The level of anxiety and its relationship with metacognitive beliefs in asthma patients during the COVID-19 pandemic

Asthma is a disease characterized by the narrowing of the airways and resulting shortness of breath. Anxiety is a condition that is frequently observed in patients with asthma and causes worsening of symptoms. Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has influenced the mental health of many individuals. ‘The aim of this study is to determine the anxiety levels of asthma patients during the pandemic period and to reveal the contribution of these patients' metacognition to anxiety'. This study was planned retrospectively Twenty-eight asthma patients were evaluated for asthmatic symptoms and anxiety levels. before the COVID-19 pandemic and 28 healthy controls were included. During the COVID-19 pandemic, patients were re-evaluated for asthmatic symptoms and anxiety levels. The Asthma Control Test (ACT), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Metacognition Scale-30 (MCS) were applied to all participants to evaluate levels of asthmatic symptoms, anxiety and metacognitive beliefs. During the pandemic, while patients' ACT scores increased significantly (p=0.011), the BAI score decreased significantly (p=0.039), compared to the pre-pandemic values. BAI score was negatively correlated with pre- and post-pandemic ACT scores (p=0.029, p=0.006, respectively). During the pandemic, patients' BAI score and "need to control thoughts" subscale score of MCS-30 were found significantly higher than those of controls (p=0.003). Additionally, patients' anxiety levels during the pandemic were correlated with the metacognitive scale score (p=0.036). Asthma symptoms were observed to remit, and anxiety levels to decrease during the pandemic in asthma patients, compared to the pre-pandemic values. Patients' anxiety levels during the pandemic were found higher than those of controls. Therefore, we consider that current anxiety is related to metacognitive beliefs, and our study findings are important in terms of understanding anxiety developing in asthma patients during the pandemic and reflecting the findings to psychotherapeutic modalities. [Med-Science 2023; 12(2.000): 406-11

Can we predict patients that will not benefit from invasive mechanical ventilation? A novel scoring system in intensive care: the IMV mortality prediction score (IMPRES)

KUCUK, Ahmet Oguzhan/0000-0002-6993-0519; Kirakli, Cenk/0000-0001-6013-7330; KUCUK, Mehtap PEHLIVANLAR/0000-0003-2247-4074; Aksoy, Iskender/0000-0002-4426-3342WOS: 000504051300010PubMed: 31655511Background/aim: The present study aimed to define the clinical and laboratory criteria for predicting patients that will not benefit from invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) treatment and determine the prediction of mortality and prognosis of these critical ill patients. Materials and methods: The study was designed as an observational, multicenter, prospective, and cross-sectional clinical study. It was conducted by 75 researchers at 41 centers in intensive care units (ICUs) located in various geographical areas of Turkey. It included a total of 1463 ICU patients who were receiving invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) treatment. A total of 158 parameters were examined via logistic regression analysis to identify independent risk factors for mortality; using these data, the IMV Mortality Prediction Score (IMPRES) scoring system was developed. Results: The following cut-off scores were used to indicate mortality risk: 8, very high risk. There was a 26.8% mortality rate among the 254 patients who had a total IMPRES score of lower than 2. The mortality rate was 93.3% for patients with total 1M PRES scores of greater than 8 (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The present study included a large number of patients from various geographical areas of the country who were admitted to various types of ICUs, had diverse diagnoses and comorbidities, were intubated with various indications in either urgent or elective settings, and were followed by physicians from various specialties. Therefore, our data are more general and can be applied to a broader population. This study devised a new scoring system for decision-making for critically ill patients as to whether they need to be intubated or not and presents a rapid and accurate prediction of mortality and prognosis prior to ICU admission using simple clinical data