Consumers' Perception towards Organic Products before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study in Bihor County, Romania.

Organic products have grown ever more popular in recent years due to increased concerns regarding one's health, the environment, and sustainability. The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated this growth, prompting producers to adapt to a rapidly growing market while maintaining the same standard of quality. We have conducted a questionnaire-based pilot study on 190 organic food consumers from Bihor county, Romania, in order to analyze the main factors influencing customers' beliefs regarding organic food consumption, as well as assess the extent to which their consumption frequency changed after the pandemic. A principal component analysis was performed, dividing the factors into two categories referring to intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics of the products, respectively. It was noticed that the most important cues were ranked the same by our 190 respondents, regardless of their socio-demographical background. At the same time, people who consumed organic products more frequently before the pandemic have either maintained or increased their consumption, while more indifferent consumers maintained or decreased the proportion of organic foods in their diet.

The Impact of Changes regarding Working Circumstances during COVID-19 Pandemic upon Patients Evaluated for Thyroid Dysfunction.

We evaluated patients who presented with thyroid dysfunction correlated symptoms that started when the Government took important measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. These measures have influenced the safety of many people's jobs. Data were collected from 378 patients that were clinically evaluated at the Endocrinology Department, between September 2020 and January 2021. Their health status modifications were statistically analyzed in correlation with their life and work changes. These changes were induced by measures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The lifestyle changes correlated with the COVID-19 pandemic have been present in both categories of patients: euthyroid and dysthyroid patients; 87.50% of euthyroid patients physically felt the pandemic-induced changes in their lives. It resulted in changes in lifestyle and job insecurity has a statistically significant influence (p < 0.01) on their state of health. The presence of life/work changes in men is strongly reflected in their state of health (p = 0.0004). Work instability that occurred as a side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic induced symptoms that made many people believe they have an endocrinology disorder.