The usefulness of modified distress thermometer in screening adolescents with COVID-19 for psychological distress: A prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Children and adolescents are more vulnerable than other age groups to the psychosocial effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The modified distress thermometer (m-DT) was recently utilized for measuring the prevalence of psychological distress among adult COVID-19 patients. In the current study, we aimed to test the utilization of this m-DT in screening adolescent patients with COVID-19 for psychological distress. METHODS: Egyptian adolescent subjects with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 at a University Hospital were enrolled. Binary logistic regression tests were conducted to explore the association between the m-DT cutoff scores of 4 and the clinical variables. RESULTS: A total of 48% (87/182) of the study subjects experienced significant (m-DT score ≥4) COVID-19-related distress. There were substantial differences between those with and without considerable distress regarding the length of quarantine, underlying medical disorders, and the presence of chronic respiratory conditions. Length of quarantine time, chronic respiratory disease, worry, and fever were independent factors associated with significant distress in COVID-19 adolescent patients. CONCLUSIONS: Almost half of the enrolled Egyptian adolescents with COVID-19 experienced significant psychological distress. The m-DT was helpful, as the current study had identified length of quarantine time, presence of chronic respiratory disease, worry, and fever as independent factors associated with significant distress in COVID-19 adolescents. Further studies are needed.

Neonatal heavy metals levels are associated with the severity of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND: This case-control study aimed to compare lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As) levels in neonates with respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS) with those levels in normal neonates and tested their associations with the severity of NRDS indicated by the levels of serum surfactant protein D (SP-D) and cord blood cardiac troponin I (CTnI), and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). METHODS: The study included two groups: G1 (60 healthy neonates) and G2 (100 cases with NRDS). Cord blood Pb, erythrocytic Cd (E-Cd), neonatal scalp hair As (N-As), maternal urinary Cd (U-Cd), and arsenic (U-As) were measured by a Thermo Scientific iCAP 6200, while CTnI, hs-CRP, and SP-D by their corresponding ELISA kits. RESULTS: The levels of cord blood Pb, E-Cd, N-As, U-Cd, U-As, SP-D, CTnI, and hs-CRP were significantly higher in G2 than G1 (p = 0.019, 0.040, 0.003, 0.010, 0.011, < 0.001, 0.004, < 0.001, respectively). While the birth weight, and APGAR score at 1, 5 and 10 min were significantly lower in G2 than G1 (p = 0.002, < 0.001, < 0.001, < 0.001, respectively). The levels of the studied heavy metals correlated positively with the levels of SP-D, CTnI, and hs-CRP. CONCLUSION: Heavy metals toxicity may be accused to be one of the causes of NRDS especially if other apparent causes are not there. Measuring and follow-up of heavy metal levels should be considered during pregnancy.