The Compatibility of Chest CT Scan with RT-PCR in Suspected COVID-19 Patients

BACKGROUND: Thoracic computed tomography (CT) scan plays a role in detecting and assessing the progression of COVID-19. It can evaluate the response to the therapy given. In diagnosis, the CT scan of the chest may complement the limitations of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Several recent studies have discussed the importance of CT scans in COVID-19 patients with false-negative RT-PCR results. The sensitivity of chest CT scan in the diagnosis of COVID-19 is reportedly around 98%. AIM: This study aimed to determine the compatibility of CT scan of the thorax with RT-PCR in suspected COVID-19 patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This research was conducted in the Radiology Department of the Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital Makassar from April to December 2020 with 350 patients. The method used was a 2 x 2 table diagnostic test. RESULT(S): The study included 188 male patients (53.7%) and 162 female patients (46.2%). The most common age group was 46-65 years (35.4%). The most common types of lesions were ground-glass opacity (163 cases), consolidation (128 cases), and fibrosis (124 cases), mostly found in the inferior lobe with a predominantly peripheral or subpleural distribution. The sensitivity of the CT scan to the PCR examination was 86%, and the specificity was 91%. CONCLUSION(S): Thoracic CT scan was a good modality in establishing the diagnosis of COVID-19. CT scan of the chest with abnormalities could confirm the diagnosis in 88% of cases based on RT-PCR examination. It excluded the diagnosis in 91% based on the RT-PCR examination. The accuracy of the thoracic CT scan was 88% with RT-PCR as the reference value.Copyright © 2023 Sri Asriyani, Albert Alexander Alfonso, Mirna Muis, Andi Alfian Zainuddin, Irawaty Djaharuddin, Muhammad Ilyas.

Implementation of occupational health and safety (OHS) management system to work stress among health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic at the Daya Regional General Hospital, Makassar

Background: Implementation of occupational health and safety (OHS) management system is one form of effort to create a safe workplace wich us to reduce occupational diseases. The continuous work faced by health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to cause stress. The aim of the current research was to analyze the application ofthe OSH management system to cope with stress in health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic at the Daya Regional General Hospital in Makassar City in 2022. Methods: This research is a quantitative and qualitative (combined) approach. The method used to analize the data was descriptive-analytic analysis with a cross-sectional approach. The sampling technique is a technique with purposive sampling. The sample was 61 nurses, and the interviews were conducted with 2 K3 officers, 1 IPCLN (Infection Prevention and Control Link Nurse) officer, and 4 nurse room heads. Results: The quantitative study showed that there was a relationship between the implementation of the hospital occupational health and safety (K3RS) program (p=0.026), work shifts (p=0.027), workload (p=0.017), and years of service (p=0.001) on work stress. Meanwhile the results of the qualitative research show that most health workers have a high workload, long working hours, and standardized work shifts that can affect hospital occupational health and safety (K3RS) program implementation which is not optimal. Conclusion: The four variables, namely the implementation of K3RS, workload, work shifts, and years of service had a relationship with work stress in Daya Hospital. In this case, the advice given was to regularly review and continuously improve Occupational Health and Safety Management System (SMK3) to improve overall OHS performance and preferably establish a special budget to support the implementation of occupational safety and health at Daya Hospital. © 2022 Academia Nacional de Medicina. All rights reserved.