ABSTRACT
Background. One of Singapore's national strategies for the COVID-19 pandemic was containment. Efforts included a fourteen-day quarantine of close contacts, were subjected to an entry and exit SARS-CoV-2 PCR test, the latter being done between 11-14 days post exposure. Additionally, symptomatic contacts were tested for SARS-CoV-2. We aim to determine the trend in COVID-19 incubation periods during three distinct pandemic waves corresponding to different SARS-CoV-2 variants. Incubation Period Incubation period of the prevalent SARS-CoV-2 variant in circulation Methods. This is an ecological study and information collected from the SingHealth COVID-19 Registry, a database of all inpatients admitted to any of the SingHealth hospitals. For patients under quarantine, the start date of the quarantine period was assumed to be the last date of exposure to the index case. Incubation period was determined by the duration between date of exposure and date of the first positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test. The prevalent strain in circulation was identified from the Singapore database in the GISAID collection. Only variants of concern, as categorized by WHO, Alpha (23rd Jan 2020 - 1st Mar 2021), Delta (5th May 2021 - 31st Oct 2021) and Omicron (1st Jan 2022 - Present) were considered. For the Omicron variant, quarantine was discontinued, hence the last date of arrival from international travel was assumed to be the date of exposure. Results. From January 2020 to March 2022, there were 19,905 patients in the COVID-19 registry, of whom 11,235 were under quarantine and 8,612 had preceding international travel. Of the 11,235 patients under quarantine, 8,189 patients were infected when SARS-CoV-2 Alpha variant and 3,046 patients were infected when SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant were in circulation. Of the 8,612 patients with preceding travel, 6,503 patients were infected when SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant was in circulation. The median incubation period for the Alpha variant was 11 days (IQR: 7-14 days) versus 3 days (IQR: 2-4 days) for the Delta variant versus 3 days (IQR: 0-5 days) for the Omicron variant. Pairwise comparisons between the variants were (p-value = < .001) Conclusion. The significant differences between incubation periods of the SARS-CoV-2 variants in circulation poses a challenge to containment efforts and has emphasize the importance of dynamic national strategies.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Sleep is characterized as a condition of physical and mental rest, in which the person ignores everything going on around him. There is a scientifically proven association between sleep deprivation and unhealthy eating habits, increasing cases of emotional and uncontrolled eating leading to malnutrition. In addition, a bad night's sleep has been associated with worsening mental health, especially in times of pandemic. Objective: In light of the above, this study aimed to report the experience and stimulate reflection about the results of a poll shared on the social network Instagram with the objective of analyzing the quality of sleep of students at a public higher education institution during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Methods: This is an experience report of the extension group “Sleep and Food in times of Pandemic”, composed of students of nursing, nutrition, medicine and mathematics of a public institution of higher education. The group, through its profile on the social network Instagram, shared a sleep satisfaction scale, where users reported in posts according to the condition of their sleep on a scale between good and bad. The scale was made available publicly and online, so the answers were freely accessible to everyone who followed the group's profile. Results: The project had a large significant reach of participants, since the present was observed through the social media of we can mention Instagram e Facebook, that is, an average of 600 posts observed, of these, 34.5% of students reported having a good night's sleep during the pandemic, while 65.5% responded by pointing out a bad night's sleep. Sleep deprivation is inversely related to the regulation of the circadian cycle, is associated with neuroendocrine and metabolic functions, such as reduced leptin and increased ghrelin, increasing appetite and food intake.In parallel to this, individuals in this stressful situation tend to consume foods that are pleasing to the palate, which usually contain higher amounts of sugar and/or fat, because they serve as comfort for the stress they are going through, but may contribute to the risk of developing obesity, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular disease. Conclusion: Some protective factors can help in this change, such as maintaining a daily routine, practicing physical activity, following a dietary pattern and taking care of sleep hygiene. Finally, we emphasize the need for more studies with a more rigid methodological content.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The lockdown caused by COVID-19 has an extreme impact on most people's lives. Notwithstanding, some individuals are more predisposed to experience deterioration in their psychological status and/or inaccessibility to adequate treatment and, consequently, they should be devoted with greater attention. Namely, for example, post-bariatric surgery patients who need continuous monitoring about eating behavior and psychological distress. Particularly in medium/long term post-surgery (≥ 36 months), a period of increased susceptibility to weight regain. The present study goals are to characterize the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 lockdown for post-bariatric patients and identify its associations with disordered eating behavior and psychological distress. Methods: Twenty-four post-bariatric surgery (M=42.88 months post-surgery, DP=4.73) women (M=50.92 years, DP=12.81) responded to an online questionnaire and a telephone-interview assessing the perceived impact of the lockdown, psychosocial, psychological, and eating behavior aspects during the first lockdown period. Results: Fourteen (58.3%) of the participants inquired reported perceived weight gain during the lockdown, thirteen (54.1%) reported limited access to social support, and twelve (50%) reported limited access to health care. Positive associations were found between the global psychosocial impact experienced during lockdown and difficulties in dealing with emotionally activating situations (rs=.45, p=.027) and stress symptoms (rs=.44, p=.030). Negative associations were found between co-habiting with more persons during lockdown and difficulties in dealing with emotionally activating situations (rs=-.49, p=.015), fear of getting fat (rs=-.48, p=.019), fear of losing control over eating (rs=-.56, p=.005), and disordered eating psychopathology (rs=-.47, p=.022). Conclusion: As clinical implications, the present findings highlighted the need to monitor post-bariatric surgery patients, facilitate health care access, and promote social support during lockdown periods.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The lockdown imposed by many countries to curb the COVID-19 epidemic had an unprecedented impact on the general population's lives. Recent studies suggest that eating habits are one of the areas particularly affected by stay-at-home orders. Individuals that received bariatric surgery for weight loss may represent a particularly susceptible population to the adverse effects of the COVID-19 lockdown for its potential impact on eating, psychological and, weight loss outcomes. This study seeks to investigate the incremental impact of COVID-19 lockdown on bariatric surgery outcomes. Methods: The present investigation uses data from an ongoing longitudinal study of bariatric patients assessed before surgery (T0), 1.5 (T1), and 3 years after surgery (T2). Two independent groups were compared: the COVID-19-Group (n=35) - T0 and T1 assessment were conducted before the pandemic started, but T2 assessment was conducted at the end of the mandatory COVID-19 lockdown;and the NonCOVID-19-Group (n=66) - who completed the pre-surgery, 1.5-, and 3-year assessment before the epidemic began. Assessment included self-report measures for disordered eating, negative urgency, depression, anxiety, stress, and weight outcomes. General Linear Models for repeated measures were used. Results: General Linear Models for repeated measures showed that the COVID-19-Group presented significantly higher weight concern (F=8.403, p=.005, η2p=.094), grazing behavior (F=7.166, p=.009, η2p=.076), and negative urgency (F=4.522, p=.036, η2p=.05) than the NonCOVID-19-Group. The COVID-19-Group also showed less weight loss (F=4.029, p=.05, η2p=.04) and greater weight regain at T2, with more COVID-19-Group participants experiencing excessive weight regain (20% vs 4.5%).Conclusions: These results show evidence for the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on eating-related psychopathology and weight outcomes in post-bariatric surgery patients, making specialized and systematic care an urgent matter for this population.