ABSTRACT
Objective: This study is intended to evaluate the mental health statuses of hematological cancer (HC) inpatients diagnosed during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the statuses of patients diagnosed with HC before the pandemic. Method(s): A cross-sectional survey collected the mental health measurements of 77 inpatients with HC between March and May 2021 in Ankara, Turkey. The levels of depression, generalized anxiety, distress, sleep disorder, health anxiety, trait anxiety, corona phobia, and resilience in HC patients newly diagnosed during the pandemic (n=38) and before the pandemic (n=39) were compared. We then explored the relationships between predictive factors and cancer patients' mental health statuses. Result(s): Compared to HC patients diagnosed before the pandemic, depression (63.2% vs. 35.9%, p=0.017) and sleep disorder (67.8% vs. 38.5, p=0.016) were significantly higher, while comparison, generalized anxiety (57.9% vs. 38.5%, p=0.088) and distress (60.5% vs. 38.5%, p=0.053) were higher in a non-significant trend in patients newly diagnosed with HC during the pandemic. In contrast, health anxiety was more common in patients diagnosed before the pandemic (53.8% vs. 31.6%, p=0.048). Among the newly diagnosed patients, women had more generalized anxiety symptoms than men (76.5% vs. 42.9%, p=0.037). Being newly diagnosed increased the risk of more severe symptoms of depression (odds ratio [OR]: 3.178, p=0.036) and sleep disorders (OR: 4.73, p=0.018) but lowered the risk of health anxiety (OR: 0.14, p=0.003). Conclusion(s): Our data indicate that patients with HC are vulnerable to mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. This vulnerability is higher in newly diagnosed HC patients than in patients diagnosed before the pandemic. Copyright © Telif Hakki 2023 Gazi Universitesi Tip Fakultesi - Makale.
ABSTRACT
Objective: Although there are a sufficient number of studies on the mental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers (HCWs) in the early phase, few studies have evaluated these impacts in the vaccination phase. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of mental disorders and their associated factors among HCWs in the vaccination phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A cross-sectional, web-based survey collected demographic data with the structured 25-item questionnaire, COVID-19 infection status and exposure, and mental health measurements between 13 March 2021 and 20 April 2021, in Turkey. Depression, anxiety, insomnia, distress, resilience, and burnout were assessed by the 9-item patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9), the 7-item generalized anxiety disorder questionnaire (GAD-7), the Jenkins sleep scale (JSS), the 10-item perceived stress scale (PSS-10), the brief resilience scale (BRS), and two subscales of the Maslach burnout inventory (MBI): emotional exhaustion (EE) and depersonalization (DP), respectively. Thereafter, binary logistic regression was performed to explore the risk factors of those HCWs with poor mental health outcomes.Results: A total of 573 HCWs completed the survey. Of the 573 responding participants, 309 (53.9%) were medical doctors, 119 (20.8%) were nurses, and 145 (25.3%) were other HCWs. Overall, 37.5%, 31.9%, 36.3%, and 19.2% of all HCWs reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and suicidal ideation, respectively. Moreover, 77% perceived moderate to high-stress, 49.9% described emotional exhaustion, and 11.3% of HCWs expressed depersonalization. A considerable proportion of participants reported exposure to violence (39.4%) and mobbing (38.6%) during the pandemic. We found a positive relation between getting COVID-19 vaccine and anxiety (odds ratio [OR]= 1.80;95%CI, 1.01-3.21;p = 0.046). Being a woman (for depression, OR= 2.26;95% CI, 1.48-3.45;p < 0.001;for resilience, OR= 0.55;95% CI, 0.38-0.80;p = 0.002),working on the frontline (for emotional exhaustion, OR= 1.82;95% CI, 1.26-2.62;p = 0.001), being exposed to mobbing (for anxiety, OR= 2.86;95% CI, 1.93-4.25;p < 0.001;for depression, OR= 3.70;95% CI, 2.55-5.36;p < 0.001), being victim of the violence in the pandemic (for depersonalization, OR= 2.82;95% CI, 1.58-5.03;p < 0.001;for insomnia, OR= 2.03;95% CI, 1.40-2.94;p < 0.001), the loss of a loved one due to COVID-19 (for perceived stress, OR= 2.14;95% CI, 1.22-3.75;p = 0.008), having a mental disorder (for resilience, OR= 0.53;95% CI, 0.30-0.94;p = 0.031) and self-medicating with alcohol (for anxiety, OR= 2.86;95% CI, 1.92-4.25;p < 0.001) were associated with worsened mental health outcomes.Conclusion: COVID-19 is still affecting the mental health of HCWs in the vaccination phase. These findings advance the understanding of risk factors for the poor mental health of HCWs during a pandemic. The results revealed that receiving psychological interventions for occupational mental health during the pandemic is important for HCWs.
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Objective: To investigate the attitudes of health care professionals involved within the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic process towards the COVID-19 vaccine in line with their demographic characteristics. Material(s) and Method(s): A questionnaire consisting of 16 questions was conducted to 510 healthcare professionals working in Inegol State Hospital between December 2021-January 2022 and who agreed to participate in the study, to determine their approach to the COVID-19 vaccine. The data were collected with Student's t-test and Mann-Whitney U Test. Chi-square test was used in comparison of categorical variables. Result(s): While 54.3% of the respondents said that they don't want to have the COVID-19 vaccine, 69% answered that "Since there is not any adequate research on the vaccine, the vaccine is not reliable". Were observed that vaccine rejection was most common in the 20-29 age group (72.7%) and pregnant women (100%). In addition, as the education level increased, the number of people considering vaccination increased. The desire to be vaccinated was seen more in married, and it was noted that non-smokers had more COVID-19 (80.3%). Conclusion(s): Healthcare professionals who participated in study were found to have a negative attitude towards COVID-19 vaccine. Although healthcare professionals have hesitations about vaccine, in fact, noteworthy that they're afraid of the disease (43.8%). Despite of the pandemic, more than half (54.3%) of healthcare professionals working in Inegol State Hospital stated that they didn't think about getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Providing hospital staff with more education about the safety, efficacy, and value of currently available COVID-19 vaccines is critical to vaccine acceptance in this population. Copyright © 2022 by Turkiye Klinikleri.
ABSTRACT
Wastewater-based disease monitoring is an early warning system and a surveillance tool for infectious disease outbreaks regarding pathogens with pandemic potential. This study aimed at investigating the recovery efficiency of centrifugal ultrafiltration (CeUF), which is one of the most-used virus concentration methods, for inactive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavi-rus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) added to wastewater. Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 was inoculated into untreated wastewater at different concentrations (4 × 103, 8 × 103, 16 × 103, 24 × 103 and 32 × 103 gene copy/ µL) and concentrated through ultrafiltration with a disposable centrifugal filter device. Total nucleic acids in concentrated filtrates were extracted and isolated by an automated system. In isolates, total RNA was measured by a UV/VIS spectrophotometer, and the recovered virus was quanti-fied by RT-qPCR with two gene regions (N1 and N2). The recovery rates were between 11% and 17.8% (mean 15.1%, CV below 15%). While there were positive correlations among the inoculated virus, total RNA and recovered virus, there was no correlation and linearity between the recovery rates. Despite limited recovery rates, CeUF integrated with RT-qPCR quantification can be a valid assay for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, and an early warning system. © 2022 Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.
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Aim: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the perceived family burden, caregiving burden and the quality of life of people who have to spend most of their time at home with their patients during the pandemic period and who provide home care for patients diagnosed with psychotic disorder. Material and Methods: The study included caregivers of 91 patients with a diagnosis of psychotic who admitted to the psychiatry outpatient clinic during the pandemic period and met the study criteria. All participants were applied the World Health Organization Quality of Life Form (WHOQOL-BREF-TR), Perceived family burden scale (PFBS), and the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale (ZBS). Results: Participants' mean PFBS score was 65.6 +/- 19.1 and their ZBS mean score was 56.2 +/- 14.8. A positive correlation was found between PFBS score and ZBS score (p=0,00, r=0,763). Also, a significant negative correlation was found between PFBS score and WHOQOL-BREF-TR scale sub-scales and the ZBS score and the WHOQOL-BREF-TR scale sub-scales. Discussion: The pandemic period negatively affected caregivers of patients diagnosed with psychosis.
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Flipped learning has emerged as an innovative teaching and learning model, in part due to the critical role it plays in transforming the nature of student-teacher interaction in and out of the classroom. With the spread of COVID-19, a new concept has appeared: online flipped learning, which essentially refers to flipping synchronous online classes. In this study, the researchers adapted the principles of the conventional flipped learning model to an online environment and amassed favorable feedback from students. Data on students' perceptions gathered through semi-structured interviews revealed that the flipped learning model facilitated speaking practice. However, the results of the questionnaire given to students before and after the intervention revealed that the flipped learning model was ineffective in alleviating students' foreign language anxiety levels compared to synchronous learning, and it did not make a significant difference in students' self-regulatory behaviors. At the end of the study, students did not report any differences between the conventional and online flipped learning models in terms of instructional practices, materials and classroom activities.
ABSTRACT
Covid-19, which emerged in the Wuhan city of People's Republic of China and affected the whole world, was first seen in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Turkey in March 2020. Due to the negative impact created by the mentioned disease, face-to-face education which was traditionally applied in Turkey and Northern Cyprus was ceded and total distance education was adopted rapidly so that education would not be hindered. Although distance education has a long history in the world, the total transformation of the system required a certain effort for both students and teachers to have a command in the process. In the article, based on the opinions of faculty members and students, the education system that has completely changed in universities with the pandemic process is evaluated. The distance education system, which is thought to have an important place in education after today, has been evaluated especially by pointing out the deficiencies and making some recommendations to eliminate them. In the research, measurement and evaluation came to the fore as one of the most important problems in the distance education system. At this point, it is predicted that a more process-oriented measurement and evaluation process will produce healthier results.