Association between children's home-schooling and parental psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan: Risk and protective factors in a multilevel approach.

BACKGROUND: The role home-schooling of children in parental mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan remains unknown. This study aimed to assess the association between parental psychological distress and home-schooling in a socio-ecological context during the peak of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study. In total, 902 parents (father: n = 206, mother: n = 696) who home-schooled children under 18 years of age were recruited by purposive sampling from 17 cities in Taiwan. Data were collected between 19 July and 30 September 2021 through a survey. Multilevel regression models were used to examine the association between parents' psychological distress and home-schooling considering the characteristics at the person and city levels. RESULTS: Parental psychological distress was positively associated with difficulty in setting up electronic devices and increased disputes between parents and children, and it was negatively associated with time management and increased time spent bonding with their children during home-schooling (Ps < 0.05). Parents who had a child with health conditions, lived in an extended family, worked from home, lived during the Level 3 alert level, and lived with a median/sporadic level of the COVID-19 community spread by city also reported greater psychological distress (Ps < 0.05). However, parents who had greater household family support reported less psychological distress (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians and policy makers must carefully consider parental mental health while home-schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic in a broader socio-ecological context. A focus is advised on the home-schooling experiences of parents and other risk and protective factors for parental psychological distress at the person and city levels, especially for those with children who require medical interventions and have a medical condition.

Multiparameter mobile blood analysis for complete blood count using contrast-enhanced defocusing imaging and machine vision.

Blood analysis through complete blood count is the most basic medical test for disease diagnosis. Conventional blood analysis requires bulky and expensive laboratory facilities and skilled technicians, limiting the universal medical use of blood analysis outside well-equipped laboratory environments. Here, we propose a multiparameter mobile blood analyzer combined with label-free contrast-enhanced defocusing imaging (CEDI) and machine vision for instant and on-site diagnostic applications. We designed a low-cost and high-resolution miniature microscope (size: 105 mm × 77 mm × 64 mm, weight: 314 g) that comprises a pair of miniature aspheric lenses and a 415 nm LED for blood image acquisition. The analyzer, adopting CEDI, can obtain both the refractive index distributions of the white blood cell (WBC) and hemoglobin spectrophotometric information, enabling the analyzer to supply rich blood parameters, including the five-part WBC differential count, red blood cell (RBC) count, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) quantification with machine vision algorithms and the Lambert-Beer law. We have shown that our assay can analyze a blood sample within 10 minutes without complex staining, and measurements (30 samples) from the analyzer have a strong linear correlation with clinical reference values (significance level of 0.0001). This study provides a miniature, light weight, low-cost, and easy-to-use blood analysis technique that overcomes the challenge of simultaneously realizing FWD count, RBC count, and MCH analysis using a mobile device and has great potential for integrated surveillance of various epidemic diseases, including coronavirus infection, invermination, and anemia, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Changes of Health Outcomes, Healthy Behaviors, Generalized Trust, and Accessibility to Health Promotion Resources in Taiwan Before and During COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparing 2011 and 2021 Taiwan Social Change Survey (TSCS) Cohorts.

Purpose: The present study compared two nationally representative cohort datasets concerning Taiwan residents' healthy behaviors, subjective health outcomes, generalized trust, and accessibility to health promotion resources. Patients and Methods: The Taiwan Social Change Survey (TSCS) was conducted in two waves ten years apart: 2011 cohort (n = 1021; 48.4% males) and 2021 cohort (n = 1425; 47.4%) cohorts. Descriptive statistics were calculated to compare the two TSCS datasets. Then, multiple regression models were constructed with health outcome as the dependent variable, and demographics and other key components as independent variables. Results: The 2011 TSCS cohort showed higher prevalence for cigarette smoking (30.8% vs 25.2%; p=0.002), alcohol drinking (52.5% vs 24.3%; p<0.001), exercise habits (52.7% vs 48.0%; p=0.02), and better fruit and vegetable accessibility (Mean=3.91 vs 3.82; p=0.04). The 2021 TSCS cohort reported higher body mass index (Mean=24.20 vs 23.63; p<0.001), less residency in urban areas (22.4% vs 31.1%; p<0.001), better jogging accessibility (4.14 vs 4.05; p=0.006), higher generalized trust (2.26 vs 2.17; p=0.001), and greater internet usage (3.43 vs 2.89; p<0.001). The regression model showed that exercise habits (standardized coefficient=0.20 and 0.10; p<0.001) and generalized trust (standardized coefficient=0.11 and 0.11; p=0.004 and <0.001) were consistently associated with health outcomes in both cohorts. Additionally, internet use (standardized coefficient=-0.07; p=0.026) and alcohol drinking behaviors (standardized coefficient=-0.07; p=0.0022) were negatively associated with health outcomes in the 2021 cohort. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated the trends and changes over 10 years regarding multiple health-related components among Taiwan residents. The study's findings provide insight into education promotion programs to reduce unhealthy behaviors as well as enhancing generalized trust building and developing healthy behaviors for Taiwan residents.