Journal of Ideas in Health
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Assessment of COVID-19 pandemic stress among health sciences students in a private university in South-West Nigeria
Get PDFBackground: COVID-19 pandemic has been reported to have psychological effects on various aspects of human life and segments of society. The study aimed to assess COVID-19 pandemic stress during and after lockdown among health sciences students at a private university in South-West, Nigeria.
Method: A descriptive, cross-sectional web-based research was conducted in a private teaching hospital of a private university using a simple random sampling technique. The study instrument was a self-structured questionnaire containing sociodemographic details and questions adapted from the validated Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) by Sheldon Cohen regarding lectures during and after COVID-19 lockdown. Data were analyzed with the aid of SPSS version 26 software.
Results: A total of 220 respondents were included in the study, with a mean age of 22.08±2.996. Most of the respondents were females (157, 71.4%) in their 4th-year level (37%). The participants had a high level of stress during (46.8%) COVID-19 lockdown than after the lockdown (29.1%), and statistical significance was observed between the perceived stress level during and after the COVID-19 lockdown (McNemar-Bowker’s value = 29.322, P =<0.001) at P<0.05. The female gender (B = 2.432, P = 0.03) and the respondents in 3rd year (B = -4.178, P = 0.035) had moderate stress during COVID-19 lockdown at P < 0.05. After the COVID-19 lockdown, the respondents in their 5th year had both moderate (B = -1.73, P = 0.022) and high (B = -2.08, P = 0.026) stress at p<0.05 respectively. The respondents of age groups 17-20 years (B = 3.28, P = 0.04) and 21-24 years (B = 2.93, P = 0.046) also had high stress at P <0.05 after the lockdown. Most respondents suggested reducing online lecture loads and lockdown in school as ways the university can help students cope with stress in case of repeat pandemic outbreaks in the future.
Conclusion: This study concludes that the health science students experienced a high level of stress during the COVID-19 lockdown and moderate stress level after the lockdown was eased
Preventive behavior of Opisthorchiasis among people in Ubon Ratchathani province, Thailand
Get PDFBackground: Although we are in the era of the 21st-century, some people\u27s lifestyles are still unchanged. People are still eating crude or undercooked fish, which puts them at risk for opisthorchiasis infection. This study aimed to measure knowledge and prevention behavior regarding opisthorchiasis among people resident in Ubon Ratchathani, the northeastern region of Thailand.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from 2nd October 2018 to 26th December 2018. The data was collected via a self-administered household survey using a systematic random sampling technique. Univariate and bivariate analyses such as the chi-square test were performed. SPSS version 16 was used to analyze the data, and the significance of less than 0.05 was considered.
Results: Four hundred and fifteen households have completed the questionnaire. Most of the participants were female (50.1%), aged 15-59 years old (75.3%), married (64.8%), had completed elementary school (46.3%), worked in agriculture (31.6%), and had a monthly salary of on average of 6,525 baht. Most of the respondents reported excellent behavior (94.2%) and good knowledge (80.5%) to prevent opisthorchiasis, respectively. However, there was no significant association between participants\u27 characteristics and the related behavior to prevent opisthorchiasis (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Despite efforts to educate the community, some people lack preventive knowledge and exhibit behavior associated with a higher risk of opisthorchiasis
Knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19 among Libyan people- a web-based cross-sectional study
Get PDFBackground: Successful plans in disaster and epidemics management depend on the feedback response and the assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and practices among the target population. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19 among Libyan people.
Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey designed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19 among the Libyan people from 13-20 October 2020. A self-administered questionnaire was recruited to collect the data of 287 participants. SPSS version 16.0 was used to analyze the data using univariate and multivariable regression data analyses.
Results: More than half of respondents were males (53.7%), married (61.3%), aged less than 45 years old, highly educated (46.3%), employed (44.6%), urban resident(79.8%), experience good or very good health (71.1%) and earned more than USD 200 monthly (84.3.%). The participants showed a high rate of good knowledge (81.0%), attitude (71.1%), and practice (83.7%) towards COVID-19, respectively. Regression analysis showed that married (P=0.056), female (P=0.037), living in the urban regions (P<0.001) with good income of more than USD 2020 (P=0.001) were significantly associated with upper knowledge score. Females (P=0.040) were more significantly associated with positive attitude scores than males. Regarding practice score, married (P=0.001), females (P=0.059) had better practice, but poor-rated health status (P=0.018) was significantly associated with the weak practice.
Conclusion: The distinction of urban regions with good knowledge, optimistic attitudes, and acceptable practices towards COVID-19 determines the government\u27s action compass towards more interest in supporting males, unhealthy, and those living in the rural areas with accurate and timely knowledge
Association between CHA2DS2-VASc score and in-hospital death in ICU patients with COVID-19
Get PDFBackground: CHA2DS2-VASc score is a scientifically proven risk assessment score for patients with atrial fibrillation. It may be a good predictor of in-hospital death in COVID-19 patients. The present study aimed to evaluate the association between CHA2DS2-VASc score and in-hospital mortality in the prognosis of intensive care unit (ICU) patients with COVID-19.
Methods: Eighty-four COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized in the ICU were retrospectively analyzed in a tertiary health care center, and the CHA2DS2-VASc score was determined. All analyses were performed using SPSS statistical software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA, 20.0). A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: The median age of patients was 60.0 years, and most were males (75.0%). Findings of the study showed that the CHA2DS2-VASc score was considerably higher among the hospitalized patients than discharged patients (3.08 ± 1.72 vs. 1.38 ± 1.16; p<0.001), and patients who required mechanical ventilation compared to those who did not require mechanical ventilation (3.03 ± 1.68 vs. 1.15 ± 0.97; P <0.001), respectively. Patients with CHA2DS2-VASc score of ≥3 had substantially higher age [67(45-87) vs. 58(19-75); P ˂0.001], computed tomography involvement score [67.5(20-90) vs. 35(15-90); P ˂0.001] and need for mechanical ventilation [29(90.6%) vs. 22(42.3%); P ˂0.001]. A significant difference was found in oxygen saturation on admission (P =0.001) between the two groups. In-hospital death was significantly higher among patients with a CHA2DS2-VASc score of ≥3 (P <0.001). The CHA2DS2-VASc score was positively correlated with white blood cells count (r=0.257, P =0.018) and negatively correlated with the number of days spent in the hospital (r=-0.184, P=0.130) due to higher in-hospital death in ICU patients with COVID-19.
Conclusion: CHA2DS2-VASc score may be an effective tool to estimate in-hospital death in COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized in the ICU
Investigating of fear of COVID-19 after pregnancy and association with breastfeeding
Get PDFBackground: COVID-19 pandemic has certainly become the most important global problem. Deficient information may increase the fear of COVID-19, affect pregnant women\u27s psychology, and even affect breastfeeding during the postpartum period. This study aimed to assess the fear of the COVID-19 pandemic after pregnancy and its association with breastfeeding.
Methods: A cross-sectional study designed to survey all pregnant women who gave birth at ≥36 weeks between March 10 and June 10, 2020, at the Private Nisa Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. Participants respond to questions related to sociodemographic, genealogical, pregnancy, birth information, postpartum baby care, and breastfeeding status, in addition to the 7-item Fear of COVID-19 Scale (fcv-19s) via phone. Descriptive, bivariate, and linear regression analysis was performed to predict fcv-19s. SPSS version 22.0 was used to analyze the data.
Results: A total of 906 (response rate 78.8%) respondents with a mean age of 29.59 (±4.74years) were included in the study. Most of them were highly educated (75.2%), housewives(86.1%), and living in nuclear families (96.1%). The majority of women (92.9%) gave birth at 38 weeks via cesarean section (71.7%) and breastfeeding (94.2%). Although the mean score of (fcv-19s) was high in non-breastfeeding mothers, no significant correlation was seen in bivariate analysis. In the linear regression analysis, the highly educated, good income status, having at least once follow-up a month, having a history of psychiatric disease, cesarean section delivery, competence in baby care, breastfeeding, and milk adequacy significantly predicted the (fcv-19s) (R = 0.67, R2 = 0.46, F = 42.10, p < 0.001).
Conclusions: During pandemics, including COVID-19, the psychological state of society is negatively affected, and therefore special attention must be given to the most affected groups, especially pregnant and postpartum women
Evaluating the home isolation of COVID-19 patients in primary care
Get PDFBackground: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of home isolation and medical follow-up by analyzing data collected over the phone from isolated individuals.
Methods: A cross-sectional phone-based survey designed to evaluate the home isolated COVID-19 suspected patients at the Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Family Health Center in Istanbul city between 16th March 5th May 2020. A semi-structured questionnaire and the universal sampling technique were recruited to collect data about the socio-demographic and the COVID-19 related laboratory and clinical findings. The SPSS for Windows program was used to perform a univariate and bivariate statistical analysis. The Statistical alpha significance level was accepted at less than 0.05.
Results: A total of 463 confirmed, probable, or suspected cases of COVID-19 took part in this study with a mean age of 35.38 ∓17.1 (range: 0-86 years). Tow-third 310 (67.0%) underwent the PCR tests, and 67 (21.6%) confirmed positive results. Moreover, one-third (159, 34.3%) exposed to CT scans; however, 51(32.3%) were compatible with COVID-19. The median age of individuals with PCR positive was 38 years. More than half (40, 59.7%) were males, compared to 27 (40.3%) were females. There was no significant relationship between PCR positivity and pandemic period, age, or gender (P = 0.149; P = 0.545; P = 0.285), respectively. Although older individuals had a higher rate of CT scan compatible with COVID-19, the relation between increased age and COVID-19 compatible CT was found not to be statistically significant (P = 0.053). Moreover, there was significant relationship between CT scan positivity and coughing, the tobacco smoking and diabetes (P = 0.003; P = 0.032; P = 0.016), respectively.
Conclusion: Combining PCR, symptoms, and CT together doubles the likelihood of a correct diagnosis. Quarantined patients must be regularly monitored
Resilience, fear of COVID-19 and their relationship with cognitive functioning and mood: a study on the administrative staff of the University of Western Macedonia, Greece
Get PDFBackground: The present study examines the relationship between resilience, mood, fear for Covid-19, and cognitive functioning during pandemic Covid-19.
Methods: A cross-sectional web-based study was conducted from December 2020 to January 2021 among the administrative staff of the University of Western Macedonia, Greece. Data was collected using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Depression, Anxiety, and Stress (DASS 21), fear of Covid-19 scales (FCV-19S), and Cognitive functioning self-assessment scale (CFSS). Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analysis was performed using an independent Sample T-Test, Chi-Square Test, One-way ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U Test, Kruskal-Wallis H Test, Spearman\u27s Rank-Order Correlations, Pearson product-moment correlations, and Simple Linear Regression. SPSS version 22 was used for data analysis and the statistical significance was considered at less than 0.05.
Results: Data of 88 university\u27s administrative staff has undergone final analysis. Most of the respondents were females (78.4%), married (61.3%), middle-aged group (64.8%), held a post-graduate degree (56.8%) and 94.3% stated that they had not been sick with Covid-19. Our findings showed that the middle-aged group has statistically significantly higher fear on Covid-19 (P = 0.046), and more care of personal hygiene, stress (P = 0.040), than the young age group respectively. Women had a statistically significantly higher restriction to physical contact compared to men (P = 0.042), however, men had statistically significantly more trusted the results of clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccines than women (P = 0.039), respectively. There was statistically significant and negative correlation between Resilience (CD) and cognitive functioning (r = -0.412, n = 87, P < 0.001). Furthermore, the result of a simple linear regression showed that an increase of one in CD corresponded to a 0.287 decrease in cognitive functioning.
Conclusion: It is vital to continue monitoring the psychological and cognitive effects of the Covid-19 pandemic
Hyperferritinemia: the link between COVID-19, inflammation, and patient comorbidities
Get PDFFerritin is a key molecule in iron metabolism, as it stores the iron in a non-toxic form for the cells. Serum ferritin is a parameter that reflects the iron content of the body. However, serum ferritin is also an acute-phase reactant protein, as increased levels of serum ferritin are reported in many diseases associated with inflammation. Hyperferritinemia was also reported in COVID-19 (the coronavirus disease 19) patients, where it is considered an independent prognostic factor for the patients, indicating increased severity of the disease, risk for complications, and death. Certain categories of patients (older, those with comorbidities) have an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) infectivity and developing more severe forms of COVID-19. Chronic/acute systemic inflammatory states often characterize such preexisting comorbidities. In the current paper, a new pathogenic link is proposed and analyzed: between preexisting hyperferritinemia in the context of patient comorbidities (metabolic, cardiovascular, kidney, inflammatory, autoimmune, cancer) and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity and of developing more severe forms of infection. Ferritin per se can be a causal agent in COVID-19, as it can generate and aggravate inflammation and contributes to the development of a severe cytokine storm. A severe, uncontrolled inflammatory state occurs, triggered by the high levels of serum ferritin, preexisting comorbidities, and SARS-CoV-2 infection, cause of lethality in many patients. The inflammatory stimuli can further aggravate the infection by activating ADAM-17 (disintegrin and metalloprotease 17), a key enzyme involved in ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2) activation and viral infectivity. In this context, iron chelators and antioxidants could become potential lines of treatment in COVID-19
Understanding SARS-CoV-2 features of infectivity, aggressiveness, and transmissibility: an insect-vector theory for SARS-CoV-2 dissemination
Get PDFThe severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a ribonucleic acid–based (RNA-based) lineage B β-coronavirus characterized by 10-20 times higher infectivity and transmissibility even across species than previous coronaviruses. The significant infectivity rate of SARS-CoV-2 is due to its different host cell entry mechanisms that are mainly via angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors contrasting earlier coronaviruses that used mainly the endosomal route. Due to the widespread distribution of ACE2 receptors throughout our body, various routes of infectivity are possible, highlighting the necessity of employing multiple forms of protection besides face masks to limit inter-human transmissibility. SARS-CoV-2 exhibits other remarkable features such as the ability to escape the immune system repeated genomic mutations that make it difficult to design a vaccine to address all viral strains and form huge host cell syncytia leading to massive tissue destruction. If we accept SARS-CoV-2 primary reservoir from bats, we should investigate the routes of viral inter-species propagation. In this article, a new theory is proposed- that the dissemination of the virus from the bats to other species and humans could have been possible via an insect vector, as insects possess significant amounts of both ACE2 receptors and a disintegrin and metalloprotease 17 (ADAM-17) enzymes that are essential for virus infectivity.
Computed tomography assessment of the ethmoid roof based on Keros classification in Iraqi patients undergoing functional endoscopic sinus surgery
Get PDFBackground: Among the most popular methods employed to classify the depth of the olfactory fossa is Keros classification. This study aims to assess Keros classification of the ethmoid roof, any possible association between Keros types and gender, and the incidence of asymmetry between right and left sides among Iraqi patients.
Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at Al-Shaheed Gazi Al-Hariri Teaching Hospital, Medical City, Baghdad, Iraq. The archived reports and the CT scans images (nose and paranasal sinuses) of 126 patients who have undergone functional endoscopic sinus surgery between January 2019 and January 2020 were reviewed. Univariate and bivariate statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 24. The statistically significant was considered at less than 0.05.
Results: More than half of patients were females (54.0%) with a mean age of 31.52 ± 11.38 (SD) years (range: 10-57 years). Among the total patients, the mean depth of olfactory fossa (OF) was 3.58 ± 0.02 mm. Results showed that Keros type I was the most common type (71.0%), followed by type II (27.4%) and type III (1.6%) respectively. The difference in the olfactory fossa depth between the right and left sides was ≥ 1 mm in 16 (12.7%) patients and < 1 mm in 110 (87.3%) patients. Moreover, there was no significant relation between symmetry/asymmetry and gender ( p-value > 0.05).
Conclusion: Keros type I was the most common type, which carries the lowest risk of inadvertent intracranial injury during endoscopic sinus surgery; besides the relatively low percentage of asymmetry in the depth of the two olfactory fossae among patients, surgeons should always be cautious during surgery to avoid iatrogenic injury concerning the thin lateral lamella of the cribriform plate