Highlights The current review was done to conduct systematic appraisal of studies conducted on Mental health problems faced by healthcare workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic  Out of 23 articles selected by initial screening 6 original articles were included in the final review.  Review of all the 6 articles showed that several socio-demographic variables like gender, profession, age, place of work, department of work and certain psychological variables like poor social support, self-efficacy were found to be associated with increased reporting of stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, insomnia in HCW.  There is increasing evidence which suggests that COVID-19 can be an independent risk factor for stress in HCW. Abstract IntroductionThe spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) across the globe and the associated morbidity and mortality challenged the nations by several means. One such under-recognized and unaddressed area is the mental health issues medical staff develop during the pandemic. Materials and methods J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o fThis review aimed to review the literature about mental health problems faced by health care workers (HCW) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The literature search was conducted in the following databases: PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, Embase. All types of articles published in the last 4 months (January 2020-April 2020) which were relevant to the subject of the review were searched. A total of 23 articles were selected by initial screening and 6 articles were included in the final review. ResultsA review of all the 6 articles showed that current research focused on assessing several aspects of mental health affected in HCW due to COVID-19. Several socio-demographic variables like gender, profession, age, place of work, department of work and psychological variables like poor social support, self-efficacy were associated with increased stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, insomnia in HCW. There is increasing evidence that suggests that COVID-19 can be an independent risk factor for stress in HCW. ConclusionRegular screening of medical personnel involved in treating, diagnosing patients with COVID-19 should be done for evaluating stress, depression, and anxiety by using multidisciplinary Psychiatry teams.

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INTRODUCTION Tobacco use is a major causative factor for cancer. Cessation programs along with diagnosis of cancer as a motivating factor may improve quitting rates in patients. This is a protocol of a study that aims to assess the efficacy of brief tobacco cessation intervention (compared to treatment as usual, TAU) on pattern and attitudes towards tobacco chewing in newly diagnosed head and neck cancer patients and their relatives. METHODS The proposed study will be conducted in two phases. Phase 1 will include 105 dyads of patients and relatives and shall assess patterns (amount, frequency, duration of use and dependence etc.) and knowledge and attitudes (quitting, continued use, health-behavioural modifications, long-term effects on treatment etc.) towards tobacco chewing in newly diagnosed head and neck cancer patients using smokeless tobacco and their relatives. Sample will be recruited from outpatients attending the ear, nose, throat and head and neck surgery department of a tertiary health care institute. Phase 2 will be a randomized trial that will compare the efficacy of the 'Brief Intervention for Tobacco when Diagnosed with Oral Cancer' (BITDOC) and TAU, and will include 27 dyads in each of the two groups. Intervention will be delivered in three sessions, based on the principles of motivational interviewing and the 3As model. CONCLUSIONS This study will help in the evaluation of the attitude towards smokeless tobacco (SLT) in a population that has faced the adverse consequences from its use and changes brought by a diagnosis of HNC. It will also help in developing a cost-effective model for promotion of smoking cessation.

Background: The time of cancer diagnosis is considered as a teaching moment with regard to tobacco cessation. Aim: In view of the limited studies focussing on smokeless tobacco (SLT), we aimed to assess the patterns of SLT use, attitudes toward SLT use in the context of cancer diagnosis, and factors associated with quitting SLT in dyads consisting newly diagnosed patients with head and neck cancers and their relatives. Material and Method: A total of 106 such dyads were assessed on cross-sectional study design. The patients included in the study were above 18 years of age of either sex with a recent (i.e., <6 months) diagnosis of head and neck (lip, tongue, mouth, oropharynx, hypopharynx, pharynx, and larynx) cancer (HNC), not having undergone any surgical intervention for the same and having used SLT for at least 6 months continuously prior to diagnosis of HNC. For each patient, one family member who was aged 18 years or above and lived for at least past 1 year with the patient was included. Result: We found that 60.4% of patients and 6.53% of relatives quit SLT use after the diagnosis of cancer. However, motivation to quit was greater despite continued SLT use, in both patients and relatives. Reasonable number of patients and relatives reported awareness regarding health warnings and long-term consequences of SLT use on cancer. For patients, use of only one form of SLT, presence of 2 or more males in the family using SLT, and presence of another tobacco-related medical disorder in the family were significantly higher in those who quit. Conclusion: The diagnosis of cancer might indeed act as a “teaching moment” for many users but this effect is not extendable on to their relatives.