Editorial: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): The Mental Health, Resilience, and Communication Resources for the Short- and Long-term Challenges Faced by Healthcare Workers

During the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world initially focused on measures to suppress COVID-19 transmission and protect their populations by developing vaccines and drug treatments for the most vulnerable and a host of social actions, including implementing social distancing, working from home, travel restrictions, lockdowns, and face coverings. Nearly 2 years after the initial outbreak, at the time of writing this editorial, and through research conducted as part of this Research Topic, it is clear that the mental health impacts of COVID-19 on healthcare workers (HCW) are significant. There is an urgent need to understand and address these impacts (Greenberg et al., 2020). This is particularly true given the World Health Organisation has outlined a series of mental health and psychosocial considerations aimed explicitly at HCWs (World Health Organisation, 2020). The present Research Topic on Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) and HCWs has added to the scientific knowledge in several main areas, including barriers and enablers to healthcare delivery, understanding HCWs' mental health and well-being, resilience, coordination and communication within the workforce, and specific interventions to promote mental health and well-being

Editorial: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): The Mental Health, Resilience, and Communication Resources for the Short- and Long-term Challenges Faced by Healthcare Workers.

From Europe PMC via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: ppub 2022-01-01, epub 2022-04-18Publication status: Publishe

Psychological factors in functional hypothalamic amenorrhea: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundPsychological factors have been found to be associated with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA); however, their role in the onset or persistence of FHA is still understudied. The study aims to assess the associations of psychological factors with the presence vs the absence of FHA.MethodsA systematic literature search has been conducted across the major databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Embase) to explore the psychological factors associated with FHA. The search was limited to English-written articles published from 2000 onwards. Articles were selected based on stringent inclusion/exclusion criteria. After data extraction, meta-analysis and meta-synthesis were conducted.ResultsOf 349 retrieved articles, eight studies were included. Findings indicate that the main psychological factors associated to FHA seem to be depression and eating attitudes, especially drive for thinness. FHA women present higher levels of anxiety, sleep disorders, dysfunctional attitudes, and alexithymia. The meta-analysis on drive for thinness revealed that the pooled MD across the studies was statistically significant both in the fixed 0.63 (95% CI: 0.31–0.95) and random model 0.70 (95% CI: 0.13–1.26). Likewise, as for depression, the pooled MD across the studies was statistically significant both in the fixed 0.60 (95% CI: 0.36–0.84) and random model 0.61 (95% CI: 0.20–1.01).DiscussionFindings showed the association of psychological factors and FHA and recognized their involvement in the persistence of the disorder. A multidisciplinary approach should involve a collaborative process between gynecologists, clinical psychologists, and psychiatrists, from diagnosis to treatment. Longitudinal studies should be implemented with a comparison/control group or by including clinical psychologists in the psychological assessment and study design

Editorial: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): The Mental Health, Resilience, and Communication Resources for the Short- and Long-term Challenges Faced by Healthcare Workers

From Frontiers via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: collection 2022, received 2022-03-25, accepted 2022-03-31, epub 2022-04-18Publication status: Publishe

Failure of the anticoagulant therapy and psychological distress : Still far from a bridge

Background: The procoagulant stress response reflects part of a beneficial adaptation of the organism to environmental threats, but a protracted procoagulant state generates a thrombotic risk. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in the general population. Patients with AF have a higher risk of thromboembolic events and stroke, therefore they are treated with long-term oral anticoagulant (OAC) therapy. The aim of this study is to evaluate if there is any association between psychological distress and clinically unexplained variations of the International Normalized Ratio (INR), that is the index used to monitor both thromboembolic and bleeding risk in the case of patients under OAC therapy. Methods: Fifty-eight patients (men = 27; women = 31; mean age = 74.98) were recruited. The sample was divided according to the recognition (or not) of the reason why the INR was subtherapeutic ( < 2) and classified as "Known Reasons" (KR = 32.8%) and "Unknown Reasons" (UR = 67.2%). Psychological assessment included the following dimensions: symptoms of anxiety and depression, perceived stress, emotional regulation strategies, and alexithymia. Results: Considering Mann-Whitney test results, no significant difference was found in the scores of anxiety, depression, stress, and emotional regulation strategies. With regard to alexithymia, UR patients are characterized by a moderate tendency to an outward-oriented thinking (r = 0.25). Conclusion: A clear role for the detected psychological factors in determining abnormal INR range in patients under OAC therapy could not be found. Further studies are needed to support our findings, if possible exploring factors other than psychological distress and the related emotion regulation strategies

\u2018Engage me in taking care of my heart\u2019: a grounded theory study on patient\u2013cardiologist relationship in the hospital management of heart failure.

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Measurement of the cross-section for b-jets produced in association with a Z boson at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector ATLAS Collaboration

A measurement is presented of the inclusive cross-section for b-jet production in association with a Z boson in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 7 TeV. The analysis uses the data sample collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 36 pb(-1). The event selection requires a Z boson decaying into high P-T electrons or muons, and at least one b-jet, identified by its displaced vertex, with transverse momentum p(T) > 25 GeV and rapidity vertical bar y vertical bar < 2.1. After subtraction of background processes, the yield is extracted from the vertex mass distribution of the candidate b-jets. The ratio of this cross-section to the inclusive Z cross-section (the average number of b-jets per Z event) is also measured. Both results are found to be in good agreement with perturbative QCD predictions at next-to-leading order

Communication and relationship at time of COVID-19: a possible heritage

Not applicabl

The end of unsuccessful treatment in ART: emotional and ethical complexity in the doctor-patient relationship

In the context of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), the decision to end treatment should occur after a series of failed attempts and when the chances for a successful outcome are so low that it is in the patient’s best interest to stop any further attempt at it. Since there is not a defined biological endpoint, the decision is very complex and involves emotional and ethical dimensions. Patients are overwhelmed by all sort of emotions related to the acknowledgement that the pregnancy they hoped for might, eventually, never happen; at the same time, physicians may experience intense inner emotions (e.g., frustration, denial). The ethical aspect concerning the decision to end unsuccessful ART treatment gives rise to a dilemma between beneficence and patient autonomy and about equity. In these complex circumstances, the risk of over-persistence is significantly high, where the concept of “overpersistence” can be described as the circumstance where doctors and patients keep on insisting to continue ART treatment even when chances for success are very low or any at all. The authors here discussed the possibility that a more active role of clinicians in deciding when patients should stop treatment, a model that in oncology is called “palliative paternalism”, could be introduced in the ART context. Future research will be needed to further explore the issue in order to offer a greater support to patients undergoing several failed cycles of ART

Psychological factors in functional hypothalamic amenorrhea: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundPsychological factors have been found to be associated with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA); however, their role in the onset or persistence of FHA is still understudied. The study aims to assess the associations of psychological factors with the presence vs the absence of FHA. MethodsA systematic literature search has been conducted across the major databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Embase) to explore the psychological factors associated with FHA. The search was limited to English-written articles published from 2000 onwards. Articles were selected based on stringent inclusion/exclusion criteria. After data extraction, meta-analysis and meta-synthesis were conducted. ResultsOf 349 retrieved articles, eight studies were included. Findings indicate that the main psychological factors associated to FHA seem to be depression and eating attitudes, especially drive for thinness. FHA women present higher levels of anxiety, sleep disorders, dysfunctional attitudes, and alexithymia. The meta-analysis on drive for thinness revealed that the pooled MD across the studies was statistically significant both in the fixed 0.63 (95% CI: 0.31-0.95) and random model 0.70 (95% CI: 0.13-1.26). Likewise, as for depression, the pooled MD across the studies was statistically significant both in the fixed 0.60 (95% CI: 0.36-0.84) and random model 0.61 (95% CI: 0.20-1.01). DiscussionFindings showed the association of psychological factors and FHA and recognized their involvement in the persistence of the disorder. A multidisciplinary approach should involve a collaborative process between gynecologists, clinical psychologists, and psychiatrists, from diagnosis to treatment. Longitudinal studies should be implemented with a comparison/control group or by including clinical psychologists in the psychological assessment and study design