Mediating role of resilience between learning engagement and professional identity among nursing interns under COVID-19: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: The aim of the study was to explore the mediating effect of resilience between learning engagement and professional identity of nursing interns. DESIGN: A descriptive, cross-sectional study design. METHODS: An online questionnaire survey was conducted among nursing interns in Fujian Medical University from February 2022 to April 2022 by convenience sampling. The scores of learning engagement, resilience and professional identity were evaluated. The PROCESS Marco in SPSS was used to analyse the mediating effect. RESULTS: A total of 222 senior nursing students participated in the questionnaire survey. Both learning engagement (r = 0.491, p < 0.01) and resilience (r = 0.537, p < 0.01) correlated positively with PI. Resilience is also positively related to PI (r = 0.693, p < 0.01). Also resilience played a partial mediating role in the relationship between learning engagement and professional identity (a*b = b = 0.2451, 95% CI: 0.1543, 0.3581), and its effect accounted for 53.3%.

Low acceptance rate of COVID-19 vaccination and reduced quality of life among heart transplant recipients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the impact of the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the quality of life (QoL) and status of COVID-19 vaccination in heart transplant recipients (HTRs). METHODS: Patients who underwent allogeneic heart transplants between June 2006 and December 2019, who survived were selected from a follow-up registration form at our center. Data were collected using questionnaires in 2021, the QoL survey was conducted using the MOS 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and compared to the same time frame in 2019. The patients were divided into two groups: post-epidemic (A) and pre-epidemic (B) groups. We also recorded whether the participants had been vaccinated against COVID-19 (Beijing Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine). All the data obtained were analyzed. RESULTS: There were 88 patients who participated in the study. Only 12 (13.6%) were vaccinated. In terms of SF-36 scale assessments, after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Group A scored lower in vitality [52.5(49.0, 58.0) vs. 75.0(69.0, 79.0), p < .001], social functioning [54.0(50.5, 58.0) vs. 74.0(67.5, 78.0), p < .001], role emotional [58.5(55.0, 62.0) vs. 67.0(63.0, 71.0), p < .001], and mental health [58.5(55.0, 62.0) vs. 76.0(72.0, 79.0), p < .001]. In Group A the mental component summary (MCS) significantly decreased [222.0(214.5, 230.0) vs. 289.0(277.5, 299.5), p < .001]. The PCS and MCS of HTRs who had been vaccinated against COVID-19 were significantly higher than those who had not [PCS: 283.5(280.0, 287.0) vs. 276.0(271.0, 279.0), p < .001; MCS: 245.0(141.5, 254.0) vs. 220.0(213.5, 226.5), p < .001]. CONCLUSION: Low acceptance levels of COVID-19 vaccination were observed in the HTRs. The QoL of the HTRs decreased after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Association of lipid-lowering drugs with COVID-19 outcomes from a Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Lipid metabolism plays an important role in viral infections. We aimed to assess the causal effect of lipid-lowering drugs (HMGCR inhibitiors, PCSK9 inhibitiors, and NPC1L1 inhibitior) on COVID-19 outcomes using two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study. Methods: We used two kinds of genetic instruments to proxy the exposure of lipid-lowering drugs, including expression quantitative trait loci of drugs target genes, and genetic variants within or nearby drugs target genes associated with low-density lipoprotein (LDL cholesterol from genome-wide association study). Summary-data-based MR (SMR) and inverse-variance-weighted MR (IVW-MR) were used to calculate the effect estimates. Results: SMR analysis found that a higher expression of HMGCR was associated with a higher risk of COVID-19 hospitalization (odds ratio [OR] = 1.38, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06-1.81). Similarly, IVW-MR analysis observed a positive association between HMGCR-mediated LDL cholesterol and COVID-19 hospitalization (OR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.00-1.74). No consistent evidence from both analyses was found for other associations. Conclusions: This two-sample MR study suggested a potential causal relationship between HMGCR inhibition and the reduced risk of COVID-19 hospitalization. Funding: Start-up Fund for high-level talents of Fujian Medical University.

The virus SARS-CoV-2 has caused millions of infections and deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, but as of December 2021, no new drugs targeted to SARS-CoV-2 specifically exist. Thus, it is important to identify existing drugs that can reduce the infection and mortality of this virus, since repurposing old drugs is faster and cheaper than developing new ones. Fats, such as cholesterol, can play an important role in viral infections, meaning that drugs intended to lower the levels of fats in the blood could have a protective effect against SARS-CoV-2. To test this hypothesis, Huang, Xiao, et al. carried out a Mendelian randomization study to investigate if there is a link between drugs that lower fats and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection, including susceptibility, hospitalization, and severe disease. This approach consists on grouping people according to their version of a particular gene, which minimizes the effect of variables that can cause spurious associations, something known as confounding bias. Thus, Mendelian randomization studies allow scientists to disentangle cause and effect. Using this method, Huang, Xiao, et al. found an association between statins (a type of drug that decreases the levels of bad cholesterol) and a reduced risk of being hospitalized after being infected with SARS-CoV-2. These findings suggest that statins could benefit patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, and indicate that they should be prioritized in future clinical trials for treating COVID-19.