COVID-19: Factors associated with psychological distress, fear, and coping strategies among community members across 17 countries.

BACKGROUND: The current pandemic of COVID-19 impacted the psychological wellbeing of populations globally. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to examine the extent and identify factors associated with psychological distress, fear of COVID-19 and coping. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study across 17 countries during Jun-2020 to Jan-2021. Levels of psychological distress (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale), fear of COVID-19 (Fear of COVID-19 Scale), and coping (Brief Resilient Coping Scale) were assessed. RESULTS: A total of 8,559 people participated; mean age (±SD) was 33(±13) years, 64% were females and 40% self-identified as frontline workers. More than two-thirds (69%) experienced moderate-to-very high levels of psychological distress, which was 46% in Thailand and 91% in Egypt. A quarter (24%) had high levels of fear of COVID-19, which was as low as 9% in Libya and as high as 38% in Bangladesh. More than half (57%) exhibited medium to high resilient coping; the lowest prevalence (3%) was reported in Australia and the highest (72%) in Syria. Being female (AOR 1.31 [95% CIs 1.09-1.57]), perceived distress due to change of employment status (1.56 [1.29-1.90]), comorbidity with mental health conditions (3.02 [1.20-7.60]) were associated with higher levels of psychological distress and fear. Doctors had higher psychological distress (1.43 [1.04-1.97]), but low levels of fear of COVID-19 (0.55 [0.41-0.76]); nurses had medium to high resilient coping (1.30 [1.03-1.65]). CONCLUSIONS: The extent of psychological distress, fear of COVID-19 and coping varied by country; however, we identified few higher risk groups who were more vulnerable than others. There is an urgent need to prioritise health and well-being of those people through well-designed intervention that may need to be tailored to meet country specific requirements.

Diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography in the assessment of anterior knee pain.

BACKGROUND: Anterior knee pain (AKP) is a problematic complaint, considered to be the most frequent cause of orthopedic consultancy for knee problems. This study aimed to highlight diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography as a fast imaging technique in assessment of patients with AKP. METHODS AND RESULTS: A prospective study was conducted on 143 patients with clinically confirmed AKP. All patients underwent ultrasonography and MRI examinations of the knee. The diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography compared to MRI for evaluating different findings of possible causes of AKP were analyzed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and judged by area under curve (AUC). A total of 155 knees were included in the study; 26 knees showed no abnormalities, 19 knees showed positive MRI only, and 110 knees showed positive ultrasonography and MRI. Ultrasonography and MRI reported 11 different findings of possible causes of AKP or related to it. Joint effusion was the most common finding (38%) followed by trochlear cartilage defect (20.6%) and superficial infrapatellar subcutaneous edema (20%). The overall accuracy of ultrasonography was 85.3% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The ultrasonography provided the highest sensitivity (100%) in detecting bipartite patella, followed by 91.5% for joint effusion, and 87.5% for quadriceps tendinopathy. The ROC curve analysis of overall accuracy of ultrasonography showed an AUC of 0.93. The overall Kappa agreement between ultrasonography and MRI was good (k = 0.66). CONCLUSION: Ultrasonography can be used to make a swift screening and assessment of painful anterior knee and as an alternative to MRI when it is unavailable or contraindicated.

Enhancement of zaleplon oral bioavailability using optimized self-nano emulsifying drug delivery systems and its effect on sleep quality among a sample of psychiatric patients.

The aim of this work is to develop self-nano emulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) to enhance the oral bioavailability of zaleplon (Zal) as a poorly water-soluble drug. Moreover, the bioavailability and the effect on the quality of sleep among a sample of psychiatric patients is to be assessed. D-optimal mixture design was used for optimization. Optimized SNEDDS formulation was evaluated for droplet size, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and in-vitro dissolution test. Zal bioavailability was evaluated by determining its serum concentration and pharmacokinetic parameters in 8 patients after oral administration. Effect on sleep quality was assessed among 40 psychiatric patients. Patients' sleep quality was assessed in 40 psychiatric patients before and after medication using the Arabic version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Zal- SNEDDS appeared as nano-sized spherical vesicles. Moreover, Zal was completely dissolved from optimized formulation after 45 min indicating improved dissolution rate. Zal-SNEDDS showed significantly higher Cmax, Tmax and AUC0→∞ compared to commercial product after oral administration. Zal-SNEDDS significantly improved the total score of PSQIs (p < .001) with higher subjective sleep quality, reduced sleep latency, improved day time function and sleep disturbance (p < .001). Using sleep medication was reduced significantly (p = .027). However, it did not modify sleep duration or sleep efficiency. SNEDDS have improved Zal solubility and enhanced its bioavailability. Furthermore, Zal-SNEDDS have improved the total score of PSQIs and may be considered a good choice to enhance the quality of sleep among psychiatric patients.