Nikolaos Soultanis

Dr. Nikolaos Soultanis


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

3Years (2024-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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10 February 2025 in Journal of Clinical Medicine
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Argyro PachiArgyro Pachi
Argyro Pachi
Christos SikarasChristos Sikaras
Christos Sikaras
DMDimitrios Melas
Dimitrios Melas
SASofia Alikanioti
Sofia Alikanioti
NSNikolaos Soultanis
Nikolaos Soultanis
Athanassios TselebisAthanassios Tselebis
Athanassios Tselebis
Background/Objectives: Several studies have reported alarming rates of mental health issues and sleep problems among nurses even in the post-pandemic era. The objective was to investigate the prevalence of stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms, burnout and insomnia among nurses in Greece one year after the end of the pandemic and to construct a mediation model evaluating the impact of stress on insomnia, the chain mediating roles of depressive symptoms and burnout, as well as the moderating role of anxiety symptoms in the model. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted online in July 2024 and included 380 hospital nurses who completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) and the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). Results: The prevalence rates of stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms, burnout and insomnia were 33.9% with 95% confidence interval (CI): [0.292, 0.390], 33.3% (95% CI: [0.284, 0.381]), 35% (95% CI: [0.302, 0.400]), 46.8% (95% CI: [0.399, 0.502]) and 56.1% (95% CI: [0.509, 0.611]), respectively. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the Depression subscale of the DASS-21 explained 40.6% of the variance in the AIS, while an additional 7.6% was explained by the CBI and another 1.3% rate by the Stress subscale of the DASS-21. Mediation analysis revealed that stress affected insomnia both directly and indirectly through the chain mediating roles of depressive symptoms and burnout. Anxiety symptoms moderated the chain mediation path by enhancing the negative impact of stress on depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The proposed moderated chain mediation model introduces certain factors influencing insomnia and explains how changes in any one of these factors effectuate changes in the other factors, offering insights for individualized interventions.

10 October 2024 in Epidemiologia
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Argyro PachiArgyro Pachi
Argyro Pachi
APAspasia Panagiotou
Aspasia Panagiotou
NSNikolaos Soultanis
Nikolaos Soultanis
MIMaria Ivanidou
Maria Ivanidou
MMMaria Manta
Maria Manta
Athanassios TselebisAthanassios Tselebis
Athanassios Tselebis
Introduction: Nurses seem to be persistently experiencing intense psychological repercussions, even after the official conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this cross-sectional study conducted after the end of the pandemic crisis, from 1 June 2023 to 30 June 2023, we evaluated the levels and explored the associations between anger, insomnia, and resilience among Greek nurses. Methods: A total of 441 nurses participated in an online survey and were invited to state their work experience, gender, and age and to complete the self-report measures of the Dimensions of Anger Reactions-5 (DAR-5), the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). Results: Overall, 62.1% of the participants presented with positive scores on the AIS, and 41.5% displayed positive values on the DAR-5 scale, whereas 24.9% demonstrated scores indicative of low resilience on the BRS. A regression analysis revealed that 23.5% of the variance in the AIS scores can be attributed to the DAR-5 scores and 3% to the BRS scores. A mediation analysis confirmed the protective role of resilience, contributing as a negative mediator in the DAR-5 and AIS relationship. Conclusions: Screening for insomnia symptoms and anger issues among nurses after the end of the pandemic and implementing appropriate interventions is considered imperative to avoid long-term health consequences.

20 July 2025 in Healthcare
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Argyro PachiArgyro Pachi
Argyro Pachi
Athanassios TselebisAthanassios Tselebis
Athanassios Tselebis
EKEvgenia Kavourgia
Evgenia Kavourgia
NSNikolaos Soultanis
Nikolaos Soultanis
DKDimitrios Kasimis
Dimitrios Kasimis
Ioannis IliasIoannis Ilias
Ioannis Ilias
Background/Objectives: Schizophrenia has been associated with increased inflammatory and metabolic disturbances. Perceived family support potentially affects inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers. The aim of this study was to determine the interrelations between family support, C-reactive protein (CRP) and Body Mass Index (BMI) in a sample of outpatients with schizophrenia. Importantly, this study sought to elucidate the effect of perceived family support on inflammatory processes among patients with schizophrenia. Methods: In this cross-sectional correlation study, 206 outpatients with schizophrenia in clinical remission completed a standardized self-report questionnaire that assessed family support (Family Support Scale—FSS). Sociodemographic, clinical and laboratory data were also recorded. Results: Among the participants, 49.5% had detectable CRP values (≥0.11 mg/dL), whereas 14.6% had positive CRP levels (>0.6 mg/dL). There was a significant difference in CRP levels among the different BMI groups (normal weight/overweight vs. obese). For obese patients, the crude odds ratios (ORs) for detectable and positive CRP values were 1.980 (95% confidence interval (CI) [1.056, 3.713]) and 27.818 (95% CI [6.300, 122.838]), respectively. Significant positive correlations were observed among CRP, BMI and illness duration, while scores on the FSS were negatively associated with these variables. The results of binary logistic regression analysis indicated that both BMI and family support were significant factors in determining the likelihood of having positive CRP levels, with each unit increase in the BMI associated with a 17% (95% CI [0.025, 0.337]) increase in the odds, and with each unit increase in family support leading to an 8.6% (95% CI [0.018, 0.15]) decrease. A moderation analysis revealed that the association between family support and the probability of having positive CRP levels depends on the BMI value, but only for obese patients did the protective effect of family support significantly decrease the magnitude of the risk of having positive CRP (b = −0.1972, SE = 0.053, OR = 0.821, p = 0.000, 95% CI [−0.3010, −0.0934]). Conclusions: The effect of perceived family support on inflammatory responses becomes evident in cases where beyond metabolic complications, inflammatory processes have already been established. Increased perceived family support seems to protect against inflammation and, notably, the association between low perceived family support and increased inflammation is even stronger. Establishing the role of family involvement during the treatment of patients with schizophrenia through inflammatory processes is a novelty of this study, emphasizing the need to incorporate family therapy into psychiatric treatment plans. However, primary interventions are considered necessary for patients with schizophrenia in order to maintain their BMI within normal limits and avoid the subsequent nosological sequelae.

17 June 2025 in Preprints.org
Verified
Preprint
Open access
PDF file
Argyro PachiArgyro Pachi
Argyro Pachi
Athanassios TselebisAthanassios Tselebis
Athanassios Tselebis
EKEvgenia Kavourgia
Evgenia Kavourgia
NSNikolaos Soultanis
Nikolaos Soultanis
DKDimitrios Kasimis
Dimitrios Kasimis
Ioannis IliasIoannis Ilias
Ioannis Ilias
Schizophrenia has been associated with increased inflammatory and metabolic disturbances. Perceived family support possibly effectuates changes in inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers. The aim of the present study was to determine the associations between family support, C-reactive protein (CRP) and Body Mass Index (BMI) in a sample of schizophrenic outpatients. In this cross-sectional correlation study 206 schizophrenic outpatients in clinical remission completed the standardized self-report questionnaire that assessed family support (family support scale-FSS). Sociodemographic, clinical and laboratory data were also recorded. 49.5% of the participants had detectable CRP values (≥0.11mg/dl), whereas 14.6% had positive CRP levels (>0.6mg/dl). There was a significant difference in CRP levels across the different BMI groups (normal-weight/ overweight vs. obese). For obese patients, the crude odds ratio (OR) for detectable CRP values was 1.980 with 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.056, 3.713] and for positive CRP values the OR was 27.818 (95% CI [6.300, 122.838]). Significant positive correlations were observed among CRP, BMI and illness duration, while scores on FSS were negatively associated with these variables. Results from the binary logistic regression analysis indicated that both BMI and family support were significant factors in determining the likelihood of having positive CRP levels, with each unit increase in the BMI associated with a 17% (95% CI [0.025, 0.337]) increase in the odds and with each unit increase in family support leading to a 8.6% (95% CI [0.018, 0.15]) decrease. The moderation analysis revealed that the association between family support and the probability of having positive CRP levels depends on BMI values, but the magnitude of the decreased risk for positive CRP associated with the protective effect of family support is significant (b=-0.1972, SE=0.053, OR=0.821, p=0.000, 95% CI [-0.3010, -0.0934]) only for obese patients. The effect of perceived family support on inflammatory responses becomes evident in cases where beyond metabolic complications inflammatory processes have already been established. However, primary interventions are considered necessary for schizophrenic patients in order to maintain BMI within normal limits and avoid the subsequent nosological sequelae.

4 September 2024 in Preprints.org
Verified
Preprint
Open access
PDF file
Argyro PachiArgyro Pachi
Argyro Pachi
APAspasia Panagiotou
Aspasia Panagiotou
NSNikolaos Soultanis
Nikolaos Soultanis
MIMaria Ivanidou
Maria Ivanidou
MMMaria Manta
Maria Manta
Athanassios TselebisAthanassios Tselebis
Athanassios Tselebis
Nurses continue to experience intense psychological repercussions despite the official conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this cross-sectional study conducted after the end of the pandemic crisis, in nurses, we evaluated the levels and explored the associations between anger, insomnia and resilience. A total of 442 nurses participated in an online survey and were invited to state their work experience, gender and age and complete the self-report measures of the Dimensions of Anger Reactions-5 (DAR-5), the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). 62.1% of participants presented with positive scores on the AIS, 41.5% displayed positive values on the DAR-5 scale, whereas 24.9% of nurses demonstrated scores indicative of low resilience on the BRS scale. Regression analysis revealed that 23.5% of the variance in the AIS scores can be attributed to the DAR-5 scores and 3% to the BRS scores. Mediation analysis confirmed the protective role of resilience contributing as a negative mediator in the DAR-5 and the AIS relationship. Screening for insomnia symptoms and anger issues among nurses after the end of the pandemic and implementing appropriate interventions is considered imperative to avoid long-term health consequences.

30 December 2024 in Preprints.org
Verified
Preprint
Open access
PDF file
Argyro PachiArgyro Pachi
Argyro Pachi
Christos SikarasChristos Sikaras
Christos Sikaras
DMDimitrios Melas
Dimitrios Melas
SASofia Alikanioti
Sofia Alikanioti
NSNikolaos Soultanis
Nikolaos Soultanis
Athanassios TselebisAthanassios Tselebis
Athanassios Tselebis
Background: Several studies have reported alarming rates of mental health issues and sleep problems among nurses even in the post-pandemic era. Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression, burnout and insomnia among nurses in Greece one year after the end of the pandemic and to construct a mediation model evaluating the impact of stress on insomnia, the chain mediating roles of depression and burnout, as well as the moderating role of anxiety in the model. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted online in July 2024 and included 380 hospital nurses who completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) and the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). Results: The prevalence rates of stress, anxiety, depression, burnout and insomnia were 33.9%, 33.3%, 35%, 46.8% and 56.1%, respectively. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the Depression subscale of the DASS-21 explained 40.6% of the variance in AIS, while an additional 7.6% was explained by CBI and another 1.3% rate by the Stress subscale of the DASS-21. Mediation analysis revealed that stress affected insomnia both directly and indirectly through the chain mediating roles of depression and burnout. Anxiety moderated the chain mediation path by enhancing the negative impact of stress on depression. Conclusions: The proposed moderated chain mediation model introduces certain factors influencing insomnia and explains how changes in any one of these factors effectuate changes in the other factors, offering insights for individualized interventions.