Journal of Public Health Research (PAGEPress Publications)
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Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 infection through rapid serology testing in the homeless population in the City of Rome, Italy. Preliminary results
Get PDFBackground: The development of COVID-19 pandemic has affected all segments of the population; however, it had a significant impact on vulnerable subjects, such as in people experiencing homelessness. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of COVID-19 spread in homeless persons in the city of Rome, Italy. Design and Methods: Patients included in the study underwent a clinical evaluation and rapid antibody analysis on capillary blood for the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 virus. Symptomatic patients were not included in the screening and immediately referred to local hospitals for further evaluation.Results: One-hundred seventy-three patients of both sexes were tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection through rapid serological test. Age range was 8-80 years; people came from 35 different countries of origin and 4 continents. Test results were negative for most patients (170-98.2%); two patients had positive IgM (1.2%) and one patient had positive IgG (0.6%).Conclusions: Our study is the first to evaluate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in people experiencing homelessness in the city of Rome, Italy. Most patients were negative for COVID-19, although several factors may have had an impact on this result, such as the exclusion of symptomatic patients, the limited sensitivity of rapid serological tests in the initial stage of infection and the prevention measures adopted in these populations. Larger studies on fragile populations are needed to prevent and intercept new clusters of infection in the upcoming months
INA-CBGs claim versus total hospital cost: A vaginal delivery investigation at Airlangga University Academic Hospital, Indonesia
Get PDFBackground: Inadequate funding for vaginal delivery can be one of the barriers to reducing the maternal mortality rate. It could be therefore critical to compare the vaginal delivery cost between total hospital cost and INA-CBGs cost in national health insurance. Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted from October to December 2019 in Universitas Airlangga Academic Hospital. It collected data on primary diagnosis, length of stay, total hospital cost, INA-CBGs cost, and counted disparity. The data analyzed statistically using t-test independent sample (or Mann-Whitney test).Results: A total of 149 vaginal delivery claims were found, with the majority having a level II severity (79.87%) and moderate preeclampsia as a primary diagnosis (20.1%). There was a significant disparity in higher total hospital costs compared with government INA-CBGs costs (Rp. 9,238,022.09±1,265,801.88 vs 1,881,521.48±12,830.15; p<0.001). There was also an increase of LOS (p<0.001), total hospital cost (p<0.001), and cost disparity (p<0.01) in a higher severity level of vaginal delivery.Conclusion: Vaginal delivery costs in INA-CBGs scheme are underneath the actuarial value. There was also an increase in total hospital costs and a more significant disparity in the higher severity levels of vaginal delivery
Mass screening vs lockdown vs combination of both to control COVID-19: a systematic review
Get PDFCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic. Non-pharmacological interventions, such as lockdown and mass testing, remain as the mainstay of control measures for the outbreak. We aim to evaluate the effectiveness of mass testing, lockdown, or a combination of both to control COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic search on 11 major databases was conducted on June 8, 2020. This review is registered in Prospero (CRD42020190546). We included primary studies written in English which investigate mass screening, lockdown, or a combination of both to control and/or mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. There are four important outcomes as selected by WHO experts for their decision-making process: incident cases, onward transmission, mortality, and resource use. Among 623 studies, only 14 studies met our criteria. Four observational studies were rated as strong evidence and ten modelling studies were rated as moderate evidence. Based on one modelling study, mass testing reduced the total infected people compared to no mass testing. For lockdown, ten studies consistently showed that it successfully reduced the incidence, onward transmission, and mortality rate of COVID-19. A limited evidence showed that a combination of lockdown and mass screening resulted in a greater reduction of incidence and mortality rate compared to lockdown only. However, there is not enough evidence on the effectiveness of mass testing only
Health risks associated with high waist circumference: a systematic review
Get PDFObesity is a health disorder characterized by an increase in body weight, measured by waist circumference. High waist circumference is linked to potential development of non-communicable diseases. A systematic review study was used to explore health risks of high waist circumference through Google Scholar, Science Direct, Pubmed, and Proquest. Findings show that high waist circumference increased the risks of developing hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, joint pain, low back pain, and hyperuricemia. It is recommended that government increase their role in raising public awareness to maintain healthy lifestyle
Pregnancy disorders in female workers at the industrial area of Sidoarjo, Indonesia
Get PDFBackground: The number of female workers in Indonesia has increased and female workers have been discovered to be very vulnerable to several hazards and health problems in the workplace environment linked to their menstrual cycle and pregnancy. Therefore, this study was conducted to analyze risk factors associated with pregnancy disorders in female workers. Design and Methods: The research was conducted through the use of a cross-sectional design with 307 female workers using simple random sampling. Furthermore, a descriptive analysis was conducted to describe the conditions of the respondents during pregnancy to childbirth process. Results: The results showed 45% of respondents had pregnancy disorders, 16% had miscarriages, and despite the fact most of the prenatal care processes was assisted by doctors or midwives, 2.6% of the respondents consulted Traditional Birth Attendants, who were also recorded and was found to account for 2.9% of the deliveries. Moreover, the risk factors associated with pregnancy disorders include vibrations (P=0.004), irritants (P=0.002) and repetitive works (P=0.009). Conclusions: It is recommended that companies should provide maternal and child health protection and control for any risk associated with female workers
Knowledge, barriers and uptake of influenza vaccine among non-health college students at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Get PDFBackground: Viral influenza, one of the global public health problems is specifically important in Saudi Arabia due to high susceptibility of transmission in hajj and umrah seasons (Islamic pilgrimage to the Mecca), as it has the ability to spread widely to a large proportion, in addition the disease has a higher rate of complications that might lead to death. Vaccination is an important strategy in prevention of viral influenza. Design and methods: The study aimed to describe the association between uptake of influenza vaccine with knowledge as well as identify the barriers that prevent vaccination among Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University (PNU) non-health colleges students. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was undertaken, including 385 students from non-health colleges using a convenience sampling technique. Data was collected using an Arabic self-administered online questionnaire Analysis done by JMP program. IRB approval as well as informed consent were taken. Results: The uptake of the influenza vaccine was 15.3% in the current year and 56.8% in the previous years. No significant association was found between knowledge, and uptake of the vaccine. For the unvaccinated students, the most common encounter barriers stated by study population were concerns regarding the vaccine effectiveness, reduction of immunity the uncertainty of complete protection in a percentage of 12.0% for all. Conclusions: Although the level of vaccine uptake is low for this year, it is not associated with knowledge. There were some barriers that need to be tackled by health education programs
Knowledge, attitudes and practices among people in Saudi Arabia regarding COVID-19: A cross-sectional study
Get PDFBackground: The general population’s compliance with preventive measures and legislation is mainly influenced by their knowledge level, attitude, and practices. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude, and practices of public residents towards corona virus disease-2019 preventive measures in Saudi Arabia. Design and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study; it used a validated cross-sectional online survey that received responses from 13 Saudi administrative regions. Results: There were 1513 participants who completed the study (55% females; 77.7%, university education). Knowledge level, attitude, and practices towards corona virus disease-2019 were 81.3%, 86.6%, and 81.9%, respectively. The knowledge subscales showed that 1496 (98.9%) participants knew the system targeted by the virus, 96.2% and 97.3% knew the causative agent and symptoms, 783 (52.2%) participants knew the transmission modes, and 696 (46.0%) participants knew about the complications. The attitude subscales included 1465 (96.5%) participants who had dealt with an infected person, 1451 (95.9%) participants who isolated in a health facility, 1195 (97.0%) participants who knew about hand washing, and 1387 (91.7%) participants who thought the virus spread through home delivery. The practice subscales included 1505 (99.5%) participants who properly disposed of gloves and tissues and 1347 (89.0%) participants who reported safe practices when coughing or sneezing.Conclusions: This study showed satisfactory knowledge, attitude, and practice towards corona virus disease-2019 in Saudi Arabia. The educational level is a dominant influencing factor for knowledge, attitude, and practice
Exploring medical students’ professional identity formation through written reflections during the COVID-19 pandemic
Get PDFBackground: Disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have forced medical schools around the world to adapt. Major changes in curriculum delivery during the pandemic have impacted medical students’ professional development. We assess undergraduate medical students’ adaptations and Professional Identity Formation (PIF) by exploring their written reflections.
Methods: This phenomenology study analyzes undergraduate medical students’ written reflections. We perform a thematic analysis to identify emerging themes.
Results: We purposively selected 80 written reflections, considering the students’ year of study, gender, GPA, and education stage (preclinical or clinical). Three themes emerged: students’ adaptation processes and coping strategies in facing the pandemic; their adaptation processes for learning; and their perceived roles as medical students during the pandemic.
Conclusions: Adaptive coping mechanisms were implemented by the medical students in this study. The socialization processes that promote professional identity formation may change due to the tremendous disruption wrought by the pandemic; this has prompted our investigation of students’ roles and various ways of interacting with role models. We highlight the importance of the medical school supporting students’ adaptations and professional identity formation during this pandemic
Waiting times for prostate cancer: a review
Get PDFProstate cancer is one of the most common diagnosed cancer in men and the waiting time has become an important issue not only for clinical reasons, but mostly for the psychological implications on patients. The aim of our study was to review and analyze the literature on waiting times for prostate cancer. In February-March 2019 we performed a search for original peer-reviewed papers in the electronic database PubMed (MEDLINE). The key search terms were “prostate cancer AND waiting list”, “prostate cancer AND waiting times”. We included in our narrative review articles in Italian, English or French, published in 2009-2019 containing original data about the waiting times for prostate cancer. The literature search yielded 680 publications. Finally, we identified 8 manuscripts eligible for the review. The articles were published between 2010 and 2019; the studies involved a minimum of 16 to a maximum of 95,438 participants. Studies have been conducted in 6 countries. The waiting times from cancer suspicion to histopathological diagnosis and to treatment had an important reduction in the last years, and this constant decrease could lead to an increase of patients' satisfaction
A five-year (2015 to 2019) analysis of studies focused on breast cancer prediction using machine learning: A systematic review and bibliometric analysis
Get PDFThe objective 1 of this study was to investigate trends in breast cancer (BC) prediction using machine learning (ML) publications by analysing country, first author, journal, institutional collaborations and co-occurrence of author keywords. The objective 2 was to provide a review of studies on BC prediction using ML and a blood analysis dataset (Breast Cancer Coimbra Dataset [BCCD]), the objective 3 was to provide a brief review of studies based on BC prediction using ML and patients’ fine needle aspirate cytology data (Wisconsin Breast Cancer Dataset [WBCD]). The design of this study was as follows: for objective 1: bibliometric analysis, data source PubMed (2015-2019); for objective 2: systematic review, data source: Google and Google Scholar (2018-2019); for objective 3: systematic review, data source: Google Scholar (2016-2019). The results showed that the United States of America (USA) produced the highest number of publications (n=803). In total, 2419 first authors contributed towards the publications. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment was the highest ranked journal. Institutional collaborations mainly occurred within the USA. The use of ML for BC screening and detection was the most researched topic. A total of 19 distinct papers were included for objectives 2 and 3. The findings from these studies were never presented to clinicians for validations. In conclusion, the use of ML for BC screening and detection is promising