Background: There is controversy about the efficacy of 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors in COVID-19 patients. Some assumed that finasteride might be a risk factor for deterioration and others proposed it as a possible adjunct treatment for moderate to severe COVID-19 infection in the elderly. Methods: We performed a randomized controlled clinical trial (registration ID IRCT20200505047318N1) on 80 hospitalized male patients aged ≥50 years diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia in a tertiary hospital in Qazvin (Iran) from April to July 2020. The patients were randomized into one of the 2 treatment groups using simple randomization. Treatment group patients underwent routine drug therapy and 5 mg finasteride once daily for 7 days. The primary endpoint was mortality rate and length of hospital stay (LOS), and secondary endpoints were peripheral capillary oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, and inflammatory markers changes. The study protocol was approved by the medical ethics committee of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences (registration ID IR.QUMS.REC.1399.080). Data were analyzed by statistical tests and SPSS version 25. Also, p<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: We found a significant difference on O2 saturation among the 2 study groups on fifth day compared with the admission time (p= 0.018). The results did not show significant differences in mortality rate (2.5% vs 10%; p= 0.166) and LOS (p= 0.866) between patients in the finasteride and the control group. Conclusion: A short course of finasteride administration partially improves O2 saturation but does not influence other outcomes in hospitalized male patients aged ≥50 years with COVID-19 pneumonia. Further research in a large scale with longer follow-up is required to help clarify the role of finasteride in this setting.

The mortality rate of Coronavirus Decease 2019 (COVID-19) is very high, but specific situations can increase the rate including severe hypoxemia, multiple organ injury, and thromboembolic events in various organs. Another factor is the stress caused after surgery that require general anesthesia. This study aims to report a case of death in an adult woman with COVID-19 infection who had underwent septoplasty and admitted to hospital after worsening of her general condition and treated when diagnosed with COVID-19. One day after admission, she was intubated due to progressive respiratory failure and deceased following bradycardia and cardiac arrest. It seems that the elective surgery should be avoided in patients infected with COVID-19 and should be postponed until complete recovery. Moreover, the possibility of this infection should be considered in all candidates for surgery with subtle respiratory symptoms.

Background: Cancer patients have defects in their immune systems due to chemotherapy and corticosteroid therapy and are at risk of viral diseases. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the risk perception and self-efficacy related to COVID-19 among cancer patients in Ardabil, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 cancer patients hospitalized in the oncology department of Ardabil Imam Khomeini Hospital in the summer of 2020, who were selected by simple random sampling. After obtaining informed consent, data was gathered using a questionnaire based on the extended parallel process model (EPPM) consisting of seven subscales, including perceived sensitivity, perceived severity, response efficacy, self-efficacy, intention, fear, and defensive motivation. The data were analyzed using linear regression by SPSS 18 and Stata 8. Results: Mean age of 200 cancer patients in this study was 52.35 ± 6.30 years. Among the constructs of EPPM, perceived susceptibility (coefficient = 0.23, P-value < 0.001) and perceived severity (coefficient = 0.160, P-value = 0.026) were significant predictors of self-efficacy, while response efficacy, intention, fear, and defensive motivation were not significant. In the regression model, R squared (R2) and adjusted R squared (adj-R2) were 0.182 and 0.180, respectively. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that perceived susceptibility and severity had significant roles in predicting self-efficacy. Therefore, it is proposed that according to the conditions of the cancer patients, health providers in oncology wards should provide the necessary information to enhance the risk perception regarding COVID-19 and promote self-efficacy to observe health protocols.