The emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has had an enormous emotional impact on some vulnerable groups, such as people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PLHIV). This study was planned with the aim of assessing the anxiety levels of PLHIV and the sources of their anxiety. A web-based questionnaire was sent to PLHIV using the virtual snowball sampling method. The questionnaire included questions about sociodemographic status, information about HIV infection, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Additionally, some opinions of the participants about COVID-19 were asked. A total of 307 respondents, with a median age of 33 years, from 32 different cities, participated in the study. More than half of the respondents reported the belief that COVID-19 was not sufficiently well-known by the medical community and nearly 45% believed that they would have more complications if they contracted COVID-19. One-fourth of the participants had anxiety. Having a preexisting psychiatric disorder, perceiving that they were practicing insufficient preventive measures, not being sure about the presence of any individuals with COVID-19 in their environment, and living with a household member with a chronic disease were found to be the risk factors of PLHIV for having anxiety during this pandemic. The BAI scores were correlated with the patient-reported anxiety levels about the spread of COVID-19 in Turkey, acquiring COVID-19, transmitting COVID-19 to another person, and transmitting HIV to another person. Among the stated conditions, the most common concern was the spread of COVID-19 all over the country, while the least common was transmitting HIV to someone else. The results revealed that a significant proportion of the sample had anxiety, and the findings were essential for developing evidence-based strategies for decreasing the anxiety of PLHIV, especially for those who had risk factors and to provide them with better health care during this pandemic or other pandemic-like crises.

Objective: Hereditary angioedema is a serious disease with unpredictable attacks. It has an impact on patients’ health-related quality of life. This study aimed to assess the quality of life of the hereditary angioedema patients and to investigate the relationship between quality of life and demographic, clinical, laboratory, and psychiatric parameters. Method: A semistructured face-to-face interview, Hamilton depression rating scale, and Hamilton anxiety rating scale were performed by a psychiatrist. Participants completed Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36, Revised Form of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3, and Adult Separation Anxiety Questionnaire. Patients’ complement results were recorded, and clinical data obtained by interview were cross-checked from patients’ files. Results: In 33 hereditary angioedema patients, subscales of the Study Short Form-36, except for physical functioning, vitality, and mental health were significantly lower compared with population norms. Quality of life scores were found to be correlated with depression, anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, separation anxiety, perceived social support, perceived discrimination, perceived limitation, treatment naïve C1-Inhibitor function, and C1q level. Physical role functioning scores were better in the patients using attenuated androgens (p = 0.006, t = −3.027). Hereditary angioedema contributed to the marital problems and childbearing decisions of the patients. Conclusion: Hereditary angioedema results in significant impairment in quality of life of the patients and has an impact on family life and life style of the patients. In case of depressive and/or anxiety symptoms, patients should be referred to psychiatrists for better quality of life. Higher levels of C1-inhibitor function and C1q seem to correlate with better quality of life; these needs to be further studied.

Lithium has many effects on thyroid physiology. Although these side effects have been known for a long time, large sample studies of lithium-treated patients using ultrasonography are lacking. The aim of this study is to investigate the detailed thyroid morphologies, hormone levels, and antibodies of lithium-treated patients compared with healthy controls. This cross-sectional study involved 84 lithium-treated patients with bipolar disorder and 65 gender and age similar controls who had never been exposed to lithium. Subjects between 18 and 65 years of age were eligible for the study. Venous blood samples were acquired to determine the levels of free thyroxine (fT4), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and thyroid antibodies; also, ultrasonographic examinations of the patients' thyroid glands were performed. There were no statistically significant differences in smoking habits, known thyroid disease, thyroid medication use, familial thyroid disease, fT4 level, autoimmunity, thyroid nodule presence, or Hashimoto's thyroiditis between the lithium and control groups. The median TSH level and thyroid volume were significantly higher in the lithium group. In the lithium group, 14 cases (16.7%) of hypothyroidism, seven cases (8.3%) of subclinical hypothyroidism, and one case (1.2%) of subclinical hyperthyroidism were defined; in the control group, seven cases (10.8%) of hypothyroidism and two cases (3.1%) of subclinical hyperthyroidism were defined. Thyroid dysfunction, goiter, parenchymal abnormality, ultrasonographically defined thyroid abnormality, and thyroid disorder were found to be more prevalent in the lithium group. 90% of patients with goiter and 74.3% of patients with ultrasonographic pathologies were euthyroid. It is important to note that 90% of the patients with goiter were euthyroid. This indicates that monitoring by blood test alone is insufficient. The prevalence rates of 47.6% for goiter and 83.3% for ultrasonographic pathology demonstrate that ultasonographic follow-up may be useful in lithium-treated patients. To determine whether routine ultrasonographic examination is necessary, large sample prospective studies are necessary due to the limitations of this study.

Background and Objectives: Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is characterized by unpredictable skin and mucosal angioedema attacks. We aimed to find the frequency of sexual-activity-triggered attacks (STAs) and understand how the sexual life of HAE with C1-inhibitor deficiency (HAE-C1INH) patients is affected. Materials and Methods: Adult HAE-C1INH patients were included in this cross-sectional study, which started in March 2020. Demographic information, marriage properties, gender-specific sexual life characteristics, and the HAE-specific histories of the patients were collected. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Turkish version of the New Sexual Satisfaction Scale (NSSS) were applied to all participants. Results: Among 42 symptomatic HAE patients, 33 (78.57%) had genital attacks and 17 (42.5%) had STAs. Ten (58.8%) had genital pain, tenderness, or swelling, and five (29.4%) had isolated abdominal and groin pain. Eight (47.1%) patients with STAs experienced a HAE attack during their first time engaging in sexual intercourse. Anxiety/depression scales, NSSS scores, and distribution of other HAE attack localizations were similar in patients with and without STAs, and no gender differences were observed. Compared to the patients without STAs, the ratio of patients who stated that their sexual lives were negatively affected and that they lost their sexual desire was higher in patients with STAs. Conclusions: Genital or abdominal attacks triggered by sexual activity may be more common than thought. Sexual activity should also be questioned for evaluating attack triggers. There is a possibility of triggering an attack with the first and ongoing sexual intercourse, and patients should be informed to keep their attack treatment medications ready in advance.