Correlation of the COVID-19 Infection and Outcomes with Workload among Emergency Healthcare Workers in an Iranian Referral Hospital.

The immediate spread of COVID-19 posed a great deal of strain on healthcare personnel, particularly emergency personnel. Considering the critical role of frontline health care personnel (HCPs) during the pandemic and the life-threatening effects of COVID-19 on them, the present study aimed to evaluate the hospital database among frontline emergency personnel, and to assess the factors affecting the health status of the emergency HCPs. In the current study, we collected data on coronavirus clinical features from 58 HCPs with confirmed COVID-19 who worked in the emergency ward of Baqiyatallah Hospital, Tehran, one of the most referral hospitals in Iran. We also assessed the factors affecting the health status of the emergency HCPs from February 2020 to November 2020. All of the 58 HCPs infected with COVID-19 were the personnel of the emergency ward with an age range of 20-59 years old. The median (interquartile range) of hospital length of stay (LOS) among all patients was 8 days. Length of stay is a critical factor in predicting hospital resource needs. Twelve (21.8%) patients had ground-glass opacity (GGO) alone, and 20 (35.7%) patients had patchy GGO. In our multivariable analysis, high levels of patient liver enzymes (P=0.04) and lymphopenia (P=0.01) were significantly associated with the LOS. In our study, there was an association between high levels of patient's ESR and CRP and longer LOS. We also found that age and gender had no effect on LOS. Nurses contributed to the highest number of COVID-19 infection. It was also found that HCPs who had more working shifts were more infected, and the intensive care unit of the emergency ward was the most infected area of the Emergency Room.

Quality of life in children with ß-thalassemia major at center for special diseases.

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of factors associated with quality of life in patients with thalassemia is necessary for creating appropriate clinical programs, social support, and improving treatment outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine quality of life in children with thalassemia major at Center for Special Diseases of valiasr hospital in Birjand. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 40 children over 7 years of age with thalassemia major. Tools for data collection included a demographic questionnaire and World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL- Bref) standard questionnaire comprising 26 items to determine quality of life in patients with thalassemia. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistical tests (mean, SD, and frequency), and inferential statistical test (t-test) in SPSS software. RESULTS: Results showed mean score of 70.37±9.88 for quality of life, 25±3.06 for physical health, 18.12±3.22 for mental health, 21.3±4.43 for living environment, and 5.95±1.58 for sociability. There was no significant correlation between quality of life and demographic variables. Correlation between social relationships and education level was significant (P-value<0.0001).  CONCLUSION: According to the results, quality of life of the patient was above average in three dimensions of physical health, psychological health, and environmental health, and in order to improve quality of life in these children, appropriate programs should be implemented to support them physically, mentally and socially, and improve patient's relationship with Center for Special Diseases.