Prevalence and predictors of psychological response during immediate COVID-19 pandemic.

AIM: COVID-19 pandemic has created a serious psychological impact worldwide since it has been declared. This study aims to investigate the level of psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Turkish population and to determine related factors. METHODS: The study was carried out by an online questionnaire using the virtual snowball sampling method. The sociodemographic data were collected on the following subjects: participants' experience on any signs of infection within the last month, the history of COVID-19 contact-treatment-quarantine, level of compliance with precautionary measures, the sources of information and level of knowledge about the pandemic process and their belief levels on the knowledge they acquire. Besides, the questions that take place in the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), and Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R) were asked to participants. RESULTS: Of the 3549 participants, anxiety was found in 15.8%, depression in 22.6%, stress in 12.9%, and psychological trauma in 20.29% based on moderate and above levels. Female gender, young age, higher education level, being single, high monthly income, presence of psychiatric illness, a large number of people living together, having any signs of infection, and contact history with COVID-19 infected person or contaminated object are identified as risk factors that may increase psychological impact. Compliance with the rules was found to reduce the risk of psychological response. CONCLUSIONS: The risk factors for the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and acknowledging these factors can help to formulate the interventions to reduce the stress levels of the population.

Comparison of breastfeeding self-efficacy and breastfeeding success of obese and normal-weight mothers in the early period.

BACKGROUND: Body mass index (BMI) of overweight and obese women is a risk factor for breast milk secretion. AIM: This study was conducted in a descriptive and comparative way in order to identify the relation between the breastfeeding success and self-efficacy of obese and non-obese mothers during postnatal period and to make a comparison between the obese and non-obese group. METHODS: The study sample consisted of 113 obese and 111 non-obese mothers that met the study criteria who were hospitalized at the postnatal service of Health Education and Research Hospital in Ankara, September 2014-February 2015. RESULT: The mean BMI of obese women prior to the pregnancy was 31.41±2.4 while it was 22.25±2.8 for the non-obese women. As the BSS scores increase among both the obese and non-obese mothers, the LATCH breastfeeding success score averages increase as well (p<0.05, r:0.613). CONCLUSION: In the light of the data of, to increase the breastfeeding success among obese mothers, it is suggested that the perception of self-efficacy is enhanced, and additional consultation is provided on breastfeeding starting from the antenatal period. The trainings given to mothers by the midwife and nurse are supported with home visits especially in the obese women in the postnatal period in order for them to breastfeeding.