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Background The ongoing spread coronavirus disease worldwide has caused major disruptions and led to lockdowns. Everyday lifestyle changes and antenatal care inaccessibility during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have variable results that affect pregnancy outcomes. This study aimed to assess the alterations in stillbirth, neonatal-perinatal mortality, preterm birth, and birth weight during the COVID-19 national lockdown. Methods We used the data from the Jordan stillbirths and neonatal death surveillance system to compare pregnancy outcomes (gestational age, birth weight, small for gestational age, stillbirth, neonatal death, and perinatal death) between two studied periods (11 months before the pandemic (May 2019 to March 2020) vs. 9 months during the pandemic (April 2020 to March 1st 2020). Separate multinomial logistic and binary logistic regression models were used to compare the studied outcomes between the two studied periods after adjusting for the effects of mother’s age, income, education, occupation, nationality, health sector, and multiplicity. Results There were 31106 registered babies during the study period; among them, 15311 (49.2%) and 15795 (50.8%) births occurred before and during the COVID-19 lockdown, respectively. We found no significant differences in preterm birth and stillbirth rates, neonatal mortality, or perinatal mortality before and during the COVID-19 lockdown. Our findings report a significantly lower incidence of extreme low birth weight (ELBW) infants (<1kg) during the COVID-19 lockdown period than that before the lockdown (adjusted OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.3-0.5: P value <0.001) Conclusions During the COVID-19 lockdown period, the number of infants born with extreme low birth weight (ELBW) decreased significantly. More research is needed to determine the impact of cumulative socio-environmental and maternal behavioral changes that occurred during the pandemic on the factors that contribute to ELBW infants.

Guillain-Barré syndrome has been defined as a post-infectious immune-mediated polyneuropathy. COVID-19 usually presents with respiratory symptoms but can less commonly present with extra-respiratory manifestations such as neurological symptoms. Few cases were published in the literature regarding post-COVID-19 infection Guillain-Barré in the pediatric age group. In this paper, we present a 13-year-old male with possible Guillain-Barré syndrome occurring 2 weeks after a presumed COVID-19 infection. We conducted a systematic review and searched for published pediatric cases until March 2022. We included 35 patients in 25 publications.

Depression, anxiety, and stress (DAS) are common symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and are highly correlated with poor quality of life. Managing DAS among such patients can improve their quality of life (QoL), empowering them with improved autonomy, self-care, independency, and ability to perform daily activities. This study is aimed at examining the effectiveness of the Benson Relaxation Technique (BRT) on reducing DAS among patients diagnosed with MS in Jordan. This quasiexperimental study of 105 Jordanian patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis tested an intervention group (60 patients) who received BRT and a control group (45 patients) who received normal treatment. Data were collected from January 2021 to April 2021, using the Arabic version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS21). The intervention group was instructed to perform the BRT two times a day for 10 minutes at home for eight weeks at two specific times, with 7-8-hour intervals between each episode. STROBE guidelines were followed in reporting the review. At the baseline comparison, there was no statistical difference between the interventional and control groups with regard to DAS. The levels of DAS between the two groups after three months of the last sessions of the intervention (postintervention) were compared. The results showed that the intervention group had significantly lower levels of DAS compared to the control group. The levels of the DAS were significantly lower for the intervention group postintervention. Adding relaxation techniques to the therapeutic routine is a cost-effective complementary treatment to decrease DAS among MS patients and improve their QoL. Relevance to Practice. This study provides a baseline of data that could facilitate further investigations in the future to improve the quality of services delivered to such patients and thus their QoL and satisfaction.

Introduction: Due of their near closeness to COVID-19 patients, healthcare workers (HCWs) have a great desire to utilize proper personal protective equipment (PPEs). Aim: Investigating HCWs’ perceptions of PPE compliance and barriers, as well as influencing factors, in order to develop methods to combat the rise in their infection rates. Methodology: During the ‘second wave’ surge, a cross-sectional correlational analysis was conducted over a one-month period. It consists of HCWs from various hospital sectors that admit COVID-19 patients using an online self-administered predesigned tool. Results: Of the 285 recruited participants, 36.1% had previously been diagnosed with COVID-19. Around 71% received training on PPEs use. The perceived compliance was good for (PPEs) usage (mean 2.60 ± 1.10). A significant higher compliance level was correlated with previous diagnosis with COVID-19, working with patients diagnosed with COVID-19, and having a direct contact with a family member older than 45 years old (p<0.01). The main perceived barriers to the use of PPEs were: unavailability of full PPEs (35%), interference with their ability to provide patient care (29%), not enough time to comply with the rigors of PPEs (23.2%), and working in emergency situation (22.5%). With regards to perceived barriers those working with patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and those who reported having a direct contact with a family member older than 45 years old showed significantly higher level of barriers. Conclusion: A series of measures, including prioritization of PPE acquisition, training, and monitoring to guarantee appropriate resources for IPC, are necessary to reduce transmission.