Background and Objectives: Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias represent some of the leading public health concerns worldwide. This study aimed to assess the global burden of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias attributable to high fasting plasma glucose in the last decades. Materials and Methods: A descriptive epidemiological study was conducted. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study data about deaths and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) were used. All figures were presented as age-standardized rates (ASRs). The average annual percent change (AAPC) was computed using the Joinpoint regression analysis. Also, age-period-cohort analysis was performed. Results: A total of 2 million deaths from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias were reported worldwide in 2021, whereby the total number deaths from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias attributable to high fasting plasma glucose was 290,032 (98,900 males and 191,132 females) in 2021. The highest ASRs of burden of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias attributable to high fasting plasma glucose were found in Afghanistan, Iraq, Morocco, Qatar, and the United States of America, while the lowest ASRs were in Belarus and Mongolia. From 1990 to 2021, a significant increase (p < 0.001) was noted in ASRs of deaths and DALYs for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias attributable to high fasting plasma glucose. Looking at the GBD regions, the trends in ASRs for mortality and for DALYs of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias attributable to high fasting plasma glucose between 1990 and 2021 showed a growth 10-fold faster in High-income North America (AAPC = 2.0%, for both equally) and Central Asia (AAPC = 2.4% and AAPC = 2.5%, respectively) than in the region of High-income Asia Pacific (AAPC = 0.1% and AAPC = 0.2%, respectively). The relative risk of mortality and DALYs for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias attributable to high fasting plasma glucose demonstrated statistically significant (p < 0.0001) period and cohort effects, and net drift and local drifts. Conclusions: This study showed an increase in the global burden of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias attributable to high fasting plasma glucose in the last decades. Future successful entire-population strategies targeting high fasting plasma glucose may reduce the burden of a wide range of these diseases.

Background/Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate psychosocial burden and its associated factors in women who were referred for additional diagnostic procedures following receipt of a positive cervical-cancer-screening smear result. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in a consecutive cohort of only women who received an abnormal Papanicolaou screening result and therefore presented to a gynecologist for additional diagnostic examinations (colposcopy/biopsy/endocervical curettage) at the Clinic for Gynecology and Obstetrics of the Clinical Center. Multivariate linear regression was used for data analysis, with Bonferroni correction applied for multiple comparisons. Results: Significant independent predictors for the occurrence of psychosocial burden–worry in women with a positive Papanicolaou screening test before diagnostic procedures were the use of oral contraceptives (β = −0.174, p < 0.001), alcohol consumption (β = 0.188, p < 0.001), anxiety (β = −0.189, p = 0.001), high burden of depressive symptoms (β = 0.191, p = 0.001) and insufficient knowledge of the meaning of the term dysplasia/precancerous (β = −0.187, p < 0.001), according to the multivariate linear regression. The significant independent predictor for the occurrence of psychosocial burden–satisfaction with information/support in women with a positive Papanicolaou screening test before diagnostic procedures was psychological distress (β = −0.210, p = 0.001). Conclusions: Providing information in order to improve understanding of the term dysplasia/precancerous, as well as identifying which women are at risk of psychosocial burden, may help protect against this potential harm among women who receive a positive cervical-cancer-screening result and may facilitate their intention to undergo further diagnostic procedures.

(1) Background: Cervical screening and additional diagnostic procedures often lead to depression. This research aimed to develop a prediction model for depression in women who received an abnormal Papanicolaou screening test, prior to and following the diagnostic procedures. (2) Methods: The study included women who had a positive Papanicolaou screening test (N = 172) and attended the Clinical Center of Kragujevac in Serbia for additional diagnostic procedures (colposcopy/biopsy/endocervical curettage). Women filled out a sociodemographic survey and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression questionnaire (CES-D scale) before and after diagnostic procedures. A prediction model was built with multilayer perceptron neural networks. (3) Results: A correlation-based filter method of feature selection indicated four variables that correlated with depression both prior to and following the diagnostic procedures—anxiety, depression, worry, and concern about health consequences. In addition, the use of sedatives and a history of both induced and spontaneous abortion correlated with pre-diagnostic depression. Important attributes for predicting post-diagnostic depression were scores for the domains ‘Tension/discomfort’ and ‘Embarrassment’ and depression in personal medical history. The accuracy of the pre-diagnostic procedures model was 70.6%, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was 0.668. The model for post-diagnostic depression prediction showed an accuracy of 70.6%, and an AUROC = 0.836. (4) Conclusions: This study helps provide means to predict the occurrence of depression in women with an abnormal Papanicolaou screening result prior to and following diagnostic procedures, which can aid healthcare professionals in successfully providing timely psychological support to those women who are referred to further diagnostics.

(1) Background: After receiving an abnormal Papanicolaou smear result, very often women fail to adhere to further procedures due to depression. Using a neural network approach, this research aimed to predict pre- and post-diagnostic depressive symptoms in women with abnormal Pap screening tests. (2) Methods: The study was conducted at the Clinical Center of Kragujevac, Serbia, among 172 women with a positive Pap screening result before and after diagnostic procedures (colposcopy/biopsy/endocervical curettage). Just before and 2 to 4 weeks after the diagnostic procedures, women filled out a socio-demographic questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Multilayer perceptron neural networks were modeled. (3) Results: Depression was present in 37.2% of women before diagnostic procedures and in 48.3% after. Feature selection showed four variables that correlated with depression before diagnostic procedures—anxiety (according to the HADS), depression according to the CESD scale, worry score on the POSM scale and use of sedatives. Model for predicting pre-diagnostic depression yielded an accuracy of 79.41%, with a value of 0.842 for area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). The HADS anxiety score, place of residence and CESD score were the most important attributes for predicting post-diagnostic depression, with an ANN model accuracy of 88.24% and AUROC 0.939. (4) Conclusions: This research revealed a possible way of predicting depression occurrence in those women who received a positive Pap screening test and who are undergoing follow-up diagnostics, aiding medical doctors in the provision of successful and on-time psychological assistance.