Background: COVID-19, which is characterised by life-threatening symptoms, difficulty in breathing, and pneumonia symptoms and requires global emergency intervention, may cause psychological problems such as phobia, fear and anxiety. This study aims to examine the psychometric properties of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in Turkish people and to determine the level of fear of COVID-19 among Turkish people. Methods:The research was carried out between March and April 2020. A Personal Information Form and the FCV-19S were used to collect the research data. In the validity and reliability stage, 84 people were contacted randomly for data collection. After the validity and reliability analyses of the scale, a total of 431 Turkish people volunteered to participate in the study and answered the questions in the online questionnaire form using a convenience and snowball sampling method.Confirmatory factor analysis, item-total correlation and Cronbach's alpha coefficient were calculated for psychometric evaluation. Bivariate analysis was applied to determine the level of fear of COVID-19.Results: Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.89, which is stated to have high reliability. FCV-19S scores of participants were determined to be 21.47 ± 6.28. FCV-19S scores of females were determined as 20.48 ± 6.33 and FCV-19S scores of males were determined as 19.78 ± 7.34 according to the bivariate analysis (p < .05). Age, marital status, having children and living alone or with others, tobacco use and anxiety about going to the hospital during the pandemic did not affect on fear of COVID-19 (p > .05). Particularly being female, the presence of chronic disease requiring long-term medication and rarely taking protective measures recommended by the Ministry of Health and having a chronic disease had a significant effect on higher levels of fear of COVID-19 (p < .05). Conclusion:The FCV-19S is a valid and reliable tool for determining the fear of COVID-19. It was found that the fear level of COVID-19 infection was high in Turkish people.

Purpose: To determine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on antenatal depression in Turkish pregnant women. Design and Methods:In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from 497 pregnant women between May and July 2020 using the Edinburgh Depression Scale (EDS) to determine the effect of obstetrics history, fear of hospitalization, concerns about the pandemic, birth, and the health of both mother and infant, on antenatal depression during the COVID-19 outbreak in Turkey.

Aims: This review was designed to systematically examine studies that determine the breastfeeding attitudes of Syrian mothers, and factors influencing their breastfeeding behavior. Methods: Studies published between 2010 and 2020 were examined using ‘Syria OR Syrian mother OR Syrian refugee AND breastfeeding OR breastfeeding practices OR intention OR attitudes OR exclusive breastfeeding’ as keywords on PubMed, GoogleScholar, MEDLINE, Scopus, ProQuest, National Thesis Center, Web of Science, ScienceDirect and CINAHL; and five publications meeting the inclusion criteria were included in the study. The researchers independently used JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross-Sectional Studies and JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Systematic Reviews and Research Syntheses, developed by Joanna Briggs Institute, to assess the methodological quality. Results: A total of 6546 studies were accessed as a result of the literature review. Five studies meeting the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Women who are in this process experience a developmental and situational transition according to the framework of Meleis’ theory. Factors affecting their breastfeeding attitudes were grouped under three main and four sub-themes. It was determined that personal factors (socioeconomic factors, cultural beliefs, the significance of breastfeeding practice, preparation), factors related to the immediate environment and social factors affect these women’s attitudes toward breastfeeding. Conclusion: It was found that most of the Syrian women had positive attitudes toward breastfeeding; however, the breastfeeding duration was less than 6 months for most of the refugees. Furthermore, according to the results of the studies, refugee women from Syria who did not receive social support from their spouses and relatives stopped breastfeeding.

Exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH) typically reported during and/or following exercise, but less is known the mechanisms responsible for EIH. Previous reports suggest that melatonin plays a role in pain modulation. In this study, we investigated the role of melatonin on pain threshold at rest, and following exercise in both sedentary and exercise trained rats under light-induced functional pinealectomy. Male wistar rats were assigned to one of four groups: sedentary control (C), sedentary pinealectomized (Px), exercise trained (T), and trained under pinealectomy (T-Px) groups. Exercise trained groups were subjected to eight weeks of motor-driven treadmill exercise. C and T groups exposed to normal light/dark cycle (12:12-h light/dark cycle) and Px and T-Px rats exposed to continuous light for eight weeks. Hot-plate test was repeated before and after melatonin injection and paw withdrawal latencies were recorded as pain threshold. Acute exercise resulted increased pain threshold in all groups. Animals in T group had significantly highest pain thresholds compared with other groups, and pinealectomy resulted decreased pain threshold in trained animals both at rest, and following exercise. Pain threshold in T-Px group was found to be increased after melatonin administration. Our findings support the hypothesis that melatonin plays a role on hypoalgesic response in exercise-trained rats.

Aim To determine the psychological resilience and perceived stress levels of healthcare workers in COVID‐19 intensive care units. Methods The study was conducted with 418 physicians and nurses in Turkey between July and August 2020. The data were collected with an online survey consisting of a personal information form, the Brief Resilience Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Results The study sample comprised 32.5% physicians and 67.5% nurses. Fear of transmission of COVID‐19 from the patients in their care was stated by 92.6% of the physicians and 95.7% of the nurses. Almost all of the participants (99.3%) were afraid of transmitting COVID‐19 to their families. The psychological resilience level of the physicians (18.42 ± 2.25) participating in the study was higher than that of the nurses (17.88 ± 2.00), and the perceived stress level was lower. It was determined that most physicians and nurses strengthened their team/work friendship bonds during the pandemic, but the motivation to work decreased. Conclusion The study results suggest that frontline intensive care workers should be closely monitored as a high‐risk group for psychological problems. The provision of better personal protective equipment, together with on‐going monitoring and provision of psychological support, and strong family support will increase the resilience of frontline healthcare workers.