Good hand hygienic practices are considered an important factor to curb the transmission and emergence of SARS-CoV -2. Various studies, conducted previously during the outbreaks of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, have ascertained the effectiveness of adopting good hand hygienic practices to curb the emergence of these viruses. This study aims to explore public hand hygienic practices during the peak pandemic period.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the general population of Pakistan to investigate the knowledge and perception about hand hygiene, self-reported hand hygiene practices, adherence to hand hygienic guidelines, and barriers to optimal hand hygiene. Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Regression model were used for statistical analysis.

There was a significant difference in area-based knowledge (P = 0.026), beliefs (P = 0.027), and practices (P = 0.002) regarding hand hygiene. The results of regression analysis revealed that people in urban areas were more likely to have better knowledge (β = 0.108, CI = 0.076 − 0.05, P = 0.008) and better adherence (β = 0.115, CI = 0.514 − 2.68, P = 0.004) to hand hygienic practices.

Advertisements on television and other electronic media with appealing slogans could be effective in making people more compliant to optimal hand hygienic practices.

The aim of this study was to investigate the influences of sociodemographic data, mental disorder history, confusion and somatic discomfort triggered by social media on anxiety and depression symptoms among medical professionals during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

A total of 460 participants completed online questionnaires that included sociodemographic data, mental health disorder history, an assessment of confusion and somatic discomfort triggered by social media, and psychological disturbance. Hierarchical linear regression model was adopted to analysis the data.

The hierarchical linear regression model was able to explain 41.7% of variance in depression symptoms, including comorbidity with 1 mental disorder (B = 0.296; P < 0.001), confusion (B = 0.174; P < 0.001), and somatic discomfort (B = 0.358; P < 0.001) triggered by social media. The hierarchical linear regression model was able to explain 41.7% of variance in anxiety symptoms, including sex (B = -0.08; P < 0.005), comorbidity with 1 mental health disorder (B = 0.242; P < 0.001), confusion (B = 0.228; P < 0.001), and somatic discomfort (B = 0.436; P < 0.001) triggered by social media.

These results suggest that it is important to provide adequate psychological assistance for medical professionals with mental health problems in COVID-19 to buffer the negative impact of social media.

In this work, in order to establish a better comprehension of the association between Argentina and its neighbor countries’ capacity, and COVID-19 burden during the first 3 months, different indicators were evaluated.

We analyzed the association between GHSI, INFORM index and COVID-19 burden (number of confirmed cases and deaths), also the number of tests, lethality and the stringency of Governmental policies were evaluated.

Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia started earlier different prevention measures. The number of tests differs, as Chile is the 1 that makes more. Uruguay and Paraguay register fewer positive cases and deaths from COVID-19. The GHS index is led by Brazil, followed by Argentina, and then Chile. However, the INFORM index is led by Uruguay followed by Argentina, while Chile and Paraguay are on par.

The countries that took preventive measures earlier and carried out a more tests are the ones that are obtaining the best results against COVID-19.

The aim of this study was to assess the stigma associated with coronavirus disease - 2019 (COVID-19) among health care workers (HCWs) in Indonesia during the early phase of the pandemic.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in 12 hospitals across the country in March, 2020. A logistic regression was employed to assess the association between stigma and explanatory variables.

In total, 288 HCWs were surveyed, of which 93.4% had never experienced any outbreaks. Approximately 21.9% of the respondents had stigma associated with COVID-19. HCWs who were doctors, had not participated in trainings related to COVID-19, worked in the capital of the province, worked at private hospitals, or worked at a hospital with COVID-19 triage protocols were likely to have no stigma associated with COVID-19.

The stigma associated with COVID-19 is relatively high among HCWs in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. Adequate dissemination of knowledge and adequate protection are necessary to reduce stigma among HCWs.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread quickly all over the world. The number of studies in this field being performed and published is increasing day by day. The aim of this study is to analyze the publications in the field of COVID-19 with the help of bibliometric methods. After bibliometric analysis, the second aim is to investigate the relationship between the number of publications in countries and the number of total cases.

The data in the study were taken from the Web of Science (WOS) site. Analyses and mapping processes were performed using VOSviewer and SPSS package program. The words “COVID-19”, “Novel Coronavirus”, “2019-nCoV”, “SARS-CoV-2” were used as key words for analysis. The data include publications from 2019 to 2021 (January 10).

As a result of the study, a total of 38,080 publications were evaluated. It was determined that the countries with the highest number of publications on COVID-19 were China and the United States, and the country with the highest number of citations was China. Most of the studies in the field of COVID-19 have been conducted on General Internal Medicine and Public Enviromental Occupational Health. In addition, statistically significant relationships were observed between the number of publications and the number of total cases in terms of countries (r = 0.806; P < 0.001).

As a result, bibliometric analysis about COVID-19 can be useful for the future studies. It gives a general perspective of the studies.

To examine the effects of household preparedness on perceptions of workplace preparedness during a pandemic among all employees at the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities.

The VA Preparedness Survey (October–December 2018, Los Angeles, CA) used a stratified simple random, web-based survey. Multivariate statistical analyses examined the effect of household preparedness on perceptions of workforce preparedness during a pandemic: institutional readiness; desire for additional training; and understanding their role and its importance.

VA employees totaling 4026 participated. For a pandemic, 55% were confident in their VA medical facility’s ability to respond, 63% would like additional training, 49% understood their role during a response, and 68% reported their role as important. Only 23% reported being “well prepared” at home during major disasters. After controlling for study-relevant factors, household preparedness was positively associated with perceptions of workforce preparedness during a pandemic.

Efforts to increase household preparedness for health care employees could bolster workforce preparedness during pandemics. Organizations should consider robust policies and strategies, such as flexible work arrangements, in order to mitigate factors that may serve as barriers to household preparedness.

The present study aimed to give an overview of research publications on health system preparedness against viral infectious disease outbreaks.

A bibliometric method was implemented from 2001 to 2020. The studied pathogens were dengue, Ebola, influenza, Zika, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The search query returned 501 documents. The growth of publications showed a sharp peak in 2020 for COVID-19 and 3 small peaks in 2006, 2009, and 2015 for SARS, influenza, and Ebola, respectively. Of the retrieved documents, 208 (41.5%) were on influenza, 164 (32.7%) were on COVID-19, and 83 (16.6%) were on Ebola. Countries in the region of the Americas (n = 221; 44.1%) returned the majority of the documents, while countries in Latin America and the African region returned the least. The United States (n = 197; 39.3%) had a leading role in this field. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n = 51; 10.2%) ranked first, followed by the Johns Hopkins University (n = 16; 3.2%). The Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness journal (n = 21; 4.2%) ranked first. International research collaboration was relatively inadequate.

Research on preparedness against infectious diseases was episodic. Research collaboration needs to be prioritized for countries with a history of fatal outbreaks.

This study aims to evaluate the long-term impact of living in postdisaster prefabricated temporary housing on social interaction activities and mental health status.

A total of 917 adult residents in a coastal town, whose residences were destroyed by the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE), were enrolled for the assessment held 5 y after the disaster. They answered questions about their experience and consequence of living in prefabricated temporary housing after the disaster. Their present scores on 5 types of self-reported measures regarding the psychosocial or psychiatric status and their present and recalled social interaction activities were cross-sectionally collected.

A total of 587 (64.0%) participants had a history of living in prefabricated temporary housing, while the other 330 (36.0%) had not. The prevalence of social interaction activities significantly decreased after the GEJE. However, the experience of living in prefabricated temporary housing did not adversely affect the subsequent social interaction activities or mental conditions of the participants 5 y after the disaster.

Living in postdisaster prefabricated temporary housing may not negatively impact subsequent psychosocial conditions or social interaction activities 5 y later.

This study aims to assess the stress levels, stress busters (stress relievers), and coping mechanisms among Saudi dental practitioners (SDPs) during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak.

A self-administered questionnaire was sent to SDPs via Google Forms. Cohen’s stress score scale was used for stress evaluation, and the mean scores were compared based on age, gender, qualification, and occupation. In addition, comparisons of the utilization of stress coping mechanisms and stress busters based on gender, age, and occupation were evaluated. Descriptive statistics were carried out using SPSS Version 21.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY).

A total of 206 SDPs (69% males and 31% females) participated in the study. Male SDPs showed a higher score than females (P > 0.05). SDPs around age 50 years and above obtained high stress scores (25 ± 7.4) as compared with other age groups (P < 0.05). The occupational level showed higher stress scores (22.6 ± 4.6 than the other occupation groups (P < 0.05). The majority of the SDPs used watching TV/mobile/computer (80%) as a stress buster, followed by binge eating (64%), exercise (44%), smoking (32%), do-it-yourself (DIY; 23%), and meditation (17%).

SDPs are experiencing stress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. Male SDPs above age 50 years and private practitioners showed higher levels of stress scores. An overall commonly used stress buster was smoking in males and meditation in females.

The association of urban population sociodemographic factors and components of pandemic influenza risk perception were studied.

A prospective questionnaire-based study was undertaken between March 14, 2019 and October 18, 2019. A total of 464 questionnaires were distributed to 4 primary medical centers in 2 cities in England and Wales. Persons aged over 16 years presenting to the medical centers were asked to participate.

A total of 222 questionnaires were completed (return rate 47.8%). Participants were aged 16-84 years, with a median age of 45.5 years. Prevalence of 1 or more chronic diseases was 29.1%. Seasonal flu vaccination within 5 years was reported by 58.9%. Bivariate analyses of chronic disease and influenza vaccination observed a statistically significant association with influenza personal susceptibility expression (OR = 0.45; 95% CI: 0.22 - 0.94) and (OR = 0.50; 95% CI: 0.25 - 0.99) respectively. Multivariate analysis observed a statistically significant association between the presence of chronic disease and low comparative risk expression (OR = 0.33; 95% CI: 0.15 – 0.74) (P = 0.007).

Respondents identifying as ‘healthy’ are more likely to express lower risk perception of pandemic influenza. Importantly, this target group is not the usual focus of influenza campaigns and are perhaps more likely to disregard health advice. Factors influencing perceptions of this target group could be an important focus of future pandemic risk perception research.

We sought to determine who is involved in the care of a trauma patient.

We recorded hospital personnel involved in 24 adult Priority 1 trauma patient admissions for 12 h or until patient demise. Hospital personnel were delineated by professional background and role.

We cataloged 19 males and 5 females with a median age of 50-y-old (interquartile range [IQR], 35.5-67.5). The average number of hospital personnel involved was 79.71 (standard deviation, 17.62; standard error 3.6). A median of 51.2% (IQR, 43.4%-59.8%) of personnel were first involved within hour 1. More personnel were involved in direct versus indirect care (median 54.5 [IQR, 47.5-67.0] vs 25.0 [IQR, 22.0-30.5]; P < 0.0001). Median number of health-care professionals and auxiliary staff were 74.5 (IQR, 63.5-90.5) and 6.0 (IQR, 5.0-7.0), respectively. More personnel were first involved in hospital locations external to the emergency department (median, 53.0 [IQR, 41.5-63.0] vs 27.5 [IQR, 24.0-30.0]; P < 0.0001). No differences existed in total personnel by Injury Severity Score (P = 0.1266), day (P = 0.7270), or time of admission (P = 0.2098).

A large number of hospital personnel with varying job responsibilities respond to severe trauma. These data may guide hospital staffing and disaster preparedness policies.

The aim of the study was to assess occupational health effects 1 month after responding to a natural gas pipeline explosion.

First responders to a pipeline explosion in Kentucky were interviewed about pre- and post-response health symptoms, post-response health care, and physical exertion and personal protective equipment (PPE) use during the response. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between several risk factors and development of post-response symptoms.

Among 173 first responders involved, 105 (firefighters [58%], emergency medical services [19%], law enforcement [10%], and others [12%]) were interviewed. Half (53%) reported at least 1 new or worsening symptom, including upper respiratory symptoms (39%), headache (18%), eye irritation (17%), and lower respiratory symptoms (16%). The majority (79%) of symptomatic responders did not seek post-response care. Compared with light-exertion responders, hard-exertion responders (48%) had significantly greater odds of upper respiratory symptoms (aOR: 2.99, 95% CI: 1.25–7.50). Forty-four percent of responders and 77% of non-firefighter responders reported not using any PPE.

Upper respiratory symptoms were common among first responders of a natural gas pipeline explosion and associated with hard-exertion activity. Emergency managers should ensure responders are trained in, equipped with, and properly use PPE during these incidents and encourage responders to seek post-response health care when needed.

The aim of this study was to examine emergency preparedness behaviors among women with a recent live birth in Hawaii.

Using the 2016 Hawaii Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, we estimated weighted prevalence of 8 preparedness behaviors.

Among 1010 respondents (weighted response rate, 56.3%), 79.3% reported at least 1 preparedness behavior, and 11.2% performed all 8 behaviors. The prevalence of women with a recent live birth in Hawaii reporting preparedness behaviors includes: 63.0% (95% CI: 58.7-67.1%) having enough supplies at home for at least 7 days, 41.3% (95% CI: 37.1-45.6%) having an evacuation plan for their child(ren), 38.7% (95% CI: 34.5-43.0%) having methods to keep in touch, 37.8% (95% CI: 33.7-42.1%) having an emergency meeting place, 36.6% (95% CI: 32.6-40.9%) having an evacuation plan to leave home, 34.9% (95% CI: 30.9-39.2%) having emergency supplies to take with them if they have to leave quickly, 31.8% (95% CI: 27.9-36.0%) having copies of important documents, and 31.6% (95% CI: 27.7-35.8%) having practiced what to do during a disaster.

One in 10 women practiced all 8 behaviors, indicating more awareness efforts are needed among this population in Hawaii. The impact of preparedness interventions implemented in Hawaii can be tracked with this question over time.

Educated midwives have a range of abilities to use their skills in normal situations. Given that working under normal situations is different from critical conditions, the recognition of skills and competencies required for midwifery practice is important. The purpose of this study was to explore specific professional competencies that midwives need to have for the provision of reproductive health services during disasters.

This was a qualitative study using a content analysis method. Subjects were 19 midwives with the work experience of practice in disaster situations. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analysis was based on the approach suggested by Graneheim and Lundman.

Six major categories developed in this study were “safe pregnancy,” “safe childbirth,” “women’s health care,” “contraception,” “violence and sexually transmitted infections,” and “infant care.”

Midwives can play a very important role in the provision of reproductive health services. Therefore, they must have special capabilities and capacities. Policies and curriculum development are recommended in accordance with the needs of reproductive health in disaster-affected communities.

Noncompressible torso hemorrhage (NCTH) is a major challenge in prehospital bleeding control and is associated with high mortality. This study was performed to estimate medical knowledge and the perceived barriers to information acquisition among health-care workers (HCWs) regarding NCTH in China.

A self-administered and validated questionnaire was distributed among 11 WeChat groups consisting of HCWs engaged in trauma, emergency, and disaster rescue.

A total of 575 HCWs participated in this study. In the knowledge section, the majority (87.1%) denied that successful hemostasis could be obtained by external compression. Regarding attitudes, the vast majority of HCWs exhibited positive attitudes toward the important role of NCTH in reducing prehospital preventable death (90.4%) and enthusiasm for continuous learning (99.7%). For practice, fewer than half of HCWs (45.7%) had heard of NCTH beforehand, only a minority (14.3%) confirmed they had attended relevant continuing education, and 16.3% HCWs had no access to updated medical information. The most predominant barrier to information acquisition was the lack of continuing training (79.8%).

Knowledge and practice deficiencies do exist among HCWs. Obstacles to update medical information warrant further attention. Furthermore, education program redesign is also needed.

The aim of this study was to measure the perception of readiness to manage a sanitary crisis for hospital workers and to study the factors related to this perception.

This study was a cross-sectional study; 408 French hospital workers responded to an online questionnaire. The variables studied concerned the perceived personal preparedness, the perception of colleagues’ and hospital’s preparedness, perception of the situation, and preparatory behavioral acts. Correlations, partial correlations, and multiple linear regressions were applied.

Based on Pearson’s correlations, the higher the participants’ sense of personal efficacy and control over their behavior, the more ready they feel (rp = 0.77*** and rp = 0.55***). The more participants perceive their colleagues as ready and their hospital as prepared, the more ready they feel (rp = 0.52*** and rp = 0.46***). Based on Pearson’s partial correlations, upon controlling the effect of preparedness perception, declared preparedness is not significantly correlated with personal readiness perception (rp = 0.01).

The perception of personal readiness does not depend only on actual preparedness but also on individual and collective variables. Technically, these results confirm the value of relying on psychosocial variables during training. It would be interesting to propose empowerment in training courses. It also seems necessary to demonstrate crisis management efficacy at different levels: institutional, collective, and individual.

This study aimed to examine the prevalence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) among evacuees in Minamiaso, a village which was temporarily isolated after the earthquakes, from the acute to recovery phase after the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes (GLIDE no: EQ-2016-000033-JPN).

This prospective study, which was approved by Fukui University Medical Research Ethics Committee (approval no. 20160024 and 20160089), enrolled 181 evacuees (73.9 ± 11.6 y) who participated in a series of 3 DVT screenings using portable ultrasound machines conducted over 19 mo. All participants completed a questionnaire before the screenings, and none of the participants attended all 3 screenings. Data analysis was performed using EZR version 1.41.

The DVT prevalence was 14.3% (79.4 ± 8.2 y) at first screening of evacuees staying in shelters and 18.5% (71.5 ± 13.1 y) and 12.2% (72.8 ± 10.9 y) in second and third screenings of evacuees staying in temporary housing, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed age ≥75 y and alcohol consumption as independent risk factors in the entire cohort and in patients aged ≤74 y, respectively.

A high DVT prevalence over a long time period of 19 mo was observed where survivors were temporarily isolated after the disaster.

The disaster preparedness of nurses is important as nurses are members of a health care team that needs to work systematically and collaboratively in all conditions. Although education and training naturally underpin effective practice, disaster nursing education is rarely provided to nurses in Iran. Because disaster situations, by definition, overwhelm health services, it is likely that nursing students will be required to join their colleagues in the response. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the competency of nursing students to attend disaster situations.

This descriptive, analytical study was conducted in western Iran in 2020. A total of 70 nursing students in the fourth (final) year of their undergraduate nursing education entered the study by a census sampling method. Data collection was undertaken using a validated disaster competency assessment questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 21 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY) with descriptive and analytic tests.

The mean age of participants was 21.4 ± 2.14 and 57.1% of them were women; 45 participants (64.3%) had received no disaster-related training, and 88.6% had no history of participating in disaster exercises. The total score for nursing students’ competence was 125.58 ± 14.19. There was a significant relationship between the mean score of nursing competence in response to disasters and student history of participating in an exercise and training course (P < 0.001).

Students’ competence in disaster situations is poor. Awareness of the competence condition of nurses is the first step to improve their preparedness as the most key members of the disaster health team. Conducting disaster-related training may be appropriate. The results of this study can provide evidence for the development of educational policies in disaster nursing education.

This study evaluates the personal and professional experiences of physician mothers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the impact of the pandemic on the lives of physician mothers.

Using social media to reach a broad range of physicians, a convenience sample of physician mothers completed an on-line survey posted between April 27 and May 11. Members were encouraged to repost on social media and share with personal contacts resulting in a passive snowball sampling effect.

A total of 2709 physician mothers from 48 states, Puerto Rico, and 19 countries representing more than 25 medical specialties completed the survey. Most were between 30 and 39 y of age, 67% self-identified as white, 17% as Asian, 4% as African American. Most had been working for 11-16 y. A total of 91% had a spouse/partner of the opposite sex. Over half were practicing in an area they identified as high COVID-19 density, while 50% had personally cared for a person with COVID-19. Physician mothers were most concerned about exposing their children to COVID-19 and about the morale and safety of their staff.

This is one of the first studies to explore the personal and professional challenges facing physician mothers during a pandemic. Physician mothers were most concerned about exposing their families to COVID-19. Mothers continued to work and at times increased their work, despite having domestic, childcare, and schooling responsibilities.

The study’s aim is to identify the challenges in estimating personal damages in the early stages of a disaster.

The study reviewed personal damage data in the reports on the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami published by Japanese public agencies from 2011 to 2020, including 159 situation reports by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency and 17 disaster-related indirect death reports by the Reconstruction Agency. The study compared the reported number of deaths, missing persons, and injuries with the latest statistics to evaluate how soon the disaster’s real damages were estimated.

The reported number of deaths significantly increased in the first 1.5 years, whereas the number of missing persons spiked in the first 30 days. It required approximately 1 year until the numbers approximated the current reference rate. The total casualties included 3739 indirect deaths.

The results indicated an overestimation of missing persons, a possible underestimation of injuries, and the excess deaths due to indirect causes that complicated the estimation. The limitations of the current data collection approaches are the delay in reporting from the field and incomplete and unreliable information. A novel system is proposed, which directly collects data from all affected individuals anonymously.