Exploring Women's Religious Coping Strategies and Psychological Impact After the 2023 Earthquake in Syria.

This paper examined gender (N = 1406;77.7% women) patterns of religious coping and psychological impact following the devastating 2023 Syrian earthquakes. Measures in this nation-wide convenience sample study included positive religious coping (PRC) and negative religious coping (NRC) using the Brief Religious Coping Scale (RCOPE), and probable PTSD, depression, and anxiety, using the PCL-5, PHQ-9, and GAD-7, respectively. Women reported higher endorsement of PRC items while men higher endorsement of NRC items. Within the women only sample, lower education and lower income, education and younger age predicted PRC and NRC, respectively. NRC was strongly positively associated with PTSD, depression and anxiety; while, PRC was positively associated only with PTSD. These vulnerable women require targeted support to adopt more adaptive religious coping strategies.

Emerging Role of Non-collagenous Bone Proteins as Osteokines in Extraosseous Tissues.

Bone is a unique tissue, composed of various types of cells embedded in a calcified extracellular matrix (ECM), whose dynamic structure consists of organic and inorganic compounds produced by bone cells. The main inorganic component is represented by hydroxyapatite, whilst the organic ECM is primarily made up of type I collagen and non-collagenous proteins. These proteins play an important role in bone homeostasis, calcium regulation, and maintenance of the hematopoietic niche. Recent advances in bone biology have highlighted the importance of specific bone proteins, named "osteokines", possessing endocrine functions and exerting effects on nonosseous tissues. Accordingly, osteokines have been found to act as growth factors, cell receptors, and adhesion molecules, thus modifying the view of bone from a static tissue fulfilling mobility to an endocrine organ itself. Since bone is involved in a paracrine and endocrine cross-talk with other tissues, a better understanding of bone secretome and the systemic roles of osteokines is expected to provide benefits in multiple topics: such as identification of novel biomarkers and the development of new therapeutic strategies. The present review discusses in detail the known osseous and extraosseous effects of these proteins and the possible respective clinical and therapeutic significance.

The mental health impact of the 2023 earthquakes on the Syrian population: cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Natural disasters have a significant impact on the mental health of affected populations. The February 2023 earthquakes in Syria and Turkey caused widespread devastation. AIMS: To explore the mental health impact of the earthquakes in Syria on the population across areas differentially damaged by the disaster. METHOD: This cross-sectional study conducted in Syria included 1406 adults recruited via social media platforms 1 month after the February 2023 earthquakes. Demographic information, earthquake exposure questions, the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5: for probable post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9: for probable depression) and the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7: for probable anxiety) were included to compare outcomes across areas severely, moderately and slightly damaged by the earthquakes. RESULTS: Probable PTSD and GAD rates were higher in the severely (57.9 and 57.3% respectively) and moderately damaged regions (55.4 and 56.3% respectively) than in the slightly damaged regions (44.6 and 48.3% respectively) (PTSD: P < 0.001, GAD: P = 0.005). More participants in severely damaged regions (60.6%) reported symptoms of depression compared with moderately (53.1%) and slightly damaged (50.8%) regions (P = 0.003). Poorer mental health outcomes were associated with being female, single, younger, having a damaged or destroyed house, seeing something tragic in person and hearing tragic stories. Seeing something tragic on social media was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the higher prevalence of probable mental disorders in areas with more severe earthquake damage, with over 50% of the population reporting probable PTSD, depression or anxiety. The study also suggests a significant cumulative effect of these earthquakes on an already trauma- and disaster-affected population.

COPD awareness among the Syrian community: population-based study.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common disease and among the top causes of mortality worldwide but can be prevented and treated. This study aims to estimate the awareness of COPD among the Syrian population. A cross-sectional anonymous self-administered online survey was conducted by using Google Forms on Social Media platforms. The questionnaire included demographic, smoke-related and COPD-related questions. This study included 1607 participants with 930 (57.8%) females, 40% aging 21-25 years old, more than 90% being university students/graduates and 67.8% living in cities. Around half were either active smokers or had second-hand smoke exposure. After excluding participants in health-related fields who were 950 participants, only 25.4% of the remaining had ever heard of the term COPD. Knowing about COPD was not associated with reported smoking habits. No significant differences in awareness were seen between city and countryside dwellers, governate groups, genders, or age groups. Being in a health-related field was a major factor of being aware of COPD. COPD awareness in Syria is low, even amongst the well-educated group. Moreover, COPD risk factors of smoking and exposure to indoor and outdoor pollutants are common. Raising awareness is crucial in the Syrian community as COPD is highly prevalence.