Examining the interplay between physical activity, problematic internet use and the negative emotional state of depression, anxiety and stress: insights from a moderated mediation path model in university students.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between Problematic Internet Use (PIU), emotional states of stress, anxiety and depression, and the practice of physical activity among Tunisian students. METHODS: Cross-sectional data were collected from 976 university students aged 20.76 ± 1.63 years (46.8% female). They filled out an online survey comprised of a socio-demographic questionnaire, the depression, anxiety and stress scale- 21 items (DASS-21), the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ) and the compulsive internet use scale (CIUS). Students were divided, based on their economic levels, into three groups: low (n = 256, 26.23%), medium (n = 523, 53.59%) and high (n = 197, 20.18%). RESULTS: Mediation analysis: Indirect effects of IPAQ and gender on DASS-21 were highlighted: ß= -0.18 (p < 0.01) and ß= -0.04, P < 0.01) respectively. In addition, a significant and negative effect of IPAQ on CIUS was demonstrated (ß = -0.45, P < 0.01). In addition, the effect of CIUS on DASS-21 was significant (ß = 0.39, P < 0.01). Also, the effect of gender on CIUS was significant (ß=-0.10, P < 0.01) However, its effect on DASS-21 was not significant (ß = 0.05, p = 0.078). The total effect of IPAQ on DASS21 was significant (ß= -0.52, p < 0.01) but the effect of Gender on DASS-21 was not significant (ß = 0.01, p = 0.817). Moderation analysis: the results showed a significant moderation effect of the interaction between IPAQ and Gender on CIUS (ß = 0.07, p < 0.01). However, it was not significant between Gender and CIUS on DASS-21 (ß = 0.09, p = 0.390) and between IPAQ and Gender on DASS21 (ß = 0.01, p = 0.736) Also, the interaction between IPAQ and CIUS did not have a significant moderation effect on DASS-21 (ß = 0.15, p = 0.115). CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that relationships between PIU and negative emotional state of depression, anxiety and stress are mediated via physical exercise. These results underscore the importance of the physical activity factor in the studies analyzing longitudinal effects of PIU on mental health outcomes.

Understanding the impact of HIV on mpox transmission in the MSM population: A mathematical modeling study.

The recent mpox outbreak (in 2022-2023) has different clinical and epidemiological features compared with previous outbreaks of the disease. During this outbreak, sexual contact was believed to be the primary transmission route of the disease. In addition, the community of men having sex with men (MSM) was disproportionately affected by the outbreak. This population is also disproportionately affected by HIV infection. Given that both diseases can be transmitted sexually, the endemicity of HIV, and the high sexual behavior associated with the MSM community, it is essential to understand the effect of the two diseases spreading simultaneously in an MSM population. Particularly, we aim to understand the potential effects of HIV on an mpox outbreak in the MSM population. We develop a mechanistic mathematical model of HIV and mpox co-infection. Our model incorporates the dynamics of both diseases and considers HIV treatment with anti-retroviral therapy (ART). In addition, we consider a potential scenario where HIV infection increases susceptibility to mpox, and investigate the potential impact of this mechanism on mpox dynamics. Our analysis shows that HIV can facilitate the spread of mpox in an MSM population, and that HIV treatment with ART may not be sufficient to control the spread of mpox in the population. However, we showed that a moderate use of condoms or reduction in sexual contact in the population combined with ART is beneficial in controlling mpox transmission. Based on our analysis, it is evident that effective control of HIV, specifically through substantial ART use, moderate condom compliance, and reduction in sexual contact, is imperative for curtailing the transmission of mpox in an MSM population and mitigating the compounding impact of these intertwined epidemics.

International consensus on fasting terminology.

Although fasting is increasingly applied for disease prevention and treatment, consensus on terminology is lacking. Using Delphi methodology, an international, multidisciplinary panel of researchers and clinicians standardized definitions of various fasting approaches in humans. Five online surveys and a live online conference were conducted with 38 experts, 25 of whom completed all 5 surveys. Consensus was achieved for the following terms: "fasting" (voluntary abstinence from some or all foods or foods and beverages), "modified fasting" (restriction of energy intake to max. 25% of energy needs), "fluid-only fasting," "alternate-day fasting," "short-term fasting" (lasting 2-3 days), "prolonged fasting" (≥4 consecutive days), and "religious fasting." "Intermittent fasting" (repetitive fasting periods lasting ≤48 h), "time-restricted eating," and "fasting-mimicking diet" were discussed most. This study provides expert recommendations on fasting terminology for future research and clinical applications, facilitating communication and cross-referencing in the field.

Corrigendum: Time-Trends in Air Pollution Impact on Health in Italy, 1990-2019: An Analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/ijph.2023.1605959.].

A randomized crossover comparison of the bébé VieScope and direct laryngoscope for pediatric airway management by nurses in medical simulation settings.

BACKGROUND: Airway management in life-threatening emergencies is essential for children, and endotracheal intubation is the gold standard. It protects against regurgitation and enables mechanical ventilation. New types of airway management equipment are being developed and implemented to meet the needs of medical personnel. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This prospective, randomized, cross-over simulation trial evaluated the success of endotracheal intubation in three scenarios: normal airway (scenario-A), tongue edema (scenario-B), and continuous chest compression (scenario-C), using the bébé Vie Scope™ laryngoscope (VieScope) and the Macintosh blade laryngoscope (MAC) as a comparative tool performed by nurses with limited tracheal intubation experience. RESULTS: The results of the study showed that in scenario-A, there were no significant differences in the first attempt success rate or endotracheal intubation time between VieScope and MAC. However, VieScope was associated with better visualization of the glottis. In scenarios B and C, VieScope was significantly more effective than MAC in terms of first-pass success rate, time to intubate, Cormack-Lehane grade, POGO score, and ease of endotracheal intubation. CONCLUSIONS: Bébé VieScope may be useful for endotracheal intubation in pediatric patients, particularly in cases of tongue edema and ongoing chest compression, providing a higher first-pass success rate than conventional laryngoscopes.

Development and validation of a questionnaire (GHOST) to assess sudden, unexplained communication exclusion or "ghosting".

The topic of "ghosting" as a method of terminating a relationship has been discussed in both popular media and academic circles. Although research on this issue is scarce, the concept has acquired popularity and gained scholarly attention. A reliable and valid measure of this phenomenon does not, however, exist. GHOST (The Ghosting Questionnaire) was designed and psychometrically tested to explore ghostee experiences. A total of 811 adults participated in an online survey to test this instrument. It was developed based on a thorough analysis of research on the topic of ghosting using a phenomenological qualitative method to identify ghosting domains and generate questionnaire items. In terms of content validity and construct validity, the final version of the measure was found to be satisfactory. GHOST was found to have adequate internal consistency - scores of 0.74, 0.74, and 0.80, indicating acceptable Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega, and ordinal's alpha coefficients, respectively. Factor analyses found the GHOST questionnaire to be a valid and reliable instrument that can be used for screening ghosting experiences and for designing community-based distress prevention and intervention programs. A dynamic fit index (DFI) cutoffs approach was also used and showed robust fitting.

Time-Trends in Air Pollution Impact on Health in Italy, 1990-2019: An Analysis From the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.

Objectives: We explored temporal variations in disease burden of ambient particulate matter 2.5 µm or less in diameter (PM2.5) and ozone in Italy using estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Methods: We compared temporal changes and percent variations (95% Uncertainty Intervals [95% UI]) in rates of disability adjusted life years (DALYs), years of life lost, years lived with disability and mortality from 1990 to 2019, and variations in pollutant-attributable burden with those in the overall burden of each PM2.5- and ozone-related disease. Results: In 2019, 467,000 DALYs (95% UI: 371,000, 570,000) were attributable to PM2.5 and 39,600 (95% UI: 18,300, 61,500) to ozone. The crude DALY rate attributable to PM2.5 decreased by 47.9% (95% UI: 10.3, 65.4) from 1990 to 2019. For ozone, it declined by 37.0% (95% UI: 28.9, 44.5) during 1990-2010, but it increased by 44.8% (95% UI: 35.5, 56.3) during 2010-2019. Age-standardized rates declined more than crude ones. Conclusion: In Italy, the burden of ambient PM2.5 (but not of ozone) significantly decreased, even in concurrence with population ageing. Results suggest a positive impact of air quality regulations, fostering further regulatory efforts.

Corrigendum: Effects of weight divisions in time-motion of female high-level Brazilian Jiu-jitsu combat behaviors.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1048642.].

Internal consistency and structural validity of the nomophobia questionnaire (NMP-Q) and its translations: A systematic review with meta-analysis.

Background: A psychological condition known as NOMOPHOBIA causes individuals to fear losing ability to use or reach their mobile phones. The NMP-Q (nomophobia questionnaire) is a commonly used survey for assessing symptoms related to nomophobia. Materials and methods: We performed a meta-analysis using reliability generalization (RG) on the NMP-Q. Thirteen studies involving 15,929 participants have reported original reliability estimates of the NMP-Q determined through a comprehensive and methodical examination of the available literature. Results: For the total scores, the pooled internal consistency reliability was 0.93 [0.91; 0.95] and for the subscales it ranged from 0.83 to 0.91. Specifically, 0.91 [0.88; 0.93], 0.84 [0.80; 0.88], 0.83 [0.78; 0.88, and 0.83 [0.80; 0.85] for the subscales. Subscale 1 = not being able to communicate; subscale 2 = losing connectedness; subscale 3 = not being able to access information; and subscale 4 = giving up convenience", respectively. All reported effect sizes are Cronbach's alphas. Structural validity supported a solution of four-factors. Conclusions: NMP-Q has an excellent internal consistency. Structural validity of four factors appears to be vigorous in fitting NMP-Q items. Our recommendation is to require future studies using NMP-Q to provide a reliability estimate based on their own data.

A Twitter dataset for Monkeypox, May 2022.

After struggling with COVID-19 pandemic for two years, the world is finally recovering from this crisis. Nonetheless, another virus, Monkeypox, is quickly spreading throughout the world and in non-endemic regions and continents, threatening the world to a new pandemic. Twitter as a popular social media has successfully been used for predicting and controlling outbreaks. Much research previously has been done for building early warning systems, trend prediction, and misinformation and fake news detection. Since tweets are not accessible to all researchers, in this work, a publicly available dataset containing 2400202 tweets gathered from May first to December twenty-fifth, 2022 is presented. Twitter developers academic researcher API which returns all the tweets matching a given query was used to gather the dataset. To this end, the full archive search and keywords related to Monkeypox and its equivalents in other languages, i.e. Monkeypox or "monkey pox" or "viruela dei mono" or "variole du singe" or "variola do macoco" were used. The retweets were excluded using the negation operator, and the tweet ids and user ids were extracted and shared with public. Approximately, 1.79 percent (43047 number) of tweets were geotagged. To visualize the geotagged tweets, the longitude and latitude of the bounding box coordinates were averaged. This work will help researchers shed light on the news, patterns, and on-going discussions of Monkeypox on social media, identify hotspots, and help contain the Monkeypox virus.

Diet-related inflammation increases the odds of multiple sclerosis: Results from a large population-based prevalent case-control study in Jordan.

Background: Multiple sclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disease in young and middle-aged adults, is one of the leading causes of non-traumatic disability in adults. Diet is known to have an important role in the modulating inflammatory processes and influencing molecular pathways. Purpose: This study aims to examine the association of the inflammatory capacity of diet measured by DII with MS in Jordan. Methods: This prevalent case-control study included participants of both sexes, aged between 20 and 60 years. The cases (n = 541) had a confirmed diagnosis of prevalent Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in the previous 3 years, and controls (n = 607) were apparently healthy individuals matched on sex and age (42 ± 4 years). A validated Arabic food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was utilized to obtain estimated dietary intake. Dietary data from the FFQ were analyzed using ESHA's Food Processor® nutrition analysis software, and the results were used to calculate the DII scores. Logistic regression analyses, controlling for covariates such as age, sex, body mass index, and smoking status, were used to measure the association between DII score and MS outcomes. Results: Cases represent a mixed sample of MS phenotypes and controls were comparable on age and sex. However, controls tended to be taller, lighter, had a lower BMI, and had a lower smoking rate. After controlling for age, BMI, sex, and smoking status, there was a consistent increase in MS risk according to DII score, with a 10-fold increase in odds in quartile 4 vs. quartile 1 [ORquartile 4vs1 = 10.17 (95% CI: 6.88; 15.04)]. For each point increase in DII score, there was nearly a doubling of odds [OR1 = 1.75 (95% CI: 1.59; 1.92)]. Individual nutrients and food values aligned according to their contribution to the DII score calculations. Conclusion: The findings of this study, obtained in MS patients with varied illness duration over the previous 3 years, are consistent with an association between the overall inflammatory potential of diet and MS odds. Our findings among MS participants showed a significantly more pro-inflammatory DII scores than age- and sex-matched controls. Our results also suggest that MS group had a diet rich in pro-inflammatory foods and nutrients.

Effects of weight divisions in time-motion of female high-level Brazilian Jiu-jitsu combat behaviors.

Coaches and psychologists can use time-motion analysis to elaborate specific interventions for female BJJ athletes, increasing specific training context and reducing unnecessary psychological and physical demands and injuries. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyze high-level BJJ female athletes in the 2020 Pan-American Games by comparing the weight categories on the time-motion analysis. The time-motion analysis (i.e., approach, gripping, attack, defensive actions, transition, mounting, guard, side control, and submissions) of 422 high-level female BJJ combats was divided and compared by weight category as follows: Rooster (n = 8), Light Feather (n = 18), Feather (n = 122), Light (n = 84), Middle (n = 74), Medium Heavy (n = 44), Heavy (n = 36), Super Heavy (n = 36), using p ≤ 0.05. The main results indicated that the Super heavyweight category [3.1 (5.8;119.9) s] had a shorter gripping time than other weight categories, p ≤ 0.05. In contrast, roosters [7.2 (3.5;64.6) s] had longer gripping, transition [14.0 (4.8;29.6) s], and attack time [76.2 (27.7, 93.2)] than the light feather, middlers, and heavier weight categories, p ≤ 0.05. These findings should be considered for the psychological interventions and training prescription.

Artificial neural networks can be effectively used to model changes of intracranial pressure (ICP) during spinal surgery using different noninvasive ICP surrogate estimators.

BACKGROUND: Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques play a major role in anesthesiology, even though their importance is often overlooked. In the extant literature, AI approaches, such as artificial neural networks (ANNs), have been underutilized, being used mainly to model patient's consciousness state, to predict the precise number of anesthetic gases, the level of analgesia, or the need of anesthesiological blocks, among others. In the field of neurosurgery, ANNs have been effectively applied to the diagnosis and prognosis of cerebral tumors, seizures, low back pain, and also to the monitoring of intracranial pressure (ICP). METHODS: A multilayer perceptron (MLP), which is a feedforward ANN, with hyperbolic tangent as activation function in the input/hidden layers, softmax as activation function in the output layer, and cross-entropy as error function, was used to model the impact of prone versus supine position and the use of positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) on ICP in a sample of 30 patients undergoing spinal surgery. Different noninvasive surrogate estimations of ICP have been used and compared: namely, mean optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD), noninvasive estimated cerebral perfusion pressure (NCPP), Pulsatility Index (PI), ICP derived from PI (ICP-PI), and flow velocity diastolic formula (FVDICP). RESULTS: ONSD proved to be a more robust surrogate estimation of ICP, with a predictive power of 75%, whilst the power of NCPP, ICP-PI, PI, and FVDICP were 60.5%, 54.8%, 53.1%, and 47.7%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our MLP analysis confirmed our findings previously obtained with regression, correlation, multivariate receiving operator curve (multi-ROC) analyses. ANNs can be successfully used to predict the effects of prone versus supine position and PEEP on ICP in patients undergoing spinal surgery using different noninvasive surrogate estimators of ICP.

Epidemiological trends and clinical features of the ongoing monkeypox epidemic: A preliminary pooled data analysis and literature review.

An emerging outbreak of monkeypox infection is quickly spreading worldwide, being currently reported in more than 30 countries, with slightly less than 1000 cases. In the present preliminary report, we collected and synthesized early data concerning epidemiological trends and clinical features of the ongoing outbreak and we compared them with those of previous outbreaks. Data were pooled from six clusters in Italy, Australia, the Czech Republic, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, totaling 124 cases (for 35 of which it was possible to retrieve detailed information). The ongoing epidemic differs from previous outbreaks in terms of age (54.29% of individuals in their thirties), sex/gender (most cases being males), risk factors, and transmission route, with sexual transmission being highly likely. Also, the clinical presentation is atypical and unusual, being characterized by anogenital lesions and rashes that relatively spare the face and extremities. The most prevalent sign/symptom reported was fever (in 54.29% of cases) followed by inguinal lymphadenopathy (45.71%) and exanthema (40.00%). Asthenia, fatigue, and headache were described in 22.86% and 25.71% of the subjects, respectively. Myalgia was present in 17.14% of the cases. Both genital and anal lesions (ulcers and vesicles) were reported in 31.43% of the cases. Finally, cervical lymphadenopathy was described in 11.43% of the sample, while the least commonly reported symptoms were diarrhea and axillary lymphadenopathy (5.71% of the case series for both symptoms). Some preliminary risk factors can be identified (being a young male, having sex with other men, engaging in risky behaviors and activities, including condomless sex, human immunodeficiency virus positivity (54.29% of the sample analyzed), and a story of previous sexually transmitted infections, including syphilis). On the other hand, being fully virally suppressed and undetectable may protect against a more severe infectious course. However, further research in the field is urgently needed.

Fasting diets: what are the impacts on eating behaviors, sleep, mood, and well-being?

Fasting diets (FDs) have drawn great attention concerning their contribution to health and disease over the last decade. Despite considerable interest in FDs, the effect of fasting diets on eating behaviors, sleep, and mood-essential components of diet satisfaction and mental health- has not been addressed comprehensively. Understanding the critical role that fasting plays in these elements will open up potential treatment avenues that have not yet been explored. The aim of the present paper was to conduct a comprehensive critical review exploring the effects of fasting on eating behaviors, sleep, and mood. There is currently a lack of clarity regarding which fasting option yields the most advantageous effects, and there is also a scarcity of consistent trials that assess the effects of FDs in a comparable manner. Similarly, the effects and/or treatment options for utilizing FDs to modify eating and sleep behaviors and enhance mood are still poorly understood. Further researches aiming at understanding the impacts of various fasting regimes, providing new insights into the gut-brain axis and offering new treatment avenues for those with resistant anxiety and depression, are warranted. Alteration of eating behaviors can have lasting effects on various physiological parameters. The use of fasting cures can underpin ancient knowledge with scientific evidence to form a new approach to the prevention and treatment of problems associated with co-morbidities or challenges pertaining to eating behaviors. Therefore, a thorough examination of the various fasting regimens and how they impact disease patterns is also warranted.

Systemic Inflammatory Response in Spontaneous Subarachnoid Hemorrhage from Aneurysmal Rupture versus Subarachnoid Hemorrhage of Unknown Origin.

Objective: It is well known that spontaneous non-aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), also known as sine materia SAH (smSAH), has usually a better course and prognosis than its aneurysmal counterpart (aSAH). This might depend on different inflammatory mechanisms initiated by bleeding events of different origins. The aim of the present study was to explore the systemic inflammatory response in spontaneous SAH, comparing aSAH and smSAH. Methods: We performed a prospective observational study over a consecutive series of patients with SAH. For these patients, we collected all clinical data and, furthermore, performed venous blood sampling over six time points to analyze blood cells. We further performed the analysis of lymphocytes and monocytes by means of flow cytometry to quantify common subtypes. Statistical analysis included a t-student test, Chi-square test, multivariate logistic regression, and ROC analysis. Results: 48 patients were included: six (12.5%) with a diagnosis of spontaneous smSAH, and forty-two patients (87.5%) with aSAH. Significant differences on Day 0 were found for neutrophils and a systemic neuro-inflammatory index, namely, systemic inflammatory response index (SIRI). At the ROC analysis, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and SIRI exhibited satisfactory predictive power on day 0. At the multivariable logistic regression analysis, the combined index (NLR, LMR, SIRI at day 0) yielded an OR of 0.59 (95% CI 0.29-1.21]). LMR at day 0 yielded an OR of 1.25 ([95% CI 0.94-1.68]), NLR at day 0 exhibited an OR of 0.68 ([95% CI 0.42-1.09]), and SIRI at day 0 displayed an OR of 0.31 ([95% CI 0.06-1.49]). Conclusion: This preliminary study indicated a possible role of some inflammatory indices that point out the importance of innate and adaptive immunity in the etiopathogenetic mechanisms. Drugs modulating these responses could eventually counteract or, at least, reduce secondary damage associated with SAH.

Are Chronic Pain Syndromes the Reason for Statin-associated Muscle Symptoms?

BACKGROUND: Statin-induced myalgia is defined as muscle pain without elevation of serum creatine phosphokinase levels and is a well-known complaint among statin users. Chronic pain syndromes affect a high percentage of the population. These pain syndromes may confound the reports of statin-induced myalgia. OBJECTIVES: To compare the occurrence of chronic pain among patients on statin therapy who developed myalgia with those who did not. METHODS: This study included 112 statin-treated patients, who were followed at the lipid center at Sheba Medical Center. Fifty-six patients had a diagnosis of statin-associated muscle symptoms (SAMS) and 56 did not. Verified questionnaires were used to assess the diagnoses of fibromyalgia, pain intensity, functional impairment, anxiety, and depression in the study population. RESULTS: Patients with statin myalgia were more likely to fulfil the diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia than patients without statin myalgia (11 [19.6%] vs. 0, respectively). Patients in the SAMS group exhibited higher levels of anxiety and depression compared with the control group. Female sex, higher scores on the Brief Pain Inventory pain intensity scale, and a Hamilton rating scale level indicative of an anxiety disorder were found to be significant predictors for fibromyalgia in patients presenting with statin myalgia. CONCLUSIONS: A significant percentage of patients diagnosed with statin myalgia fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia depression or anxiety disorder. Detection of these patients and treatment of their primary pain disorders or psychiatric illnesses has the potential to prevent unnecessary cessation of effective statin therapy.

Concussion vs. resignation by submission: Technical-tactical behavior analysis considering injury in mixed martial arts.

This research study verified the technical-tactical actions during the mixed martial arts (MMA) fights to generate serious enough injury to stop the MMA round, determining technical-tactical potential risk factors for injury in official MMA combats, according to Concussion or Resignation per Submission. A total of 990 rounds with concussions and 627 resignations per submission were considered with severe injury (i.e., a fight ended by a doctor or referee). All injuries were diagnosed and managed by attending ringside physicians during the MMA fights and rounds and had a continuous technical-tactical behavior analysis, p ≤ 0.05. The leading cause of concussion was due to head trauma (~90%), with higher dependence on head strikes scored actions. Comparisons between Concussion and Resignation per Submission combats demonstrated differences between distance head strikes actions [13(6,25) vs. 9(4,18) frequencies], clinch head strikes actions [1(0;4) vs. 1(0;3) frequencies], ground head strikes actions [1(0;8) vs. 2(0;10) frequencies] and takedowns actions [0(0;1) vs. 1(0;2) frequencies]. This information may provide significant evidence regarding the doctor stoppage in concussion combats and when it could be called by officials supervising MMA.

Facial atopic dermatitis may be exacerbated by masks: insights from a multicenter, teledermatology, prospective study during COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) display a defective skin barrier, consequently they may experience inflammatory flares with different exposures, including masks. Actually, beside scattering case reports, no study focused on the possible AD flaring due to masks. METHODS: In this multicenter prospective study AD patients with facial manifestation were followed with teledermatology and evaluated by two board-certified dermatologists at the baseline (T0) and after 1 month (T1) in which patients started to wear masks >6 hours per day. Demographics and clinical parameters, included and not limited to Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), were carefully collected and analyzed. RESULTS: We enrolled 57 AD patients (M/F 28/29, 33.91±12.26 years old) that wore surgical masks (38 [66.7%]), community masks (11 [19.3%] and N95 (8 [14.0%]). Both DLQI and EASI increase during the time period (P<0.0001). DLQI variation was not influenced by age, BMI, and gender, mask type used and AD therapy (P=0.99), whilst EASI variation was significantly influenced by BMI, gender, and therapy (P=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: Mask wearing may prove detrimental to patients with atopic eczema and the same may not necessarily be the case for asthma patients.