ABSTRACT
Background: This study aimed to assess perceptions and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines among medical students. Methods: A consecutive convenient sample of 2100 university students representing the student's union network were included using an electronic self-administered questionnaire. About 12 items were used to assess attitudes and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines. Results: A total of 2100 volunteers responded to the survey. All ages ranged from 18 to 25 years, 69% were females, and 57.3% were from urban residences. According to their willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, 49.7% accepted, 38.5% hesitated, and 11.8% refused vaccination. Out of 60 scales measuring their attitudes, a median total score of 46.0 (42.0-49.0) differed significantly in relation to genders, residence, and vaccine decision-making groups. Logistic regression analysis showed that participants who consented that COVID-19 mass vaccination could prevent the spread of infection in the community and stop the pandemic have 1.9 higher odds of accepting vaccination (p= 0.003). Additionally, the participants who believed that the vaccine had no severe infection or side effects were 3.1 and 2.8 higher folds for vaccine acceptance, respectively (p= 0.001). Moreover, participants who thought it was not too early for clinical trials were 4.3 times more likely to take the vaccine (p = 0.001). Individuals who agreed that information about vaccine side effects better to discuss openly with the authorities were 2.8 times more likely to accept vaccination than other hesitating/ refusing groups, p-value < 0.001. Conclusions: Understanding students' perspectives of the COVID-19 vaccine and supporting their health engagement and awareness may help plan an adequate response.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the impact of a major public health emergency on mental health. AIM: The aim of the study was to assess psychological impact among university students and train them to raise mental health awareness among their peers during the pandemic. METHODS: This an online electronic survey that was carried out over the period of July to September 2020. Study participants were medical and paramedical university students representing students’ union alliance of the Egyptian Youth Initiative. A convenient non-probability sampling method used for recruiting the study participants. Key mental health outcomes investigated 2 weeks before the survey were posttraumatic stress symptoms, symptoms of depression using Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), anxiety using Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), insomnia using Insomnia Severity Index, and perceived stress using Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Based on the preliminary analysis of the online questionnaires, a PhD qualified psychiatrist was assigned to develop an online psychosocial support to the volunteers’ students (n = 60) to be facilitators for raising mental awareness among peers and train them how to handle stress. RESULTS: Of the 115 students, 42.6% experienced moderate to severe depression, 21.7% were afflicted with moderate to severe anxiety, and 62.7% suffered from sub-threshold to severe insomnia. PSS analysis showed moderate levels of stress among the study participants. A significant difference was detected between pre-and post-test mean scores of the PSS (p = 0.001) 8 weeks after the training program included psychological support for the students. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study showed that young people suffered of more than one psychological problems and highlighted the urgent need to develop interventions and preventive strategies to address mental health of college students.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Sex and gender influence employment in TBI. A large facilitator to employment in TBI is having workplace accommodation, however in many cases accommodations are unavailable or may not fit the needs of the individual. Further, it is unknown how the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is impacting employment and accommodations for persons with TBI. This study aims to investigate sex and gender-specific workplace accommodations in persons with TBI, while considering the impact of COVID-19 on transitioning to work and on mental health in adults with TBI. Methods: The proposed research is a pilot study with an observational cross-sectional design. Sixty adults with TBI, including men, women and gender diverse people within the age range of 18-65 years inclusive, will be recruited. An online survey will be self-administered through Research Electronic Data Capture. The survey includes questions on demographics (e.g., sex, gender, age, ethnicity, injury severity, mechanism of injury);questions from the Canadian Survey on Disability 2017 on employment status, requirements and unmet needs for workplace accommodations;and questions from Statistics Canada on the impact of COVID-19 on work status. Results: Data collection is in progress. Planned analyses include multinomial logistic and multivariable linear regression analyses to evaluate the relationships between the predictor (i.e., sex, gender) and main outcome variables (i.e., the number and type of accommodations needed, change in employment status and mental health due to COVID-19). Descriptive statistics, between-group comparisons for sex and gender, and sexspecific and gender-specific stratification will be completed to understand emerging trends. Conclusion: Sex and gender influences in TBI can serve to inform rehabilitation professionals, employers and persons with TBI, to enable sex- and gender-sensitive interventions for community participation practices. Findings from this study will contribute to the body of evidence on sex- and gender-specific workplace accommodations, while bridging the knowledge gap of how to improve transition to work in persons with TBI. Results will also further the understanding of the specific needs of men, women and gender-diverse persons with a disability during community participation postdischarge, including during unprecedented times.