The Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Jordanian Healthcare Workers

Introduction: Healthcare workers face incomparable work and psychological demands that are amplified throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care workers in Jordan. Method: A cross-sectional design was used. Data was collected using an online survey during the outbreak of COVID-19. Results: Overall, of the 312 healthcare workers, almost 38% and 36% presented with moderate to severe anxiety and depression consecutively. Nurses reported more severe symptoms than other healthcare workers. And both anxiety and depression were negatively correlated with well-being. Getting infected was not an immediate worry among healthcare workers; however, they were worried about carrying the virus to their families. Implications for Practice: Stakeholders must understand the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers and plan to provide them with the required psychological support and interventions at an early stage.

Impact of Anticipated Awake Surgery on Psychooncological Distress in Brain Tumor Patients

BackgroundBrain tumor patients present high rates of distress, anxiety, and depression, in particular perioperatively. For resection of eloquent located cerebral lesions, awake surgery is the gold standard surgical method for the preservation of speech and motor function, which might be accompanied by increased psychological distress. The aim of the present study was to analyze if patients who are undergoing awake craniotomy suffer from increased prevalence or higher scores in distress, anxiety, or depression.MethodsPatients, who were electively admitted for brain tumor surgery at our neurooncological department, were perioperatively screened regarding distress, anxiety, and quality of life using three established self-assessment instruments (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, distress thermometer, and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30-BN20). Screening results were correlated regarding operation technique (awake vs. general anesthesia). Retrospective statistical analyses for nominal variables were conducted using chi-square test. Metric variables were analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis test, the Mann–Whitney U-test, and independent-samples t-tests.ResultsData from 54 patients (26 male and 28 female) aged 29 to 82 years were available for statistical analyses. A total of 37 patients received primary resection and 17 recurrent tumor resection. Awake surgery was performed in 35 patients. There was no significant difference in awake versus non-awake surgery patients regarding prevalence (of distress (p = 0.465), anxiety (p = 0.223), or depression (p = 0.882). Furthermore, awake surgery had no significant influence on distress thermometer score (p = 0.668), anxiety score (p = 0.682), or depression score (p = 0.630) as well as future uncertainty (p = 0.436) or global health status (p = 0.943). Additionally, analyses revealed that primary or recurrent surgery also did not have any significant influence on the prevalence or scoring of the evaluated items.ConclusionAnalyses of our cohort’s data suggest that planned awake surgery might not have a negative impact on patients concerning the prevalence and severity of manifestation of distress, anxiety, or depression in psychooncological screening. Patients undergoing recurrent surgery tend to demonstrate increased distress, although results were not significant.

Bronchial asthma control, quality of life, and psychiatric disorders vicious cycle: Asyut society point of view

Background Poorly controlled bronchial asthma limits patients’ quality of life (QOL), the condition which may potentiate the development of psychiatric disorders. The aim of this study was the assessment of anxiety and depression in bronchial asthma patients, and their interrelation with both level of asthma control and quality of life in our society. Results This study included 102 bronchial asthma patients, and 50 healthy control individuals. Patients had poorer QOL, and higher anxiety and depression scores compared to healthy control, moreover these scores were higher in uncontrolled asthma patients compared to controlled group. Poor QOL, frequent hospital admissions, and poor asthma control were the predictors for psychiatric disorders. Conclusion Depression and anxiety are frequently encountered in patients with bronchial asthma in our society; poor symptom control, poor QOL, and frequent hospital admissions are the main predictors for these psychiatric disorders.

Anxiety and Depression in School-going children with Epilepsy

Background: This study was designed to find the prevalence of anxiety and depression in school-going children with epilepsy.Methods:All the patients with epilepsy presenting during the study period underwent detailed clinical and EEG evaluation. Hospital Anxiety and Depression score (HADS) was used to screen for anxiety and depression.Results:We identified 190 patients with epilepsy during the study period. Out of these 30 (15.8%) were diagnosed as having treatment resistance epilepsy. Anxiety was diagnosed in 114 (60%) and depression in 62 (32.6%). Patients with drug resistant epilepsy were found to have statistically significant markers in the form of higher scores for depression and anxiety, and lower IQ scores. Frequency of GTCS (Generaized Tonic Clonic Seizures) showed inverse correlation with IQ scores and direct correlation to the anxiety/depression scores.Conclusion:We conclude that anxiety and depression in school-going children with epilepsy is common and that it has a correlation with treatment resistance.

Fear of Cancer Recurrence Is Highly Prevalent and Linearly Associates With Anxiety and Depression in Chinese Breast Cancer Patients

Objective: To characterize the fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) and its relationship with anxiety and depression and quality of life (QoL) among Chinese breast cancer (BC) patients in China. Methods: Patients completed the questionnaires of QLQ-C30, QLQ-BR32 and HAD to assess FCR, QoL, anxiety and depression before radiotherapy. A cross-sectional analysis was performed. Chi-square and non-parametric tests and multivariate ordinal logistic regressions (mOLR) were utilized for reference analysis. Final covariates included age, BMI, TNM, surgery, chemotherapy, pain, and sleep disturbance. Results: From July 2015 to December 2016, 463 patients were prospectively enrolled. Their age mean (range) were 47 (19 - 89) years old. In total, 327 patients (70.6%) reported having FCR ‘a little bit’ (51.2%), ‘some’ (12.1%) and ‘very much’ (7.3%) in the past week. FCR severity ordered above (incl. ‘no’) was associated with anxiety score (median 1.5, 5.0, 7.0, 8.5 and level (‘abnormal’ rate 0%, 3.4%, 12.5%, 26.5%), depression score (median 2.0, 4.0, 6.0, 6.5) and level (‘abnormal’ rate 2.2%, 3.4%, 5.4%, 17.7%) (all p<0.001). mOLR showed that compared to ‘no’, three higher levels of FCR were associated with one level increase of anxiety with OR (p) as 1.983 (0.076), 4.291 (0.001), 8.282 (<0.001) and depression with OR (p) as 1.903 (0.062), 2.262 (0.065), 4.205 (0.004), respectively. FCR severity also was inversely associated with most QoL function scores (p<0.001). Conclusions: FCR was prevalent in Chinese BC patients and linearly associated with anxiety, depression and low QoL. It seems that a single-item question for FCR is a valid surrogate tool for distress screening in this population.

The Association between COVID-19-Related Wellbeing with Materialism and Perceived Threat

The ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a profound impact on people’s wellbeing. Here, we proposed that an individual characteristic might be associated with wellbeing; that is, materialism. Specifically, we conducted three studies (total N = 3219) to examine whether people with high levels of materialism would experience poorer wellbeing (i.e., anxiety and depression, in the current case). The results showed that materialism was positively associated with depression (Studies 1A, 1B and 2) and anxiety (Study 2). Moreover, such a relationship was mediated by people’s perceived threat of COVID-19 (Study 2). These findings were observed in both Chinese and American people. The findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical contributions.