ABSTRACT
Background: The coronavirus, which is now spreading around the world as a pandemic has caused more than 30 million cases and nearly 1000,000 deaths worldwide. No vaccine has been used against the virus so far, and there are no specific drugs to cure the patients. This paper ex-amines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employees' health, either in the governmental or private sector. The aim of this study was to protect the staff against the disease in pandemic conditions by identifying the main ways to keep employees healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic in different scenarios. Method(s): This paper is a perspective article, and different scenarios were assessed for the consider-ation of employee health. Result(s): Two scenarios could be considered first, when the vaccine against COVID-19 is not available for the prevention and the second scenario is that the vaccine is available for all in the world. In both cases, maintaining the health of the staff will be different. If the coronavirus disease will continue to occur in humans till the access to a safe vaccine is not possible, emphasis on maintaining health standards, keeping a social distance, and wearing the mask are the only ways to deal with this life threatening disease. Even after the preparation of the vaccine, maintaining health stan-dards, keeping a social distancing, and wearing the mask must be continued. Conclusion(s): The high level of health for the employee must be considered by governments in dif-.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to rising demand for hospital beds and the shortage of medical equipment and supplies. It is necessary to identify the factors that influence the length of stay of COVID-19 patients to accurately predict the number of beds needed at each level of care. This study systematically reviewed influential factors on the hospitalization of COVID-19 patients to provide evidence for risk classification and improvement of clinical outcomes and recommendation solutions for reducing the length of stay. Methods: With the appropriate keywords and a clearly defined search strategy, relevant databases such as PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched for cohort studies and randomized control trials to November 10, 2020. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used for assessing the quality of studies. Data including influencing factors length of stay, age, sex, country were extracted based on a checklist developed by the researchers. Data obtained due to differences in measurement criteria were qualitatively analyzed. Results: The systematic search resulted in 48 relevant studies. Dependence of the severity of disease on age and comorbidities is the principal determinant of increased length of stay. Secondary bacterial infections, obesity, diabetes, and uncontrolled hyperglycemia in COVID-19 patients are likely to increase their length of stay. Special attention to liver damage has also been recommended in SARS-CoV-2 infections since pharmacological factors are independent risk factors for liver damage in non-severe patients. Neurological complications at presentation or during the hospital stay significantly increase the risk of prolonged hospitalization. Shortage of re-sources could decrease stay among COVID-19 patients, which indicates that intensive care is either delayed, deferred, or abbreviated. Conclusion: Overall, demographic and epidemiological factors, dietary factors and diabetes, neurological conditions, liver damage, acute cardiovascular diseases, and social factors contribute to the length of hospital stay in COVID-19 patients. The present results can provide insights for policymakers regarding the factors that influence the length of stay of COVID-19 patients and practical solutions that can be employed to manage these factors.
ABSTRACT
Background and Objective: Diabetic patients experience a plethora of emotional problems in addition to physiological physical problems, which can affect the course of their disease. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of compassion-focused therapy (CFT) in alexithymia, adaptive behavior, treatment adherence, and blood sugar of patients with type 2 diabetes. Materials and Methods: In this study, a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest and control group was adopted. The study population included the patients with type 2 diabetes in Ahvaz, Iran, in 2020 referring to my center. The sample size (n=30) was selected using convenience sampling, and the participants were randomly and equally assigned to the experimental (CFT) and control groups. To collect study data, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale, Treatment Adherence Questionnaire, and blood sugar test were used. The CFT group received eight sessions of intervention (each session lasting for 2 h). Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data. Results: The obtained results showed that CFT had a significant effect on alexithymia (F=9.27;P=0.006), adaptive behavior (F=6.75;P=0.016), and treatment adherence (F=15.26;P=0.001) of patients with type 2 diabetes in the posttest. There was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the blood sugar test (F=0.08;P=0.786). Conclusion: Based on the obtained findings, it can be concluded that CFT is effective in increasing the level of adaptive behavior and treatment adherence.
ABSTRACT
Background and Aim: Experience is obtained as one of the most valuable human assets in different situations and conditions and helps organizations to achieve their strategic goals. The present study was conducted at the Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences with aim of designing and compiling a comprehensive empirical program in confronting the COVID-19 crisis. Methods: This applied research was conducted in qualitative and quantitative methods. The statistical population included 24 university experts, managers and executive experts at Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences in April and May 2020. All of these individuals were involved in coping with Covid-19. By holding various meetings with the researchers, and obtaining the opinions of experts with the Delphi technique;the events of the crisis and their main axes in dealing with Covid-19 were counted. Results: Findings show 5 areas and 25 main axes of the event (crisis with domestic, regional, international sensitivity and major damage);18 events in the field of command and leadership, 15 events in research, 9 events in training, 22 events in healthcare, 6 events in support in dealing with Covid-19. Healthcare is the most common (22) and spirituality is the lowest (2) frequency. Conclusion: Due to the Covid-19 crisis, healthcare is the most important axis (22 events) and it is necessary to record experience and document for using in similar crises. This empiricism can be used as a basis for managers' planning to implement experience documentation in the organization. © 2020 Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.