ABSTRACT
Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected more than two hundred million individuals and many risk factors for increased mortality and morbidity in COVID-19 have defned. There are many studies evaluating the effect of immunosuppressants used in infammatory rheumatic diseases in the course of COVID-19. (1,2) However, fewer data are available on the course of COVID-19 in patients with Takayasu arteritis (TAK). Objectives: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the characteristics and outcomes of TAK patients with COVID-19. Methods: A phone survey was conducted among TAK patients that are followed up in our clinic between February 2021 and March 2021. All patients were asked whether they were diagnosed as COVID-19 during the pandemic. The patients who had a history of confrmed COVID-19 were asked about the symptoms, hos-pitalization status and the treatment received for COVID-19. Information about their chronic diseases were obtained from the patient files. Results: Among 118 TAK patients, 15 had COVID-19 infection during the frst year of pandemic, 13 of them were female and mean age was 42,5 ± 12,0 years. None of the patients had been vaccinated before the diagnosis of COVID-19. Nine of the patients were taking prednisone therapy and 3 of them were taking moderate to high doses of glucocorticoids during the infection period. Twelve patients were taking conventionally synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs), 7 patients were taking biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs), and 5 patients were taking a combination of csD-MARD and bDMARD therapy when they were diagnosed with COVID-19. Two patients were hospitalized;one of them required nasal oxygen support and discharged after 5 days. The other patient was 61 years old and had multipl comor-bidities and had admitted to intensive care unit for 5 days. One patient who had a mild COVID-19 disease had pulmonary thromboembolism 2 weeks after the infection and his symptoms resolved after starting anticoagulation therapy. All of the patients fully recovered and had no mortality related to COVID-19. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the largest cohort reporting the course of COVID-19 in TAK patients. Our data suggest that there is no increased risk for morbidity or mortality related to COVID-19 in TAK patients.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Sleep disorders, depression and anxiety are commonly reported in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Public health emergencies such as pandemics can also increase these psychosocial distresses. Early diagnosis and treatment of these disorders will substantially affect patients' quality of life and medication adherence. The aim of this study was to evaluate both medication non-adherence and the incidence of perceived stress, anxiety, depression, sleep quality and insomnia during the COVID pandemic in patients with SLE. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive survey study. A total of 211 participants, including 160 SLE patients aged 18 years and older and 51 healthy volunteers who were similar in age and gender, were included. A questionnaire of socio-demographics and COVID-19 status, Medication Compliance Reporting Scale (MARS-5), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADA and HAD-D), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scales was assessed. The participants were interviewed face to face, and the answers were recorded by the researcher. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 41.85 ± 12.97 years and 142 (88.7%) of the patients were female. There was no significant difference between the patient and control groups in terms of the history of COVID-19 infection, symptoms and hospitalization. Fifty-nine (36.9%) patients had high perceived stress, 16 (10.0%) had anxiety, 45 (28.1%) had depression, 77 (48.1%) had poor sleep quality and 62 (38.8%) patients had insomnia. PSS (23.64 ± 7.86 versus 19.73 ± 4.80, P = .001), HAD-D (5.60 ± 3.40 versus 4.08 ± 2.21, P = .003), PSQI (6.31 ± 3.62 versus 4.43 ± 2.20, P = .001) and ISI (6.81 ± 4.98 versus 4.53 ± 2.83, P = .002) scores were significantly higher in the patient group than controls. Patients with PSS score ≥ 25 were categorized as patients with a high PSS score. Presence of anxiety, depression, poor sleep quality and insomnia were significantly higher in patients with a high PSS score. Medication non-adherence was detected in 79 (49.4%) of the patients. Interestingly, there was no difference in MARS-5 scores between high and low PSS groups. Comparison of baseline characteristics and clinical data of the patients according to PSS score is shown in Table 1. The high PSS score was positively correlated with HAD-A, HAD-D, PSQI and ISI scores. Regression analysis revealed that high perceived stress is an independent predictor of depression [Exp(β) 95% CI: 1.488 (1.245-1.779), P < .001], and anxiety [Exp(β) 95% CI: 1.235 (1.026-1.487), P = .026]. CONCLUSION: SLE patients demonstrated increased levels of perceived stress, depression, poor sleep quality and insomnia compared to the healthy population during the COVID-19 pandemic. SLE patients with high perceived stress had more depression, anxiety, poor sleep quality and insomnia than those without. It needs to be determined whether these findings will have an impact on patient outcomes during long-term follow-up.