Medical professionals' job satisfaction and telemedicine readiness during the COVID-19 pandemic: solutions to improve medical practice in Egypt.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted medical professionals' job satisfaction and was a call to adopt telemedicine. Finding out how far medical professionals are satisfied and ready to use telemedicine would be important to improve medical practice. METHODS: Data was collected from 959 medical professionals from both the governmental and private health sectors in Egypt in 2021 using a specifically designed online questionnaire, to evaluate job satisfaction, perception of telemedicine, and propose solutions to improve medical practice. RESULTS: The study revealed low to moderate job satisfaction at governmental (27.2%) and private (58.7%) sectors. Underpayment was the most reported challenge at both sectors (37.8% and 28.3%, respectively). Dissatisfaction with government salary was independently predicted by working at the Ministry of Health and Population (OR = 5.54, 95%CI = 2.39,12.8; p < 0.001). Wage increase (46.10%), medical training of professionals (18.1%), and management of non-human resources (14.4%) were the most proposed solutions to improve medical practice in Egypt. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 90.7% of medical professionals had practiced telemedicine with moderate level of perception of its benefits (56%). CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical professionals reported low to moderate job satisfaction and a moderate level of perception of telemedicine. It is recommended to analyze the healthcare financing system and provide continuous training of medical professionals to improve medical practice in Egypt.

Sleep quality and anxiety among Egyptian population during covid-19 pandemic.

Objectives: COVID-19 pandemic imposed a relevant number of stressful factors potentially impacting either daytime function or sleep quality. This study aimed to assess the sleep quality and anxiety among the general population living in Egypt. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,000 individuals who have been recruited via a convenience sample. A predesigned questionnaire was distributed online to collect data on sleep quality using the validated Arabic version of the Pittsburgh sleep quality index, anxiety disorders by the generalized anxiety disorder (GAD-7) scale, demographic characteristics, and clinical history. Results: Among the study participants (33.8% males, 46.2% healthcare workers, 25% had chronic diseases, 30.1% were physically active during lockdown, and 70.3% reported work termination due to COVID-19 infection, 68.4% complained of bad sleep and 70.3% showed clinically significant levels of anxiety). In multiple logistic regression analysis, bad sleep quality was significantly associated with moderate anxiety (OR: 1.88; [95% CI: 1.37-2.60]), severe anxiety (OR: 3.15; [95% CI: 2.18-4.55]), being physically active (OR: 0.53; [95% CI: 0.39-0.71]), received higher education as being postgraduate (OR: 0.56; [95% CI: 0.35-0.92]), or living with family (OR: 0.74; [95% CI :0.56-0.98]).The GAD-7 scale added 8% discrimination power for prediction of bad sleep quality compared to the model based on demographic and clinical data [with GAD: AUC=0.70, p<0.001; without GAD: AUC=0.62, p<0.001]. Conclusion: COVID-19 had a significant impact on sleep quality and anxiety among Egyptians. Since both the conditions may overlap and potentiate each other leading to chronic dysfunctional outcomes, an accurate assessment and clinical approach may favor a better prognosis.

Combined peripheral and central nervous system demyelination post-COVID-19 vaccination: A case report

Background During the era of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, various neurological syndromes were reported during or after the infection. Fortunately, efforts were made to successfully develop various vaccines with high efficacy and safety. Despite the promising results of those vaccines, they are too novel to be fully understood. Here we are shedding light on a neurological case presentation that may be attributed to one of the COVID-19 vaccines. Case presentation A 23-year-old male patient with no prior comorbidities presented with quadriparesis and numbness that were clinically and electrophysiologically consistent with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). The condition started 10 days after the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Moreover, MRI of the brain and spinal cord has shown evidence of non-specific central demyelination. Despite the radiological finding, the patient is not fulfilling the diagnosis of a known demyelination disorder and the lesions regressed on follow-up. Since no better explanation or trigger could be found, a post-vaccination immune-mediated reaction was considered. Conclusion We still cannot assume the certainty of the causality association between the vaccine and the neurological presentation. Meanwhile, we suggest vigilance for cases of GBS or myelitis following vaccination for Covid-19 and that post-vaccination surveillance programs ensure a statistically significant tool to prove or dispsrove the causality.