Gender and COVID-19 related fear and anxiety: A meta-analysis

Studies conducted during the pandemic revealed strong associations between gender and COVID-19 related fear and anxiety. Females perceive coronavirus as a greater threat to personal health and population than males. The aim of the current meta-analysis is to estimate gender difference in COVID-19 related fear and anxiety. The second purpose of this study is to clarify the role of potential moderators in COVID-19 fear and anxiety. For these reasons, studies published between March 2020 and October 2021 were searched in various databases (Web of Science, SCOPUS, PubMed, and Google Scholar). In total, 315 studies met the inclusion criteria, and 60 studies for COVID-19 related fear and 23 studies for COVID-19 related anxiety were included in the current study. Cohen's d effect size values were calculated based on these individual studies showing the difference between males and females in terms of COVID-19 related fear and anxiety. Results revealed that gender has a moderate and statistically significant effect on COVID-19 related fear (ES = 0.307) and anxiety (ES = 0.316) in favor of females. Moderator analyses showed that continent variable was a statistically significant moderator of gender difference in COVID-19 related fear and anxiety. The highest effect size of gender differences in COVID-related fear and anxiety were obtained from the studies conducted in Europe. However, other moderators (the average age of sample, culture, timing, and population) were not statistically significant. Although this meta-analysis has a few limitations, the findings showed that COVID-19 outbreak negatively affected females more.

The Relationship Between Fear of COVID-19 and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress

Abstract. The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant effects on public health. Previous studies showed that the fear of COVID-19 was positively correlated with depression, anxiety, and stress. This study aims to compile and meta-analyze the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and depression, anxiety, and stress among the general population. The studies published between March 2020 and June 2021 were scanned from various databases (Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science [ISI], and SCOPUS). As a result of the literature search, 746 studies were reached, 88 studies were found suitable, and 21 met the inclusion criteria. Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA Version 3.0) and metafor package in R were used for analyses. A strong relationship was observed between the fear of COVID-19 and anxiety ( r = .55, p < .001); there were moderate relationships between the fear of COVID-19 and depression ( r = .34, p < .001) and stress ( r = .44, p < .001). All these relationships were significant. The results showed that the relationships between the fear of COVID-19 and depression, anxiety, and stress had a high level of heterogeneity. Meta-regression analyses revealed that the average of the sample age was a significant predictor of the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety. However, other covariates (female proportion and culture) were not statistically significant for the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety. None of these covariates was significant predictors of the relationship between fear of COVID-19 with depression and stress. Although the current meta-analysis has some limitations, the results revealed that the fear of COVID-19 is associated with mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and stress.

Subjective Well-Being and Resilience During COVID-19 Pandemic in Turkey

Abstract. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has penetrated almost all countries and has affected people in many areas. The COVID-19 pandemic also has affected the mental health of the community. Aims: The purpose of this study is to investigate the individuals’ perceptions of subjective well-being (SWB) and resilience (R) during the pandemic. Method: A total of 643 people, 351 women and 292 men, who are not diagnosed with COVID-19, have voluntarily participated in the study. The data were collected online due to social restrictions. Also, their pre-pandemic SWB and R levels were evaluated based on their statements taken during the pandemic since the pandemic was not foreseen at this time. Results: A significant decrease was observed in participants’ SWB and R levels during the pandemic. Besides, significant differences were observed in R levels according to gender and age; on the other hand, no difference was observed according to the participants’ residence type, city type, education level, and job status. Regarding SWB level, significant differences were observed according to gender, age, and job status; no difference was observed according to residence type, city type, and education level. Limitations: Participants’ subjective well-being and resilience data could not be collected before the pandemic due to the unpredictable and fast spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. When individuals compare the current pandemic period with their past (before the pandemic), they may perceive their resilience and subjective well-being levels as decreased. Conclusion: The pandemic affects the subjective well-being and resilience of individuals negatively.

Effects of umbilical cord blood stem cells on healing factors for diabetic foot injuries

The use of stem or progenitor cells from bone marrow, or peripheral or umbilical cord blood is becoming more common for treatment of diabetic foot problems. These cells promote neovascularization by angiogenic factors and they promote epithelium formation by stimulating cell replication and migration under certain pathological conditions. We investigated the role of CD34 + stem cells from human umbilical cord blood in wound healing using a rat model. Rats were randomly divided into a control group and two groups with diabetes induced by a single dose of 55 mg/kg intraperitoneal streptozocin. Scarred areas 5 mm in diameter were created on the feet of all rats. The diabetic rats constituted the diabetes control group and a diabetes + stem cell group with local injection into the wound site of 0.5 × 106 CD34 + stem cells from human umbilical cord blood. The newly formed skin in the foot wounds following CD34 + stem cell treatment showed significantly improvement by immunohistochemistry and TUNEL staining, and were closer to the wound healing of the control group than the untreated diabetic animals. The increase in FGF expression that accompanied the local injection of CD34 + stem cells indicates that FGF stimulation helped prevent apoptosis. Our findings suggest a promising new treatment approach to diabetic wound healing.

Suicide commitment with metformin: our experience with five cases

Biguanides can function as oral antihyperglycemic drugs. They were used for diabetes mellitus or prediabetes treatment over the last nine decades, but they lost their popularity in 1970s because of phenformin and regained with metformin. For metformin, the most common side effects are diarrhea and dyspepsia, occurring in up to 30% of patients. The most important and serious side effect is lactic acidosis. Phenformin was removed from the markets before 1970, because it caused lactic acidosis in 40-65 patients in 100,000 patient-years. Metformin causes lactate accumulation only in patients who have hepatic failure, renal failure or in patients who attempt suicide with high dosage of drugs. In this report, we present five patients who used high doses of metformin for suicide attempt.