Introduction No studies have reported mental health symptom comparisons prior to and during COVID-19 in vulnerable medical populations. Objective To compare anxiety and depression symptoms among people with a pre-existing medical condition and factors associated with changes. Methods Pre-COVID-19 Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network Cohort data were linked to COVID-19 data from April 2020. Multiple linear and logistic regression were used to assess factors associated with continuous change and ≥ 1 minimal clinically important difference (MCID) change for anxiety (PROMIS Anxiety 4a v1.0; MCID = 4.0) and depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-8; MCID = 3.0) symptoms, controlling for pre-COVID-19 levels. Results Mean anxiety symptoms increased 4.9 points (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.0 to 5.7). Depression symptom change was negligible (0.3 points; 95% CI -0.7 to 0.2). Compared to France ( N = 159), adjusted anxiety symptom change scores were significantly higher in the United Kingdom ( N = 50; 3.3 points, 95% CI 0.9 to 5.6), United States ( N = 128; 2.5 points, 95% CI 0.7 to 4.2), and Canada ( N = 98; 1.9 points, 95% CI 0.1 to 3.8). Odds of ≥1 MCID increase were 2.6 for the United Kingdom (95% CI 1.2 to 5.7) but not significant for the United States (1.6, 95% CI 0.9 to 2.9) or Canada (1.4, 95% CI 0.7 to 2.5). Older age and adequate financial resources were associated with less continuous anxiety increase. Employment and shorter time since diagnosis were associated with lower odds of a ≥ 1 MCID increase. Conclusions Anxiety symptoms, but not depression symptoms, increased dramatically during COVID-19 among people with a pre-existing medical condition.

SSc organizations may be able to address limitations in accessibility and concerns about SSc support groups by implementing online support groups, better informing patients about support group activities, and training support group facilitators.

In November 1985, tuberculosis was highly prevalent among the 6,250 Tigrayan refugees ofFau I camp in Eastern Sudan. It was therefore decided to launch an active case-finding campaign aimed at decreasing transmission, to be carried out by primary health care workers. The entire population of the camp was screened for symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis and the sputum of people with productive cough was examined by direct microscopy. However, it was considered that this examination was insufficiently sensitive in the camp situation. For this reason, people with non-productive cough or sputum-negative were enrolled in a follow-up program whose length was determined by the severity of their symptoms. The campaign was interrupted by circumstances that are typical of refugee situations. On the basis of results obtained a few conclusions can nonetheless be made on the appropriateness of introducing an active screening program in situations where a stable refugee population has good access to basic health care of good quality.

ObjectiveSome individuals with systemic sclerosis (SSc) report positive mental health, despite severe disease manifestations, which may be associated with resilience, but no resilience measure has been validated in SSc. This study was undertaken to assess the validity, reliability, and differential item functioning (DIF) between English‐ and French‐language versions of the 10‐item Connor‐Davidson Resilience Scale (CD‐RISC‐10) in SSc.MethodsEligible participants were enrolled in the Scleroderma Patient‐centered Intervention Network Cohort and completed the CD‐RISC‐10 between August 2022 and January 2023. We used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to evaluate the CD‐RISC‐10 factor structure and conducted DIF analysis across languages with Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes models. We tested convergent validity with another measure of resilience and measures of self‐esteem and depression and anxiety symptoms. We assessed internal consistency and test–retest reliability using Cronbach's alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).ResultsA total of 962 participants were included in this analysis. CFA supported a single‐factor structure (Tucker–Lewis index = 0.99, comparative fit index = 0.99, root mean square error of approximation = 0.08 [90% confidence interval (90% CI) 0.07, 0.09]). We found no meaningful DIF. Internal consistency was high (α = 0.93 [95% CI 0.92, 0.94]), and we found that correlations with other measures of psychological functioning were moderate to large (|r| = 0.57–0.78) and confirmed study hypotheses. The scale showed good 1–2‐week test–retest reliability (ICC 0.80 [95% CI 0.75, 0.85]) in a subsample of 230 participants.ConclusionThe CD‐RISC‐10 is a valid and reliable measure of resilience in SSc, with score comparability across English and French versions.image