The effect of having COVID-19 on insomnia, fatigue, and quality of life: A comparative study with vaccinated and unvaccinated COVID-19–negative patients

Aim: To compare insomnia, fatigue, and activities of daily living of patients who were infected during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with those who did not have the infection, according to their vaccination status. Methods: A total of 176 volunteers (104 women and 72 men) participated in the study. The study group was divided into three groups: patients who had COVID-19, individuals who did not have COVID-19 and were vaccinated, and those who did not have COVID-19 and were not vaccinated.  The data collection tools were a personal information form; insomnia, fatigue and activities of daily living short questionnaire; and anxiety and depression inventories, which evaluated psychological status. Results: There was no difference in terms of depression, insomnia, fatigue, and quality of life scale scores between the groups. Work and education status did not affect scores. The fatigue rate was higher in those who had COVID-19 (10.7%, p=0.007). Women's fatigue scores were higher (p<0.001), and their physical and psychological health scores in the quality of life scale were lower than men's (p=0.025 and p=0.007, respectively). The anxiety score of married participants was higher (p=0.021). The rate of insomnia was high in the entire study group (41.7%). Depression and anxiety were positively correlated with insomnia and fatigue. Depression was negatively correlated with all sub-parameters of quality of life, and anxiety was negatively correlated with physical, psychological health, and environment. There was no difference between insomnia, fatigue, depression, and quality of life scale scores between the groups, irrespective of COVID-19 infection. Conclusion: The high rates of insomnia and depression suggested that the progression of the pandemic also brought about chronic health problems. Therefore, it is important to conduct extensive preventive health programs for the population

Slow repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in refractory juvenile myoclonic epilepsies

Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of slow repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on patients with refractory juvenile myodonic epilepsy (JME)

Palmaris Brevis Spasm Syndrome: Localizing Features

Introduction: Palmaris brevis spasm syndrome (PBSS) is spontaneous, involuntary contractions of the palmaris brevis (PB) muscle. Here, we aim to examine origin of the contractions in four patients diagnosed as PBSS

Headache in idiopathic/genetic epilepsy: Cluster analysis in a large cohort

Objective The link between headache and epilepsy is more prominent in patients with idiopathic/genetic epilepsy (I/GE). We aimed to investigate the prevalence of headache and to cluster patients with regard to their headache and epilepsy features. Methods Patients aged 6-40 years, with a definite diagnosis of I/GE, were consecutively enrolled. The patients were interviewed using standardized epilepsy and headache questionnaires, and their headache characteristics were investigated by experts in headache. Demographic and clinical variables were analyzed, and patients were clustered according to their epilepsy and headache characteristics using an unsupervised K-means algorithm. Results Among 809 patients, 508 (62.8%) reported having any type of headache; 87.4% had interictal headache, and 41.2% had migraine. Cluster analysis revealed two distinct groups for both adults and children/adolescents. In adults, subjects having a family history of headache, >= 5 headache attacks, duration of headache >= 24 months, headaches lasting >= 1 h, and visual analog scale scores > 5 were grouped in one cluster, and subjects with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), myoclonic seizures, and generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS) were clustered in this group (Cluster 1). Self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes and epilepsy with GTCS alone were clustered in Cluster 2 with the opposite characteristics. For children/adolescents, the same features as in adult Cluster 1 were clustered in a separate group, except for the presence of JME syndrome and GTCS alone as a seizure type. Focal seizures were clustered in another group with the opposite characteristics. In the entire group, the model revealed an additional cluster, including patients with the syndrome of GTCS alone (50.51%), with >= 5 attacks, headache lasting >4 h, and throbbing headache; 65.66% of patients had a family history of headache in this third cluster (n = 99). Significance Patients with I/GE can be clustered into distinct groups according to headache features along with seizures. Our findings may help in management and planning for future studies