ABSTRACT
Background@#The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has exposed healthcare workers to extreme physical workloads and psychological challenges. Thus, we aimed to assess the immediate correlates of emotional stress and to identify which specific jobs, departments, and exposure types are risk factors for emotional stress in healthcare workers. @*Methods@#In this cross-sectional study conducted from April 2 to 10, 2020, university hospital workers were administered self-reported questionnaires that covered general characteristics and included the Patient Health Questionnaire, Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale, and a visual analog scale. At-risk groups for depression and anxiety were identified, and the odds ratios for depression and anxiety were analyzed after adjusting for age, gender, education, marital status, and duration of employment. @*Results@#The data of 1,003 participants were analyzed. Of these, 14.2% worked in wards for confirmed COVID-19 cases and 15.2% had had direct contact with these patients. Treating patients with COVID-19 was associated with depression and anxiety, while dealing with COVID-19 test samples was associated with depression. Exposure to random or unspecified patients was also associated with depression. Lastly, social rejection and other negative experiences were associated with depression and anxiety. @*Conclusion@#The COVID-19 outbreak is correlated with healthcare workers' emotional stress, and specific types of jobs and duties involving close contact with these patients can be risk factors. Interestingly, even low-exposure groups reported significant depression and anxiety as a result of social stigma and uncertainty. Adequate and timely management measures for emotional stress are required for vulnerable and at-risk groups.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: One of the factors that affect the anesthetic risk is preoperative status especially in geriatric patients. So we studied about followings; 1) Can we use APACHE scoring index when we assess the physical status of geriatric patients preoperatively? 2) Is it meaningful in saying the risk of anesthesia? 3) Which one is more significant in predicting the morbidity and mortality: acute physiologic status vs chronic health status? METHOD: Preoperative status of the geriatric patients (above 65 years old), who were received operation from June 1994 to March 1996 at Hanil General Hospital, were assessed by APACHE scoring index and ASA classification. Age, sex, type of operation, emergency or elective, method of anesthesia, duration of procedure, APACHE scoring index, ASA classification, perioperative complication, postoperative complication is coded by grading or type. RESULT: Perioperative complication was showed statistically significant with acute physiologic score (APS) and duration of procedure. Postoperative complication was showed statistically significant with APACHE score or ASA class. Total complication was affected by duration of procedure and APS score. There was also correlation between ASA class and total complication. Among 265 cases, 1 case expired during operation and 7 cases expired after operation. Causes of postoperative death were pneumonia, hemorrhagic shock etc. CONCLUSION: In geriatric patients, 1) APACHE scoring index is available for preoperative assessment. 2) APACHE scoring index is meaningful in predicting the risk of anesthesia. 3) Perioperative complication was more correlated with acute physiologic status than chronic health evaluation.