Since December 2019, the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has been keeping the world in suspense. Proven risk factors for a severe course of COVID-19 are common diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular or respiratory disorders. Until today, little is known about the psychological burden of individuals suffering from these high-risk diseases regard to COVID-19. The aim of the study was to define the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on behavior and mental health in individuals at high risk for developing a severe COVID-19 course. Items assessed generalized anxiety (GAD-7), COVID-19-related fear, adherent/dysfunctional safety behavior, and the subjective risk perception of regarding symptoms, having a severe course and dying because of COVID-19. Data were compared between participants with the high risk diseases and individuals without any of those diseases. 16,983 respondents completed the study. Generalized anxiety, COVID-19-related fear, adherent/dysfunctional safety behavior and subjective risk perception were elevated in participants with high-risk diseases. The increased COVID-19-related fear as a functional concern is a conclusion on the increased risk of a severe course. The functionality of the fear is reflected in people’s increased need for security and includes an increase in both adherent and dysfunctional safety behavior that underlines the need for psychological support strategies.

Purpose: The present study investigates the impact of obesity surgery on mental health (i.e., eating behavior and distress) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Two hundred fifty-four participants were recruited via social media. One hundred fourteen (44.53%) of them were surgery candidates (waiting for obesity surgery), while 142 (55.46%) had already undergone surgery. Participants who underwent surgery were compared to participants that did not yet undergo surgery in terms of mental burden (depression and anxiety), as well as safety and eating behavior. Further moderation analyses attempted to identify risk factors for increased COVID-19-related dysfunctional eating behavior after surgery. Results: Participants who underwent surgery showed generally lower levels of depression and general anxiety on a trend level. Moderation analyses suggested that people with high levels of generalized anxiety actually show more dysfunctional COVID-19-specific eating behavior after obesity surgery. Conclusion: On a trend level, obesity surgery appears to attenuate symptoms of generalized anxiety and depression. Yet, surgery patients with high levels of generalized anxiety exhibit even higher levels of dysfunctional eating during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is therefore particularly important to support people at risk.

IntroductionObesity is a constantly rising and cost-intensive medical issue worldwide. Severe obesity often needs surgery to promote weight loss, but due to the rapid therapeutic success after the surgery, many patients lack the awareness of the need to consistently maintain the postoperative care. However, therapeutic success and psychological well-being can be increased through group interventions and social support of the group members. Therefore, aftercare via group intervention is a promising approach. In this prospective randomised controlled study, the self-efficacy in a social media-based interactive, psychoeducational intervention is to be tested.Methods and analysisThe intervention group will complete a social media-supported group intervention for 6 weeks with weekly postings of educative contents and the possibility to exchange in groups via anonymous avatars. The control group will receive treatment as usual (TAU) after the obesity surgery as recommended in the German S3-guidelines Obesity Surgery and Metabolic Surgery. We will examine the effectiveness of a social media-supported intervention group, and therefore, the change in self-efficacy expectation. For the primary outcome, we will perform a mixed analysis of variance with time as the within-subject factor (times of measurement T0–T4) and the group assignment as the between-subject factor (intervention +TAU vs TAU group).Ethics and disseminationThe study was approved by the Medical Association North Rhine (Ärztekammer Nordrhein, 2020031) and the patient enrolment will begin in July 2021.Trial registration numberDRKS00018089.

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Für eine zukünftige umweltverträglichere Mobilität sind Verkehrsverlagerungen vom Auto auf emissionsärmere Verkehrsmittel wie öffentliche Verkehrsmittel und das Fahrrad relevant. Ziel des Projekts „Nachhaltige Mobilität im Quartier. Eine Akzeptanzstudie“ ist es, wichtige Einflussfaktoren auf die Verkehrsmittelnutzung der Personen zu identifizieren. Dafür werden Unterschiede zwischen Personen, die monomodal das Auto nutzen, und multimodalen Perso- nen gesucht. Anhand dieses Vergleichs sollen Bedingungen abgeleitet werden, die eine mul- timodale Verkehrsmittelnutzung fördern und damit zu Verkehrsverlagerungen beitragen können. Als Untersuchungsebene werden drei Quartiere der deutschen Großstadt Bochum gewählt. Damit können die Bedingungen in den unmittelbaren Wohnumgebungen der Personen in den Blick genommen werden. Unsere Ergebnisse stützen sich auf eine Bewohnerbefragung (n=2179), Stadtteilbegehungen und 14 vertiefende Interviews, die eigens für dieses Projekt durchgeführt wurden. Ein starker Zusammenhang zu multimodaler Verkehrsmittelnutzung besteht für die Verfüg- barkeit der Verkehrsmittel, eine intensive Nutzung der direkten Wohnumgebung und positive Einstellungen gegenüber dem Fahrrad.