Restrictions to minimize social contact was necessary to prevent the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus but may have impacted individuals’ mental well-being. Emotional responses are modulated by contextual information. Living abroad during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have boosted the feeling of isolation as the context is unfamiliar.

This study compared the psychological impact of social distancing in national students (living in a familiar context) versus international students (living in an unfamiliar context).

During March/April 2020 (first lockdown in the Netherlands), 850 university students completed an online survey. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to compare how students’ responses to the virus were predicted by health anxiety, emotional distress, and personal traits.

Compared with national students, international students showed higher levels in 4 identified factors (COVID-19-related worry, perceived risk of infection, distance from possibly contaminated objects, distance from social situations). The factors were mainly predicted by health anxiety across international students, while emotional distress and individual traits (eg, intolerance of uncertainty) played a role across national students.

In the familiar context, individual characteristics (traits) predicted the responses to the virus, while the unfamiliar context drove individuals’ health-focused responses. Living in a foreign country is associated with psychological burdens and this should be considered by universities for more pronounced social support and clear references to health-related institutions.

The emergence of COVID-19 changed the lifestyle of individuals through the appearance of lockdown. This period seems to have potential effect on some health determinants related to behaviors such as drug addiction.

Compare the prevalence and behavior of drug consumers before and during the lockdown.

A cross-sectional study was carried out on 1001 Moroccan addict between April and July 2020, using two international questionnaires: The global drug survey “Special Edition on COVID-19” and the survey on impact of COVID-19 on patients and families.

before lockdown, tobacco use (80.2%), alcohol (70.9%), cannabis (46.3%). During lockdown: tobacco consumption remains unchanged (80.7%), alcohol and cannabis consumption reduced significantly, respectively (39.6%) and (40.8%). Results show also the weaning of hallucinogens and solvents. 76.3% decreased their use, the raisons behind these changes were: 39.8% worried about health issues, 26.6% have less opportunities to consume, 23.7% think that the current life style make it difficult to use, 23.4% think they have less ability to obtain drugs.

The lockdown seems to be an opportunity for addicts to reduce drugs consumption. However, setting up support services with targeted interventions is the best chance to decrease psychological stress and avoid the consequences of this reduction.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted healthcare worldwide. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where people may have limited access to affordable quality care, the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to have a particularly adverse impact on the health and healthcare of individuals with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). A World Health Organization survey found that disruption of delivery of healthcare for NCDs was more significant in LMICs than in high-income countries. However, the study did not elicit insights into the day-to-day impacts of COVID-19 on healthcare by front-line healthcare workers (FLHCWs).

To gain insights directly from FLHCWs working in countries with a high NCD burden, and thereby identify opportunities to improve the provision of healthcare during the current pandemic and in future healthcare emergencies.

We recruited selected frontline healthcare workers (general practitioners, pharmacists, and other medical specialists) from nine countries to complete an online survey (n = 1347). Survey questions focused on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on clinical practice and NCDs; barriers to clinical care during the pandemic; and innovative responses to the many challenges presented by the pandemic.

The majority of FLHCWs responding to our survey reported that their care of patients had been impacted both adversely and positively by the public health measures imposed. Most FLHCs (95%) reported a deterioration in the mental health of their patients.

Continuity of care for NCDs as part of pandemic preparedness is needed so that chronic conditions are not exacerbated by public health measures and the direct impacts of the pandemic.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic negatively impacted global healthcare. Consequences in Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery programmes and mortality of congenital heart patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-Cov-2) is still to be determined.

To study the COVID-19 pandemic implications in Brazilian Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery programmes.

We conducted a national online survey covering all states that perform Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery from 10 November to 22 November, 2020, using a Google forms questionnaire. We formulated questions related to impact on surgical volume, case-mix, and mortality. Then we asked about short-term post-operative COVID-19 infection and outcomes.

We received responses from 46 centres representing all states where there were a Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery programme and all high-volume centres across the country. All but one centre experienced a significant decrease in surgical volume, and 23.9% of the responders revealed less than one-quarter of volume decrement. On the other hand, in over 70% of the centres, there was a significant surgical volume reduction. In addition to this, there was a shift in case-mix in 41 centres (89.1%) towards more complex cases. More than one-third of the responders revealed increased mortality in 2020 compared to previous years, and 43.5% of the programmes (20 centres) had at least one patient contaminated by SARS-Cov-2, accounting for 48 patients. Mortality in post-operative infected patients was 45.8% (22 patients).

In general, Brazilian Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery programmes were severely affected by decreased surgical volume, unbalanced case-mix towards more complex cases, and increased mortality. Almost half of the programmes related post-operative COVID-19 contamination with high mortality.

Most patients born with CHD nowadays reach adulthood, and thus quality of life, life situation, and state of medical care aspects are gaining importance in the current era. The present study aimed to investigate whether patients’ assessment depends on their means of occupation. The findings are expected to be helpful in optimising care and for developing individual treatment plans.

The present study was based on an online survey conducted in cooperation with patient organisations. Participants were recruited from the database of the German National Register for Congenital Heart Defects. In total, 1828 individuals (777 males, 1051 females) took part. Participants were asked to rate aspects such their state of health on a six-tier scale (1=worst specification). Response behaviour was measured against the background of occupational details.

Training for or pursuing a profession was found to be significantly associated with participants’ rating of five of the six examined aspects (p<0.05). Sex seemed to play an important part in four of the six aspects.

An optimal treatment plan for adults with CHD should always consider aspects such as sex and employment status. To work out such an optimal and individual treatment plan for each adult CHD patient, an objective tool to measure patients’ actual CHD-specific knowledge precluding socially accepted response bias would be very useful.

The traditional Mediterranean diet includes high consumption of fruits, vegetables, olive oil, legumes, cereals and nuts, moderate to high intake of fish and dairy products, and low consumption of meat products. Intervention effects to improve adoption of this diet may vary in terms of individuals’ motivational or volitional prerequisites. In the context of a three-country research collaboration, intervention effects on these psychological constructs for increasing adoption of the Mediterranean diet were examined.

An intervention was conducted to improve Mediterranean diet consumption with a two-month follow-up. Linear multiple-level models examined which psychological constructs (outcome expectancies, planning, action control and stage of change) were associated with changes in diet scores.

Web-based intervention in Italy, Spain and Greece.

Adults (n 454; mean age 42·2 (sd 10·4) years, range 18–65 years; n 112 at follow-up).

Analyses yielded an overall increase in the Mediterranean diet scores. Moreover, there were interactions between time and all four psychological constructs on these changes. Participants with lower levels of baseline outcome expectancies, planning, action control and stage of change were found to show steeper slopes, thus greater behavioural adoption, than those who started out with higher levels.

The intervention produced overall improvements in Mediterranean diet consumption, with outcome expectancies, planning, action control and stage of change operating as moderators, indicating that those with lower motivational or volitional prerequisites gained more from the online intervention. Individual differences in participants’ readiness for change need to be taken into account to gauge who would benefit most from the given treatment.

To date, no data exist on the agreement of food choice measured using an online tool with subsequent actual consumption. This needs to be shown before food choice, measured by means of an online tool, is used as a dependent variable to examine intake in the general population.

A ‘web-buffet’ was developed to assess food choice.

Choice was measured as planned meal composition from photographic material; respondents chose preferred foods and proportions for a main meal (out of a possible 144 combinations) online and the validity was assessed by comparison of a meal composed from a web-buffet with actual food intake 24–48 h later. Furthermore, correlations of food preferences, energy needs and health interest with meals chosen from the web-buffet were analysed.

Students: n 106 (Study I), n 32 (Study II).

Meals chosen from the web-buffet (mean=2998 kJ, sd=471 kJ) agreed with actual consumption (rs=0·63, P<0·001) but were on average 367 kJ (10·5 %) lower in energy than consumed meals (mean=3480 kJ, sd=755 kJ). Preferences were highly associated with chosen amounts and health interest was negatively correlated with the energy selected (rs=−0·40, P<0·001).

Meal composition choice in the web-buffet agrees sufficiently well with actual intake to measure food choice as a dependent variable in online surveys. However, we found an average underestimation of subsequent consumption. High correlations of preferences with chosen amounts and an inverse association of health interest with total energy further indicate the validity of the tool. Applications in behavioural nutrition research are discussed.