ABSTRACT
The investment in Major Construction Projects (MCPs) has a counter-cyclical impact on quantitative GDP increases during the recession period. However, its impact on the quality of economic growth is still unknown. Based on the data of prefecture-level cities in China from 2008 to 2017, we construct an economic Quality Growth Index (QGI) including sustainable development factors and take the PPP (Public–Private Partnership projects) policy as a quasi-natural experiment to design a Difference-In-Differences (DID) strategy for the first time to estimate the effects of the MCPs investment on the sustainable development of regional economies. We find that the MCPs investment can significantly improve the quality of regional economic growth. The MCPs investment can improve the quality of regional economic growth by enhancing innovation and entrepreneurship at the regional levels. Our findings may provide empirical evidence to support the policy of increasing investment into infrastructure constructions to promote sustainable development in the current economic recession under the COVID-19 pandemic.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious mental health condition that is triggered by a terrifying event. We aimed to investigate the occurrence and risk factors of PTSD among discharged COVID-19 patients. METHODS: This study included 144 discharged COVID-19 patients. PTSD was assessed by using validated cut-offs of the impact of event scale-revised (IES-R, score ≥25). All patients completed a detailed questionnaire survey, and clinical parameters were routinely measured in the hospital. Binary logistic regression models were applied to identify factors associated with PTSD. RESULTS: Of the 144 participants with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, the occurrence of PTSD was 16.0%. In multivariable analyses, age above 40 years (adjusted OR [95% CI], 5.19 [2.17-12.32]), female sex (adjusted OR [95% CI], 7.82 [3.18-18.21]), current smoker (adjusted OR [95% CI], 6.72 [3.23-15.26]), and ≥3 involved pulmonary lobes (adjusted OR [95% CI], 5.76 [1.19-15.71]) were significantly associated with a higher risk of PTSD. Conversely, history of hypertension and serum hemoglobin levels were significantly associated with a lower risk of PTSD with adjusted ORs (95% CI) of 0.37 (0.12-0.87) and 0.91 (0.82-0.96), respectively. CONCLUSION: Old age, gender (being female), current smoking, bacterial pneumonia, and ≥3 involved pulmonary lobes were associated with an increased occurrence of PTSD among discharged COVID-19 patients.