Vaccination is one of the most useful preventive interventions in healthcare. The purpose of our study was to gain overview of the opinions, knowledge, and engagement in vaccination practices among medical students (MS) and junior doctors (JD) in Europe. The survey was distributed from March 2016 until August 2016 via the e-mail and social media of the European Medical Students’ Association. In total, 1821 responses from MS and JD from 34 countries in the European region were analysed. The majority of respondents agreed that vaccines are useful (98.7%) and effective (97.2%). Although the necessity of revaccination was supported by 99.2%, only 68.0% of the respondents went through with it. Even though the potential benefit of the flu vaccination seems to be acknowledged by our participants, only 22.1% of MS and JD declared getting the flu shot every or every other season. MS and JD were in favour of specific mandatory vaccination for medical staff (86.0%) and medical students (82.7%). Furthermore, we analysed the self-reported vaccination coverage of our participants regarding 19 vaccines. Of the respondents, 89.5% claimed to provide advice about vaccination to their friends and family. In conclusion, European MS and JD have a very positive attitude towards vaccination. However, their behaviour and knowledge demonstrate certain gaps which should be further addressed in medical education.

To validate the Lithuanian version of the Self-Evaluation Negative Symptoms Scale (Lith-SNS). A double translation from French to Lithuanian and back was performed. We included patients from in-patient and out-patient settings that had a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia according to ICD-10 criteria and were screened as free from acute psychotic symptoms using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Participants were evaluated using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BRPS) and completed the Lith-SNS scale. We measured internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of Lith – SNS comparing its scores with BPRS negative and positive symptom subscores. A total of 67 participants were evaluated. Cronbach’s alpha (α) for all 20 items of Lith-SNS (α = 0.82), and for the five subscores (α = 0.76) showed good internal consistency. Factor analysis showed a 2-factor solution which accounted for 70.12% of the variance with the first factor accounting for 53.3% and the second factor accounting for 16.8% of the variance. Lith-SNS total scores and all five subscores significantly correlated with BPRS negative symptoms subscores showing good convergent validity. There was a correlation between the Positive subscore of BPRS and the alogia subscore of Lith-SNS (r = 0.39, p = 0.001), but no correlations with other subscores or the total Lith-SNS score showing adequate discriminant validity. Lithuanian version of SNS is a valuable tool to evaluate negative symptoms of schizophrenia with good internal consistency, convergent, and discriminant validity.

(1) Background: Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder characterized by various symptom groups that tremendously affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We aimed to specify whether negative symptoms and cognitive deficits of schizophrenia correlate and can predict HRQoL. (2) Methods: Patients diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia were invited to participate in the study. Participants were evaluated using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and were asked to fill out the Self-evaluation of Negative Symptoms scale (SNS) and the Medical Outcomes Short Form Survey (SF-36). Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlations were used to calculate the correlations between cognitive deficits and negative symptoms. We performed the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis for the variables correlated with SF-36 scores. (3) Results: HRQoL correlated significantly with the negative symptoms; however, it did not correlate with cognitive deficits. ROC analysis showed that the abulia subscore of the SNS showed the most significant predictive potential of HRQoL. (4) Conclusions: Negative symptoms correlate more significantly with the HRQoL than cognitive symptoms. The SNS offers the possibility of predicting the HRQoL of patients with schizophrenia and is useful as a screening tool in clinical practice.

(1) Background: the relationship between the psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is understudied. Moreover, health science students are the future leaders and advocates of vaccination efforts. Therefore, it is essential to understand the origins of vaccine hesitancy and evaluate if the adverse psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic influence it. (2) Methods: we shared an anonymous questionnaire among health-science students via institutional emails of two Lithuanian universities. Results were summarized with odds ratios and mean differences. (3) Results: a total of 1545 health sciences students answered the questionnaire. Almost a fifth of the respondents claimed that they were unsure about getting vaccinated, and nearly one out of ten claimed that they would not get vaccinated. Medicine students, non-infected students, and students who volunteered in a COVID-19 ward were significantly more willing to get vaccinated compared to other health science students. Vaccine hesitant respondents reported a more significant negative effect of COVID-19 on their income and belief in the future. (4) Conclusions: the results of this study showed that negative psychosocial impact on income and ‘belief in future’ were positively associated with vaccine hesitancy. Having been diagnosed with COVID-19 was significantly associated with being doubtful towards vaccination.

Background and Objectives: Prevalence data of different classes of negative symptoms in an inpatient setting are scarce. Most of the data are collected in clinical trials under strict inclusion criteria, using older psychometric scales with known content validity flaws. The objectives of this study were to report the prevalence of different classes of negative symptoms in a naturalistic inpatient setting using both older and newer psychometric scales and to determine whether second-generation psychometric scales were not inferior to older scales in detecting negative symptoms. Materials and Methods: Negative symptoms were evaluated using older-generation (Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale, PANSS) and second-generation (Brief Negative Symptoms Scale, BNSS, and Self-Evaluation of Negative Symptoms Scale, SNS) measures. Primary, prominent, core, and predominant negative symptoms were calculated according to various descriptions used in other studies. Results: A total of 323 participants were included in this study. The mean score of the PANSS negative symptoms subscores was 25.33 (SD = 6.86, 95% CI 24.57–26.09), the mean total BNSS score was 36.48 (SD = 15.93, 95% CI 34.74–38.23), and the mean SNS total score was 18,9 (SD = 8.99, 95% CI 17.91–19.89). The prevalence of primary negative symptoms was similar in all groups. PANSS and BNSS categorized 71% of the sample as having prominent negative symptoms. The average prevalence of predominant negative symptoms, as measured by PANSS and BNSS, was 9.6%, whereas SNS reported 10.5%. Conclusions: Negative symptoms were highly prevalent in our inpatient sample. Most of our participants had primary and prominent negative symptoms; however, only a small fraction met the criteria for predominant negative symptoms. Prevalence data were similar between PANSS, BNSS, and SNS, showing that BNSS and SNS are not inferior to PANSS.

To validate the Lithuanian version of the Brief Negative Symptoms Scale (Lith-BNSS) in a Lithuanian speaking sample. We performed a double translation of BNSS from English into Lithuanian. Four clinicians conducted psychometric validation. We checked the internal consistency of the 13 items and six subscales of BNSS. Convergent and discriminant validity were calculated by applying BNSS in clinical practice with other psychometric tools for negative, positive, and depressive symptoms and cognitive deficit assessment. The psychometric tools used were BNNS, Self-assessment of Negative Symptoms Scale (SNS), Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS), Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS). We calculated the convergent and discriminant validities using Pearson and Spearman correlations. We have included 130 patients. Excellent internal consistency was observed for the 13 items (alpha = 0.944) and the six subscales (alpha = 0.874) of BNSS. Good convergent validity is illustrated by strong Pearsons's correlations with the PANSS negative subscale (r = 0.77, p < 0.001) and the PANSS Marder negative factor (r = 0.77, p < 0.001). Adequate discriminant validity is shown by a non-significant correlation with PANSS positive subscore (r = 0.13, p = 0.15), PANSS Marder positive factor (r = 0.14, p = 0.13), CDSS total score (r = 0.02, p = 0.83) and MADRS total score (r = 0.12, p = 0.2). Lith-BNSS has good psychometric properties and can be used as a valuable addition to the available Lithuanian evaluation tools for negative symptoms of schizophrenia.