ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 outbreak has become a global health crisis requiring immediate attention to develop different interventions. While several studies were done to understand its dynamics to determine the most vulnerable groups, the differential effects of the factors associated with contracting COVID-19 in different communities call for a localized understanding of its risks. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the risk factors that drive the likelihood of contracting COVID-19 in selected regions of Mindanao during the pre-mass vaccination period. Probit and Logit models were employed to analyze the association of the socio-demographic, economic, and climatic factors to a total of 64,507 and 6,599 laboratory results from the Department of Health Region Northern Mindanao and the Zamboanga Peninsula, respectively. In both regions, age, sex, being a health worker, having COVID-19 close contact, and the implementation of the General Community Quarantine were found to significantly affect the likelihood of acquiring the COVID-19 disease. In addition, in Northern Mindanao, factors such as travel history, rainfall, poverty incidence, and the implementation of the Modified General Community Quarantine were also found to significantly affect the likelihood of acquiring the disease. This study provides empirical evidence for developing context-specific interventions to effectively manage and prepare for future COVID-19 outbreaks and other infectious diseases with similar dynamics. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Philippine Journal of Science is the property of Science & Technology Information Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
Neonatal deaths are a major contributor to global under-5-year-old mortality. Training birth attendants can improve perinatal outcomes, but skills may fade over time. In this pilot study, we assessed skill decay of nursing students after remote video versus in-person resuscitation training in a low-resource setting. Filipino nursing students (n = 49) underwent traditional, in-person simulation-based Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) training in Mindanao, Philippines. Participants were then assigned to receive refresher training at 2-month intervals either in-person or via tele-simulation beginning at 2 months, 4 months, or 6 months after initial training. A knowledge examination and practical examination, also known as objective structured clinical examination B in the HBB curriculum, were administered before retraining to assess knowledge and skill retention at time of scheduled follow-up. Time to initiation of bag-mask ventilation (BMV) in seconds during simulated birth asphyxia was the primary outcome. Skill decay was evident at first follow-up, with average time to BMV increasing from 56.9 (range 15-87) s at initial post-training to 83.8 (range 32-128) s at 2 months and 90.2 (range 51-180) s at 4 months. At second follow-up of the 2-month group, students showed improved pre-training time to BMV (average 70.4; range 46-97 s). No statistical difference was observed between in-person and video-trained students in time to BMV. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the 6-month follow-up was not completed. We conclude that remote video refresher training is a reasonable alternative to traditional in-person HBB training. Our study also suggests that refreshers may be needed more frequently than every 2 months to mitigate skill decay. Additional studies are necessary to assess the longitudinal impact of tele-simulation on clinical outcomes.