Self-Compassion during COVID-19 in Non-WEIRD Countries: A Narrative Review

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic impacted people’s mental health negatively worldwide, including in non-WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic) countries. Self-compassion, kindness and understanding towards oneself in difficult times have received increasing attention in the field of mental health. Self-compassion is strongly associated with good mental health in various populations. This narrative review aimed to synthesise the evidence on self-compassion and mental health in non-WEIRD countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. MEDLINE and PsycINFO were searched for empirical studies. Self-compassion was consistently associated with positive mental health in non-WEIRD countries too. However, how, and to what degree, each component of self-compassion impacts mental health remains to be evaluated across different cultures. Future research such as multi-national intervention studies, or component network meta-analysis, is needed to advance our understanding of how self-compassion improves mental health in different populations

Evaluation of Financial and Non-financial Conflicts of Interest and Quality of Evidence underlying Psoriatic Arthritis Clinical Practice Guidelines-Analysis of Personal Payments from Pharmaceutical Companies and Authors' Self-citation Rate in Japan and the United States

OBJECTIVE: To assess financial conflict of interest (FCOI) and non-financial conflicts of interest (NFCOI) among psoriatic arthritis clinical practice guideline (PsACPG) authors in Japan and US, and to evaluate the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations of PsACPG.METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis using payment data from major Japanese pharmaceutical companies and the US Open Payments Database from 2016 to 2018. All authors of PsACPG issued by Japanese Dermatological Association (JDAPsACPG) and American College of Rheumatology (ACRPsACPG) were included.RESULTS: Of 23 CPG authors in Japan, 21 (91.3%) received at least one payment, with the combined total of $3,335,413 between 2016 and 2018. Regarding 25 US authors, 21 (84.0$4,081,629 during the same period. The 3-year combined average payment per author was $145,018 (standard division [SD]:$114,302) in Japan and $162,825 (SD:$259,670) in US. 18 (78.3%) JDAPsACPG and 12 (48.0%) ACRPsACPG authors had undisclosed FCOI worth $474,663 and$218,501, respectively. The percentage of citations with at least one CPG author relative to total citations were 3.4% in Japan and 33.6% in US. 71.4% and 88.8% of recommendations for psoriatic arthritis in JDA and ACR were supported by low or very low quality of evidence.CONCLUSION: More rigorous cross-checking of information disclosed by pharmaceutical companies and self-reported by physicians, and more stringent and transparent COI policies are necessary.</p

Non-Consensual Sex among Japanese Women in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Large-Scale Nationwide Survey-Based Study

Background: Non-consensual sex including rape and sexual assault has been a global concern and may have been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, however the information on this topic is limited. Therefore, our objective was to survey the incidence rate of non-consensual sex among Japanese women aged 15-79 years between April to September 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.Materials and Methods: We utilized the data obtained from a nationwide, cross-sectional internet survey conducted in Japan between August and September 2020. Sampling weights were applied to calculate national estimates, and multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with non-consensual sex. Data was extracted from a cross-sectional, web-based, self-administered survey of approximately 2.2 million individuals from the general public, including in men and women.Results: Excluding men and responses with inconsistencies, the final analysis included 12,809 women participants, with 138 (1.1%) reporting experiencing non-consensual sex within a five-month period. Being aged 15–29 years and having a worsened mental or economic status were associated with experiencing non-consensual sex.Conclusions Early intervention to prevent individuals from becoming victims of sexual harm should be extended to economically vulnerable and young women, especially during times of societal upheaval such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Japan should prioritize the implementation of comprehensive education on the concept of sexual consent

Association between COVID-19 incidence and postponement or cancellation of elective surgeries in Japan until September 2020: a cross-sectional, web-based survey

Objectives This study aimed to examine whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the postponement or cancellation of elective surgeries in Japan.Design and setting A cross-sectional, web-based, self-administered survey was conducted nationwide from August 25 to September 30 2020. We used data from the Japan ‘COVID-19 and Society’ Internet Survey collected by a large internet research agency, Rakuten Insight, which had approximately 2.2 million qualified panellists in 2019.Participants From a volunteer sample of 28 000 participants, we extracted data from 3678 participants with planned elective surgeries on any postponement or cancellation of elective surgeries.Outcome measures The main outcome measure was any postponement or cancelltion of elective surgeries. In addition, for all respondents, we extracted data on sociodemographic, health-relatedcharacteristics, psychological characteristics and prefectural-level residential areas. We used weighted logistic regression approaches to fulfil the study objectives, minimising potential bias relating to web-based surveys.Results Of the 3678 participants, 431 (11.72%) reported experiencing postponement or cancellation of their elective surgeries. Notably, the participants living in prefectures where the declaration of the state of emergency was made on 7 April 2020 were significantly more likely to experience postponement or cancellation of elective surgeries than those residing in prefectures with the stateof emergency beginning on 16 April 2020 (174 (26.02%) vs 153 (12.15%)).Conclusions The proportion of patients whose elective surgery had been postponed was limited during Japan’s first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, although the declaration of a state of emergency increased the likelihood of postponement. It is imperative to increase awareness of the secondary health effects related to policy intervention in pandemics and other health crises and to use appropriate countermeasures such as standard infectious control measures and triage of surgical patients