Longitudinal Study of the Mental Health, Resilience, and Post-Traumatic Stress of Senior Nursing Students to Nursing Graduates during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This study analyzed changes in the psychological health of students who were in the final year of their nursing degree during the COVID-19 pandemic and later served as nursing professionals in hospitals. Methods: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted over two periods of time (the first in April 2020 and the second 6 months later, in December 2020) with 296 students for a T0 baseline (rate response 68.83%) and 92 students for a T1 post-test sample (response rate 31.08%). The data were electronically collected using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Resilience Scale, and a post-traumatic stress questionnaire. The mean age of the sample participants was 24.17 years (SD = 5.51), and 89.11% were female. During the pandemic, 14.11% of students showed scores that indicated depression, and 32.61% showed scores that indicated anxiety. In December 2020, 86.5% of the participants were working as nurses, and the percentages of those with anxiety (12%) and depression (4.3%) were significantly lower than in the first sample period. A total of 20.7% of the participants had post-traumatic stress. High scores for resilience were significantly associated with better quality of life and lower levels of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. Conclusions: Although the percentages of participants with anxiety and depression decreased, they still presented with mental health problems.

Exploring Sodium Glucose Co-Transporter-2 (SGLT2) Inhibitors for Organ Protection in COVID-19.

Hospital admissions and mortality from the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are spreading throughout the world, and second and third waves are thought to be likely. Risk factors for severe COVID-19 include diabetes, chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. Currently, there is no vaccine and no approved therapy. Therapeutic approaches are aimed at preventing viral replication and spread, limiting the impact of the inflammatory overdrive (cytokine storm), preventing thromboembolic complications and replacing or supporting organ function. However, despite organ support, mortality is currently 65% for those receiving advanced respiratory support and 78% for those requiring renal replacement therapies. Thus, efforts should be made to provide adjuvant organ protection therapy. This may imply novel therapies in clinical development (e.g., the Fas ligand trap asunercept), but uptake of repurposed drugs already in clinical use may be faster. In this regard, sodium glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors were recently shown to protect the heart and kidney both within and outside of a diabetic milieu context. Further, preclinical data support a beneficial effect for the lung. We now discuss the potential benefits and risks of SGLT2 inhibitors in COVID-19 and an ongoing clinical trial testing the impact of dapagliflozin on outcomes in COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure.