Background: Surgical mortality data are collected routinely in high-income countries, yet virtually no low-or middle-income countries have outcome surveillance in place. The aim was prospectively to collect worldwide mortality data following emergency abdominal surgery, comparing findings across countries with a low, middle or high Human Development Index (HDI).Methods: This was a prospective, multicentre, cohort study. Self-selected hospitals performing emergency surgery submitted prespecified data for consecutive patients from at least one 2-week interval during July to December 2014. Postoperative mortality was analysed by hierarchical multivariable logistic regression.

Adolescent girls with eating disorders experience unattainable and contradictory expectations in daily life, which create stress and negatively affect their self-evaluation. Disordered eating may function as a way of seeking control and consistency. In order to make progress in the understanding of eating disorders, the aim of this study was to describe how adolescent girls with eating disorders reflect upon ways of dealing with sociocultural pressures in daily life. Eighteen interviews with girls aged 15–19 years were analyzed using a phenomenographic approach. The results were summarized into three conceptions: “Striving to be oneself ” (conception A) was described as the most desirable, but also the hardest. “Adapting to various situations” (conception B) was used without much reflection, as long as it worked, but when this way of dealing with everyday expectations was unsuccessful it was evaluated negatively. “Presenting oneself in a positive light” (conception C) was described negatively even when it was successful. Within these conceptions, the participants described various strategies that could be used more or less effectively depending on the circumstances. A common theme was their difficulties in finding a balance between trying harder to live up to perceived expectations from others on one hand, and trying to accept the situation as it was, without trying to change themselves or the situation, on the other hand. The participants believed that their eating disorder was partly a result of being unable to deal with sociocultural pressures in an effective way, and they experienced a conflict between societal values of being assertive and values of being interpersonally oriented. Implications for treatment are discussed.