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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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