Design of a Mobile Application and Evaluation of Its Effects on Psychological Parameters of Covid-19 Inpatients: A Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Panic of the disease and the associated concerns can lower the quality of life and physical performance. As long as the COVID-19 pandemic is ever on the rise, the psychological pandemic of the disease is on the rise, too. The high prevalence of COVID-19 has further increased physicians' work pressure. Patients' needs are not met adequately by physicians. It seems essential to use aids to monitor patients' needs and serve them properly. Thus, in the present research, suggestions are made on how to evaluate patients' physical and psychological conditions during the treatment via a mobile application. Methods and Analysis: The present research is a randomized, two parallel-group, controlled trial. One-hundred-twelve inpatients diagnosed with the coronavirus will be assigned randomly to the control and intervention groups. In the intervention group, a mobile application will be provided to educate patients, establish two-way interactions between patients and care providers and record patients' symptoms. Those in the control group will receive the usual care. The primary outcome is the change to the depression anxiety stress scales-21 (DASS-21) score from the baseline to 2 weeks after discharge from hospital. It will be measured at the baseline, at the time of discharge, and two weeks later. Ethics and Dissemination: The Ethics committee of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences' approval date was 2020-04-19 with IR.MUMS.REC.1399.118 reference code. Thus far, participants' recruitment has not been completed and is scheduled to end in March 2021. The results will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal. Trial Registration: IRCT20170922036314N4 (https://www.irct.ir/trial/47383).

The burden and predisposing factors of non-communicable diseases in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences personnel: a prospective 15-year organizational cohort study protocol and baseline assessment.

BACKGROUND: The rising burden of premature mortality for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in developing countries necessitates the institutionalization of a comprehensive surveillance framework to track trends and provide evidence to design, implement, and evaluate preventive strategies. This study aims to conduct an organization-based prospective cohort study on the NCDs and NCD-related secondary outcomes in adult personnel of the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (MUMS) as main target population. METHODS: This study was designed to recruit 12,000 adults aged between 30 and 70 years for 15 years. Baseline assessment includes a wide range of established NCD risk factors obtaining by face-to-face interview or examination. The questionnaires consist of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, lifestyle pattern, fuel consumption and pesticide exposures, occupational history and hazards, personal and familial medical history, medication profile, oral hygiene, reproduction history, dietary intake, and psychological conditions. Examinations include body size and composition test, abdominopelvic and thyroid ultrasonography, orthopedic evaluation, pulse wave velocity test, electrocardiography, blood pressure measurement, smell-taste evaluation, spirometry, mammography, and preferred tea temperature assessment. Routine biochemical, cell count, and fecal occult blood tests are also performed, and the biological samples (i.e., blood, urine, hair, and nail) are stored in preserving temperature. Annual telephone interviews and repeated examinations at 5-year intervals are planned to update information on health status and its determinants. RESULTS: A total of 5287 individuals (mean age of 43.9 ± 7.6 and 45.9% male) were included in the study thus far. About 18.5% were nurses and midwives and 44.2% had at least bachelor's degree. Fatty liver (15.4%), thyroid disorders (11.2%), hypertension (8.8%), and diabetes (4.9%) were the most prevalent NCDs. A large proportion of the population had some degree of anxiety (64.2%). Low physical activity (13 ± 22.4 min per day), high calorie intake (3079 ± 1252), and poor pulse-wave velocity (7.2 ± 1.6 m/s) highlight the need for strategies to improve lifestyle behaviors. CONCLUSION: The PERSIAN Organizational Cohort study in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences is the first organizational cohort study in a metropolitan city of Iran aiming to provide a large data repository on the prevalence and risk factors of the NCDs in a developing country for future national and international research cooperation.

The knowledge of hand hygiene among the healthcare workers of two teaching hospitals in Mashhad.

INTRODUCTION: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) affect millions of patients worldwide annually. Hand hygiene (HH) has been identified as the single most important factor preventing HAIs. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge regarding hand hygiene practices amongst health care workers, and identifying the areas of gaps in their knowledge. METHODS: This cross-sectional analytic study was conducted in two university hospitals in Mashhad, Iran between May 2014 and September 2015. Data was collected using a translated version of the World Health Organization (WHO) Hand Hygiene Knowledge Questionnaire (revised 2009). The questionnaire contained questions on the participants' age, gender, profession, year of the course, formal training in HH and 27 multiple choice and "yes" or "no" questions to assess HH knowledge. Data were entered into IBM SPSS Statistics, Version 16. Descriptive statistical methods and also analytical statistical methods include ANOVA and Independent-samples t-test were used in data analyzing. RESULTS: In total, 161 respondents including 32 residents, 92 nurses and 37 nursing assistants enrolled in this study. All study groups had a moderate knowledge of HH. The score of 21% was ≤ 50% (poor) and only 10.6% had a good knowledge score (i.e. the score ≥75%). There was no significant difference in the knowledge level of the participants who had received formal training in HH and those who had not (p=0.68). Also, the mean knowledge score was not associated with age (p=0.12), gender (p=0.84), department (p=0.96) or profession (p=0.43). CONCLUSION: This study highlights the importance of applying the multimodal training program addressing providers' knowledge regarding hand hygiene, as well as strategies for cognitive, emotional and behavioral methods such as patient engagement in hand-hygiene interventions.