ABSTRACT
During the COVID-19 pandemic era that began in 2020, there has been a growing trend in the literature to tackle the problem of health stress (HS) for promoting a sense of public health. In turn, this developing area of research has a high level of relevancy linked to business and economic recovery (Cvirik, 2020). Since HS has increased sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic era, there has been a need to further investigate the balance between coping with HS and the positive continuous intention to use mobile health applications (mHealth apps) among the public. This is the first study that takes the Asia-Pacific region as its case study and empirically investigates the validity of extensions based on the theories of expectation confirmation theory (ECT) (Bhattacherjee, 2001) on user continuous behavior relating to mHealth apps during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results reveal that HS as an emotion can positively affect perceived usefulness and satisfaction in relation to the continuous intention to use mHealth apps. The differences between new and frequent users are confirmed. Discussion and implications for practices are provided in the end. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of College of Management, National Cheng Kung University.
ABSTRACT
Objective: Studies have shown that gingival crevices may be a significant route for SARS-CoV-2 entry. However, the role of oral health in the acquisition and severity of COVID-19 is not known. Design: A retrospective analysis was performed using electronic health record data from a large urban academic medical center between 12/1/2019 and 8/24/2020. A total of 387 COVID-19 positive cases were identified and matched 1:1 by age, sex, and race to 387 controls without COVID-19 diagnoses. Demographics, number of missing teeth and alveolar crestal height were determined from radiographs and medical/dental charts. In a subgroup of 107 cases and controls, we also examined the rate of change in alveolar crestal height. A conditional logistic regression model was utilized to assess association between alveolar crestal height and missing teeth with COVID-19 status and with hospitalization status among COVID-19 cases. Results: Increased alveolar bone loss, OR = 4.302 (2.510 - 7.376), fewer missing teeth, OR = 0.897 (0.835-0.965) and lack of smoking history distinguished COVID-19 cases from controls. After adjusting for time between examinations, cases with COVID-19 had greater alveolar bone loss compared to controls (0.641 ± 0.613 mm vs 0.260 ± 0.631 mm, p < 0.01.) Among cases with COVID-19, increased number of missing teeth OR = 2.1871 (1.146- 4.174) was significantly associated with hospitalization. Conclusions: Alveolar bone loss and missing teeth are positively associated with the acquisition and severity of COVID-19 disease, respectively.