ABSTRACT
Background: Prehospital emergency staff usually encounter patients in situations that can affect the mental health of the medical staff and cause symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. This study aimed to determine depression, anxiety, and stress in prehospital emergency personnel during the COVID-19 epidemic in Ardabil City, Iran, 2020. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2020 to April 2020 with the participation of 138 working staff in the prehospital emergency department of Ardabil City. The samples were selected by the census method. Necessary information was collected with a two-part questionnaire: a demographic questionnaire and the DASS-21 standard questionnaire. DASS-21 is a 21-item questionnaire that consists of three subscales of 7 questions: depression, anxiety, and stress. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation, and inferential analysis, including analysis of variance, independent t test, and multiple regression using SPSS software v. 22 statistical software. Results: The results showed that 45.7% of the staff had moderate depression, 44.9% moderate anxiety, and 77.5% normal stress. There was a significant relationship between work experience and stress level (P=0.03). There were significant associations between age with depression (P=0.04), anxiety (P=0.00) and stress (P=0.01). There was also a significant relationship between gender and variables of stress (P=0.00) and anxiety (P=0.01). Multiple regression results showed that gender and education variables are predictors of anxiety and stress, and age and education variables are predictors of depression (P<0.05). Conclusion: More than half of the staff had moderate to severe depression and anxiety. Considering that prehospital emergency personnel has a vital role in improving and promoting people's health in the community, eliminating the underlying factors that cause emotional reactions in them is considered a health priority. © 2022, Negah Institute for Scientific Communication. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
As the COVID pandemic shows, infection spreads widely across regions, impacting economic activity in unforeseen ways. We represent here how the geographic spread of the pandemic, by reducing the workers’ participation to economic life, undermines the ability of firms and as a result the entire supply networks to satisfy customers’ demands. We model the spatio-temporal dynamics of the propagation of Covid-19 infection on population, transport networks, facilities and population flows. The mathematical models will enable prospective analyses to be performed reliably. Such models will be used in what-if scenarios to simulate the impact on both populations and supply chain activities in case of future pandemics. The outcome should be useful tools for policymakers and managers. Results from this research will help in understanding the impact and the spread of a pandemic in a particular region and on supply chains. The data will be from European regions and the expected models will have validity in Europe. © 2021, IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.
ABSTRACT
Background and Aim: Patient safety is one of the basic principles of health care and the investigation of patient safety culture is a step towards providing safe conditions for patient care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the patient safety culture in nurses working in the care wards of patients with COVID-19 in Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ardabil, Iran.
ABSTRACT
Background: Haemodialysis patients represent a unique challenge in the COVID-19 pandemic, balancing infection risk while safely providing life-sustaining haemodialysis. Asymptomatic infection rates in haemodialysis patients are unknown. Aims: 1 - To define rates of asymptomatic swab positivity in a cohort of prevalent haemodialysis patients 2 - To define rates of antibody positivity in patients known to have been historically swab positive 3 - To define rates of antibody positivity in patients without prior symptoms or clinical suspicion of COVID-19 Methods: A programme of COVID-19 screening using a validated nasopharyngeal PCR analysis was carried out across a prevalent cohort of 1253 haemodialysis patients. Concurrently all patients were offered antibody testing for Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM (Roche) and a total of 848 tests were completed. Results: 1 - Routine screening over a 4 week period from 4/5/20 to 1/6/20 confirmed 7 cases of asymptomatic swab positivity (0.6%). 2 - In our cohort there were 197 confirmed swab positive cases of COVID, and of the 153 survivors 124 were antibody positive (81%). 10 patients were highly clinically suspicious of COVID and managed as such;of those 3 were antibody positive (30%). 3 - Of the remaining swab negative patients who had antibody testing (n=710) 82 were antibody positive (11.5%). Conclusions: In a large inner-city London haemodialysis where the population prevalence of COVID has been high, we demonstrate 1 - low asymptomatic rates of virus carriage at this later stage in the pandemic 2 - significant proportions of swab positive patients seroconverting to be antibody positive 2 - suggestion that 11.5% of patients had previous been asymptomatic carriers and had seroconverted to be antibody positive.