Psychological distress, low-income, and socio-economic vulnerability in the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: Although literature broadly reports the impact of COVID-19 on global mental health, little is known about the extent of its deleterious impact on the most vulnerable individuals. The present study aimed to evaluate the level of psychological distress of adult's residents of two urban shantytown communities located in São Paulo city, Brazil. STUDY DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional study. METHODS: An online questionnaire was divided into four sections: (1) informed consent, (2) socio-economic data, (3) 12-item general health questionnaire, and (4) Brazilian food insecurity scale was applied. RESULTS: Of the 495 family headship (448 females and 47 males), the mean age was 36.1 years, 85% have an indication of psychological distress, 61.4% had a monthly income less than or equal to $70, and the incidence of households experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity was 40%. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that respondents who experienced moderate or severe food insecurity (odds ratio [OR] = 2.701, confidence interval [CI] 95% = 1.265-5.769; P = 0.010) and lower monthly income (OR = 2.031, CI 95% = 1.056-3.908; P = 0.034) had a higher risk of psychological distress. On the other hand, having an employment is a protective factor against the stressful situations caused by COVID-19 pandemic (P = 0.029). CONCLUSION: The present study identified low-income younger women residents of urban slums who suffer from food insecurity as high-risk groups to have psychological distress. Our findings are of particular importance because they showed the intersection of vulnerabilities during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Can Breast Tumors Affect the Oxidative Status of the Surrounding Environment? A Comparative Analysis among Cancerous Breast, Mammary Adjacent Tissue, and Plasma.

In this paper, we investigated the oxidative profile of breast tumors in comparison with their normal adjacent breast tissue. Our study indicates that breast tumors present enhanced oxidative/nitrosative stress, with concomitant augmented antioxidant capacity when compared to the adjacent normal breast. These data indicate that breast cancers may be responsible for the induction of a prooxidant environment in the mammary gland, in association with enhanced TNF-α and nitric oxide.