Background: The pandemic of COVID-19 is considered as one of the major threats that affected all age groups all over the world. Old age group has been highly affected with increased risk of severe health complications that may result in several mental health problems such as anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, sleep problems, or any other mental health disorder. Thus the aim of this study is to investigate the fear of COVID-19 infection and its relation to depressive and anxiety symptoms among elderly population during COVID-19 outbreak. A survey was distributed online through social media via a link to people who are 60 years old or above (N= 161).Results: The average score of fear of COVID-19 scale was 17.7 ± 5.4. There was a highly statistically significant correlation between anxiety subscale, depression subscale, and total score of hospital anxiety and depression scale with fear of COVID-19 score.Conclusions: Participants who were more worried about having the disease developed more symptoms of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is necessary to screen the older people for the COVID-19-related fear and accompanying psychological disorders.

Background: Nutritional screening, intervention and assessment in patients with undernutrition are key components of any nutritional care. The goal of any nutritional assessment is to determine the specific nutritional risk(s). Presently, there are no guidelines on any ideal screening tool to be used on admission for identification of children that are at risk of developing malnutrition during their hospital stay. The objective of the study was to develop a valid and simple nutritional screening tool which can be used on hospital admission to identify pediatric patients at risk of malnutrition. Methods: This study was cross sectional analytical that enrolled children (n:161) admitted with acute illness to the general wards at Cairo University Children Hospitals (CUCH). The answers to the developed questionnaire were compared to the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA), those with high accuracy (≥80%) were used for validity with anthropometric measures. Results: In the ‘less than two years of age’ group, the simple and valid nutritional screening tools were the following questions: (Is there a problem during breast-feeding?), (Is there scanty breast milk?), (Is there appetite loss?). The simple and valid nutritional screening tools during the ‘early childhood’ group were the following questions: (Is there appetite loss?), (Is there any skipping of meals?), (Are they watching TV, videotapes and/or playing computer games for more than two hours/day?). The simple and valid nutritional screening tools during the ‘late childhood’ group were the following questions: (Is there appetite loss?), (Are they watching TV, videotapes and/or playing computer games for more than two hours/day?). Conclusion: The simple and valid nutritional screening tools differ according to age groups. The one which is valid in all ages is the question about the appetite loss.

Dysphagia is a distressing symptom during and after radiotherapy treatment in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. The objective of this prospective study was to investigate whether swallowing spar...

Aim: In recent years, the mental health requirements of healthcare professionals have drawn attention as a significant public health issue and a danger to the provision of high-quality care. Healthcare workers are subjected to multiple stressors at work, which may negatively affect their physical, mental, and emotional health. This study aims to assess the prevalence of depression and fatigue among Egyptian healthcare workers (HCWs) and to assess factors associated with depression and fatigue. Subject and methods: This cross-sectional survey used Google Form to build online questionnaires, including sociodemographic data, a 10-question fatigue assessment scale, and a depression assessment scale (PHQ-9 questionnaire). The study was conducted post-COVID-19 from November 28, 2022, to January 28, 2023. Results: The study involved 1511 Egyptian HCWs with a mean age of 37.4±7.7 years (range 26-71 years); 73% were female. Physicians constituted 77.8% of the participants. Mild depression was found in 26.1% of the participants, 26.8% reported moderate, and 43.1% had severe depressive symptoms. Fatigue symptoms were encountered in 88.7%. The independent factors affecting depression were female gender, single, living in a rural area, having a chronic disease, working > 8 h/day, being a public hospital worker, and studying for postgraduate degrees. Age of 35 years or younger, female gender, and studying for postgraduates were found to independently affect fatigue. Conclusion: Depression and fatigue are highly prevalent among Egyptian healthcare workers. Many factors related to the prevalence of depression and fatigue need to be considered to enhance the mental well-being of HCWs.

Background: In coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), finding sensitive biomarkers is critical for detecting severe cases early and intervening effectively. Aim of the work: To compare and evaluate the value of pretreatment C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and their derived immune-inflammatory indices (CRP/albumin (CRP/alb), lymphocyte/CRP (L/CRP), and lymphocyte/IL-6 (L/IL-6)) in the prediction of COVID-19 severity and in-hospital mortality. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 85 confirmed COVID-19 patients, their complete blood count with differential, as well as albumin and IL-6 levels on the day of their hospital admission, were assessed and compared. We followed all patients till their in-hospital death or discharge from the hospital. Results: On admission levels of CRP, IL-6, and CRP/alb were significantly higher (P=0.001) in severe patients and non-survivors, but L/CRP and L/IL-6 were significantly lower (P=0.001) compared to non-severe patients and non-survivors. CRP/alb and L/CRP at cut-offs of 1.65 and 260.86, respectively, were the best predictors for COVID-19 severity, while IL-6 and L/IL-6 at cut-offs of 120 pg/ml and 5.40, respectively, were the best predictors for COVID-19 in-hospital mortality. IL-6 was an independent risk factor associated with severe disease development (odds ratio (OR): 1.033; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.002-1.066). Conclusions: Pretreatment levels of CRP, IL-6, and their derived indices should be included in the diagnostic work-up of COVID-19 to determine the severity and predict the outcome.