Working in "smart" mode during the Covid-19 pandemic. Validation of a questionnaire in the healthcare sector.

CONCLUSIONS: The present tool is adequate to investigate attitudes towards Smart Working among healthcare workers. BACKGROUND: During the most difficult phases of the Covid-19 he-alth emergency, when access to the usual work location was not allowed due to the constraints related to the pandemic, Smart Working enabled business continuity in the face of the ongoing health emergency. Mo-dern technology serves a new way of working, allowing workers to effectively manage their professional and personal spheres in a world that increasingly requires them to optimize their time. The main objective of this research is to validate a Smart Working questionnaire administered to healthcare workers. METHODS: The questionnaire, reported in Annex I, consisting of 30 questions and submitted electronically through Google Forms, was administered in Italian to healthcare personnel of the Teaching hospi-tal Umberto I and Sapienza University of Rome between September and October 2020. The questionnaire analyzed the characteristics of the sample and investigated the perception and attitude of healthcare personnel towards seven different aspects of Smart Working. A descriptive analysis of the sample examined and an internal consistency analysis was performed through the use of the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) program version 25.0. Cronbach's alpha statistical indicator, which measures reprodu-cibility over time, reliability, and homogeneity of questions, was used for the analysis. RESULTS: A total number of 53 health care providers answered the online questionnaire. The majority of the respondents were female (60.4%); 73.6% of respondents reported having a college degree or a higher educational level. The analysis showed an overall standardized Cronbach's Alpha of 0.709, which corresponds to a good reliability. In the items analysis, the alpha value ranged from a minimum of 0.652 to a maximum of 0.756.

COVID-19 and young Italians: results of a cross-sectional study

Background At the end of 2019, a novel pneumonia-causing Coronavirus called Sars-CoV-2 was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. It subsequently spread throughout China and elsewhere, becoming a global health emergency. In February 2020, WHO designated the disease COVID-19, which stands for Coronavirus disease 2019. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the perception of young Italians and to assess their knowledge and attitudes about the disease. Methods An online survey was conducted on 3rd-4th-5th February 2020 with the collaboration of “Skuola.net”, an important Italian Website for students. Young people had the opportunity to participate in the survey by answering an ad hoc questionnaire created to investigate knowledge and attitudes about the new Coronavirus, using a link published on the homepage. Results 5234 responses were received of which 3262 were females and 1972 were males, aged from 11 to 30. 82,4% were students (50,4% high school students) while 17,6% did not attend school or university. Regarding knowledge, 80% of the participants knew that the infection occurs through droplets from infected people;63% knew that symptoms can appear up to 14 days after exposure;80% knew that a vaccine has not yet been discovered. Regarding attitudes, 36% admitted that their attitude towards Chinese tourists has significantly worsened;26% did not buy from Chinese run stores and 24% avoided Chinese restaurants. Conclusions Although most of the participants seem correctly informed about COVID-19, young Italians are at risk of assuming irrational behavior due to psychosis. Key messages The global emergency of COVID-19 needs adequate information to avoid the spread of dangerous psychoses. Young people, usual users of social networks as a means of information, are more at risk of being influenced by fake news and adopting wrong behaviors.