ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: It is important to adhere to infection control measures in dental procedures due to direct contact with blood and saliva. During the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, regular surveillance is imperative to ensure adherence to the standards. AIM: This study aimed to assess the level of adherence to infection control guidelines in specialized dental clinics in different working shifts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study assessed the level of adherence of 45 selected dental departments to three main guidelines released by (I) the center for disease control (CDC), (II) the Ministry of Health (MOH), and (III) armed forces organization (AFO) in three different working shift. The CDC checklist had eight domains. Thus, the items of each domain were individually scored, and considering the weighting coefficient of each item, the total score was calculated. The same procedure was carried out for the two remaining guidelines. The possible effect of working shifts and different specialties on infection control practice was also calculated. RESULT(S): The mean rate of adherence was 70.7% to the CDC, 93.8% to the MOH, and 84.4% to the AFO guidelines indicating that adherence to the CDC guidelines was lower than the other two domestic guidelines. Individual assessment of each item revealed that hand hygiene (39%) and safe handling and disposal of sharp instruments (46%) acquired the lowest, while sterilization (79%) and safe injection (97%) acquired the highest score according to the CDC checklist. There was no relationship between working shifts and dental specialties regarding the adherence to infection control standards. CONCLUSION(S): Dental clinics had different performances regarding infection control guidelines. Further emphasis should be placed on hand hygiene and disposal of sharp instruments. Copyright © 2022 Mohammad Ali Keshvad, Mohammad Taghi Vatandoust, Elahe Tahmasebi, Mohsen Yazdanian, Hormoz Sanaeinasab, Mahmood Salesi, Esmaeil Rafiei.
ABSTRACT
The current study sought to identify factors that may affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients recovering from COVID-19 infection in Iran. In a cross-sectional study 258 patients diagnosed with COVID-19, participants completed a questionnaire approximately one month after hospital discharge when demographic and clinical factors (including insomnia) and HRQoL were assessed. A logistic regression was used. Age, gender, marital status, education, having child, early physician visit, early diagnosis, early hospitalization, symptom type, Rhesus factor, and level of insomnia were associated with various components of HRQoL (p<0.05). In multivariate analyses, poorer physical HRQoL was independently associated with female gender (OR=4.53;95% CI=2.22-2.29), initial symptom of cough (OR=2.73;95% CI=1.26-5.94), and insomnia (OR=2.74;95% CI=1.22-6.14). Poorer mental HRQoL was associated with being age 40 years or older (OR=1.90;95% CI=1.02-3.54), female gender (OR=2.48;95% CI=1.26-4.88), initial symptom being cough (OR=3.12;95% CI=1.46-6.68), and insomnia (sub-threshold insomnia, OR=3.19;95% CI, 1.51-6.74, to severe insomnia, OR=3.86;95% CI=1.35-11.07). Healthcare professionals should be aware that older people, female gender, those with initial symptom of cough, and insomnia may be at greater risk for poor quality of life following hospital discharge. © 2022, Intelektual Pustaka Media Utama. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background and Objective: Improving the health literacy in the different populations regarding COVID-19 may be useful in the control of its prevalence. This study examined the psychometric properties of a newly developed disease-specific measure of health literacy related to COVID-19 to be used as a standard measure. Materials and Methods: Relevant literature was reviewed to identify an item pool, and an expert panel was convened to choose items that might be included in the scale. Content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) was determined and face validity was examined by calculating the impact score in a group of social media users. The factor structure of the initial scale was examined in 590 Iranian individuals participating in online social networks in September 2020. Internal consistency of the scale was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha and test-retest reliability of responses was measured by Pearson correlation coefficients. Results: A five-factor solution for the 51-items scale was obtained through exploratory factor analysis. The five main dimensions were understanding, communication, information seeking, analysis, and behavior. The dimensions explained 47% of the variance in scale scores. Participants whose scores fell in the high category (27%) were significantly different compared to those whose scores fell in the low category (27%) on all dimensions (p<0.001). The CVR values for all items were greater than 0.85 and all items also got CVI values higher than 0.79 based on nine-person expert panel. The Cronbach’s alpha for the overall scale was 0.89, and it was ranged from 0.71 to 0.90. Test-retest reliability for the scale was high (r=0.89). Conclusion: Health Literacy Scale for protect against COVID-19is a valid and reliable measure for Iranian population. This measure should be translated, and administered, in other settings to replicate the results obtained here. © 2022, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.