The Role of Anxiety and Depression in the Relationship Among Emotional Eating, Sleep Quality, and Impulsivity.

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship among sleep quality, impulsivity, anxiety, and depression in individuals with emotional eating behavior. The study was designed as a cross-sectional study. The study included 92 individuals (age 31.29 ± 9.17; female, 67.4% [n = 62]; male, 32.6% [n = 30]) with symptoms of emotional eating but no previous psychiatric diagnosis or treatment. Participants were administered a Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Disorders interview form, a sociodemographic data form, the Emotional Eating Scale, the Beck Depression Scale, the Barratt Impulsivity Scale, the Beck Anxiety Scale, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Scale. Emotional eating is positively correlated with anxiety (r = 0.377, p = 0.001), depression (r = 0.375, p = 0.001), impulsivity (r = 0.250, p = 0.016), and poor sleep quality (r = 0.478, p = 0.001). Obese individuals (defined as having a body mass index of 30 or higher) showed higher emotional eating (z = -2.552, p = 0.016) and poorer sleep quality (z = -2.089, p = 0.044) than nonobese individuals, and women showed higher emotional eating (t = 2116, p = 0.037) and poorer sleep quality (z = -2537, p = 0.010) than men. Poor sleep quality was associated with emotional eating. In this relationship, poor sleep quality influenced emotional eating through all mediators, including anxiety and depression (B = 3.491; standardized effect, 0.485; p = 0.001). Poor sleep quality directly influenced emotional eating (B = 2.806; standardized effect, 0.390; p = 0.001). The findings of the study suggest that emotional eating is associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression, impulsivity, and sleep problems, especially in women. It suggests that the interrelationships of psychological factors associated with emotional eating should be investigated.

Neglecting the neglected: Tobacco cessation support is essential for the management of asthma and COPD.

INTRODUCTION: Asthma and COPD management have a broad framework, and smoking cessation plays an essential role. We examine the management of asthma and COPD patients not only for inhaler treatment options but also for essential interventions, such as smoking cessation support. METHODS: Data were collected cross-sectionally from pulmonology departments of three government hospitals in Türkiye between May and September 2022. Patients aged ≥18 years who had been diagnosed with asthma or COPD for at least a year, were included in the study. The demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients were investigated. Routine cessation interventions were implemented for current smokers, and they were followed via phone calls after one month regarding their quit status and access to cessation clinics. RESULTS: Data from 145 patients with asthma and 148 patients with COPD were analyzed. The rate of current smoking among patients with asthma and COPD was 18.8% and 34.5%, respectively. Current smoking was negatively associated with age (<65 years) and disease duration (years) for both diseases (p<0.05). In addition, for asthmatics, presence of pulmonary disease in the family (OR:0.28, 95% CI: 0.10-0.79) and for COPD patients presence of hospitalization (OR: 0.26, 95% CI: 0.07-0.93) were negatively associated with current smoking. After one month, 85.1% of current asthmatic smokers had not tried to call a quitline, while 14.8% had tried to contact a quitline. Among current smoker COPD patients, only 1.9% had visited a smoking cessation clinic. CONCLUSIONS: Tobacco cessation support seems to be neglected in asthma and COPD management. Instead, pulmonologists and patients focus on pharmaceutical treatments, which constitute the other component of care.

Relationship between aeroallergen sensitization pattern and clinical features in adult asthmatics.

Background: Asthma can be classified into atopic and non-atopic phenotypes. However, limited data are available on the clinical implications of these two phenotypes in real life. Objective: This study aimed to examine the clinical features as well as control level and disease severity of asthmatic patients with their aeroallergen sensitivity profiles. Methods: Between 2013 and 2020, adult asthmatic patients who had been followed up regularly at our tertiary healthcare institution for at least one year were included in the study. We collected data retrospectively using manually filled patient files. Results: The mean age of 382 asthmatic patients was 46.6 ± 30.0; 77.5% were women and 75.6% had at least one aeroallergen sensitivity. Polysensitized asthmatics had better asthma symptom control and milder asthma severity than monosensitized asthmatics. Asthma symptom control status was well controlled in 67.5% of the patients, and according to asthma severity, 51.3% of the patients were classified as having moderate asthma. There was a negative relation between age (OR:0.95, CI:0.92-0.98) and atopy presence. The presence of atopy was higher in moderate asthmatics than in mild asthmatics (OR:2.02, CI:1.01-4.09). Finally, there was a positive relationship between the percent predicted forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV1%) (OR:1.02, CI:1.009-1.048) and the presence of atopy. The presence of rhinitis (OR:0.44, CI:0.22-0.88) and per 1 unit increase of Tiffeneau index (FEV1/forced vital capacity) (OR:0.94, CI:0.90-0.99) had a negative association, whereas number of medication use for asthma symptoms (OR:1.68, CI:1.18-2.39) and presence of cardiovasculary disease (OR:2.64, CI:1.19-5.84) had a positive association with not well-controlled asthma symptom level. Conclusion: Aeroallergen sensitivity was associated with asthma severity. However, this was not the case with asthma control levels in this adult asthma cohort. Among the atopic asthmatics polysensitized asthmatics had better asthma symptom control level and milder asthma severity level.

Perceived Need for Mental Health Services Among Healthcare Workers During the Coronavirus Disease-19 Pandemic in Turkey: A Multicenter Cross-sectional Study

Background: The coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic has contributed to work-related psychosocial risks in healthcare workers. Aims: To evaluate the perceived need for mental health services and related factors in Turkish healthcare workers practicing in pandemic hospitals. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Data were collected from face-to-face interviews with healthcare workers at 19 pandemic hospitals in 13 provinces between September and November 2021. The study survey included the evaluation of the perceived need for and utilization of mental health services in the previous year, as well as sociodemographic, health-related, and work-related characteristics, the General Health Questionnaire-12, the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQoL-BREF) questionnaire, and the Fear of coronavirus disease-2019 scale (FCV-19S). Results: Of 1,556 participants, 522 (33.5%) reported a perceived need for mental health services, but only 133 (8.5%) reported receiving these services. Multiple logistic regression analysis of the perceived need for mental health services revealed significant relationships with lower age, female sex, being a current smoker, having a chronic disease, having a mental disorder, coronavirus disease-2019 contact within the last three months in settings other than the home or workplace, a positive coronavirus disease-2019 vaccination history, being a physician, being a non-physician healthcare professional, and coronavirus disease-2019 contact within the last three months at work. After adjustment for these characteristics, higher General Health Questionnaire-12 and FCV-19S scores and lower WHOQoL-BREF domain scores were related to the perceived need for mental health services in logistic regression analyses. Conclusion: The findings indicate a substantial need for mental health services amongst Turkish healthcare workers during the pandemic and outline participants' characteristics regarding high-priority groups for the intervention. Future research may focus on developing actions and evaluating their efficiency.

COVID-19 Survivors' Intensive Care Unit Experiences and Their Possible Effects on Mental Health: A Qualitative Study.

ABSTRACT: It is known that being hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) for any reason is a risk factor for future psychiatric problems. This qualitative study aims to identify the experiences of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ICU survivors and provide insights for relevant mental health problems after being discharged. Participants were COVID-19 patients discharged from ICUs of a secondary care hospital. The experiences of 21 ICU survivors were evaluated using Colaizzi's 7-step approach, which were determined by the purposeful sampling method. There were three themes generated from the interviews as "emotions on COVID-19 diagnosis," "feelings about ICU stay and health care providers," and "life in the shadow of COVID-19." Two subthemes for every single theme were generated, and a total of 19 codes were extracted. It is essential to understand the individual's unique experiences in designing preventive interventions and apply individual preventive mental health interventions during ICU stay.

Role of tobacco exposure in the course of COVID-19 disease and the impact of the disease on smoking behavior.

BACKGROUND: The effect of COVID-19 on smoking behavior is not fully known. Studies evaluating the link between smoking and COVID-19 have controversial results. This study aims to evaluate patients' smoking status with COVID-19 and the effect of COVID-19 on smoking behavior. METHODS: Data were collected from 150 COVID-19 patients with a positive polymerase chain reaction test for SARS-CoV-2 between 11 March 2020 and 15 May 2020 in Rize, Turkey. Patients were interviewed by phone calls 2 months after their recovery. After 9 months, a follow-up was performed for those who quit smoking. RESULTS: Of the participants, 19 (12.7%) were current smokers before the COVID-19 diagnosis, and 15 (78.9%) of them stated that they quit smoking after their diagnosis. After nine months of follow-up, 11 of those 15 participants (57.8%) sustained abstinence. CONCLUSION: Smoking cessation rates are high in people with COVID-19. Besides, the frequency of sustaining abstinence in the long term was also high in these individuals. The COVID-19 pandemic should be viewed as an open opportunity to strengthen and prioritize smoking cessation activities.

Relationship between disease and disease severity and semaphorin 5A and hemogram level in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Semaphorin 5A (SEMA 5A) is a neuroprotein that regulates the formation of excitatory synapses between neurons, important in autoimmunity, inflammatory processes and behaviors. This study aimed to investigate the SEMA 5A levels in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) diagnosed for the first time and evaluate the relationship of disease and disease severity with the blood SEMA 5A level and hemogram. METHODS: More than 41,465 patients who applied to the psychiatry clinic from January 2018 to December 2020 were evaluated according to the DSM-5 criteria; 57 patients diagnosed with OCD for the first time, who met the inclusion criteria, were included in the study. Disease severity was investigated administering the Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsion Scale. The peripheral blood SEMA 5A level and hemogram were measured and evaluated in relation to platelet (PLT) activity, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), PLT-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and compared with control group of 26 people. RESULTS: The comparison of the groups revealed a significant difference in SEMA 5A and CRP level, neutrophil count and percentage, lymphocyte count, PLT activity. A significant correlation was found between disease and SEMA 5A level, NLR, PLR, and PLT parameters in diagnosis of OCD. As the severity of OCD increased, the SEMA 5A level and PLT count decreased, while the PDW and MLR values increased. CONCLUSION: In patients with OCD, a relationship was found between plasma SEMA 5A, PLT activity, NLR, PLR, and MLR activity levels with disease and the disease severity.