RESUMO
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in an increasing population that is experiencing a wide range of long-lasting symptoms after recovery from the acute infection. Long COVID refers to this specific condition and is associated with diverse symptoms, such as fatigue, myalgias, dyspnea, headache, cognitive impairment, neurodegenerative symptoms, anxiety, depression, and a sense of despair. The potential of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to improve chronic fatigue, cognitive impairments, and neurological disorders has been established; therefore, the use of HBOT to treat long COVID has also been studied. We conducted a literature search between 1 January 2019 and 30 October 2023, focusing on the clinical efficacy and utility of HBOT for treating long COVID and found ten clinical studies that fit the review topic, including one case report, five one-group pretest-posttest design studies, one safety report from a randomized controlled trial (RCT), and three complete reports of RCTs. Most studies found that HBOT can improve quality of life, fatigue, cognition, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and cardiopulmonary function. Although HBOT has shown some benefits for long COVID symptoms, further rigorous large-scale RCTs are required to establish precise indications, protocols, and post-treatment evaluations.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Pneumoconiosis is an important occupational disease; the association between pneumoconiosis and depression was largely unknown. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between pneumoconiosis and the risk of subsequent depression. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using Taiwan's National Health Insurance database. The study included 16,795 patients diagnosed with pneumoconiosis between 2008 and 2018 and a comparison cohort of 67,180 individuals without pneumoconiosis, propensity score matched in a 1:4 ratio based on age, sex, monthly income, residential urbanization level, and date of pneumoconiosis diagnosis. The development of depression was monitored until the end of 2019. RESULTS: The incidence of depression was 1.68 times higher in the pneumoconiosis cohort than that in the comparison cohort, with an incidence rate of 10.07 versus 5.99 per 1000 person-years (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.84, 95 % confidence interval [CI] = 1.70-1.99). The risk of depression increased with an increased mean annual number of emergency department visits for pneumoconiosis, with aHRs of 1.34 (95 % CI = 1.13-1.59) and 2.31 (95 % CI = 1.94-2.76) for 1 ≤ n < 2, and n ≥ 2 compared to n < 1, respectively. LIMITATION: The database lacked detailed socioeconomic history, family history, and clinical variables. CONCLUSION: This study found that patients with pneumoconiosis have a significantly higher risk of depression than those without pneumoconiosis. Furthermore, the risk of depression increases with the frequency of emergency department visits for pneumoconiosis. Healthcare professionals should pay close attention to the mental health of patients with pneumoconiosis.
