degree of reassurance of the absence of long-term effects, the low response rate limits the extent to which this can be extrapolated to all those exposed to the bombings. Given the importance of immediate assessment of the range and type of exposure and injury in incidents such as the London bombings, and the difficulties in contacting individuals after the immediate response phase, there is need to develop better systems for identifying and enrolling exposed individuals into post-incident health monitoring.