ABSTRACT
Aims: During the pandemic of COVID-19, the sudden change in traditional health-care providing systems, clinicians experience some positive and negative aspects of the approach. This study evaluates the clinician's satisfaction and experience with the use of teleconsultation provided during the pandemic of novel coronavirus and their willingness to continue telehealth after the pandemic. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted online during the peak pandemic of COVID-19 in Pakistan through Google Forms questionnaire from 115 health consultants on different disciplines and recruited through social media. The questionnaire contains 15 questions regarding clinician's satisfaction, quality of treatment, and intention to continue providing telehealth services after the pandemic. Descriptive and inferential statistics were obtained by analyzing the data using SPSS software version 20, USA. Results: One hundred and fifteen consultants, 28 males and 87 females participated in the study, in which 62% were found to have an average and 34% at a high level of satisfaction. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed a significant difference among different medical specialists in the continuation of telehealth services after the pandemic of COVID-19 (P = 0.003) and its recommendation to friends and family (P = 0.02) with high mean rank in endocrinologist and dermatologist. Conclusions: A great number of participants reported a good response for the continuation in telemedicine services in their daily routine even after the pandemic situation. However, there is an urgent need to find the solution for the difficulties and drawbacks faced by health-care providers.
ABSTRACT
Background: Female population can be affected by various psychological factors that can have adverse effects on the woman's mental health. Pandemics are one such times which can have negative effect on the mental health. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the status of depression and anxiety and factors associated with it in the female population (pregnant and non-pregnant women) during the outbreak of COVID-19. Methods: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 345 women coming to a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. The data was collected using the socio-demographic characteristics questionnaire and the GAD-7 and PHQ-9 questionnaires. Regression analysis was done to determine the association between various factors with depression and anxiety. Results: Mean age of the participants was 27.9 years Depression and anxiety symptoms were observed in 32.7, 32.7, and 43.9% of the participants, respectively The mean score of depression was found to be 3.72 (3.80) whereas of anxiety was 3.5 (4.006). The overall prevalence of depression was 30.5% and that of anxiety was 18.55%, with varying degrees from mild to severe. Conclusions: Females in general and pregnant women specifically need special attention of the health care policy makers and this group should be given importance especially in times of such pandemics and all necessary measures should be taken to provide mental and psychological support.