Evaluation of nutritional habits and affecting factors of health care professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic stage: on-line survey study

Purpose: Health workers have been greatly affected by the pandemic, both as a health worker and as a member of the society, and have gone out of their routine lifestyle and habits more than normal individuals. In the pandemic stage;intense, irregular and stressful work pace also disrupted the routine eating habits while increasing the need for nutrition. With this survey study, it is aimed to evaluate the nutritional habits, affecting factors and results of healthcare professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic stage. Materials and methods: For our study a questionnaire of 49 questions was prepared. It was continued between 01/06/2020 and 01/01/2021. Questionnaires were prepared on Google forms and sent to healthcare professionals via e-mail. Multiple-choice questions were asked about personal information such as the number of meals, whether they gained weight during the pandemic stage, foods believed to protect from Covid-19, nutritional supplements used during the pandemic period, and the reason for using supplements. The questions in the second category are;it mostly includes questions about changes in dietary and lifestyle of health workers during the pandemic period. It includes questions such as: ‘‘My meal count has increased'', ‘‘My water consumption has increased'', ‘‘My night eating behavior has improved'', ‘‘My sleep pattern has been disrupted'', ‘‘I gained weight during the pandemic'', ‘‘I smoke more'', ‘‘I drink more tea and coffee'', ‘‘I try to exercise''. The answers were obtained with a 3-point Likert scale (agree, undecided, disagree). Results: It was determined that health workers experienced weight gain during the pandemic stage. It was determined that the average weight and average BMI of health professionals showed a statistically significant increase (p<0.01). It was noticed that the participants had an increase in the number of meals during the pandemic stage (p<0.001). It was noticed that the vast majority of the participants took vitamin and mineral supplements. Conclusion: We found that healthcare workers took additional mineral and vitamin supplements, increased the number of meals, and experienced weight gain during the pandemic. Because of this, health workers should be given healthy snacks with high nutritional value during the pandemic stage. By health managers and administrators;a management and organizational plan including a healthy nutrition program especially in extraordinary situations such as pandemics can be created, for health workers who are exposed to intense, irregular and stressful working conditions and who are in high risk groups. © 2023, Pamukkale University. All rights reserved.

Can scoring systems be used for the triage of COVID-19 patients?

Background and Aim: Whether to send COVID-19 patients home with quarantine measures or to hospitalize and treat them on an inpatient basis is a very important decision in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. This study aimed to introduce a scoring system that will enable making decisions on inpatient or outpatient treatment of patients by scoring their symptoms, clinical, radiological, and laboratory results during the initial assessment. Materials and Methods: Data of patients over 18 years of age, examined for COVID-19 between March 11, 2020, and May 31, 2020, and who had a positive PCR result, and their radiological (computed tomography reports) and blood test (complete blood count, blood gas and laboratory results) results were recorded to develop our scoring system. Results: A comparison of COVID-19 patients, who received outpatient and inpatient treatments by age variable, revealed a significant result (P < 0.001). The comparison of laboratory results showed a significant difference between both groups (P < 0.001). The comparison of the groups by the presence of comorbidity also revealed a significant result (P < 0.001). According to the scoring system that we developed (Cebeci score), a score of 5 points and above had a specificity of 81% and a sensitivity of 88% for indicating the probability of receiving inpatient treatment. Conclusion: We believe that the scoring system we developed will be a simple, practical, and leading guide for physicians to avoid dilemmas regarding the issue of whether to quarantine patients at home or to hospitalize them in order to use medical resources effectively.

A retrospective analysis of intensive care unit patients during the pandemic period.

aimed to evaluate the laboratory parameters, risk factors, and success in predicting mortality in COVID-19 patients admitted to our hospital's intensive care units (ICUs). METHODS: Levels of procalcitonin, ferritin, D-dimer, CRP and albumin measured on days 1 and 7 were recorded. Patients were divided into two groups as non-survivors and patients, who were discharged from ICUs. The predictive values of laboratory parameters in predicting COVID-19 mortality were investigated. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was detected between the two groups in the mean values of all laboratory parameters tested on days 1 and 7, including D-dimer, procalcitonin, CRP, WBC, ferritin (excluding only D-dimer levels and WBC counts on day 1; p=0.061 and p=0.243, respectively) (p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001, p=0.013, p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001; respectively). CONCLUSION: . It can be argued that procalcitonin, ferritin, and D-dimer can be guiding parameters in predicting mortality in COVID-19 because their levels were found to be significantly higher in non-survivors. D-dimer, procalcitonin, and ferritin showed an almost high level of sensitivity and specificity in predicting mortality (Tab. 5, Fig. 3, Ref. 19).