Background: Light–dark alternation has always been the strongest external circadian “zeitgeber” for humans. Due to its growing technological preference, our society is quickly transforming toward a progressive “eveningness” (E), with consequences on personal circadian preference (chronotype), depending on gender as well. The aim of this study was to review the available evidence of possible relationships between chronotype and gender, with relevance on disturbances that could negatively impact general health, including daily life aspects. Methods: Electronic searches of the published literature were performed in the databases MEDLINE and Web of Science, by using the Medical Subject Heading (MeSH), when available, or other specific keywords. Results: Results were grouped into four general areas, i.e. (a) “General and Cardiovascular Issues”, (b) “Psychological and Psychopathological Issues”, (c) “Sleep and Sleep-Related Issues” and (d) “School and School-Related Issues”. (a) E is associated with unhealthy and dietary habits, smoking and alcohol drinking (in younger subjects) and, in adults, with diabetes and metabolic syndrome; (b) E is associated with impulsivity and anger, depression, anxiety disorders and nightmares (especially in women), risk taking behavior, use of alcohol, coffee and stimulants, psychopathology and personality traits; (c) E has been associated, especially in young subjects, with later bedtime and wake-up time, irregular sleep–wake schedule, subjective poor sleep, school performance and motivation, health-related quality of life; (d) E was associated with lowest mood and lower overall grade point average (especially for women). Conclusions: Eveningness may impact general health, either physical or mental, sleep, school results and achievements, especially in younger age and in women. The role of family support is crucial, and parents should be deeply informed that abuse of technological devices during night hours may lead to the immature adjustment function of children’s endogenous circadian pacemakers.

Background: There is evidence showing that marital status (MS) and marital disruption ( i.e ., separation, divorce, and being widowed) are associated with poor physical health outcomes, including for all-cause mortality. We checked for the available evidence on the association between MS and cardiovascular (CV) diseases, outcomes, and CV risk factors. Methods: A search across the PubMed database of all articles, including the term “marital status” in their title, was performed. All articles were then manually checked for the presence of the following terms or topic: CV diseases, acute myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome, coronary artery disease, cardiac arrest, heart failure, heart diseases, and CV mortality. Moreover, other search terms were: CV risk factors, hypertension, cholesterol, obesity, smoking, alcohol, fitness and/or physical activity, and health. Systematic reviews, meta-analyses, controlled trials, cohort studies, and case–control studies were potentially considered pertinent for inclusion. Case reports, comments, discussion letters, abstracts of scientific conferences, articles in other than English language, and conference abstracts or proceedings were excluded. Results: In total, 817 references containing the title words “marital status” were found. After elimination of articles dealing with other topics, 70 records were considered pertinent. Twenty-two were eliminated for several reasons, such as old articles, no abstract, full text unavailable, other than English language, comments, and letters. Out of the remaining 48 articles, 13 were suitable for the discussion, and 35 (accounting for 1,245,967 subjects) were included in this study. Conclusions: Most studies showed better outcomes for married persons, and men who were single generally had the poorest results. Moreover, being married was associated with lower risk factors and better health status, even in the presence of many confounding effects.

The pathogenesis of falling is complex, and identification of risk factors may be essential for prevention. The relationship between renal disease and falls is unclear, and the goal of this study was to collect the available evidence and investigate the relationship between accidental falls and renal dysfunction. Electronic searches were performed in the MEDLINE, Scopus, Ovid SP and Web of Science databases to identify the appropriate literature. The themes used were: falls (combined in the title/abstract fall or falls or falling or faller* or fallen or slip* or trip* or (MeSH) accidental falls) and renal insufficiency (chronic or renal insufficiency or kidney diseases combined in title/abstract renal disease* or kidney disease* or renal insufficiency or kidney insufficiency or kidney failure or renal failure or MeSH renal insufficiency, chronic or renal insufficiency or kidney diseases). The incidence, risk factors, complications, and characteristics of the falls were analyzed. Eight prospective cohorts including five cross-sectional studies, and one case–control study were identified. No randomized controlled studies were found. The incidence of falls in chronic kidney disease patients ranged between 1.18 and 1.60 fall/patient year. These were frequent in frail older adults on hemodialysis treatment. Falling relapses in the same group of patients caused serious consequences. Data on pre-end stage renal disease (ESRD) were scarce. The risk of falling appears to be common in patients with renal dysfunction especially in older adults undergoing hemodialysis. On the other hand, we could not find any conclusive data on pre-ESRD patients.

A potentially important factor yet to receive adequate study is the time when hospital falls occur. A prior study conducted before the system-wide introduction of preventive measures revealed a biphasic 24-hour pattern of hospital falls with major peak in the morning. The purpose was to identify the temporal patterning of falls among elderly patients in hospitals with comprehensive fall prevention programs in place. A 4-year observational study was conducted by the local health authority in the five nonteaching public hospitals located in the province of Ferrara, Italy. Fall records involving patients of ages ≥65 years hospitalized in the general medical departments were used. Single- and multiple-component cosinor (time series) analyses were used to explore 24-hour, weekly, and annual patterns of falls. A total of 763 falls were experienced by 709 different elderly hospitalized patients. Falls typically took place in the patient's hospital room (72%) and bathroom (23%). Major causes were patient instability (32%) and accident (13%), and most occurred when not wearing footwear (45%) or wearing inappropriate sling-back open-toe shoes (39%). Falls happened while standing (39%), while seated (21%), and while getting into, out of, or laying in bed (32%)-either with the bed rails raised or lowered. Fall outcome usually involved no injury (58%) or slight injury (35%), but some (7%) were disabling. Fall occurrence was higher during the night (46%) compared to either the morning (30%) or afternoon (24%) shift. Patterns across 24 hours were characterized by a single major and one or more minor peaks that seemed to be associated with a variety of scheduled patient, hospital, and nursing activities. Multiple-component cosinor analysis identified significant (p < .05) prominent day-night patterns according to fall location, patient position, cause, injury severity, and type of footwear. Falls were more frequent, but not significantly so, on Fridays, Sundays, and Mondays compared with Tuesdays, and were more frequent in winter and spring (p = .003). Documentation by cause and circumstance of these moderate- to high-amplitude temporal patterns in hospital falls of elderly patients advances the knowledge of fall epidemiology by identifying the times of day, week, and year and nursing shifts of elevated risk that is of critical importance to improving hospital patient safety programs.