Alfred Häussl

Vitamin D status may impact acute affective symptomatology and the severity of symptoms in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). Therefore, this cross-sectional study analyzed 25(OH)D, 24,25(OH)2D, and the vitamin D metabolite ratio (VMR) in BD and correlated the results with clinical affective symptomatology and functionality. The inactive precursor 25(OH)D and its principal catabolite 24,25(OH)2D were measured simultaneously with a validated liquid chromatography tandem mass-spectrometry method in 170 BD outpatients and 138 healthy controls. VMR was calculated as follows: VMR=100*(24,25(OH)2D/25(OH)D). The psychometric assessment enclosed: Beck Depression Inventory-II, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Young Mania Rating Scale, Global Assessment of Functioning, and number of suicide attempts. We did not find a significant difference between patients and controls in the concentrations of 25(OH)D and 24,25(OH)2D. Additionally, the VMR was comparable in both groups. The calculations f...

AimThe study aim was to explore the physical, mental, and social effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on Austrian nurses working in hospitals.BackgroundThe COVID‐19 pandemic required nurses to work extremely hard and over long periods, which can have physical, psychological, and social consequences.MethodsThis study was carried out using a qualitative descriptive design and data was collected through individual interviews using an interview guide. A qualitative content analysis was conducted taking both deductive and inductive approaches.FindingsEighteen nurses (average age of 34.7 years) participated in the study. Their general attitude and feelings regarding working during the COVID‐19 pandemic in the hospital setting were positive. Several behavioral changes in the nurses’ daily working and private daily lives were reported. Psychological impacts included the fear of infecting someone at home, insomnia, and sadness. Headaches, diarrhea, muscle tension, skin redness, and increased sweating were identified as the most common physical impacts. In terms of social impact, all nurses mentioned social isolation and the increased use of (new) media.ConclusionsWorking with people suffering from COVID‐19 had psychological and physical effects on caregivers. Caregivers felt socially isolated in their private environments; however, they often compensated for this isolation by using social media.Implications for nursing and implications for nursing policyStaff perceived the provision of sufficient information, regular team meetings, and the employer's positive reinforcement as supportive, enhancing their feelings of security.We recommend providing more psychological support and making structural adjustments in daily clinical practice to counteract the negative effects of working during a pandemic.

Introduction: Sleep disturbances are highly prevalent across most major psychiatric disorders. Alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, neuroimmune mechanisms, and circadian rhythm disturbances partially explain this connection. The gut microbiome is also suspected to play a role in sleep regulation, and recent studies suggest that certain probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and fecal microbiome transplantation can improve sleep quality. Methods: We aimed to assess the relationship between gut-microbiota composition, psychiatric disorders, and sleep quality in this cross-sectional, cross-disorder study. We recruited 103 participants, 63 patients with psychiatric disorders (major depressive disorder [n = 31], bipolar disorder [n = 13], psychotic disorder [n = 19]) along with 40 healthy controls. Sleep quality was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The fecal microbiome was analyzed using 16S rRNA sequencing, and groups were compared based on alpha ...

Background Cognitive deficits arise with age and can increase the risk for subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which may result in dementia, leading to health problems, care dependency and institutionalization. Computer-based cognitive interventions (CCIs) have the potential to act as important counteraction functions in preserving or improving cognition concomitant to available pharmacological treatment. The aim was to assess the effectiveness of CCIs performed individually with a personal or tablet computer, game console, virtual, augmented, or mixed reality application on cognition in community-dwelling people with SCD, MCI and dementia. Methods A systematic review with meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was performed. The systematic literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL, IEEE Xplore Digital Library, Web of Science, Scopus and PsycINFO. In addition, a search for gray literature and backwa...

BackgroundBelieving processes represent fundamental brain functions between cognition and emotion. Shortly before the introduction of a compulsory vaccination against COVID-19 in Austria, motives and underlying believing processes regarding the vaccination were collected in individuals with affective disorder (AD) and healthy controls (HC).Methods79 individuals with AD and 173 HC were surveyed online to assess believing processes with the parameters of the credition model (narratives, certainty, emotion, mightiness) about (1) the coronavirus itself and (2) why someone is vaccinated or not. In addition, we calculated congruence scores between content of narrative and type of emotion and divided the narrative content into positive, negative, and indifferent.ResultsThere were no differences in vaccination status between AD and HC. Higher levels of certainty were observed in HC compared to AD in both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. The effects were higher when asked about the m...

A lack of resources in nursing homes can lead to standardized (leisure) activities for residents because of insufficient tailoring of individual interests. Virtual reality (VR) has the potential to provide enjoyable leisure activities for positive outcomes like well‐being. This study explores past and possible future interests of nursing home residents with dementia for the development of VR‐based (leisure) activities.

AimThe study aim was to explore the physical, mental, and social effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic on Austrian nurses working in hospitals.BackgroundThe COVID‐19 pandemic required nurses to work extremely hard and over long periods, which can have physical, psychological, and social consequences.MethodsThis study was carried out using a qualitative descriptive design and data was collected through individual interviews using an interview guide. A qualitative content analysis was conducted taking both deductive and inductive approaches.FindingsEighteen nurses (average age of 34.7 years) participated in the study. Their general attitude and feelings regarding working during the COVID‐19 pandemic in the hospital setting were positive. Several behavioral changes in the nurses’ daily working and private daily lives were reported. Psychological impacts included the fear of infecting someone at home, insomnia, and sadness. Headaches, diarrhea, muscle tension, skin redness, and increased swe...

The gut–brain axis plays a role in major depressive disorder (MDD). Gut-bacterial metabolites are suspected to reduce low-grade inflammation and influence brain function. Nevertheless, randomized, placebo-controlled probiotic intervention studies investigating metabolomic changes in patients with MDD are scarce. The PROVIT study (registered at clinicaltrials.com NCT03300440) aims to close this scientific gap. PROVIT was conducted as a randomized, single-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled multispecies probiotic intervention study in individuals with MDD (n = 57). In addition to clinical assessments, metabolomics analyses (1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy) of stool and serum, and microbiome analyses (16S rRNA sequencing) were performed. After 4 weeks of probiotic add-on therapy, no significant changes in serum samples were observed, whereas the probiotic groups’ (n = 28) stool metabolome shifted towards significantly higher concentrations of butyrate, alanine, valine, ...