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Background/aim: The COVID-19 outbreak is known to increase stress levels of most patients with chronic diseases. Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) are highly susceptible to environmental stress. In the current study, we aimed to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic psychologically affected patients with chronic progressive diseases such as AS and RA and the effects of these psychological factors on disease activity.Materials and methods: Age and gender-matched patients with AS (n=80), RA (n=80), and healthy controls (n=80) were included in the study. All participants were evaluated with the "Perceived COVID-19 Threat Form (PCTF)", "Suicide-Ideation Scale (SIS)", "Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)", "The Ability to Cope with Trauma (PACT)" and "Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWB)" scales. BASDAI was used in patients with AS and DAS28 was used in patients with RA to assess disease severity.Results: Compared to healthy individuals, patients with RA and AS had lower PGWB scores and higher HADS depression and anxiety subscale scores. Almost all psychometric assessment test scores were worse in AS patients with high-disease activity compared to those in low-disease activity. PACT scores were higher in patients with moderate RA compared to patients with mild RA (p=0.006). While a positive correlation was identified between BASDAI and most of the psychometric assessment test scores (r=0 .36 for PCTF, r= 0.53 for depressive scores, r= 0.54 for anxiety scores, r= 0.57 for suicidal 2 ideation), DAS28 scores were found to be associated only with PACT total and PACT perceived forward-focused subscale scores (r= -.26 and r= .33, respectively). Conclusion:Psychologically, AS and RA patients were found to be worse off compared to healthy controls. The perceived COVID threat and psychological status were associated with disease activity in AS, but not RA patients. Patients with chronic illnesses may be more vulnerable to the psychological effects of the pandemic, which can worsen disease activity.

We aimed to evaluate the effect of shift work on semen parameters together with the effect of sleep quality in men attending infertility clinic. The participants were divided into two groups as follows: 104 shift worker men (Group 1) and 116 nonshift worker men (Group 2). Groups were compared in terms of semen parameters, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), and Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores. A higher rate of oligozoospermia and poor sleep quality and a lower mean normal morphology percentage was observed in shift workers than nonshift workers (p = .006, .039 and .036 respectively). In addition, a positive correlation was seen between sleep duration and sperm concentration, while a negative correlation was found between sleep latency and total sperm count. Shift working together with high PSQI score was also a significant association with oligozoospermia when controlling for the other variables of age, total testosterone, DASS-21 stress score, smoking and varicocele (OR = 2.11, 95% CI 1.03-4.34 and OR = 1.18, 95% CI 1.01-1.39 respectively). In this study, infertile shift workers had a lower percentage of normal morphology and higher rates of oligozoospermia and poor sleep quality.Considering that shift workers have lower sleep quality, it seems that shift working negatively affects the circadian rhythm. K E Y W O R D S semen parameter, shift work, sleep quality 2 of 7 | DEMIRKOL Et aL.shift work can undermine sleep quality by interfering with the body's natural circadian rhythm. Likewise, it was shown in a study that shift work is an independent risk factor for poor sleep quality (McDowall et al., 2017). Furthermore, shift work has been related to several health outcomes, including metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, mood disorders, as well as male reproductive disorders (Bara & Arber, 2009;

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Objective: To investigate the relationship between neurocognitive profiles and clinical manifestations of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Methods: Forty-five patients diagnosed with BPD and 35 healthy volunteers were included in the study. The BPD group was evaluated with the Borderline Personality Inventory for dissociative, impulsivity and suicidal dimensions. The Verbal Memory Processes Test and the Cambridge Neurophysiological Assessment Battery were administered to both the BPD and healthy control groups. Results: BPD patients differed from controls in sustained attention, facial emotion recognition, and deteriorated verbal memory function. A model consisting of the Dissociative Experiences Scale-Taxon (DES-T), motor impulsivity and Scale for Suicidal Behavior scores explained 52% of the variance in Borderline Personality Inventory scores. It was detected that motor impulsivity, decisionmaking and recognizing sadness may significantly predict DES-T scores, and response inhibition and facial emotion recognition scores may significantly predict impulsivity. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that the disassociation, impulsivity, and suicidality dimensions are sufficient to represent the clinical manifestations of BPD, that they are related to neurocognitive differences, and that they interact with clinical features.

Suicide attempt, suicidal ideation and hopelessness levels in major depressive patients with and without alexithymia Objective: It is known that hopelessness and alexithymia levels are increased in patients with depressive disorder. In the literature, reports are suggesting that high levels of hopelessness in patients with depressive disorder increase suicide attempts and ideations. Here we aimed to investigate whether there are any differences in terms of suicidal ideation, suicide attempt and hopelessness levels in major depressive disorder patients with and without alexithymia. Method: In this study, 99 patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder according to structured interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I/CV) and 50 healthy subjects were included. Sociodemographic questionnaire, Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI) and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) were administered to patients and controls. Additionally, Suicide Intent Scale (SIS) was administered to patients with suicide attempt. Results: There was no significant difference in terms of sociodemographic data (except for the marital status) between major depressive patients with or without alexithymia and healthy controls. According to a cut off point of 61 for TAS-20, 34.3% (n=34) of the patient group was alexithymic and 65.7% (n=65) was non-alexithymic. Rate of suicide attempt was higher in the alexithymic major depressive patients (67.6%) than the non-alexithymic major depressive patients (29.2%). Mean scores of SSI and BHS were higher in alexithymic patients than non-alexithymic patients. There was a positive correlation between TAS-1 (difficulty identifying feelings), TAS-2 (difficulty expressing feelings) and BHS, SSI scores. Conclusion: In our study, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt and hopelessness levels were higher in major depression patients with alexithymia. Higher incidence of suicide attempts in major depressive patients with higher alexithymia levels and higher suicidal ideation and hopelessness levels in this group of patients suggest the possibility of alexithymia being a predictive factor for suicide attempt. Key words: Alexithymia, depression, hopelessness, suicide ÖZET Aleksitimik olan ve olmayan major depresif bozukluk hastalarında intihar girişimi, intihar düşüncesi ve umutsuzluk düzeyleri Amaç: Depresif bozukluğu olan hastaların umutsuzluk ve aleksitimi düzeylerinin daha yüksek olduğu bilinmektedir. Literatürde yüksek umutsuzluk düzeylerinin depresif bozukluğu olan hastalarda intihar girişimi ve düşüncesini artırdığına dair yayınlar bulunmaktadır. Biz bu çalışmamızda; hasta grubu, sağlıklı kontrol grubu ile sosyodemografik özellikler acısından eşleştirdikten sonra, aleksitimik olan ve olmayan major depresif bozukluk tanılı hasta grupları arasında intihar girişimi, intihar düşüncesi, umutsuzluk düzeyi ve alekstimi düzeyi bakımından fark olup olmadığını araştırmayı amaçladık.Yöntem: Bu çalışmaya DSM-IV için yapılandırılmış görüşme formu ile (SCID-I/CV)...