scholarly journals Risk Perception and Worries among Health Care Workers in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from an Italian Survey

Healthcare ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 535
Author(s):  
Mariangela Valentina Puci ◽  
Guido Nosari ◽  
Federica Loi ◽  
Giulia Virginia Puci ◽  
Cristina Montomoli ◽  
...  

The ongoing pandemic scenario, due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has had a considerable impact on public health all over the world. Italy was one of the most affected countries, as the first European full-blown outbreak occurred there. The exposure of the Italian health care workers to COVID-19 may be an important risk factor for psychological distress. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to describe worries and risk perception of being infected among Italian Health Care Workers (HCWs) during the first wave of the pandemic. In total, 2078 HCWs participated in a web survey (78.8% were females). The highest percentage of respondents were physicians (40.75%) and nurses (32.15%), followed by medical (18.00%), health care support (4.50%) and administrative (4.60%) staff. In a score range between 0 (not worried) and 4 (very worried), our results showed that participants declared that they were worried about the Coronavirus infection with a median score of 3 (IQR 2-3) and for 59.19% the risk perception of being infected was very high. In addition, HCWs reported they suffered from sleep disturbances (63.43%). From the analysis of the psychological aspect, a possible divergence emerged between the perceived need for psychological support (83.85%) and the relative lack of this service among health care providers emerged (9.38%). Our findings highlight the importance of psychological and psychiatric support services not only during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also in other emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) scenarios. These services may be useful for health authorities and policymakers to ensure the psychological well-being of health care professionals and to promote precautionary behaviors among them.

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 560-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirna Fawaz ◽  
Ali Samaha

Background: Since the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), health care professionals in Lebanon have been diligently serving as the frontline of defense. In the light of challenging economic and political circumstances, putting their community wellbeing as a priority, and abiding by quarantine and strict infection control measures, health care professionals risk both their physical and mental wellbeing. Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the psychosocial effects of being quarantined following exposure to COVID-19 among Lebanese health care professionals. Method: An exploratory qualitative research design was employed, where semi-structured interviews were carried out involving a sample of 13 Lebanese health care providers working at various COVID-19 units. Results: The qualitative analysis has revealed four themes namely ‘Fears of contracting and spreading the virus’, ‘Conflict between professional duty and family obligation’, ‘Stigma of being infected’, and ‘Inadequate or inaccurate information’. Conclusion: COVID-19 quarantine has been posing intense psychological challenges among Lebanese health care workers which are worsened at times by the economic instability; thus, health care policymakers are urged to take proper action nationwide to alleviate longlisting implications and support the health care providers in fulfilling their mission.


2016 ◽  
Vol 157 (16) ◽  
pp. 623-630
Author(s):  
Anikó Németh

Introduction: Burnout is common among health care providers and doctors. Aim: The correlations between burnout and health, psychosomatic symptoms, life satisfaction and sleep were investigated. Method: An online quantitative cross-sectional questionnaire was administered to 186 doctors. Burnout was assessed by the means of the 21-item questionnaire of Pines and Aronson (1981). Data were analysed with chi-square probe, Mann-Whitney test, correlational analysis and linear regression. Results: Level of burnout correlated negatively with age (p = 0.040; r = –0.151), years spent in the health care system (p = 0.027; r = –0.162) and positive well-being (p<0.001, r = –0.670), while there was a negative correlation with negative well-being (p<0.001; r = 0.585) and life satisfaction (p<0.001; r = –0.532). Doctors with burnout reported worse health (p<0.001), more frequent psychosomatic symptoms (p<0.001), tumours (p = 0.007), allergies (p = 0.030), psychiatric disorders (p = 0.025) and sleep disturbances. Conclusions: One-third of the doctors were affected by burnout in the present study. Higher age and having more children served as a protective factor. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(16), 623–630.


2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-176
Author(s):  
Rajiv Ahluwalia

Bioethics is the most appropriate and moral way of dealing with sensitive situations that arise in the field of medicine. This is more so in contemporary times with the advent of technology. Beneficence demands that health care providers develop and maintain skills and knowledge, continually update training, consider individual circumstances of all patients, and strive for patients’ well-being and benefit. Problems arising from unethical approach have now reached global proportions and this has prompted global institutions to work on this and create awareness amongst health care workers toward ethical approach. A pleasing appearance in today’s world has become a necessity, the smile being a prime asset to an individual’s appearance. Feeling attractive is directly related to elevated self-esteem. However, the objectives of cosmetic dentistry need to be met with unscrupulous treatment, keeping in mind dental ethics and adhering to the principles.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 2632-2646
Author(s):  
Ajith Kumar G ◽  
Saranya P

Health care providers play a major role in the management of tuberculosis (TB). The knowledge, attitude and practice towards TB in health care providers will have an impact on the treatment success or failure. Studies have reported that inadequate knowledge of the health care providers led to the delivery of improper counselling content to the recipients. We assessed the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) towards tuberculosis among health care workers in and around Chennai. A cross sectional study was conducted among 382 health care workers of the chest and tuberculosis department of government hospitals and directly observed treatment short-course clinics. The principal investigator administered a structured and validated questionnaire to the study participants. Around 500 healthcare workers were approached, and 382 showed interest to sign the informed consent. A majority (70%) of the study participants were between the age group 20-30 years. There was a highly significant difference (P = 0.006) in response to this between participants who had a history of active tuberculosis and undergone treatment for the same, and the participants with no history of TB. There was a significant difference between the study population based on their qualification and profession (P = 0.001 and P = 0.007 respectively) in using the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program guideline for reference. The knowledge attitude and practice towards TB was good in more than 80% of the respondents, yet there is room to improve. Structured periodic training towards TB will further improve the KAP of health care workers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 1750-55
Author(s):  
Salahuddin Balooch ◽  
Fakhra Noureen ◽  
Abid Saeed Khan ◽  
Ibad ur Rehman ◽  
Aleena Bakhtawar ◽  
...  

  Objective: To assess awareness and practices applied by health care workers to achieve patient safety during phlebotomy and ultrasound biopsy. Study Design: Cross-sectional study Place and duration of study: The present study was conducted from Jan 2019 to Jan 2020 at Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Kharian, Pakistan. Patients and Methods: The health care providers were interrogated about their knowledge and practices regarding patient safety with respect to phlebotomy and ultrasound biopsy. The responses of participants were evaluated through correlation analysis by SPSS v.17. Results: The results show that awareness and practice implementation for patient safety in phlebotomy and ultrasound biopsy enhance in accordance to age, education and experience. The findings of present study suggest that physicians and nurses tend to have better awareness and practices of patient safety as compared to other health care workers. However, all the health care workers included in present study showed adequate level of awareness and practice implementation. Conclusion: The managers and co-workers need to support the health care workers’ groups that tend to show lower levels of awareness and practice implantation in patient safety. This will not only enhance their competence but also help in better and secure provision of health care.


2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (11) ◽  
pp. 1266-1279
Author(s):  
Carrie L. Heike ◽  
Meredith Albert ◽  
Cassandra L. Aspinall ◽  
Suzel Bautista ◽  
Claudia Crilly Bellucci ◽  
...  

Objective: To develop an outcomes instrument that assesses observations that can be reliably reported by caregivers and can be used to assess health of infants with a cleft lip or cleft lip and cleft palate (CL±P) and impacts of treatments. Design: Cross-sectional, mixed methods study. Setting: Caregivers and health-care providers were recruited from 3 academic craniofacial centers and national advertisements. Most interviews were conducted by telephone, and surveys were completed online. Participants: Caregivers had a child less than 3 years of age with CL±P and spoke either English or Spanish. Health-care providers were members of a cleft team. Caregivers (n = 492) and health-care professionals (n = 75) participated in at least one component of this study. Main Outcome Measure(s): Caregivers and health-care providers participated in tasks related to instrument development: concept elicitation for items within relevant health domains, prioritization of items, and item review. Results: We identified 295 observations of infant well-being across 9 health areas. Research staff and specialists evaluated items for clarity, specificity to CL±P, and responsiveness to treatment. Caregivers and health-care providers rated the resulting list of 104 observations and developed the final instrument of 65 items. Conclusions: In this phase of development of the Infant with Clefts Observation Outcomes (iCOO) instrument, items were developed to collect caregiver observations about indicators of children’s health and well-being across multiple domains allowing for psychometric testing, sensitivity to changes associated with treatment, and documentation of the effects of treatment.


2020 ◽  
pp. 002076402093959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdallah Badahdah ◽  
Faryal Khamis ◽  
Nawal Al Mahyijari ◽  
Marwa Al Balushi ◽  
Hashil Al Hatmi ◽  
...  

Background: COVID-19 disease is one of the most destructive events that humanity has witnessed in the 21st century. It has impacted all aspects of life and all segments of populations, including already vulnerable health care providers. Aims: This study sought to detect the prevalence of mental health issues in sample of physicians and nurses working in several health facilities in Oman. Method: We gauged the mental health conditions of 509 physicians (38.1%) and nurses (61.9 %) using the Perceived Stress Scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale and World Health Organization Well-Being Index. Results: The study revealed a high prevalence of stress, anxiety and poor psychological well-being, especially among females, young health care workers and those who interacted with known or suspected COVID-19 patients. Conclusion: The outcomes of this study support the handful of studies published during this global health crisis that have found that the mental health of health care workers has been harshly affected and predicted that it will continue, to various degrees, to be affected in the foreseeable future. The results of this study highlight the urgency of providing administrative and psychological support as well as current and accurate information on COVID-19 to health care workers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 234-241
Author(s):  
Ginenus Fekadu*, Ayalesew Melese, Getu Bayisa

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) has existed for millennia and remains a major global health problem. Although it may be assumed that in general health care workers (HCWs) know about MDR-TB and its implications, several studies from around the globe have found that HCWs do not always exhibit sufficient knowledge, positive attitudes, and acceptable practices regarding preventing and treating MDR-TB. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted by means of self-administered semi structured questionnaires that was provided to health care workers of NRH from March 10 to April 2, 2017. Using convenient sampling technique, from 155 health professionals’ 140 individuals returned the questionnaires. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics was used to determine frequency and percentage. Chi-square test was used to identify the relationships between dependent and independent variables (P<0.05 and 95% CI). Results: The mean age of participants was 30.76+6.42 years. About 56.4% of the participants were males and majority of participants were Nurses (42.2%). Greater than half (59.3%) of respondents had good level of knowledge about MDR-TB and the overwhelming majority of them held positive attitude (60.7%) towards patients with MDR-TB. Overall 21%, 55%, 72.1% of respondents reported that they had their own copy of MDR-TB management guidelines, used the protective masks and were individually involved in educating patients about MDR-TB respectively. Respondents who had good knowledge about MDR-TB significantly wore their Protective masks than those with insufficient knowledge which was statistically significant (P=0.01). Based on the assessed level of knowledge, respondents with good level of knowledge reported they referred to the manual more than those with insufficient level (30.1% versus 19.3%, P=0.172). Conclusion: The finding indicates that the level of knowledge about MDR-TB did not influence the attitude and practices of respondents towards patients suffering from MDR-TB. Contrary to this good knowledge was positively associated with safer practices such as using protective masks, educating patients, and referring to the MDRTB guidelines manual. This situation needs to be remedied by making the guidelines available to all healthcare workers in Ethiopia.


2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 351-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Kopitovic ◽  
Aleksandar Bokan ◽  
Ilija Andrijevic ◽  
Miroslav Ilic ◽  
Sanja Marinkovic ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Objective: COPD is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Health care providers should counsel their smoking patients with COPD to quit smoking as the first treatment step. However, in countries with high prevalences of smoking, health care workers may also be smokers. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and severity of COPD in health care workers who smoke. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. All health care workers who smoke, from nine health care centers in Serbia, were invited to participate in the study and perform spirometry. The diagnosis of COPD was based on a post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC ratio of < 0.70. All patients completed the COPD Assessment Test and the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence. Results: The study involved 305 subjects, and 47 (15.4%) were male. The mean age of the participants was 49.0 ± 6.5 years. Spirometry revealed obstructive ventilatory defect in 33 subjects (10.8%); restrictive ventilatory defect, in 5 (1.6%); and small airway disease, in 96 (31.5%). A diagnosis of COPD was made in 29 patients (9.5%), 25 (86.2%) of whom were newly diagnosed. On the basis of the Global Initiative for COPD guidelines, most COPD patients belonged to groups A or B (n = 14; 48.2%, for both); 1 belonged to group D (3.6%); and none, to group C. Very high nicotine dependence was more common in those with COPD than in those without it (20.7% vs. 5.4%, p = 0.01). Conclusions: In this sample of health care workers, the frequency of COPD was comparable with that in the general population. The presence of COPD in health care workers who smoke was associated with higher nicotine dependence.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 628-631
Author(s):  
Devangi Agrawal ◽  
Namisha Khara ◽  
Bhushan Mundada ◽  
Nitin Bhola ◽  
Rajiv Borle

In the wake of the current outbreak of novel Covid-19, which is now declared as a 'pandemic' by the WHO, people around the globe have been dealing with a lot of difficulties. This virus had come into light in December 2019 and since then has only grown exponentially. Amongst the most affected are the ones who have been working extremely hard to eradicate it, which includes the hospitals, dental fraternity and the health-care workers. These people are financially burdened due to limited practise. In the case of dentistry, to avoid the spread of the virus, only emergency treatments are being approved, and the rest of the standard procedures have been put on hold. In some cases, as the number of covid cases is rising, many countries are even trying to eliminate the emergency dental procedures to divert the finances towards the treatment of covid suffering patients. What we need to realise is that this is probably not the last time that we are facing such a situation. Instead of going down, we should set up guidelines with appropriate precautionary measures together with the use of standardised PPEs. The government should also establish specific policies to support dental practices and other health-care providers. Together, we can fight this pandemic and come out stronger.


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