scholarly journals Evaluating the Practice of Preventive Behaviors and the Fear of COVID-19 among Dentists in Oradea Metropolitan Area after the First Wave of Pandemic; a Cross-Sectional Study

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 443
Author(s):  
Raluca Iurcov ◽  
Lavinia Maria Pop ◽  
Gabriela Ciavoi ◽  
Magdalena Iorga

Dental clinics were suspected to be a hotspot for nosocomial transmission of COVID-19 due to the easy spread of the virus. The study investigated the preventive behaviors applied in dentistry settings and the level of fear of COVID-19 infection among dentists. A total of 83 respondents (34.94% male and 63.86% female) were included in the research. Sociodemographic data were collected, together with new institutional and personal rules regarding preventive behaviors. Fear of COVID-19 Scale was used to measure the fear of infection. Data was analyzed using SPSS (v.25, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). During the first seven months of confinement, 3.9% of dentists were confirmed with COVID-19 and one fourth treated confirmed positive patients. A quarter of the doctors declared that they had periods when they lived away from home being afraid of transmitting the disease to their family members, and significant data were found in doctors being parents. The closure of dental offices had a negative impact on the financial situation of dentists, especially on those working in rural area offices. Many doctors encountered difficulties in purchasing protective suits and medical supplies, and more than half of the respondents (65.1%, N = 54) focused on the quality of protective suits when purchasing them. More than half of the dentists were trained how to use them. The score for fear of COVID 19 was similar to dentists from other countries. Respondents with chronic diseases were more prone to show higher level of anxiety when following the news and stories related to COVID-19 on TV, media, or social networks. One third of dentists mentioned that they had treated exclusively specific urgent dental problems since the onset of the pandemic and more than 13.3% declared that they refused to provide medical assistance to some specific pathologies because of the fear of infection. The results reflect new challenges and rules adopted by dentists in order to diminish the risk of infection and the impact of pandemic considering their psychological, familial, and financial context. Policymakers and professional associations around may benefit from these findings while formulating guidelines to support dentists during COVID-19 or any future pandemics.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manar Abduljalil Bakhsh ◽  
Jomana Khawandanah ◽  
Rouba Khalil Naaman ◽  
Shoug Alashmali

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments around the world to impose strict hygiene and national lockdown measures, which in turn has changed the dietary and lifestyle habits of the world’s population. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate whether dietary and physical activity behaviors of Saudi Arabia’s adult population changed during the COVID-19 quarantine. Methods An electronic questionnaire which assessed changes in body weight, dietary habits, and physical activity of Saudi Arabia’s adult population (n = 2255) during the COVID-19 quarantine was distributed on social media between June and July 2020. To test the differences between changes in dietary and physical activity behaviors in relation to changes in body weight a Chi-square test was used. Results Over 40 and 45% of participants reported eating and snacking more, respectively, which led to weight gain in around 28%. Most participants reported that they consumed home-cooked (73%) and healthy meals (47%), while only 7% reported that they consumed foods from restaurants. Feelings of boredom and emptiness (44%) and the availability of time for preparing meals (40%) were the main reasons for changing dietary habits. Honey (43%) and vitamin C (50%) were the most consumed immune-boosting food and dietary supplement, respectively. COVID-19 also had a negative impact on physical activity, lowering the practice in 52% subjects, which was associated with significant weight gain (p < 0.001). Conclusion Assessing the changes to the population’s dietary habits and physical activity during the lockdown will help predict the outcome of the population’s future health and wellbeing after the pandemic.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 269-275
Author(s):  
Vivi Silawati ◽  
Afrizal ◽  
Nursyirwan Effendi ◽  
Masrul ◽  
Retno Widowati ◽  
...  

Stress in women, before and during pregnancy, may result in a negative impact on the mother and fetus. In Indonesia, the anxiety rate in primigravida pregnant women when facing labor is higher than multigravida. Every pregnant woman makes an attempt to overcome or manage stress in her pregnancy in order to adapt and cope with stress. To find out the coping ability, pregnant women should find the source of stress prior to labor. This study was conducted to determine the direct and indirect factors affecting the coping ability in primigravida pregnant women. The study used a cross sectional study method through PLS analysis. The study population consisted of primigravida pregnant women, and a sample of 200 of them was taken. The measurement results of Path Coefficients and TStatistics on the influence of variables in the structural model and overall variables showed a positive and significant effect. The T statistic value of all variables was above the critical value (1.96). The results of the PLS test indicated that the empowerment and social support variables, directly and indirectly, influenced the coping abilities. Trust, personality, lifestyle, perceptions, and attitudes had impacts directly on the coping abilities. The percentage of the direct and indirect influence between variables was 97.92%. Empowerment, social support, personality, lifestyle, perceptions, and attitudes variables had an influence on the coping abilities of primigravida pregnant women. A controlled trial study should be done to see the impact of this model on reducing the risks during pregnancy.


2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-24
Author(s):  
Neha Thakur (Rai) ◽  
Arvind Kumar Singh ◽  
Narendra Rai ◽  
Devesh Kumar Shukla

Background: With the ongoing growth and expansion of digital media and COVID-19 pandemic, children are inclining more and more toward spending time on digital media as compared to outdoor sports, leading to poor physical and mental growth. Developed nations have already set up a screen time guideline which is yet to be established in developing nations. This study was conducted with the objectives of identifying the needs of screen time guidelines and to study the impact of screen time on mental and physical health in children. Aims and Objectives: This study aims to check the screen time in children aged 2–18 and find the health consequences both physical and psychological in those children. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study on children aged 2–18 years was conducted between 2019 and 2020. Parents were asked to fill a pre-structured questionnaire. Impact on health physical and mental were assessed by pediatrician and psychologist. Results: A total of 155 children were enrolled in the study. Mean child hours in children aged 2–5 years, 5–10 years, and 10–18 years were 4 h, 5.83 h, and 6.29 h on week days and 5.64 h, 5.76 h, and 7.69 h on weekends, respectively. More than one-third of children had age of onset of screen time below 2 years of age. About 70% of children had malnutrition. Only 18% of parents were aware of concept of screen free days. Screen time had negative impact on health (P=0.0001) and on behavior of child (P=0.001). Average increase in screen time during COVID-19 was nearly 3 times the pre-COVID era. Conclusion: This study has paved the way for the need of larger study and development of guidelines on impact of screen time on children in developing nations where screen time guidelines is yet to be set more so in era of COVID 19 pandemic.


2020 ◽  
pp. postgradmedj-2020-139150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramanathan Swaminathan ◽  
Bimantha Perera Mukundadura ◽  
Shashi Prasad

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the use of enhanced personal protective equipment (PPE) in healthcare workers in patient-facing roles. We describe the impact on the physical and mental well-being of healthcare professionals who use enhanced PPE consistently.MethodsWe conducted a single-centre, cross-sectional study among healthcare professionals who use enhanced PPE. A web-based questionnaire was disseminated to evaluate the effects on individuals’ physical and mental well-being. Physical and mental impact was assessed through a visual analogue scale.ResultsProspective analysis of the views of 72 respondents is reported. 63.9% were women and 36.1% were men. Physical impact included exhaustion, headache, skin changes, breathlessness and a negative impact on vision. Communication difficulties, somnolence, negative impact on overall performance and difficulties in using surgical instrumentation were reported.ConclusionOur study demonstrates the undeniable negative impact on the front-line healthcare workers using enhanced PPE and lays the ground for larger multicentric assessments given for it to potentially be the norm for the foreseeable future.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sônia Rodrigues Dutra ◽  
Henrique Pretti ◽  
Milene Torres Martins ◽  
Cristiane Baccin Bendo ◽  
Miriam Pimenta Vale

ABSTRACT Objective: The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to assess the impact of malocclusion on the quality of life of children aged 8 to 10 years attending public elementary schools in Belo Horizonte, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Methods: The Brazilian version of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire 8-10 (CPQ8-10) was used to evaluate oral health-related quality of life. The children were examined for the diagnosis of malocclusion using the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI). The data were analyzed by bivariate and multivariate descriptive statistics using Poisson regression at a 5% significance level. A total of 270 children participated in the study. Results: Children with normal occlusion or mild malocclusion (DAI ≤ 25) were 56% less likely (95%CI: 0.258-0.758; p= 0.003) to have their quality of life affected compared with children diagnosed with extremely severe malocclusion (DAI ≥ 36). Children with a maxillary anterior overjet ≥ 3 mm had higher CPQ8-10 mean scores (19.4; SD = 17.1) than those with an overjet < 3 mm (13.6; SD = 11.7; p= 0.038). Conclusions: Extremely severe malocclusion and pronounced maxillary anterior overjet were associated with a negative impact on quality of life.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 74-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Guimarães Abreu ◽  
Camilo Aquino Melgaço ◽  
Mauro Henrique Abreu ◽  
Elizabeth Maria Bastos Lages ◽  
Saul Martins Paiva

ABSTRACT Objective: The objective of this article was to assess the perception of parents and caregivers regarding the impact of malocclusion on adolescents’ oral health -related quality of life (OHRQoL). Methods: This cross-sectional study consisted of a sample of 280 parents/caregivers of 11 and 12-year-old adolescents who answered the Parental-Caregiver Perceptions Questionnaire (P-CPQ). Parent-assessed quality of life of adolescents was the dependent variable. The main independent variable was adolescents’ malocclusion which was diagnosed by means of the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI). Based on DAI cut-off points, adolescents were classified into four grades of malocclusion, with different orthodontic treatment recommendations assigned to each grade: no need/slight treatment need, elective treatment, highly desirable treatment and mandatory treatment. Adolescents’ age and sex, as well as family monthly income, were considered as confounding variables. Statistical analysis involved descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, and Poisson regression with robust variance. Results: Of the 280 parents/caregivers initially accepted in this study, 18 refused to answer the P-CPQ. Therefore, 262 individuals participated in this assessment, providing a response rate of 93.5%. The severity of adolescents’ malocclusion was significantly associated with a higher negative impact on parents’/caregivers’ perception on the oral symptoms (p< 0.05), functional limitations (p < 0.001), emotional well-being (p < 0.001), and social well-being (p < 0.001) subscale scores as well as on the overall P-CPQ score (p < 0.001), even after having been adjusted for the controlling variables. Conclusions: Parents/caregivers reported a negative impact of malocclusion on adolescents’ OHRQoL. Increased severity of malocclusion is associated with higher adverse impact on OHRQoL.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 986
Author(s):  
Ricardo Campos ◽  
Vânia Pinto ◽  
Daniela Alves ◽  
Celina Pires Rosa ◽  
Henrique Pereira

(1) Background: The purpose of this article is to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of medical students in Portugal in the period after returning to face-to-face classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the 2020/2021 academic year. (2) Methods: We conducted an observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional study, between December 2020 and February 2021 with a representative sample of Portuguese medical students (n = 649), applying an anonymous questionnaire which was composed by a sociodemographic characterization, The Brief Symptoms Inventory–18, The Fear of COVID-19 Scale and the Negative Impact Assessment Scale. For statistical processing, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS ©) was used. (3) Results: 65.3% of participants said that self-perceived relevant anxiety symptoms, and around 10% said that they had a physical or a mental illness diagnosis. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found for Fear of COVID-19, Somatization, Anxiety and Overall Mental Health, indicating that women, students from the 1st and last years of training had higher scores. Age, year of training, Fear of COVID-19 and Negative Impact of COVID-19 were significant predictors of overall mental health. (4) Conclusion: In our sample of Portuguese medical students, age, year of training, but mostly fear of COVID-19 and the negative impact of COVID-19 contributed to mental health symptoms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 227-237
Author(s):  
Imad T. Asmar ◽  
Hani Naseef ◽  
Nimeh Al-Shami ◽  
Maram K. Jaghama ◽  
Abdallah D. Abukhalil ◽  
...  

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapid manifestation and spread have disrupted world norms and affected people's daily activities and life. Many ministries chose mass lockdown protocol as a way to control the virus spread. Though this protocol has shown to be effective in limiting the Virus transmission, it might have a negative impact on the population's psychological status, such as boredom, confusion, psychological stress, anxiety, depression, and physical effects. Objective: This study aimed to find the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Palestinian adults' psychological status by assessing the participant's practices, reports of anxiety and depression during the pandemics Methods: An observational descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among Palestinian adults in the West Bank, at the occupied Palestinian territories, between July and September 2020. The questionnaire was structured into two domains: the first domain includes nine questions about sociodemographic data. The second consisted of 33 (yes and no) questions evaluating the participant's psychological status. Results: 739 participants with a mean age of 31.76, filled the online questionnaire. Around one-third of respondents revealed having many signs of anxiety, and around 42% of respondents expressed having many signs of depression. Females were significantly more likely to have signs of depression, whereas front-line COVID-19 health care workers were significantly the least likely to have signs of depression and no signs of depression were found among participants with high incomes. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has a negative effect on mental status; most participants have signs of anxiety and depression.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashraf Moini ◽  
Khadije Maajani ◽  
Ramesh Omranipour ◽  
Mohamad-Reza Zafarghandi ◽  
Ashraf Aleyasin ◽  
...  

Abstract Background COVID-19 has affected the training programs and the clinical schedules of surgical wards in many countries, including Iran. Also, the continuous involvement with COVID-19 patients has caused stress in health care workers; among them, residents are on the frontlines of care delivery. Therefore, we designed a study to assess the mental effects of these circumstances, and the effects on General Surgery and Obstetrics & Gynecology residency training in the busiest surgical departments of our university. Methods Participants of this cross-sectional study were residents of General Surgery and Obstetrics & Gynecology of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, and the conventional sampling method was used. We used a questionnaire consisting of 47 questions (mostly using multiple choice questions and answers on the Likert scale) about personal, familial, and demographic characteristics; training activities, and mental effects of COVID-19. Results The response rate was 63.5%. (127 filled questionnaires). Around 96% of the residents had emotional problems, 85.9% were highly stressed about contracting COVID-19, 81.3% were worried about transferring it to their families; and 78% believed that their residency training had been impaired. Conclusion Overall, our study shows the negative impact of COVID-19 on mental health and the training of residents. We propose that appropriate emotional support and suitable planning for compensation of training deficits is provided for residents.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonny Állan Bezerra ◽  
Denilson Menezes Santos ◽  
Michele Maria Oliveira ◽  
Claudia Vanisse Costa ◽  
Elaynne de Oliveira ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Brazil has been going through a period of economic crisis since 2015 and the impact on health indicators and the quality of life of the most recent crisis is unclear. This study sought to establish a relationship between the impact of the economic crisis experienced by Brazil during the period 2013-2016 and the lifestyle of adult populations in the 27 capitals of the Brazilian state.Results: According to the binary logistic regression model, at least completing secondary education increases the probability of individuals presenting higher LS by 4.9% (OR=1,049, 95% CI 1,029–1,070); being involved in some type of relationship decreases the probability of presenting a higher LS by 5.3% (OR=0.947, 95% CI 0.029-0.965); having an adequate body mass index increases LS by 27.3% (OR=1.273, 95% CI 1,245.10.10). Living in a city with a lower unemployment rate increases the probability of having a higher LS score by 3.8%(OR=1,038, 95% CI 1,012-1.064); living in a city with a more basic food basket decreases the probability of having a higher LS score by 5.4% (OR=0.946, 95% CI 0.910-0.982). Presenting higher yields decreases the probability of having a higher LS by 12% (OR=0.880, 95% CI 0.860-0.900). In addition, there was an increase in the percentage of leisure-time PA in 2015 (20.9%), followed by a decrease to 18.1% in 2016, after a stabilization period in 2013 (19.5%) and 2014 (19.6%). The physical exercise showed a steady annual increase, with a score of 49.6% in 2013, followed by 50.9% and 51.9% in 2014 and 2015, respectively, and ending with 54.5% in 2016. The "Watch TV 5x per week" indicator recorded a sharp drop between 2013 (27.9%) and 2015 (22.7%), as well as the consumption of soft drinks, which went from stable values in 2013 (19.5%) and 2014 (19%) 17.3% in 2015.Conclusion: In the case of Brazil, the economic crisis initially started in 2015 had a negative impact on the population over time, but these effects were only observed in the second year of crisis, being preceded by a temporary improvement of indicators.


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