ABSTRACT
Background: While treating patients during a pandemic, nurses are at risk of mental health issues caused by the stress they face. This study aimed to examine the degree of anxiety and depression among Sudanese nurses throughout the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and demographic features and their association with depression and anxiety. Methods: An online-based cross-sectional study was conducted on Sudanese nurses. Data were collected from eligible nurses using a three-part questionnaire: demographic questions, the generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7), and the major depression index (MDI). We used the Chi-square test and Spearman or point biserial correlation to assess the association between demographics, anxiety, and depression. Results: Two hundred and forty-six nurses from Sudan participated in this study. Around 69.5% of participants experienced mild to severe anxiety, while 26.4% revealed mild to severe depression. We found a significant association between depression and anxiety (P < 0.001). However, we did not find a significant association between depression or anxiety categories and the baseline characteristics of participants. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates high rates of anxiety and depression among Sudanese nurses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As we found no association between anxiety and depression with personal characteristics, psychological support should be given to all nurses' categories as all of them nearly have the same risk for anxiety and depression.
ABSTRACT
Background. One of the primary issues affecting COVID-19 vaccine uptake in high-income countries is vaccine hesitancy, which is prevalent in people from different countries of origin. Characterizing vaccine uptake in immigrant and refugee populations in the US could provide a unique window into both local and global health behaviors. The goal of this project is to characterize Sudanese American perspectives on the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods. We conducted an anonymous, online, anonymous, cross-sectional survey directed toward Sudanese Americans, with survey development guided by principles from the Vaccine Examination Scale. The survey was distributed in both English and Arabic and included questions about vaccination history, motives for getting the vaccination, reasons for vaccine hesitancy, and barriers to vaccination. Fisher's exact tests were used to analyze evaluate possible associations between vaccine uptake and sources of information on the vaccine and social media use, respectively. Data analysis was conducted using STATA SE v17.0 (StataCorp, College Station, TX). Results. A total of 108 survey responses were received;4 were excluded for failing to meet inclusion criteria. A total of 92% received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, with the primary motivation being to protect oneself (62%). Only 8 had not been vaccinated and, of those, 2 were willing to take the vaccine. Of the 6 unwilling to take the vaccine, the most cited reason was a belief that it had not been studied enough. Of the 14 possible hesitancy responses, 9 were selected at least once. When asked about their primary source of information on COVID-19, 44% used government websites, followed by mass media (22%), social media (12%) and health personnel (11%). Using Fisher's exact tests, no statistically significant conclusions were drawn between vaccine uptake and primary source of information (P = .097) or specific types of social media. Conclusion. Vaccine uptake among our survey population (92%) was much higher than that of the US (77%) or Sudanese population (11%). Overall motivators for vaccine hesitancy and vaccine uptake varied and no specific correlations were found to be associated to vaccine uptake. Future research should evaluate high levels of vaccine uptake in this community.
ABSTRACT
Background and Aims: Corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19) is a recently discovered infection that transmitted briskly worldwide. In this disease (COVID-19), it was discovered that several disorders, such diabetes, increased the severity and fatality rate. Until now, studies investigating the correlation between diabetes and COVID-19 in Sudan have not yet been conducted. Thus we aimed to evaluated the characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 among diabetic patients. Methods: A prospective study included 70 diabetic patients with COVID-19 in Wad-Medani Isolation Center from September to December 2020. Data concerning demographics and clinical characteristics, as well as outcomes were collected. Results: Out of 70 patients, 46 (66%) were men and 24 (34%) were women; the average age was 63 ± 12 years. In diabetes mellitus (DM) types, 69 (98.6%) patient were T2DM. The average of DM duration was 10 ± 6.2 years. Insulin was the major DM medication used by more one-half of study patients (n = 37; 52.9%). Newly discovered DM after COVD-19 infection was encountered in 5 (7.1%) patients. Most of the study subjects (n = 44; 63%) had moderately severe form of disease. Hypertension was the commonest comorbid in 29 (41.4%) patients. The intensive care unit admission rate among our study group was 10% (n = 7). The mortality rate among our study patients was found to be 11.4% (n = 8). Dead patients were significantly had high HbA1c levels (11.6 ± 7% vs. 8.8 ± 5%; p = 0.001). Additionally, all individuals with a severe COVID-19 illness (n = 6; 100%) were dead comparing to no patient died with mild covid illness and 4.5% patients with moderately severe infection (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The majority of COVID-19 diabetic patients were males and older in age. Most of the patients presented with moderate severity and moderately uncontrolled DM. Hypertension was the major comorbidity. The mortality rate was as high as 11.4% and associated with high HbA1c levels and severe form of COVID-19 as well.
ABSTRACT
The emergence of the internet with its online applications and also the exposure to the social platforms that are evolving day by day have positioned employees to online risk. Online fraud, spam mail, cyber-bully, and phishing is among the employees of the increased risk are exposed to in their daily activities, especially at Covid-19 era. To find a solution to that, cybersecurity awareness can prepare them to protect themselves against such risks. This research aims to investigate the employees’ awareness of cybersecurity’s basic knowledge. A cross-sectional design was conducted for data collection using a set of designed questionnaires;this method was used to investigate employees in Sudanese Companies to observe their behavior toward using e-applications, from the survey a total of 750 employees participated in the study. The results obtained from the experiment were analyzed and it shows the employees' awareness is at a satisfactory level and most of those IT professionals in the Sudanese private and public sectors increased their exposure to information security problems and received pieces of advice and briefings about cyber-attacks during the Corona pandemic. The research contribution is that there is no active cybersecurity awareness program in place, and also non IT professional employees are more likely to be the victim of cyber-attack. Besides, the survey also indicated a high enthusiasm for employees to learn more about cybersecurity. © 2022, Success Culture Press. All rights reserved.