The COVID-19 pandemic has been a period of upheaval for college students. The objective of this study was to assess the factors associated with the increased levels of mental health burden among a ...sample of undergraduate college students in Northern New Jersey, the region of the U.S. severely impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19.
College students (N = 162) enrolled in an introductory core curriculum course completed a cross-sectional survey. The survey collected information on demographics, knowledge levels and sources of COVID-19 information, behavior changes, academic and everyday difficulties, and mental health measurements (depression, anxiety, somatization, and stress). Multivariable regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with mental health outcomes.
Descriptive findings indicate that students have a fundamental knowledge of COVID-19 transmission and common symptoms. Students tend to use and trust the official sources and have changed their behaviors in accordance with public health recommendations (i.e., increased hand washing, wearing mask). However, students reported a number of academic and everyday difficulties and high levels of mental health distress. High levels of depression were associated with difficulties in focusing on academic work and with employment losses, while higher levels of anxiety were more likely to be reported by students other than freshmen and those who spend more than one hour per day looking for information on COVID-19. Inability to focus on academic work and an elevated concern with COVID-19 were more likely to be associated with higher levels of somatization, while trusting news sources was associated with lower levels of somatization. Those with higher levels of perceived stress were more likely to be females, unable to focus on academic work, and report difficulties in obtaining medications and cleaning supplies.
The COVID-19 pandemic is making a significant negative impact on mental health of college students. Proactive efforts to support the mental health and well-being of students are needed.
Misinformation and disinformation regarding COVID-19 and vaccination against it may be contributing to vaccine hesitancy. Social media outlets have reportedly made efforts to limit false information ...yet untruths related to COVID-19 persist online. The purpose of this study was to describe the content on COVID-19 vaccination on TikTok, an emerging social media platform. One-hundred trending videos were identified from the hashtag #covidvaccine and were coded for content. Collectively, these videos garnered over 35 million views. The coding category with the highest number of videos was "Discouraged a Vaccine" (n = 38), followed by "Encouraged a Vaccine" (n = 36). While only 36 videos encouraged a vaccine, these videos garnered over 50% of the total cumulative views and just under 50% of the total likes; the 38 videos that discouraged a vaccine garnered 39.6% of the total cumulative views, 44.3% of likes, and 47.4% of comments. Of the 38 videos discouraging the vaccine, 25 (65.79%) showed a parody of an adverse reaction and, collectively, received 71.07% of the total views among videos in this category. Twenty-two of these 38 videos (57.89%) falsely conveyed that a vaccine was available, as they were not at the time of the study. Anti-vaccination messaging may undermine efforts to ensure widespread uptake of the various COVID-19 vaccines, particularly for young people who are more likely than other age cohorts to use TikTok.
We developed a strategy to harness alkyl amines as alkylating agents via C–N bond activation. This Suzuki–Miyaura cross coupling of alkylpyridinium salts, readily formed from primary amines, is the ...first example of a metal-catalyzed cross coupling via C–N bond activation of an amine with an unactivated alkyl group. This reaction enjoys broad scope and functional group tolerance. Primary and secondary alkyl groups can be installed. Preliminary studies suggest a NiI/NiIII catalytic cycle.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that requires lifelong management and care, affecting around 422 million people worldwide and roughly 37 million in the United States. Patients newly diagnosed with ...diabetes must work with health care providers to formulate a management plan, including lifestyle modifications and regular office visits, to improve metabolic control, prevent or delay complications, optimize quality of life, and promote well-being.
Our aim is to investigate one component of system-wide access to timely health care for people with diabetes in New York City (NYC), namely the length of time for someone with newly diagnosed diabetes to obtain an appointment with 3 diabetes care specialists: a cardiologist, an endocrinologist, and an ophthalmologist, respectively.
We contacted the offices of 3 different kinds of specialists: cardiologists, endocrinologists, and ophthalmologists, by telephone, for this descriptive cross-sectional study, to determine the number of days required to schedule an appointment for a new patient with diabetes. The sampling frame included all specialists affiliated with any private or public hospital in NYC. The number of days to obtain an appointment with each specialist was documented, along with "time on hold" when attempting to schedule an appointment and the presence of online booking capabilities.
Of the 1639 unique physicians affiliated with (private and public) hospitals in the 3 subspecialties, 1032 (cardiologists, endocrinologists, and ophthalmologists) were in active practice and did not require a referral. The mean wait time for scheduling an appointment was 36 (SD 36.4; IQR 12-51.5) days for cardiologists; 82 (SD 47; IQR 56-101) days for endocrinologists; and 50.4 (SD 56; IQR 10-72) days for ophthalmologists. The median wait time was 27 days for cardiologists, 72 days for endocrinologists, and 30 days for ophthalmologists. The mean time on hold while attempting to schedule an appointment with these specialists was 2.6 (SD 5.5) minutes for cardiologists, 5.4 (SD 4.3) minutes for endocrinologists, and 3.2 (SD 4.8) minutes for ophthalmologists, respectively. Over 46% (158/341) of cardiologists enabled patients to schedule an appointment on the web, and over 55% (128/228) of endocrinologists enabled patients to schedule an appointment on the web. In contrast, only approximately 25% (117/463) of ophthalmologists offered web-based appointment scheduling options.
The results indicate considerable variation in wait times between and within the 3 specialties examined for a new patient in NYC. Given the paucity of research on wait times for newly diagnosed people with diabetes to obtain an appointment with different specialists, this study provides preliminary estimates that can serve as an initial reference. Additional research is needed to document the extent to which wait times are associated with complications and the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of people served by different providers.
TikTok is a popular social media platform, especially among those who are 13-24 years of age. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to describe the content of COVID-19 material on TikTok.
A ...total of 100 videos posted under the hashtag #Coronavirus were included in this study along with all (n=17) posts uploaded by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Overall, these videos were viewed 1,194,081,700 times. The most commonly cited topics included anxiety (14.5%) with more than 190.6 million views and quarantine (10.3%) with 106.6 million views. Fewer than 10% of videos mentioned how the virus is transmitted, symptoms, and prevention. WHO videos more often focused on viral transmission and symptoms but covered these topics in fewer than 10% of the videos.
Although research suggests that cases of COVID-19 may be less severe in those under 18 years of age, social distancing remains paramount due to the possibility of transmission even in those with minimal or no symptoms. For young adults in particular, the WHO suggests staying connected through social media and making every attempt to stay positive. TikTok has the potential, not only to convey important health information, but to address these aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic as well.
Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States. Despite the potential deleterious effects of HPV, vaccine uptake remains suboptimal. One potential ...venue for educating the public about HPV and vaccinations is through social media such as the widely used Instagram platform. Given the widespread reach of a platform with such a vast user base, the aim of this study was to describe posts related to HPV on Instagram. Content categories were established using fact sheets from the Centers for Disease Control HPV index page. Important content categories were created and the resultant coding sheet was used to analyze posts from the hashtag #HPV. Of the 150 posts analyzed, 53 posts (35%) mentioned the HPV vaccine. More were pro-vaccine (28%) versus anti-vaccine (7%). Posts mentioned the association of HPV with cancer (35%) and prevention of HPV (32%). Posts with a higher number of likes were more likely to mention cancer (p = 0.016) and HPV screening (p = 0.041). Among those that mentioned the HPV vaccine, posts that were anti-vaccine were less likely to mention prevention (p < 0.001) and cancer (p < 0.001). As new technology emerges and is widely adopted, health professionals should be aware and adept at using what is popular to influence given audiences. This applies to adolescents in particular, who, by and large are frequent users of technology for communication.
A Negishi cross-coupling of alkylpyridinium salts and alkylzinc halides has been developed. This is the first example of alkyl–alkyl bond formation via cross-coupling of an alkyl amine derivative ...with an unactivated alkyl group, and allows both primary and secondary alkylpyridinium salts to react with primary alkylzinc halides with high functional group tolerance. When combined with formation of the pyridinium salts from primary amines, this method enables the noncanonical transformation of NH2 groups into a wide range of alkyl substituents with broad functional group tolerance.
We have developed a stereospecific, nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling of secondary benzylic ammonium salts and diboronate esters to deliver highly enantioenriched benzylic boronates. This reaction ...utilizes amine-derived electrophiles, which are readily available in high enantiopurity, and simple, inexpensive nickel catalysts. This reaction has broad scope, enabling synthesis of a variety of secondary benzylic boronates in good yields and excellent ee’s.
A nickel-catalyzed reductive cross-coupling of alkylpyridinium salts and aryl bromides has been developed using Mn as the reductant. Both primary and secondary alkylpyridinium salts can be used, and ...high functional group and heterocycle tolerance is observed, including for protic groups. Mechanistic studies indicate the formation of an alkyl radical, and controlling its fate was key to the success of this reaction.
Shortly after the first case reports in 2019, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Early messages from trusted experts, which later proved to be inadequate or incorrect, highlight the need for continual ...adjustment of messages to the public as scientific knowledge evolves. During this time, social media exploded with greatly sought-after information, some of which was misinformation based on incomplete or incorrect facts or disinformation purposefully spread to advance a specific agenda. Because of the nature of social media, information, whether accurate or not at the time posted, lives on and remains accessible to the public even when its usefulness has been discredited. While the impact of mis/disinformation on COVID-19 risk-reducing behaviors is debatable, it is clear that social media has played a significant role in both extending the reach of COVID-19-related falsehoods and promoting evidence-based content. Over the last decade, social media has become a dominant source of information that consumers turn to for health information. A great deal of misinformation and disinformation has reached large numbers of social media users, which points to a need for the agencies of the US Public Health Service to create communications to convey accurate and current information and appeals that will actually be viewed. This viewpoint highlights the challenges, risks, and potential benefits that social media present in mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic.
PDF
