Prevalence and risk factors of depression, anxiety, and stress among the Bangladeshi construction workers: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Construction workers are a population that is at risk for mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and even suicide due to the high stress and physical demands of their work. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors for depression, anxiety, and stress among Bangladeshi construction workers. METHODS: From February 2022 to June 2022, community-based cross-sectional research was conducted among construction workers. Survey data was gathered using interviewer administered questionnaires with 502 participants from the construction sites. Data were collected based on the information related to socio-demographics, lifestyle, occupation, health hazards, and mental health (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress). The results were interpreted using the chi-square test and logistic regression utilizing SPSS statistical software. RESULTS: The study revealed the prevalence rates of depression, anxiety, and stress among construction workers to be 17.9%, 30.3%, and 12%, respectively. Key findings indicate that construction workers who maintained a healthy sleep duration were 64% less likely to be depressed compared to those with poor sleep (AOR = 0.36; 95% CI: 0.21-0.61, p<0.001). Workers who did not experience breathing issues upon starting construction work had a 45% lower likelihood of experiencing depression (AOR = 0.55; 95% CI: 0.32-0.97, p = 0.037) and an 82% lower likelihood of experiencing anxiety (AOR = 0.18; 95% CI: 0.11-0.30, p<0.001). Bricklayer construction workers were 72% less likely to experience stress (AOR = 0.28; 95% CI: 0.08-0.95, p = 0.041), and workers without breathing issues after starting construction work were 66% less likely to experience stress (AOR = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.17-0.66, p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The study found that depression, anxiety, and stress are prevalent among construction workers in Bangladesh, with breathing issues as a significant risk factor. Thus, there is a need for effective measures to reduce these problems and provide a safe working environment for construction workers to ensure their productivity and the country's overall growth.

Assessment of preventive practices towards hepatitis B infection among nursing students in Bangladesh: role of knowledge, attitudes and sociodemographic factors.

BACKGROUND: Globally, hepatitis B infection (HBI) poses a substantial public health concern and healthcare workers, including nursing students, are at a higher risk of contracting this disease. Thus, the study aimed to assess how knowledge, attitudes, and sociodemographic factors are associated with HBI prevention among a sample of Bangladeshi nursing students. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was performed among 737 nursing students from the nursing institutes of Khulna and Barishal divisions in Bangladesh from January to April 2023. The data were collected by providing questionnaires (structured questionnaire) in the classroom, following a stratified random sampling process. A model of multinomial logistic regression was used to evaluate the factors linked to HBI prevention practices. RESULT: The mean (SD) scores were 11.42 (± 2.88) for knowledge, 4.33 (± 1.91) for attitude and 4.27 (± 2.056) for practice respectively. Participants' low knowledge (adjusted odds ratio, aOR = 2.562, 95% CI: 1.29-5.07) and poor attitude (aOR = 5.730, 95% CI: 3.19-10.28) regarding HBI were significantly associated with higher likelihood of poor practice towards HBI prevention. Moreover, being 2nd year of nursing students (aOR = 2.147, 95% CI: 1.19-3.86), being aged 19-20 years (aOR = 3.038, 95% CI: 1.30-7.09), being married (aOR = 0.320, 95%CI: 0.13-0.82) and having a family history of HBI (aOR = 0.134, 95%CI: 0.05-0.36) were significantly associated with poor practices of HBI prevention among study participants. CONCLUSION: The knowledge, attitude and practice scores of the nursing students on HBI prevention were suboptimal. We advocate for implementing regular HBI prevention education and policies, free or subsidized services, skill development, proper HBI prevention enforcement and strict professional ethics within nursing colleges. Such efforts should predominantly focus on second-year, aged 19-20 and unmarried nursing students.

Dynamical heterogeneity in active glasses is inherently different from its equilibrium behavior.

Activity-driven glassy dynamics, while ubiquitous in collective cell migration, intracellular transport, dynamics in bacterial and ant colonies, etc., also extends the scope and extent of the as-yet mysterious physics of glass transition. Active glasses are hitherto assumed to be qualitatively similar to their equilibrium counterparts at an effective temperature, [Formula: see text]. Here, we combine large-scale simulations and an analytical mode-coupling theory (MCT) for such systems and show that, in fact, an active glass is inherently different from an equilibrium glass. Although the relaxation dynamics can be equilibrium-like at a [Formula: see text], effects of activity on the dynamic heterogeneity (DH), which is a hallmark of glassy dynamics, are quite nontrivial and complex. With no preexisting data, we employ four distinct methods for reliable estimates of the DH length scales. Our work shows that active glasses exhibit dramatic growth of DH and systems with similar relaxation times, and thus, [Formula: see text] can have widely varying DH. To theoretically study DH, we extend active MCT and find good qualitative agreement between the theory and simulation results. Our results pave avenues for understanding the role of DH in glassy dynamics and can have fundamental significance even in equilibrium.

Esophageal Atresia and Tracheoesophageal Fistula: A Retrospective Review from a Tertiary Care Institute.

Background: A survey of neonates with esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula (EA ± TEF) to determine additional factors responsible for poor surgical outcomes in our institution where employing an improved standard of care can ameliorate the outcome. Materials and Methods: We carried out a retrospective review of 54 neonates, who underwent surgical repair of EA± TEF over a 5-year period. We collected data regarding the patients' demographics, perioperative findings, records of neonatal intensive care, and ascertained the effects of gender, gestational age, birth weight, age at operation, type of anomaly, coexisting major anomalies, preoperative inotrope therapy, and duration of postoperative ventilation on the surgical outcome. Results: The mortality rate was 51.9%, out of which, 42.8% of neonates succumbed to ventilator-associated conditions. Age at the time of surgery, gestational age, preoperative inotrope support, presence of coexisting anomalies, and duration of postoperative ventilation were determined as the significant variables predicting mortality(P < 0.05). The area under the Receiver Operating Curve showed the duration of postoperative ventilation as the best indicator of mortality. The Logistic regression model (χ2 = 11.204, P = 0.019) with the above-mentioned variables showed that neonates who were operated before 2.5 days and who required <74.5 hours of postoperative ventilation were 3.91 and 48.30 times more likely to survive respectively, than their counterparts. Conclusion: A delay in surgery due to delayed diagnosis and or delayed transportation to tertiary centres and prolonged ventilatory support have an additional detrimental effect on the surgical outcomes of EA ± TEF.