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Context: Several studies have shown that chloroquine can effectively diminish the replication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As such, other studies have also supported this statement, but the psychiatric side effects of chloroquine have not been taken into account. Objectives: The current study aimed to briefly review and discuss the safety of chloroquine. Evidence Acquisition: A narrative literature search on databases was carried out on studies without time limitations. A combination of the two main keywords of "Chloroquine" and "Psychiatric Side Effects" was used to search databases. A manual search was performed to find the relevant articles, and finally, 15 studies were reviewed. Data were shown in the table and then summarized by narrative synthesis. Results: The literature review revealed the pharmaceutical characteristics of chloroquine, the safety of chloroquine, and the management of chloroquine's side effects. Also, the studies showed that chloroquine had psychiatric symptoms varying from insomnia to catatonia, toxic psychosis, and suicidal attempts, as well as behavioral manifestations, including most frequently extreme irritability, restlessness, abusiveness, distractibility, pressured speech, flight of ideas, grandiosity delusion, and auditory and visual hallucinations. Conclusions: Given the probability of a wide range of possible psychiatric symptoms following chloroquine, physicians should cautiously prescribe antiviral agents, and healthcare workers should also notice any psychiatric symptoms after administrating the chloroquine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: Health care workers (HCWs), mostly frontliners, are encountering numerous physical and psychosocial stressors, and even managing some conflicts over the course of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this respect, the present study was to investigate the prevalence rate of occupational burnout (OB) in such workers during this pandemic. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between April 6 and May 30, 2020, via an online survey in 31 provinces of Iran, on HCWs selected based on convenience sampling method. For data collection, a socio-demographic information form and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was utilized. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and multivariate regression analysis were also applied to test the research hypotheses. Results: In total, 7626 HCWs participated in the present study. Accordingly, 73.2 and 26.8% of the workers were female and male, respectively. As well, 57.8% of the respondents were nurses and 14.4% of the cases were clinicians. Moreover, 44.8% of the participants had thus far worked in isolation wards and 40.3% of these individuals reported working for 4–8 hours with COVID-19 patients. The prevalence rate of OB was 18.3%. Besides, 34.2, 48.7, and 56.1% of the respondents had severe levels of emotional exhaustion (EE), higher depersonalization (DP), and decreased sense of personal accomplishment (PA), respectively. Besides, the HCWs at the age range of 20 to 30, having female gender, no children, and a bachelor's degree, and working in isolation wards showed the higher levels of OB with reference to the Chi-square test results (p < 0.001). Accordingly, the statistical test outcomes demonstrated that a history of physical illnesses (p = 0.001) and psychiatric disorders (p = 0.044) could be the best predictor of OB throughout the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Regarding the high prevalence rate of OB among the HCWs and the remaining COVID-19 journey in Iran, health care managers are recommended to orient the required management and coping strategies toward improving mental health in these individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The main purpose of this study was to assess the levels of anxiety, depression, and stress among healthcare providers in Iran. Methods: This descriptive cross‐sectional survey was performed on healthcare providers selected through the convenience sampling method from April 6 to May 19, 2020, during the COVID‐19 pandemic. To this end, a self‐report web‐based questionnaire made up of a sociodemographic characteristics information form, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS), and Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS) was distributed. Descriptive statistics, chi‐square test (χ2), and univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were accordingly practiced to analyze the data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Results: Of 1343 healthcare providers, 45.8% and 73.0% had moderate physical and psychological anxiety symptoms, respectively. The logistic regression model similarly demonstrated that anxiety caused by COVID‐19 was significantly correlated with the age ranges of 41‐50 (P =.007) and 51‐60 (P =.014) years as well as male participants (P <.001). In addition, the prevalence rates of depression and stress were, respectively, reported by 35.1% and 27.8%. There was correspondingly a significant relationship between depression and age as well as stress and gender. Conclusions: It seems that healthcare managers need to focus more attention on psychological aspects in healthcare providers during this pandemic and plan to teach them about coping strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Human immunodeficiency virus infection /acquired immunodeficiency syndrome has grown to be one of the world's most momentous pandemics. The present study aimed to explore the effects of stigma on people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and recommend coping strategies to reduce this phenomenon. Materials and Methods: Using a narrative literature review, the related articles were searched, retrieved, and selected from the databases of Noor Specialized Magazines (Noormags), Elmnet, Scientific Information Database of Academic Center for Education, Culture, and Research (SID), IranMedex, and Magiran via the keywords of "Stigma, Social Stigma, Labeling, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, AIDS, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and HIV" in Persian and in the databases of PubMed and Scopus in English. The same procedure was further performed in Google Scholar in both languages. The inclusion criteria were the full-text articles in Persian and English and the exclusion criteria were no access to the full-text articles, while review articles were removed. Results: Considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria and excluding the duplicate studies, 16 articles were recruited in total for review purposes. The effects of stigma on PLWHA consisted of individual and social consequences. As well, the most appropriate coping strategies to reduce stigma were acknowledged as "providing psychosocial support for infected people", "raising awareness in the public and medical staff", "cultivating spirituality and a close relationship with God", "developing and implementing counseling strategies", and "establishing specialty clinics for PLWHA". Conclusion: Given the study findings, it can be suggested that policy-makers and community healthcare managers pay much more attention to the individual and social consequences of HIV/AIDS and make further efforts to increase awareness in the public and medical staffs, strengthen spirituality in PLWHA, and set up specialty clinics for such individuals to cope with stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The present study was conducted to assess 3(HCWs) during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Methods: A total number of 7626 HCWs were included in this web‐based cross‐sectional study, via the convenience sampling technique. To collect the required data, the sociodemographic characteristics information form, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale‐21 (DASS‐21), and the Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS) were also employed. In addition, data analysis was performed using the SPSS Statistics software (ver. 24), as well as descriptive statistics, Chi‐square test (χ2), and univariate/multivariate logistic regression models. Results: The CDAS results revealed that 47.9% and 70.5% of the HCWs had experienced moderate levels of physical and psychological anxiety, respectively. Based on the DASS results, 44.8%, 43%, and 34.8% of the HCWs had been subjected to depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms during the COVID‐19 pandemic, respectively. The logistic regression models correspondingly showed that depression among the HCWs was significantly correlated with risk factors, such as the age groups of 20–30 years (p =.001), 31–40 years (p =.006), female HCWs (p>.001), history of physical illnesses (p =.004), and history of psychiatric disorders (p>.001). Moreover, factors including the age groups of 20–30 years (p <.001), 31–40 years (p <.001), 41–50 years (p <.001), female HCWs (p>.001), history of physical illnesses (p <.001), and history of psychiatric disorders (p>.001) were assumed as significant predictors of anxiety in these individuals. Besides, factors such as the age groups of 20–30 years (p =.002), 31–40 years (p =.004), female HCWs (p>.001), occupation (p =.016), history of physical illnesses (p <.001), and history of psychiatric disorders (p>.001) could significantly predict the prevalence rate of stress in the HCWs in times of this crisis. Conclusion: Given the importance of mental health status among HCWs during the COVID‐19 pandemic, health administrators and policymakers of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in Iran are suggested to provide psychological screening and supportive care programs for HCWs with the aim of enhancing their mental health and successful coping with critical circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]