ABSTRACT
The Covid-19 outbreak has had severe effects on the humanity and has disrupted aspects of life. Hence, the psycho-social consequences attracted attention after imposing isolation and "social distancing". The current study was conducted to reveal the effects of this pandemic on individuals. Responses were collected electronically through a self-report questionnaire during April 25 to May 17, 2020. Respondents were 1692 citizens from several Arab countries and Arab residents abroad females formed 63.3% and ages ranged between 23 and 50 years at 64.8% of the participants. Results in emotional domain showed, the participants valued the work of medical staff and the efforts made by security services. In cognitive domain, 85% of respondents knew that the possible causes of Coronavirus included: lack of social distancing and chronic diseases. In the domain of behavioral practices, individuals became more aware of hygienic practices, especially hand washing and using sterilizers. People become anxious fearing the possibility that a family member may get infected. Followed by the fear that the pandemic may continue. Females showed higher levels than males on all measures, and older age was associated with an increase in emotional manifestations, behavioral practices, and low feelings of anxiety. Residents of city exceed significantly those living in village only in the behavioral domain, while their response converged in emotions, knowledge, and anxiety. This study has highlighted that the high level of anxiety may be the basis for understanding the issues related to their health, well-being, and the subsequent changes in emotions, knowledge, and behavior. © 2021 University of Jordan,Deanship of Scientific Research. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: A recent systematic review recommends against the use of any of the current COVID-19 prediction models in clinical practice. To enable clinicians to appropriately profile and treat suspected COVID-19 patients at the emergency department (ED), externally validated models that predict poor outcome are desperately needed. OBJECTIVE: Our aims were to identify predictors of poor outcome, defined as mortality or ICU admission within 30 days, in patients presenting to the ED with a clinical suspicion of COVID-19, and to develop and externally validate a prediction model for poor outcome. METHODS: In this prospective, multi-center study, we enrolled suspected COVID-19 patients presenting at the EDs of two hospitals in the Netherlands. We used backward logistic regression to develop a prediction model. We used the area under the curve (AUC), Brier score and pseudo-R2 to assess model performance. The model was externally validated in an Italian cohort. RESULTS: We included 1193 patients between March 12 and May 27 2020, of whom 196 (16.4%) had a poor outcome. We identified 10 predictors of poor outcome: current malignancy (OR 2.774;95%CI 1.682-4.576), systolic blood pressure (OR 0.981;95%CI 0.964-0.998), heart rate (OR 1.001;95%CI 0.97-1.028), respiratory rate (OR 1.078;95%CI 1.046-1.111), oxygen saturation (OR 0.899;95%CI 0.850-0.952), body temperature (OR 0.505;95%CI 0.359-0.710), serum urea (OR 1.404;95%CI 1.198-1.645), C-reactive protein (OR 1.013;95%CI 1.001-1.024), lactate dehydrogenase (OR 1.007;95%CI 1.002-1.013) and SARS-CoV-2 PCR result (OR 2.456;95%CI 1.526-3.953). The AUC was 0.86 (95%CI 0.83-0.89), with a Brier score of 0.32 and, and R2 of 0.41. The AUC in the external validation in 500 patients was 0.70 (95%CI 0.65-0.75). CONCLUSION: The COVERED risk score showed excellent discriminatory ability, also in an external validation. It may aid clinical decision making, and improve triage at the ED in health care environments with high patient throughputs.