Perceived Need for Mental Health Services Among Healthcare Workers During the Coronavirus Disease-19 Pandemic in Turkey: A Multicenter Cross-sectional Study

Background: The coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic has contributed to work-related psychosocial risks in healthcare workers. Aims: To evaluate the perceived need for mental health services and related factors in Turkish healthcare workers practicing in pandemic hospitals. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Data were collected from face-to-face interviews with healthcare workers at 19 pandemic hospitals in 13 provinces between September and November 2021. The study survey included the evaluation of the perceived need for and utilization of mental health services in the previous year, as well as sociodemographic, health-related, and work-related characteristics, the General Health Questionnaire-12, the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQoL-BREF) questionnaire, and the Fear of coronavirus disease-2019 scale (FCV-19S). Results: Of 1,556 participants, 522 (33.5%) reported a perceived need for mental health services, but only 133 (8.5%) reported receiving these services. Multiple logistic regression analysis of the perceived need for mental health services revealed significant relationships with lower age, female sex, being a current smoker, having a chronic disease, having a mental disorder, coronavirus disease-2019 contact within the last three months in settings other than the home or workplace, a positive coronavirus disease-2019 vaccination history, being a physician, being a non-physician healthcare professional, and coronavirus disease-2019 contact within the last three months at work. After adjustment for these characteristics, higher General Health Questionnaire-12 and FCV-19S scores and lower WHOQoL-BREF domain scores were related to the perceived need for mental health services in logistic regression analyses. Conclusion: The findings indicate a substantial need for mental health services amongst Turkish healthcare workers during the pandemic and outline participants' characteristics regarding high-priority groups for the intervention. Future research may focus on developing actions and evaluating their efficiency.

ERS International Virtual Congress 2021: Highlights from the Turkish Thoracic Society Early Career Members.

This review aimed to highlight some important points derived from the presentations of the European Respiratory Society 2021 Virtual International Congress by a committee formed by the Early Career Task Group of the Turkish Thoracic Society. We summarized a wide range of topics including current developments of respiratory diseases and provided an overview of important and striking topics of the congress. Our primary motivation was to give some up-to-date information and new developments discussed during congress especially for the pulmonologists who did not have a chance to follow the congress. This review also committed an opportunity to get an overview of the newest data in the diverse fields of respiratory medicine such as post-coronavirus disease 2019, some new interventional and technologic developments related to respiratory health, and new treatment strategies.

Turkish Thoracic Society Early Career Members Task Force Group's Virtual Congress Notes: European Respiratory Society International Congress 2020.

In this article, Early Career Task Force Group members of the Turkish Thoracic Society summarize the European Respiratory Society 2020 virtual congress. Current developments in the field of respiratory diseases were compiled with the addition of sessions specific to coronavirus disease 2019 this year. Almost all of the congress sessions were examined, and the important and striking results of the congress were highlighted. Congress sessions were attended by expert researchers, and the prominent messages of each session were highlighted in short summaries. They were then grouped under relevant titles and ranked in order of meaning and relation. It was finalized by a team of researchers.

Adanmışlıktan Tükenmişliğe, Tükenmişlikten Vazgeçişe: COVID-19 Pandemisi'nde Ístifa Eden/Emekli Olan Hekimlerin Çığlığı

COVID-19 Pandemisi'nde haziran ayı itibariyle esnek çalışma düzeni sonlandırılmış, "normalleşme" uygulamalarına geçilmiş, devlet memurlarına, özellikle sağlık çalışanlarına uygulanan istifa/emeklilik yasağı kaldırılmıştır. Çalışmamız, COVID-19 Pandemisi'nde istifa eden/emekliye ayrılan hekimlerin bu kararlarını sosyolojik açıdan değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Nitel özellikteki bu araştırma, yarı-yapılandırılmış, yüz yüze mülakat tekniğiyle, çevrimiçi olarak hekim görüşmecilerle gerçekleştirilmiştir. Yaşlarının ortancası 50 olan 19 görüşmeciden 9'u istifa etmiş, 10'u emeklilik kararı vermişti. Görüşme ifadelerinin kodlarında, işten ayrılma kararını etkileyen etmenler, organizasyon sorunları, yönetimin yaklaşımı, mesleği icra etme koşulları, meslek anlayışı, kişilik özellikleri, yakın çevrelerinin yaklaşımı araştırılmıştır. Pandemi döneminde sağlık çalışanlarının istifa ve emeklilik eylemi, enfekte olma-başkasına bulaştırma korkusu, sağlık sistemindeki sorunlar, ağır çalışma şartları;sürecin ne kadar süreceğini bilememekten kaynaklı tükenmişlik hissiyle açıklanmaktadır. Bireyin toplumsala olan inancını yitirdiği ve toplumsal dayanışmanın çözüldüğü bir anomi hâli olarak kriz bağlamında, adaletsiz görev dağılımı, organizasyon bozuklukları, belirsizliğin sorumluluk kavramını muğlaklaştırması, meslektaşların görevden kaçınma davranışları, takdir görmeme ve kişilik özellikleri, ayrılma davranışına zemin hazırlayan başlıca unsurlar olarak saptanmıştır. Toplumla mübadeledeki dengesizlik, bireyin adanmışlıkla çalışmasının hak ettiğine inandığı ödülü kendi kendine vermeyi seçmesine yol açmıştır. Bu araştırmada, COVID-19 Pandemi sürecindeki istifa ve emeklilik olgularının arkasında yatan etmenleri, vazgeçiş salgınına dönüşmesinin önlenmesi için yapılması gerekenleri anlamaya yönelik bir tür otopsi yapılmaktadır.Alternate abstract:In the COVID-19 pandemic, flexible work schedules were terminated in June 2020, normalization practices were initiated, and resignation/ retirement bans on healthcare workers were lifted. This study aims to evaluate the decisions of doctors who've resigned or retired during the COVID-19 pandemic from a sociological perspective. This qualitative research was conducted online using the semi-structured face-to-face interview technique with physician interviewees. Of the interviewees (Mage = 50.9 years), 9 had resigned and 10 had decided to retire. When coding the interview statements, the factors affecting the decision to leave employment were investigated such as organizational problems, managerial approaches, the conditions for cognizance in performing and understanding the profession, personality traits, and approaches in their immediate environment. During the pandemic, healthcare workers' acts of resigning or retiring have been explained through the fear of being infected/infecting someone else, problems in the health system, intense work conditions, and feeling burned out due to not knowing how long the process will take. In the context of the crisis as an anomie in which the individual loses faith in society and social solidarity dissolves, the main factors setting the basis for leaving work have been identified as unfair distribution of tasks, organizational disorders, ambiguity regarding the concept of responsibility due to uncertainty, collegiate behaviors that shirk duty, lack of appreciation, and personality traits. The imbalance in exchange with society has led individuals to choose to give themselves the rewards that they are unable to get from others. This research performs a kind of autopsy to understand the factors behind cases of resignation and retirement during the COVID-19 pandemic and what needs to be done to prevent this from turning into a contagion turnover.

COVID-19 Treatment at a Glance.

As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads across the world, the ongoing clinical trials are leading to a big race worldwide to develop a treatment that will help control the pandemic. Unfortunately, COVID-19 does not have any known effective treatment with reliable study results yet. In this pandemic, there is not a lot of time to develop a new specific agent because of the rapid spread of the disease. The process of developing a vaccine is long and requires hard work. Although the pathophysiology of the disease is not fully understood, some of the proposed treatment alternatives are based on old evidence and some have been used with the idea that they might work owing to their mechanism of action. The efficacy, reliability, and safety of the currently available treatment alternatives are therefore a matter of debate. Currently, the main therapies used in the treatment of COVID-19 are antiviral drugs and chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine. Other proposed options include tocilizumab, convalescent plasma, and steroids, but the mainstay of the treatment in intensive care units remains supportive therapies.

Recurrent and More Severe COVID-19 Infection: Two Elderly Case Reports.

Although the sensitivity of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is low in the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), it is the gold standard. Clinical improvement is prioritized in the follow-up of patients with COVID-19 who are followed as possible or definitive cases. Although the priority in the discharge decision is the resolution of complaints, it is also important to see radiological improvement and RT-PCR negativity. A total of 2 of our patients who were hospitalized and treated in our clinic with a diagnosis of COVID-19 were discharged after their complaints were resolved and their treatment was completed. The patients had 2 negative RT-PCR results at discharge. Both of them presented to the hospital with symptoms such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath after the discharge, and both showed positive RT-PCR results. Considering recurrent COVID-19 infection, we aimed to present treatment and the 2 cases we followed.

Evaluation of disease severity with quantitative chest CT in COVID-19 patients.

PURPOSE: We aimed to assess the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia on computed tomography (CT) using quantitative (QCT) and semiquantitative (SCT) assessments and compare with the clinical findings. METHODS: Two observers independently examined the CT images of COVID-19 patients, and the SCT severity score was calculated. The SCT score was calculated as the sum of values ranging from 0 to 4, according to the volumetric rate of involvement for each lung lobe. In quantitative assessment, total lung volume (TLV) was automatically calculated from CT density values between -200 and -950 HU. Besides, healthy lung volume (HLV) was calculated from voxels between -800 and -950 HU. The QCT score was calculated with the following formula: (TLV - HLV / TLV) ×100. All patients were clinically divided into four groups: mild, common, severe, and critical. Interobserver agreement for SCT assessment was investigated using the Cohen's Kappa statistics (κ). Pearson's correlation coefficient was used for the relationship between continuous data. The diagnostic accuracy of SCT and QCT in the differentiation of clinically limited (mild, common) and extensive (severe, critical) disease was investigated using ROC analysis. RESULTS: Seventy-six patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19 were included. There was good agreement between the two observers in the SCT evaluation of pulmonary disease severity (κ = 0.796; 95% CI, 0.751-0.841). A significant correlation was found between QCT and SCT scores (p < 0.001, r = 0.661). Both QCT and SCT scores showed a significant correlation with clinical severity score (p < 0.001, r = 0.620 and p = 0.004, r = 0.529, respectively). The ROC analysis revealed the AUC of QCT and SCT for differentiation of limited and extensive disease as 0.873 (95% CI, 0.774-0.972) and 0.816 (95% CI, 0.673-0.959), respectively. CONCLUSION: The QCT assessment is an objective method in the evaluation of COVID-19 severity and is more successful than semiquantitative CT assessment to discriminate extensive from limited disease.