Commentary: SARS-CoV-2 and Asbestos Exposure: Can Our Experience With Mesothelioma Patients Help Us Understand the Psychological Consequences of COVID-19 and Develop Interventions?

Our plain-English summary of Commentary: SARS-CoV-2 and Asbestos Exposure: Can Our Experience With Mesothelioma Patients Help Us Understand the Psychological Consequences of COVID-19 and Develop Interventions?, by D. Di Basilio, J. Shigemura, F. Guglielmucci (Frontiers in Psychology, 2021).

The study

• Authors: D. Di Basilio, J. Shigemura, F. Guglielmucci
• Journal: Frontiers in Psychology
• Published: 2021;12:720160
• Type of article: Comment
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Summary of the article

This commentary responded to a 2020 article by Granieri and colleagues that had highlighted similarities between COVID-19 and malignant mesothelioma (MM). The authors argued that, despite relevant similarities, the differences between the two conditions outweighed the similarities. These differences included aetiology, infection pattern, chronological course, physical symptoms and prognosis. They noted that because asbestos exposure is usually connected to industrial activity, MM can be characterised as an occupational disease for which responsibility can be traced to companies. They added that MM patients often feel betrayed by their employers, with anger and claims for compensation. By contrast, they described COVID-19 as a pandemic of probable zoonotic origin with no identifiable culprit. They stated that in MM, fears of an "aerial contagion" and of infecting or being infected by others are found mainly among people living in contaminated sites. COVID-19, they argued, also involved social restrictions and what they called "institutional betrayal" by governments and institutions. They proposed an "Ecological Response to Complex Trauma" (ERCT) model with three concentric levels (individual, community and societal), each with its own mental representations and risk and protective factors. They also discussed social media as both helpful and harmful. They conceptualised MM as a two-level traumatic event affecting patients and families, for which group therapy could be beneficial. They described COVID-19 as a social catastrophe requiring multi-level, trauma-informed interventions, including telehealth, attention to vulnerable groups, trauma-informed communication, and health literacy built into education.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This was a general commentary, an opinion piece, responding to a 2020 article by Granieri and colleagues that had compared COVID-19 with malignant mesothelioma (MM). It reported no new data and studied no people. The authors argued that the differences between the two conditions (cause, infection pattern, course, physical symptoms and prognosis) outweigh their similarities. They described MM as an occupational disease usually linked to industrial asbestos exposure. Drawing on other published work, they wrote that MM patients often feel betrayed by their employers, and that fear of an airborne 'invisible killer' in MM is mainly found among people living in contaminated sites. They proposed an 'Ecological Response to Complex Trauma' (ERCT) model with three levels on which trauma can occur: individual, community and societal. In their view, MM-related trauma sits mainly at the individual and community levels, so group therapy could help patients and families. COVID-19, they argued, is a social catastrophe needing interventions at all three levels. The authors concluded that complex trauma such as that of COVID-19 needs multi-level trauma-informed care.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: General commentary (opinion piece) responding to Granieri et al. (2020); proposes a conceptual model; no original data
• Exposure: Asbestos exposure, described as usually connected to industrial activity, with malignant mesothelioma characterised as an occupational disease; compared with SARS-CoV-2 infection and the COVID-19 pandemic. No fiber types or doses given.
• Main results:
  • The authors argued that the differences between COVID-19 and malignant mesothelioma, including aetiology, infection pattern, chronological course, physical symptoms and prognosis, outweigh their similarities (an argument, not a measured finding)
  • Citing other studies, the authors wrote that MM patients often feel betrayed by their employers, with anger and claims for compensation
  • Citing earlier work, the authors stated that fears of aerial contagion and of infecting or being infected by others in MM are mainly found in people residing in contaminated sites
  • The authors proposed the Ecological Response to Complex Trauma (ERCT) model, with three concentric levels of trauma: individual, community and societal
  • In the authors' view, the traumatic effects of MM are mainly at the individual and community levels, while those of COVID-19 are at a systemic level
  • The authors suggested that group therapy could benefit MM patients and families (in line with Granieri et al. 2020), while COVID-19, as a social catastrophe, would be best addressed with interventions at all three levels
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, under the ERCT model, complex trauma such as that characterising COVID-19 needs to be addressed with multi-level trauma-informed care

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma, Malignant Mesothelioma, Prognosis, Occupational Disease.

Related studies

• SARS-CoV-2 and Asbestos Exposure: Can Our Experience With Mesothelioma Patients Help Us Understand the Psychological Consequences of COVID-19 and Develop Interventions? — A. Granieri, M. Bonafede, et al. (2020)
• The psychological distress and care needs of mesothelioma patients and asbestos-exposed subjects: A systematic review of published studies — M. Bonafede, M. Ghelli, et al. (2018)
• Psychological Distress after a Diagnosis of Malignant Mesothelioma in a Group of Patients and Caregivers at the National Priority Contaminated Site of Casale Monferrato — M. Bonafede, A. Granieri, et al. (2020)
• Preliminary validation of a questionnaire assessing psychological distress in caregivers of patients with malignant mesothelioma: Mesothelioma Psychological Distress Tool-Caregivers — M. Bonafede, C. Chiorri, et al. (2022)
• Preliminary validation of a brief PROM assessing psychological distress in patients with malignant mesothelioma: The mesothelioma psychological distress tool-Patients — F. Guglielmucci, M. Bonafede, et al. (2022)
• How to Better Understand the Influence of Host Genetics on Developing an Effective Immune Response to Thoracic Cancers — K. Behrouzfar, K. Burton, et al. (2021)

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