Association of burnout with depression in pharmacists: A network analysis.

Background: Burnout and depression have overlapping symptoms, but the extent of overlap remains unclear, and the complex relationship between burnout and depression in pharmacists is rarely explored. Methods: We investigated burnout and depression in 1,322 frontline pharmacists, and explored the complex relationship between burnout and depression in those pharmacists using network analysis. Results: Network analysis showed that there were 5 communities. A partial overlap was found between burnout and depressive symptoms in pharmacists. The nodes MBI-6 (I have become more callous toward work since I took this job), D18 (My life is meaningless), and D10 (I get tired for no reason) had the highest expected influence value. D1 (I feel down-hearted and blue) and D14 (I have no hope for the future) were bridge symptoms connected with emotional exhaustion and reduced professional efficacy, respectively. Conclusion: A partial overlap exists between burnout and depressive symptoms in pharmacists, mainly in the connection between the emotional exhaustion and reduced professional efficacy and the depressive symptoms. Potential core targets identified in this study may inform future prevention and intervention.

Adjusting intervention strategies for mental health of COVID-19 patients: A network analysis based on a survey in Omicron-infected patients.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on people's mental health. As the SAS-Cov-2 evolves to become less virulent, the number of asymptomatic patients increases. It remains unclear if the mild symptoms are associated with mild perceived stress and mental illness, and the interventions to improve the mental health of the patients are rarely reported. Methods: This cross-sectional study investigated the level of depression, anxiety and perceived stress of 1,305 COVID-19 patients who received treatment in the Fangcang shelter hospitals in Shanghai, China. Network analysis was used to explore the relationship among depression, anxiety and perceived stress. Results: The prevalence of depression, anxiety and perceived stress in the patients with Omicron infection were 9.03, 4.60, and 17.03%, respectively, lower than the prevalence reported during the initial outbreak of COVID-19. "Restlessness (A5)," "Uncontrollable worry (A2)," "Trouble relaxing (A4)" and "Fatigue (D4)" had the highest expected influence values. "Irritability (A6)" and "Uncontrollable (S1)" were bridge symptoms in the network. Comparative analysis of the network identified differences in the network structures between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Conclusion: This study investigated the prevalence of depression, anxiety and perceived stress and the correlation among them in Omicron-infected patients in Fangcang shelter hospital, in Shanghai, China. The core symptoms identified in the study provide insight into targeted clinical prevention and intervention of mental health in non-severe Omicron-infected patients.

Effects of the modified electric convulsive treatment (MECT) on cell factors of schizophrenia.

The expression of cell factors of schizophrenia and the effect of the modified electric convulsive treatment (MECT) were studied. In total, 156 patients with schizophrenia were selected, and divided into the drug group (70 cases) and the drug combined with MECT group (combined group) (86 cases) according to the treatment methods. In addition, 70 cases of healthy volunteers (control group) were selected according to the closest matching method based on 1:1 of age and gender. The drug treatment, consisted of anti-psychotic drugs, such as risperidone 2-8, quetiapine 300-750, ziprasidone 80-160 or aripiprazole 10-30 mg/day, and for the control group, we used the electric spasm therapeutic instrument, Thymatron®IV Systems up to 6 times, 3 times a week. The levels of interleukin (IL)-10, IL-4, IL-6 and IL-1 were detected before and after treatment by ELISA. The positive and negative symptom scale (PANSS) was used to evaluate the efficiency. Before the treatment, IL-1 and IL-6 levels of drug and combined groups were significantly higher than those of the control group (P<0.05), while IL-4 and IL-10 had no difference with the control group. There was no significant difference of each factor between the drug and combined groups. After treatment, IL-1, IL-6 and IL-10 of the drug group did not change compared to the levels before treatment, but IL-4 increased significantly; IL-1 and IL-10 of the combined group did not change, while IL-4 and IL-6 increased significantly; IL-1, IL-4 and IL-6 of the drug and combined groups were significantly (P<0.05) higher than those in the control group, but not IL-10. IL-1, IL-4 and IL-6 levels of the combined group were significantly higher (P<0.05) than those of the drug group. After treatment, the PANSS scores of the two groups decreased and the combined group decreased more significantly (P<0.05). The reduction rate of the combined group was significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of the drug group. The total efficiency of the combined group was significantly higher than that of the drug group, and after comparing these levels, there was statistical significance (P<0.05). IL-1, IL-4, IL-6 and IL-10 levels of the drug and combined groups before treatment were not associated with PANSS scores and the variation of IL-1, IL-4, IL-6 and IL-10 of the drug and combined groups had no correlation with the reduction rate of the PANSS. The results showed that, cell factors of schizophrenia had an abnormal expression, and medication and MECT can affect the expression level. In addition, MECT can improve the effect in the treatment of schizophrenia, but had no obvious correlation with the change of cell factors.