Functional status, mood state, and physical activity among women with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome

Objectives: While organ-specific pathophysiology has been well-described in SARS-CoV-2 infection, less is known about the attendant effects on functional status, mood state and leisure-time physical activity (PA) in post-acute COVID-19 syndrome. Methods: A case-control design was employed to recruit 32 women (n = 17 SARS-CoV-2; n = 15 controls) matched on age (54 +/- 12 years), body mass index (27 +/- 6 kg/m2), smoking status, and history of cardiopulmonary disease. Participants completed a series of assessments including the Modified Pulmonary Functional Status and Dyspnea Questionnaire (PFSDQ-M), Profile of Mood States (POMS), and Godin-Shephard Leisure-Time PA. Results: SARS-CoV-2 participants exhibited poorer functional status (p = 0.008) and reduced leisure-time PA (p = 0.004) compared to controls. Significant between-group differences were also detected for the POMS total mood disturbance with sub-scale analyses revealing elevated tension, confusion, and lower vigor among SARS-CoV-2 participants (all p-values < 0.05). The number of SARS-CoV-2 symptoms (e.g.,loss of taste / smell, muscle aches etc.) were associated (r = 0.620, p = 0.008) with confusion. Conclusion: The sequela of persistent SARS-CoV-2 symptoms elicit clear disturbances in functional status, mood state, and leisure-time PA among women with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome.

Effects of a Forest Therapy Program on Reducing PTSD and Depression and Improving Mood States in Fire Officers

Background and objective: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of forest therapy programs on reducing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and improving mood states in fire officers.Methods: To determine PTSD, depression, and mood states before and after the forest therapy program, the survey results of 185 fire officers were analyzed. Frequency analysis was conducted to identify the demographic characteristics of the participants, and Wilcoxon signed-rank test to analyze the differences among group.Results: As a result of a comparative analysis of PTSD before and after the program, there was a significant decrease in PTSD from 10.65 ± 12.00 to 5.64 ± 8.29 after the program. Depression also showed a statistically significant difference from 3.21 ± 4.00 to 2.21 ± 3.47 after the program. As a result of comparatively analyzing mood states before and after the program, there was an increase in positive factors and a decrease in negative factors. Total mood disturbance (TMD) also showed a statistically significant decrease from 5.78 ± 17.37 to –7.38 ± 10.35 after the program.Conclusion: This study has significance in verifying that forest therapy programs can bring psychological changes to fire officers, and these results can be used as a basis for stress management and relief of fire officers.

A semi-randomized study determining the psychological and physical effects of three types of eye masks on adult women

Background: Warm compresses are one of the nursing techniques clinically used to improve patients’ comfort and promote the treatment efficacy. Here the effects of eye masks (EM), heated eye masks (HEM), and aroma-scented heated eye masks (AHEM) and their potential as a nursing technique to provide comfort were studied.Methods: Participants in this study were 42 healthcare professionals (female, 20–60 years of age), who voluntarily consented to participate. They participated in all three interventions with EM, HEM, and AHEM at an interval of at least 1 week between interventions. Indicators used were low frequency to high frequency ratio (LF/HF), blood flow, axillary temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure, the salivary α-amylase activity (SAA), and the Profile of Mood States Second Edition (POMS).Results: Of 42 participants in total, 32 were included in the analysis. Their mean age was 46.8 years. The blood flow and axillary temperature values significantly increased and the LF/HF values and the pulse rates significantly decreased after the use of EM, HEM, or AHEM. The POMS Total Mood Disturbance (TMD) score and scores for six POMS subscales significantly decreased after the use of EM, HEM, or AHEM.Comparisons among the three groups showed differences in LF/HF. Scores for subscales of POMS also differed among the three groups.Conclusions: These results suggest that the use of EM, HEM, or AHEM intervention is safe with no major body burden. Parasympathetic nerves may be dominant after the EM, HEM, or AHEM interventions The TMD score improved after the EM, HEM, or AHEM intervention. The data suggest that the AHEM use is particularly effective in alleviating depression, dejection, and confusion after the intervention. These findings indicates that the EM, HEM, or AHEM use holds potential as a nursing technique to provide comfort.Trial registration: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000018409Trial registration number: UMIN-CTR R000021207Date of registration: 07/24/2015

Repercussion of Academic Stress on Vital Parameters among Medical Students of Ayub Medical College Abbottabad

OBJECTIVES: An increased stress is a common cause of mental fatigue and physical consumption among medical students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the effect of stress on vital parameters during students’ examination and to highlight the importance of personal well being among medical students. METHODOLOGY: The major aim of this study was to assess the effect of academic stress on vital parameters in medical students. This study was carried out in Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad in September to October 2018. The subjects selected for the study were final year MBBS students. Data was collected before and during the examinations. After taking their due consent, physical parameters such as blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic), heart rate were measured and psychological parameters like perceived stress and total mood disturbance were evaluated. Data was analyzed by using SPSS-22. RESULTS: Parameters like blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic) and total mood disturbance score with a p-value of <.01 showed significant difference during examination. However other variables like age, height, weight, BMI, heart rate, and perceived stress score showed no significant difference. CONCLUSION: The study concludes that students during examinations were under pressure which resulted in anxiety and stress. Total Mood Disturbance is considered a more reliable and prominent factor in interpretation of a student's stressed and disturbed state. It is more closely related to the stress state of students than any other.

Reduced mood variability is associated with enhanced performance during ultrarunnning

Ultrarunning requires extraordinary endurance but the psychological factors involved in successful ultrarunning are not well understood. One widely held view is that fluctuations in mood play a pivotal role in performance during endurance events. However, this view is primarily based on comparisons of mood before and after marathons and shorter running events. Indeed, to date no study has explicitly examined mood changes during a competive ultramarathon. To address this issue, we measured mood fluctuations in athletes competing in the Hardmoors 60, a 100 km, single day continuous trail-ultramarathon, and examined how variation in mood related to performance, as measured by completion time. The key finding was that the variability of athletes Total Mood Disturbance (TMD) score was significantly and positively correlated with completion time, consistent with the idea that mood is an important factor in determining race performance. Athletes also experienced a significant increase in tension immediately prior to race onset. This effect was more pronounced in less experienced athletes and significantly attenuated by measurement stage 1 at 35.4 km, which suggests the effect was driven by the release of pre-competition anxiety. Depression, anger and TMD were significantly lower at the pre-race measurement compared to the baseline measurement taken the week before. Consistent with previous studies, there were also significant increases in fatigue, anger and TMD during the race. The data are interpreted in terms of the Psychobiological model of endurance and may have broader implications for the understanding of endurance performance in other domains.

Intact corticostriatal and altered subcortical circuits in chronic pain

Previous research has demonstrated the importance of the corticostriatal circuit in chronic pain. By focusing on nucleus accumbens (NAcc) circuits related to reward, we aimed to clarify how altered brain reward systems contribute to chronic pain. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, we compared NAcc-medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) functional connectivity in patients with fibromyalgia vs. healthy controls. Among patients, we analyzed the extent to which functional connectivity correlated with clinical measures. We also examined NAcc functional connectivity to subcortical regions. Lastly, we compared our results to a separate dataset of patients with chronic back pain. We identified robust NAcc-MPFC functional connectivity among patients with fibromyalgia and healthy controls, with no significant group differences. We found a positive correlational trend between NAcc-MPFC functional connectivity and total mood disturbance. Notably, patients with fibromyalgia showed significantly reduced functional connectivity of the right NAcc with mesolimbic circuit regions compared to controls. These results were largely similar to the results from the separate dataset. Our results provide novel evidence of intact corticostriatal but altered subcortical functional connectivity of the NAcc during resting-state in chronic pain and suggest that measured connectivity may relate to changes in mood and the level of cognitive demand during fMRI-based measurement.

Proof-of-Concept and Test-Retest Reliability Study of Psychological and Physiological Variables of the Mental Fatigue Paradigm

This study provided a proof-of-concept and test–retest reliability of measures frequently used to assess a mental fatigue paradigm. After familiarization, 28 healthy men performed (40-min) the Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVP) test in a test–retest design, having mental fatigue sensation, motivation, emotional arousal, total mood disturbance, and electroencephalography (EEG) in the prefrontal cortex measured before and after the test. EEG was recorded during a 3-min rest so that the power spectral density of theta (3–7 Hz) and alpha (8–13 Hz) bands was calculated. Pre-to-post RVP test changes in psychological and physiological domains were compared (paired-T tests), and absolute (standard error of measurement (SEM) and minimal difference (MD)) and relative reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)) were calculated. The RVP test induced an increase (p < 0.05) in mental fatigue sensation (120.9% (109.4; 132.4)) and total mood disturbance (3.5% (−6.3; 13.3)), and a decrease in motivation (−7.1% (−9.2; −5.1)) and emotional arousal (−16.2% (−19.1; −13.2)). Likewise, EEG theta (59.1% (33.2; 85.0); p < 0.05), but not alpha band, increased due to RVP test. All psychophysiological responses showed poor-to-moderate relative reliability. Changes in mental fatigue sensation and motivation were higher than SEM and MD, but changes in EEG theta band were higher only than SEM. Mental fatigue sensation, motivation, and EEG theta band were sensitive to distinguish a mental fatigue paradigm despite true mental fatigue effects on theta activity may be trivial.

Variations in the Mood States during the Different Phases of COVID-19’s Lockdown in Young Athletes

The pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 led to a situation of home lockdown. Competitions, training, and sports activities were canceled for much of this period. This situation could have affected the physical and mental health and the mood states of young athletes. The aim of the study was to evaluate the variations in the mood states of young athletes of a highly competitive level during the different phases of lockdown in. The mood states of 45 Spanish youth athletes confined during the 10-week lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic -19 were assessed, using the Spanish-translated version of the POMS questionnaire, at the start of the home lockdown and at the start and at the end of the partial lockdown. The Total Mood Disturbance scores at week 10 were lower than those obtained in week 1 (pBonferroni = 0.031). The depression scores at week 6 (pBonferroni = 0.048) and at week 10 (pBonferroni < 0.001) were lower than those obtained in week 1. The confusion scores at week 10 were lower than those obtained in week 1 (pBonferroni = 0.002). These variations differed between team and individual sports. In conclusion, the lockdown produced changes in the young athletes’ mood states that should be considered when trying to optimize their physical and mental performance.

Consecutive Nights of Moderate Sleep Loss Does Not Affect Mood in Healthy Young Males

Sleep loss causes mood disturbance in non-clinical populations under severe conditions, i.e., two days/nights of sleep deprivation or a week of sleep restriction with 4–5 h in bed each night. However, the effects of more-common types of sleep loss on mood disturbance are not yet known. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine mood disturbance in healthy adults over a week with nightly time in bed controlled at 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 h. Participants (n = 115) spent nine nights in the laboratory and were given either 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 h in bed over seven consecutive nights. Mood was assessed daily using the Profile of Mood States (POMS-2). Mixed-linear effects models examined the effect of time in bed on total mood disturbance and subscales of anger-hostility, confusion-bewilderment, depression-dejection, fatigue-inertia, tension-anxiety, vigour-activity and friendliness. There was no effect of time in bed on total mood disturbance (F(4, 110.42) = 1.31, p = 0.271) or any of the subscales except fatigue-inertia. Fatigue-inertia was higher in the 5 h compared with the 9 h time in bed condition (p = 0.012, d = 0.75). Consecutive nights of moderate sleep loss (i.e., 5–7 h) does not affect mood but does increase fatigue in healthy males.

Association of Psychobehavioral Variables With HOMA-IR and BMI Differs for Men and Women With Prediabetes in the PREVIEW Lifestyle Intervention

<b>Objective:</b> Stress, sleep, eating behavior and physical activity are associated with weight change and insulin resistance. The aim of the analysis was the assessment of the overall and sex specific association of psychobehavioral variables throughout the 3-y PREVIEW intervention using the Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), BMI, and length of time in the study.<b></b> <p><b>Methods</b>: Associations of psychobehavioral variables, including stress, mood, eating behavior physical activity (PA), and sleep with BMI, HOMA-IR and time spent in study were assessed in 2184 participants with pre-diabetes and overweight/ obesity (n=706 men; n=1478 women) during a 3-year lifestyle intervention utilizing linear mixed modelling and general linear modelling.The study was a randomized multicenter trial using a 2x2 diet-by- PA design.</p> <p><b>Results: </b>Overall,<b> </b>cognitive restraint and PA increased during the intervention compared to baseline, while BMI, HOMA-IR, disinhibition, hunger and sleepiness decreased (all p<0.05). Cognitive restraint and PA were negatively, while disinhibition, hunger, stress, total mood-disturbance were positively associated with both BMI and HOMA-IR. Sleep-duration, low sleep quality, total mood-disturbance, disinhibition and hunger scores were positively associated with HOMA-IR for men only. Drop-outs at 6 months had higher stress and total mood-disturbance scores at baseline and throughout their time spent in the study compared to study completers.</p> <p><b>Conclusion: </b>Eating behavior and PA, control of<b> </b>stress, mood-disturbance and sleep characteristics were associated with BMI, HOMA-IR and time spent in study with different effects in men and women during the PREVIEW-lifestyle intervention-study.<b> </b></p>