RESUMO
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a major threat to public health in the present century. In this situation, adherence to preventive behaviors seriously impacts the prevention of viral diseases. The present study aims to investigate adherence to public health preventive instructions in patients infected with COVID-19 before contracting the disease. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out from November 2020 to March 2021 in Fars province. 3242 patients infected with COVID-19 were selected via multistage sampling. Data were collected using a demographic information form and a researcher-made questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed by Stata v. 14 using the chi-square test. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The average age of participants was 38.45±13.07 years. 48.80% had a high rate, 47.90% had a moderate rate, and only 3.30% had a low compliance rate with COVID-19 preventive instructions. The patients' main reason for not following preventive behaviors was having to be present in busy places (41.1%). There was a significant correlation between the participants' age, gender, place of residence, occupation, education, history of underlying diseases (P≤0.001), marital status (P=0.041), and use of masks with a rate of adherence to preventive behaviors(P≤0.001). In the random forest, the job represents 36.75% compliance with COVID-19 preventive guidelines. Conclusion: Therefore, by raising public awareness, healthcare policymakers and administrators can enhance the public's observance of the COVID-19 prevention instructions and consequently control the spread of the infection and improve public health during the current crisis caused by the pandemic. © 2022 by the Author(s).
RESUMO
Objective: Final patient triage determines which patients can be home-isolated and which patients require hospitalization on the basis to predict the patient’s prognosis most accurately. Final triage is an important link in the clinical management chain of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and a comprehensive review of various patient triage methods is very important to guide decision making and triage efficiency. Decision by clinicians about hospitalization or home-discharge is one of the main challenges in places with limited hospital facilities compared to the high volume of COVID-19 patients. This review was designed to guide clinicians on how to address this challenge. Methods: In this mini review we searched scientific databases to obtain the final triage methods of COVID-19 patients and the important criteria in each method. In order to conducted searches a period from December 2019 to July 2020 was considered. All searches were done in electronic databases and search engines. Results: Findings revealed four current methods for final triage (decision-making regarding home-isolation or hospitalization of COVID-19 patients). These methods included 1) demographic and background information, 2) clinical information, 3) laboratory indicators and 4) initial chest CT-scan. Each of the aforementioned methods encompassed significant criteria according to which decisions on the patient’s prognosis and final triage were made. Finally, by evaluating each final triage method, we found that each method had some limitations. Conclusion: An effective and quick final triage requires simultaneous complementary use of all four methods to compensate for each other’s weaknesses and add to each other’s strengths. It is therefore suggested to assure that clinicians are trained in all four COVID-19 patient’s triage methods and their useful criteria in order to achieve evidence-based performance for better triage (decision between home-isolation versus hospitalization). © 2022 The Author(s).