During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people had to shift their social and work life online. A few researchers and journalists described a new form of fatigue associated with a massive use of ...technology, including videoconferencing platforms. In this study, this type of fatigue was referred to as Online Fatigue. A new tool (the Online Fatigue Scale) was developed, and its psychometric properties were evaluated. This tool was used to assess Online Fatigue among Italian academics and to examine its associations with psychological and physical health. An online survey was conducted in December 2020 on a sample of Italian academics. Besides the Online Fatigue Scale (11 items) used to assess Online Fatigue, the survey was composed of questionnaires (including validated measures) focused on sociodemographic and job-related information, technostress creators, health status, psychological well-being, and COVID-related perceived distress. The psychometric properties of the Online Fatigue Scale were evaluated, and statistical analyses were conducted to examine the associations between Online Fatigue and all the other variables. The Online Fatigue Scale can be considered a reliable tool to assess Online Fatigue, which was significantly detected in our sample of Italian academics, along with its negative effects on physical and psychological health. Being a woman and having young children represent important risk factors. Universities should promote the separation between work and private life by encouraging self-care activities.
Introduction: No prior study of endometriosis has investigated the psychological impact of having asymptomatic endometriosis versus endometriosis with pelvic pain in a systematic way. This study ...aimed at examining the impact of endometriosis on quality of life, anxiety and depression by comparing asymptomatic endometriosis, endometriosis with pelvic pain, and healthy, pain-free controls. The psychological impact of different types of endometriosis pain was also tested.
Methods: One hundred and ten patients with surgically diagnosed endometriosis (78 with pelvic pain and 32 without pain symptoms) and 61 healthy controls completed two psychometric tests assessing quality of life, anxiety and depression. Endometriosis participants indicated on a numerical rating scale the intensity of four types of pain (dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, non-menstrual pelvic pain and dyschezia).
Results: Endometriosis patients with pelvic pain had poorer quality of life and mental health as compared with those with asymptomatic endometriosis and the healthy controls. No significant differences were found between asymptomatic endometriosis and the control group. Dysmenorrhea had significant effects only on physical quality of life; non-menstrual pelvic pain affected all the variables; no significant effects were found for dyspareunia and dyschezia.
Conclusions: Pain significantly affects women's experience of endometriosis. The medical treatment of endometriosis with pain may not be sufficient and psychological intervention is recommended.
In this study, we examined whether beliefs regarding motherhood, female identity, and infertility affected the psychological health of 127 childless endometriosis patients. Anxiety and depression ...were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, while self-esteem was assessed using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. A set of six Likert-type items (1 = “Not at all”; 5 = “To a very great extent”) was developed to explore women’s beliefs. Women who were more likely to believe that childless and infertile women were less appreciated by others reported poorer psychological health. Patients’ beliefs should be explored during psychological counseling. Dysfunctional beliefs about female identity, especially as regards others’ perceptions, should be restructured to improve patients’ psychological health.
This study aimed to develop a grounded theory of how endometriosis affects psychological health. Open interviews were conducted with 74 patients. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was ...administered to all women, who were divided into distressed versus non-distressed. At the core of our grounded theory was the notion of disruption due to the common features of living with endometriosis. Experiencing disruption (vs restoring continuity) involved higher distress and was associated with a long pathway to diagnosis, bad doctor–patient relationships, poor physical health, lack of support, negative sense of female identity, and identification of life with endometriosis.
Abstract
STUDY QUESTION
Is infertility-related distress a risk factor for impaired female sexual function in women undergoing assisted reproduction?
SUMMARY ANSWER
Infertility-related distress, and ...especially social, sexual, and relationship concerns, is associated with female sexual dysfunction.
WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
Women with infertility are more likely to present sexual dysfunction relative to those without infertility. Moreover, assisted reproduction is associated with increased risk for female sexual problems. To date, this higher proportion of sexual impairment in infertile women has been simplistically linked to the stress associated with the condition and investigated risk factors included mainly demographic and clinical variables. Quantitative studies aimed at identifying risk factors for sexual dysfunction that also included the evaluation of infertility-related distress are conversely lacking.
STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
This observational study was conducted at the Infertility Unit of the Fondazione Ca’ Granda, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico of Milan between 2017 and 2018.
PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
We included 269 consecutive patients with infertility aged 24–45 (37.8 ± 4.0 years). Sexual function outcomes were sexual dysfunction (assessed with the Female Sexual Function Index), sexual distress (evaluated with the Female Sexual Distress Scale-Revised), dyspareunia, and number of intercourses in the month preceding ovarian stimulation. Infertility-related distress was measured with the Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI). The effects of potential confounders such as demographic variables (women’s and partners’ age and level of education) and infertility-related factors (type and cause of infertility, number of previous IVF cycles, and duration of infertility) were also examined.
MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
Women with higher infertility-related distress were more likely to report sexual dysfunction (odds ratio = 1.02 per point of score; 95% CI, 1.01–1.03; P = 0.001). Three FPI domains (i.e. social, relational, and sexual concerns) were correlated with almost all sexual function outcomes (Ps < 0.05).
LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
Women who were not sexually active were not included, thus reasons for sexual inactivity should be further explored in future studies. Data regarding men (e.g. sexual function and infertility-related distress) were lacking, thus cross-partner effects were not examined. Recall bias (also due to the fact that questionnaires were administered on the day of oocytes retrieval) and social desirability bias may have also affected women’s responses to the questionnaires.
WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
Social, relational, and sexual concerns should be assessed and addressed in psychological counselling with the infertile couple.
STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)
None.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
Not applicable.
Intimate partner violence (IPV)-defined as physical, psychological, sexual, and/or economic violence typically experienced by women at home and perpetrated by their partners or expartners-is a ...pervasive form of violence that destroys women's feelings of love, trust, and self-esteem, with important negative consequences on physical and psychological health. Many reports from several countries have underlined a remarkable increase in the cases of IPV during the COVID-19 emergency. In this opinion article, we discussed the hypothesis that such an increase may be related to the restrictive measures enacted to contain the pandemic, including women's forced cohabitation with the abusive partner, as well as the exacerbation of partners' pre-existing psychological disorders during the lockdown. In addition, we retrospectively analyzed some data derived from our practice in a public Italian referral center for sexual and domestic violence (Service for Sexual and Domestic Violence SVSeD). These data interestingly revealed an opposite trend, that is, a decrease in the number of women who sought assistance since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. Such a reduction should be interpreted as a negative consequence of the pandemic-related restrictive measures. Although necessary, these measures reduced women's possibilities of seeking help from antiviolence centers and/or emergency services. Owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, there is an urgent need for developing and implementing alternative treatment options for IPV victims (such as online and phone counseling and telemedicine), as well as training programs for health care professionals, especially those employed in emergency departments, to facilitate early detection of IPV.
Abstract
Background: All living organisms are made of individual and identifiable cells, whose number, together with their size and type, ultimately defines the structure and functions of an ...organism. While the total cell number of lower organisms is often known, it has not yet been defined in higher organisms. In particular, the reported total cell number of a human being ranges between 1012 and 1016 and it is widely mentioned without a proper reference.
Aim: To study and discuss the theoretical issue of the total number of cells that compose the standard human adult organism.
Subjects and methods: A systematic calculation of the total cell number of the whole human body and of the single organs was carried out using bibliographical and/or mathematical approaches.
Results: A current estimation of human total cell number calculated for a variety of organs and cell types is presented. These partial data correspond to a total number of 3.72 × 1013.
Conclusions: Knowing the total cell number of the human body as well as of individual organs is important from a cultural, biological, medical and comparative modelling point of view. The presented cell count could be a starting point for a common effort to complete the total calculation.
In March 2020, the World Health Organization announced the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic and restrictive measures were enacted by the Governments to fight the spread of the virus. In Italy, these ...measures included a nationwide lockdown, with limited exceptions including grocery shopping, certain work activities, and healthcare. Consistently with findings from previous studies investigating the psychological impact of similar pandemics e.g., Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), there is evidence that Covid-19 is associated with negative mental health outcomes. Given this background, we conducted a cross-sectional study aimed at investigating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent restrictive measures imposed by the Government on the psychological health of Italian men and women aged = 18 years and living in Lombardy, one of the worst-hit regions. The study also aimed at identifying what factors are associated with specific psychological outcomes. Thus, we developed an online survey that included a researcher-made questionnaire to collect sociodemographic, household, general health, and pandemic-related information. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the Perceived Stress Scale were used to assess anxiety, depression, and perceived stress, respectively. We found that younger age, greater concerns about the pandemic, female gender, being unmarried, not having children, and being a student were associated with worse psychological health. These findings may provide further insight into the risk factors associated with negative psychological outcomes during the current pandemic, with identification of vulnerable groups. This body of evidence may help professionals implement targeted psychosocial treatment and prevention programs.
Women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) are emotionally challenged. Anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances are common complaints. The impact of these symptoms on IVF outcome is however ...debated. In this study, we aimed at investigating whether sleep quality and psychological health can affect the chances of success of the procedure. Women undergoing IVF were recruited at the time of oocytes retrieval. Women's sleep quality and psychological health was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Baseline characteristics and results of the three scales were compared between women who did and did not succeed. Overall, 263 women were included, of whom 81 had a clinical pregnancy (31%). As expected, successful women were younger, and their ovarian reserve was more preserved. FPI and HADS scores did not differ. Conversely, a statistically significant difference emerged for the PSQI score, the median interquartile range in pregnant and non-pregnant women being 4 3-5 and 5 3-7, respectively (p = 0.004). The crude and adjusted OR of pregnancy in women with a PSQI > 5 (indicating impaired sleep quality) was 0.46 (95% CI 0.25-0.86, p = 0.02) and 0.50 (95% CI: 0.26-0.94, p = 0.03), respectively. In conclusion, low sleep quality is common in women scheduled for IVF and could influence the success of the procedure.
In this review, we described different factors that modulate pluripotency in stem cells, in particular we aimed at following the steps of two large families of miRNAs: the miR-200 family and the ...miR-302 family. We analyzed some factors tuning stem cells behavior as TGF-β, which plays a pivotal role in pluripotency inhibition together with specific miRNAs, reactive oxygen species (ROS), but also hypoxia, and physical stimuli, such as ad hoc conveyed electromagnetic fields. TGF-β plays a crucial role in the suppression of pluripotency thus influencing the achievement of a specific phenotype. ROS concentration can modulate TGF-β activation that in turns down regulates miR-200 and miR-302. These two miRNAs are usually requested to maintain pluripotency, while they are down-regulated during the acquirement of a specific cellular phenotype. Moreover, also physical stimuli, such as extremely-low frequency electromagnetic fields or high-frequency electromagnetic fields conveyed with a radioelectric asymmetric conveyer (REAC), and hypoxia can deeply influence stem cell behavior by inducing the appearance of specific phenotypes, as well as a direct reprogramming of somatic cells. Unraveling the molecular mechanisms underlying the complex interplay between externally applied stimuli and epigenetic events could disclose novel target molecules to commit stem cell fate.
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