Background: Health care professionals exposed to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are facing high levels of stress. Aim: The aim was to evaluate the quality of sleep (QoS) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), among health care professionals treating patients with COVID-19, as well as quantifying the magnitude of symptoms of depression and levels of anxiety. Methods: We included 201 health care professionals in a cross-sectional, web-based study by applying 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) Scale, Zung Self-rating Depression Scale, 36-item Health Survey of the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF36), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and additional survey constructed for the purpose of the study. Results: Health care workers who treated COVID-19 patients were more afraid of becoming infected or of transmitting the infection to a family member with a significantly low self-assessment of their mental status. Poor QoS and HRQoL correlated with high health anxiety and severe depressive symptoms and several demographic characteristics. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that higher scores on GAD-7 (beta = .71, p < .01) and lower scores on mental health (MH) subscale on SF36 questionnaire (beta = –.69; p < .01) were independent predictors of the higher PSQI score (adjusted R² = .61, p < .01 for overall model). Higher scores on GAD-7 (beta = .68, p < .01) and worse self-perceived mental status (beta = .25; p < .05) were independent predictors of the lower SF36 scores (adjusted R² = .73, p < .01 for overall model). Conclusion: The major MH burden of health care professionals treating infected patients during the COVID-19 pandemic indicates that they need psychological support.

Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) appears to be the largest pandemic of our times. The aim was to recognize the risk factors for nonpsychotic postpartum mood and anxiety disorders (NPMADs) in women during the pandemic and state of emergency police lockdown in Serbia. Methods: We assessed 108 postpartum women who completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and an additional survey constructed for this study. We also used the additional, previously mentioned survey, in 67 healthy age-matched women with children who were ≥2 years of age. The additional survey allowed us to gain insight into the impact of the pandemic as well as postpartum period on the risk of NPMADs. Results: In 16 (14.8%) subjects we found a score ≥10 on EPDS. Higher rates on the EPDS were noticed in elderly, single, and unemployed, women who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, or women who were dissatisfied with their household income (p < 0.05). The risk of NPMADs was linked significantly to quarantine, and social isolation, the absence of social support, as well as having emotional problems. Postpartum women, compared to non-postpartum women, were more anxious and had feelings of helplessness during social isolation. Conclusion: Understanding the factors that increase the risk of NPMADs during the pandemic could help prevent mental disorders during a possible future pandemic.

Background: Myasthenia gravis (MG) affects overall quality of life (QoL). The aim of the research was to evaluate QoL in patients suffering from MG in regard to epidemiological and clinical factors of the disease. Methods: The study included 70 patients. The severity of clinical manifestation was estimated using quantitative MG score and MG composite score. Patients were classified by using Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America Classification. The Questionnaire of Life Quality Specific for Myasthenia Gravis-15 items (MGQOL15) is developed for QoL assessment in patients suffering from MG. In addition to the MGQOL15 revised version (MGQOL15r), a 36-item health survey of the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF36) questionnaire, the Hamilton scales for the assessment of anxiety (HAM-A), and depression (HAM-D) were also used. Results: MGQOL15r scores are negatively correlated with SF36 scores and positively correlated with scores on HAM-A and HAM-D scales (P<0.001). Patients with longer disease duration and severe clinical manifestation often manifest anxiety, depression, and have poorer QoL (P<0.05). In relation to the presence of the anti-nAchR antibody, statistically significant differences were found in relation to the summed scores on scales for assessing QoL, as well as on a HAM-A scale (P<0.05). Physical workers and unemployed patients had worse scores in relation to retired and administrators/intellectual workers on all scales (P<0.001). Conclusion: MGQOL15r is a life quality assessment questionnaire that could be used in routine practice in patients with MG. It is much simpler for use in these patients than SF36 and provides relevant data.

Recurrent Guillain-Barré syndrome (RGBS) episodes appear in up to 6% of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) patients. The purpose of this study was to identify patients with previous episodes of GBS and to assess their clinical features in a large cohort of adult GBS patients. GBS patients hospitalized at tertiary centers in three Balkan countries were included in the study (n = 404). We identified 13 (3.2%) patients with recurrent GBS (RGBS). The male to female ratio was 3: 1. All RGBS patients had two episodes of the disease. The most common GBS subtype in both episodes of the disease was acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP) (77%, first episode; 85%, second episode). Around 23% of patients presented with a different variant during the second GBS attack. Disability seems to be equally severe at both episodes (P > 0.05). Recurrent GBS was registered in 3% of our GBS patients. The majority of them were younger males. Different GBS subtypes were found to recur.