Investigation on the Stress of Chinese Pediatricians Under the Outbreak of COVID-19

Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed a severe threat to international health and the economy. Clinicians, the main staff involved in fighting against the pandemic, are under great pressure. However, relevant mental stress studies are lacking at present. Objectives: This study aimed to explore the mental stress level and its influencing factors among Chinese pediatricians under the outbreak of COVID-19, aiming to provide a certain theoretical basis for relevant psychological intervention among medical staff. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 352 in-service pediatricians were selected from nine hospitals in Jiangsu province, China, in February 2020. The online survey was performed to collect general information. Meanwhile, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scale were employed for assessment. Afterward, the stress level and influencing factors among pediatricians were analyzed through descriptive analysis, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis. Results: The mean score of PSS-10 showed moderate stress on the whole. Pediatricians from outpatient and emergency departments had significantly higher perceived stress than those from other departments. The perceived stress was significantly associated with age, educational level, professional title, work experience, and physical condition. Stepwise multiple linear regression showed that age, professional title, and physical condition had a linear relationship with the individual’s perceived stress. Besides, Pearson correlation analysis indicated that perceived stress was associated with anxiety level and sleep quality. Conclusions: Under the outbreak of COVID-19, pediatricians suffer from relatively high levels of mental stress. The influencing factors include education, age, professional title, work experience, and physical condition. Typically, the anxiety level and sleep quality are correlated with the mental stress among pediatricians.

Job burnout and its impact on work ability in biosafety laboratory staff during the COVID-19 epidemic in Xinjiang

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has increased the physical and psychological stress of medical workers. This study was designed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of job burnout and its impact on work ability among Biosafety Laboratory (BSL) staffs during the COVID-19 epidemic in Xinjiang. Methods A total of 7911 qualified BSL staffs in Xinjiang were investigated by electronic questionnaires. The Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) was used for job burnout survey. Work Ability Index (WAI) was used for work ability survey. The prevalence and risk factors of job burnout in BSL staffs were analyzed through chi square test, t-test and one-way ANOVA. And then, the influence of demographic and job-related variables, i.e., confounding factors, were eliminated to the greatest extent by the propensity score analysis (PSA) method, to investigate the impact of job burnout on work ability in BSL staffs. Results A total of 67.6% BSL staffs experienced job burnout. There were significant differences in the detection rate of job burnout among demographic and job-related variables, including gender, age, ethnicity, education, working years, professional title, marital status, number of night shift per month and overall sleep condition (all P < 0.05). The detection rate of job burnout in female was higher than that in male. The detection rates of job burnout in 45–50 years old, Han ethnicity, education of postgraduate or above, 11–20 years of working, intermediate professional title, married, staff with many night shifts per month and poor overall sleep condition were higher than that of other groups. The average burnout scores of the Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Cynicism (CY), Reduced Personal Accomplishment (PA) scale were 10.00 ± 5.99, 4.64 ± 4.59 and 15.25 ± 8.16, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the three dimensions of job burnout, i.e., EE, CY, PE, were negatively correlated with work ability and significantly affected the work ability of BSL staffs (all P < 0.001). Conclusions Our results suggest that the prevalence of job burnout is extremely common among BSL staffs. In addition, the work ability decreases with the increase of job burnout and the improvement of job burnout can enhance work ability among BSL staffs.

Analysis of Real-World Implementation of the Biopsychosocial Approach to Healthcare: Evidence From a Combination of Qualitative and Quantitative Methods

Aims: The modern medical model has been transformed into a biopsychosocial model. The integration of the biopsychosocial approach in healthcare can help improve the effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment. This study explored the actual application of the biopsychosocial approach in healthcare and provides a basis for targeted interventions to promote the biopsychosocial approach in healthcare.Methods: Study 1 involved one-on-one interviews with 30 medical staff and focus group interviews with 16 recent patients. Study 2 was a cross-sectional survey of 13,105 medical staff in Hangzhou, China that analyzed the status quo implementation of the biopsychosocial approach in healthcare.Results: Study 1 found that medical staff did not welcome patients to report information unrelated to their disease, hoping patients did not express their emotions. In the treatment process, patients believed that medical staff refused to attend to or did not encourage reporting of any information other than the disease, and that patients should have reasonable expectations for medical staff. Study 2 found that medical staff had a 37.5% probability of actively paying attention to the patient's psychosocial status. Female medical staff (38.5%) were actively concerned about the patient's psychosocial status significantly more than male medical staff (34.2%) (P &lt; 0.01). The medical staff in the psychiatric department (58.4%) paid more active attention to the patient's psychosocial status than staff in the non-psychiatric departments (37.2%). Gender, department, hospital level, and professional title were the factors associated with the medical staff's attention to the patient's psychosocial status (P &lt; 0.05). The influence of age on the probability of medical staff actively paying attention to the psychosocial status of patients increased with the number of years of employment. Participants that were 31–40 years old, had an intermediate professional title, and 11–15 years of employment were the least likely to actively pay attention to patients' psychosocial status.Conclusion: Although the biopsychosocial approach has been popularized for many years, it has not been widely used in medical care. Medical staff pay more attention to patients' physical symptoms and less attention to patients' psychosocial status. It is recommended that training will be provided to medical personnel on implementing a biopsychosocial approach with particular attention to the sociodemographic characteristics of medical personnel. Additionally, we propose helping patients set reasonable expectations, and formulating guidelines for implementing the biopsychosocial approach.

Nurses Who Are More Willing to Participate in the Fight against COVID-19: Evidence from China

When facing an infectious disease disaster, nurses’ willingness to work is critical. Nurses’ lack of willingness to work during a pandemic may worsen the shortage of health care personnel. The purpose of this study is to assess the willingness of nurses to participate in the fight against COVID-19 in China and to identify factors associated therewith. This cross-sectional study examines nurses working in 11 Chinese cities including Macau, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou, Guangzhou, Zhaoqing, Foshan, Jiangmen, Zhongshan, and Zhuhai. Questionnaires were collected from 19 May to 7 August 2020. A total of 8065 questionnaires were received, of which 8030 valid questionnaires were included for analysis. A total of 53.4% of participants reported that they had signed up to support the COVID-19 pandemic response. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that being single (OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.60–0.87), having no children (OR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.68–0.97), possessing higher professional qualifications (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.14–1.37), having a more prestigious professional title (OR = 1.68, 95%CI: 1.50–1.90), being an administrative supervisor (OR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.45–0.63), having a higher caring dimensions inventory score (OR = 1.01, 95% CI: 1.01–1.01), working in a hospital (OR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.39–0.72), and receiving employer-provided care training (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.68–0.87) were predictive of nurses’ willingness to participate in the fight against COVID-19. We suggest that unmarried nurses should be given priority when recruiting to fight an epidemic and, for married nurses with children who are recruited to fight an epidemic, supporting measures should be provided for childcare. We suggest strengthening workplace training of caring for nurses in order to better retain and recruit qualified support for an epidemic outbreak of infectious diseases.

Tendências do Fitness em Portugal para 2021

El Colegio Americano de Medicina Deportiva (ACSM) publica anualmente un estudio que identifica las tendencias mundiales de fitness para el próximo año. El presente estudio reproduce la metodología del estudio de las tendencias del ACSM y pretende caracterizar las tendencias del fitness en Portugal para 2021 según profesionales y estudiantes bien como de practicantes del sector, comparando los resultados con estudios a nivel mundial, europeo y español. Además de la caracterización, se compararon las tendencias entre practicantes y profesionales/estudiantes, y en esta entre géneros, si ejercer o no funciones como profesional y tener el título de Técnico en Ejercicio Físico (TEF), Director Técnico (DT) o no tener título. En este estudio participaron 300 profesionales/estudiantes y 85 practicantes, qué respondieron a un cuestionario online diseñado para tal fin. Los resultados de los profesionales/estudiantes mostraron que las principales tendencias se refieren a licencias (títulos) para profesionales de fitness, empleo de profesionales de fitness certificados, entrenamiento personal, ejercicio para bajar de peso y estilo de vida saludable y cambio de comportamiento. Portugal tiende a estar más en línea con las tendencias europeas que con las mundiales. En la comparación entre profesionales y practicantes hay diferencias en 4 de 42 tendencias. En cuanto al género, se identificaron diferencias significativas en 20 de las 42 tendencias. Comparando los profesionales que realizaban funciones con los que no, se encontraron diferencias en 7 de las 42 tendencias, mientras que entre los títulos profesionales de TEF, DT o sin título profesional se encontraron diferencias en 9 de las 42 tendencias. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) annually publishes a study that identifies worldwide fitness trends for the next year. The present study reproduced the methodology of the study of ACSM trends and intends to characterize the fitness trends in Portugal for 2021 according to professionals/students and clients in the sector, comparing the results with studies at a worldwide, European and Spanish level. In addition to the characterization, the trends between clients and professionals/students were compared, and in this between genders, whether or not to perform functions as a professional and hold the title of Physical Exercise Technician (TEF), Technical Director (DT) or not have title. 300 professionals/students and 85 clients answered an online questionnaire built for this purpose. The results of the professionals/students showed that the main trends concern licenses (titles) for fitness professionals, employ certified fitness professionals, personal training, exercise for weight loss and healthy lifestyle and behaviour change. Portugal tends to be more in line with European trends than worldwide ones. In the comparison between professionals and clients there are differences in 4 out of 42 trends. Regarding gender, significant differences were identified in 20 of the 42 trends. Comparing the professionals who performed functions with those who did not, differences were found in 7 of the 42 trends, while among the professional titles of TEF, DT or without professional title, differences were found in 9 of the 42 trends. O American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) publica anualmente um estudo que identifica as tendências mundiais do fitness para o ano seguinte. O presente estudo reproduziu a metodologia do estudo das tendências do ACSM e pretende caracterizar as tendências do fitness em Portugal para 2021 segundo os profissionais e estudantes do setor bem como os dos praticantes, confrontando os resultados com os estudos a nível mundial, europeu e espanhol. Para além da caracterização, foram comparadas as tendências entre os praticantes e os profissionais/estudantes, e nestes entre géneros, exercer ou não funções enquanto profissional e possuir o título de Técnico de Exercício Físico (TEF), Diretor Técnico (DT) ou não possuir título. Participaram neste estudo 300 profissionais/estudantes e 85 praticantes, que responderam a um questionário online construído para o efeito. Os resultados dos profissionais/estudantes demonstraram que as principais tendências dizem respeito a licenças (títulos) para profissionais de fitness, empregar profissionais de fitness certificados, treino personalizado, exercício para perda de peso e estilo de vida saudável e mudança comportamental. Portugal tende a ir mais ao encontro das tendências europeias, do que das mundiais. Na comparação entre os profissionais/estudantes e os praticantes existem diferenças em 4 das 42 tendências. Em relação ao género foram identificadas diferenças significativas em 20 das 42 tendências. Comparando os profissionais que exerciam funções com os que não exerciam, foram encontradas diferenças em 7 das 42 tendências, enquanto entre os títulos profissionais de TEF, DT ou sem título profissional foram encontradas diferenças em 9 das 42 tendências.

Health Literacy Knowledge Level of Chinese Registered Nurses and Associated Practices: A Cross-sectional Survey

BackgroundHealth literacy is recognized as a social determinant of health based on its impact on health outcomes. Nurses play a vital role in the promotion of health literacy, health literacy practices enable nurses to offer understandable health information to all people and contribute to health equity. The aims of this study were to investigate health literacy knowledge level and associated practices among Chinese registered nurses and identify related factors.MethodsA cross-sectional study design was used. The Chinese version of the Health Literacy Knowledge and Experience Survey was adapted among registered nurses (N=768) from six hospitals in Zhejiang Province of China. Descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the data of demographic characteristics, knowledge and associated practices.ResultsThe health literacy knowledge level of 768 nurses was 12.78±3.54, of the five content areas, basic facts about health literacy had the lowest correct answer rate 43.2%. Educational background (P=0.000), position (P=0.010), professional title (P=0.030), department (P=0.009), and whether they had heard about health literacy (P=0.022) were significantly correlated with health literacy knowledge level. The multiple linear regression analysis found that educational background and whether they had heard about health literacy were positively associated with health literacy knowledge level. In the aspect of health literacy education practice, using written materials to provide healthcare information (P=0.000), using computer software to provide healthcare information (P=0.003) and using teach-back to examine the effect of health education (P=0.000) were positively correlated with health literacy knowledge level.ConclusionThis study indicated that registered nurses in Zhejiang Province of China had low health literacy knowledge level and applied health literacy-associated practices inadequately. It is urgent to improve the knowledge level of nurses' health literacy. Educational background, position, professional title, department, and whether they had heard about health literacy were significantly correlated with health literacy knowledge level. In the continuous training, it is very important to design corresponding health literacy courses according to different departments and different levels of nurses.

Intelligent Decision System of Higher Educational Resource Data under Artificial Intelligence Technology

It aims to apply the neural network algorithm to the mining of educational resource data and provide new ideas for the intelligent development of teaching evaluation. The potential correlations between the teaching evalua-tion results and the teacher’s age, gender, professional title, and academic qualification are analyzed with the Apriori algorithm, which is improved with the decision tree based on the research of the existing university teaching evaluation system. The back propagation (BP) neural network model is improved based on the differential evolution algorithm (DEA). The DEA-BP model is applied to the prediction of teaching evaluation results for analysis. The results show that the execution time of the improved association rule algorithm (ARA) is significantly better than that of other models. In addition, the teacher’s age (40 - 50 years old or 50 - 60 years old), gender (female), professional title (senior or deputy senior), and academic qualifications (undergraduate or master) have certain correlation with the teaching evaluation results (excellent). When the DEA-BP algorithm is adopted to predict the teaching evaluation results, the average absolute error (1.05%) and the relative accuracy rate (95.44%) between its prediction value and the true value are optimal. Therefore, the ARA algorithm and DEA-BP algorithm based on the decision tree can intelligently extract the potential laws and knowledge in the teaching evaluation data, and provide support for teaching evaluation decisions. Thus, it exerts the role of promotion in the mining of educational resource data in universities and the intelligent development of decision-making systems

Job Satisfaction of Fitness Professionals in Portugal: A Comparative Study of Gender, Age, Professional Experience, Professional Title, and Educational Qualifications

This research characterizes and compares the job satisfaction of fitness professionals in Portugal between genders, ages, professional experience, professional title, and educational qualifications. A total of 401 fitness professionals answered the online questionnaire Job Satisfaction Scale, which has 16 factors rated on a Likert scale with seven levels. The statistical analysis comprises descriptive and statistical tests to compare the results of two (t-test) or more (ANOVA) groups. Overall, the results demonstrated that fitness professionals were moderately satisfied with their work. The lower degrees of job satisfaction were concerning salary, opportunities for promotion, and stability at work. The highest levels of job satisfaction were related to the freedom to choose their work method, their work colleagues, the physical conditions of their workplace, and the opportunity to use their competencies. There were no differences in job satisfaction in terms of gender and a few differences between professional title and between educational levels. Regarding age and professional experience, the results showed significant differences in almost all factors, suggesting that, as fitness professionals get older and more experienced, their job satisfaction is greater. The results of this study suggest that even though fitness professionals are, in general, moderately satisfied with their work, some aspects can be improved by employers to increase their satisfaction levels. Such findings would assist employers in guiding the job satisfaction of their employees with consequent enhancements in the services provided by fitness professionals, which can increase participants’ retention in exercise fitness activities.