Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Lower-Level Health Care Facilities of Dar es Salaam Region in Tanzania: Status towards Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and Way Forward

Background: Improving Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in health care settings is a critical prerequisite for achieving national health goals and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a target for each United Nations member state to reach by 2030. Each member state is required to reach by 2022, 2025 and 2030 at least 60%, 80% and 100%, respectively of basic level of service of the five elements which are water, sanitation, hygiene, waste management and environmental cleaning. Methods: This study aimed to evaluate and document the current state of basic water, sanitation, and hygiene services in all lower-level health care facilities in the Dar es Salaam region of Tanzania as of July 2022. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 99 public dispensaries in the Dar es Salaam region’s five councils: Ubungo, Kigamboni, Kinondoni and Temeke Municipalities, and Ilala City. The interviewee form and observational checklists were both digitalized using the Kobo tool software. The respondents were health care facility in-charges or nurse in-charges. Data were downloaded, validated, and imported to Stata version 15 for analysis. Results: The basic WASH level per JMP is far below the target in 2022. Each member state by 2022 is required to reach at least 60% of the basic level of service of each element. We found a low coverage of basic WASH in the 99 dispensaries included in this study. The basic WASH coverage was met in only 10 (10.1%) of the dispensaries, while the remaining 89 (89.9%) dispensaries fall on limited WASH services. Conclusion: This study revealed lower coverage of basic WASH services in dispensaries. An urgent need is required to improve the status of WASH in all the dispensaries and facilitate the provision of quality health care services, patient safety and reduce health care associated infections.

Estimating the Future of Health Care at the Community Level

Developments in health care in the United States are changing the delivery of services for providers and payors. This study focused on inpatient hospital discharges in the Syracuse hospitals and other services. It demonstrated that, during the past five years, numbers of inpatient adult medicine discharges had increased while adult surgery discharges had declined. This information suggested that adult medicine discharges could be expected to increase and approach levels of five years ago. It also suggested adult surgery discharges could be expected to remain at previous levels or decline. This information indicated that the combined emergency department visits declined from 238,000 to 202,000 between 2019 and 2020, then increased from 218,000 to 228,000 visits between 2021 and 2023. These developments will probably result in greater efficiency at the community level. With a decline in numbers of inpatient beds, providers will be able to focus on the more efficient management by reducing numbers of staff as well as fewer pharmaceuticals and testing.

Assessment of Breast Cancer Prevention Practices among Women Attending Primary Health Care in Abha City, Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, with breast cancer being the most common (2.26 million new cases and 685,000 deaths). In Saudi Arabia, breast cancer ranked the first among females in 2014, accounting for 15.9% of all cancers reported among Saudi nationals and 28.7% of all cancers reported among females of all ages. Early detection of breast cancer could decrease the risks, have a better prognosis, and have better outcomes/more successful treatments. Prevalence of breast cancer reached more than 25% of all diagnosed cancer in the kingdom among women. Aim: This study aims to assess the knowledge and performance of women attending primary care centers about breast self-examination and mammogram screening for prevention and early detection of breast cancer in Abha city primary healthcare centers, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Research Method: cross sectional design was conducted by using questionnaire, which was distributed to primary care center nurses. The collected data was statistically analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 25. Results: The study found that participants had poor awareness and knowledge about breast self-examination, risk factors for breast cancer, and trends and practices in early diagnosis of breast cancer. Conclusion and Recommendations: It recommends increasing awareness campaigns and providing educational programs to improve knowledge and practices.

Smart Healthcare Activity Recognition Using Statistical Regression and Intelligent Learning

In this present time,Human Activity Recognition(HAR)has been of considerable aid in the case of health monitoring and recovery.The exploitation of machine learning with an intelligent agent in the area of health informatics gathered using HAR augments the decision-making quality and significance.Although many research works conducted on Smart Healthcare Monitoring,there remain a certain number of pitfalls such as time,overhead,and falsification involved during analysis.Therefore,this paper proposes a Statistical Partial Regression and Support Vector Intelligent Agent Learning(SPR-SVIAL)for Smart Healthcare Monitoring.At first,the Statistical Partial Regression Feature Extraction model is used for data preprocessing along with the dimensionality-reduced features extraction process.Here,the input dataset the continuous beat-to-beat heart data,triaxial accelerometer data,and psychological characteristics were acquired from IoT wearable devices.To attain highly accurate Smart Healthcare Monitoring with less time,Partial Least Square helps extract the dimensionality-reduced features.After that,with these resulting features,SVIAL is proposed for Smart Healthcare Monitoring with the help of Machine Learning and Intelligent Agents to minimize both analysis falsification and overhead.Experimental evaluation is carried out for factors such as time,overhead,and false positive rate accuracy concerning several instances.The quantitatively analyzed results indicate the better performance of our proposed SPR-SVIAL method when compared with two state-of-the-art methods.

Effects of strengthening prospective nursing practice on sleep quality,anxiety,and depression of awake patients in intensive care unit

BACKGROUND The intensive care unit(ICU)is a specialized hospital department.Awake patients in the ICU frequently encounter adverse psychological states,such as anxiety and fear,often accompanied by poor sleep quality.This situation has garnered significant attention within the medical community.AIM To investigate the impact of prospective nursing intervention strategies on the sleep quality and negative emotional state of conscious ICU patients.METHODS One hundred and twenty ICU awake patients admitted to our hospital were selected and randomly divided into control(n=60)and observation(n=60)groups.Patients in the control group were cared for using the conventional nursing model,while patients in the observation group were cared for using the prospective nursing model.Sleep improvement was assessed using the International Standardized Sleep Efficiency Formula and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI).The PSQI,Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item(GAD-7)scale,Self-Depression Scale(SDS),and satisfaction before and after treatment were used to assess the negative emotional states of patients under the two care models.RESULTS Patient satisfaction in the observation group was significantly higher than in the control group.The GAD-7 and SDS scores in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group,and the total effective rate of sleep improvement in the observation group was significantly higher than in the control group.After treatment,the PSQI scores of the two groups significantly decreased(P<0.05).The decrease in the observation group was more significan than that in the control group,and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant.CONCLUSION Prospective nursing interventions can improve sleep quality and psychological levels and significantly affect conscious patients in the ICU,which is worthy of clinical application.

A Study of Health Prescribing for Children with Tourette’s Disorders in Children’s Health Education Specialty Care Clinics

Objective:This study designs and implements the health prescription of children’s health education specialized nursing clinic based on the physical and mental characteristics of children with Tourette’s syndrome.Methods:Applying the evidence-based nursing model and nursing intervention theory based on the survey research by searching China Knowledge Network,Wanfang Database and Wipro Chinese Science and Technology Journal Database,the study collected the literature on the health prescription intervention research in children’s Tourette’s disorders health education in children’s health education of specialized nursing outpatient clinic for review and combined with the specialty characteristics to formulate“Children’s Tourette’s Disorder Health Education Prescription.”Results:Tourette’s syndrome in children is a common pediatric neurological disorder,mainly manifested as involuntary,rapid and repeated muscle twitching and vocal tics,which brings serious psychological pressure and life disturbance to the affected children.Conclusion:For children with Tourette’s syndrome,healthcare professionals should give enough care and understanding to the children and their parents,provide timely and effective health education to them,help them improve their bad behavioral habits,establish correct cognitive attitudes,enhance self-confidence,improve patient compliance,reduce the frequency of recurrence,reduce the incidence of complications and promote children’s physical and mental health development.

Didactic Sequences as an Educational Product to Facilitate Teaching-Learning Processes in Lato Sensu Graduate Courses in the Area of Health Management in Primary Care

Teaching strategies can be considered as techniques that are constructed to be used with the objective of promoting teaching and learning in the classroom, so that the teacher is considered a mentor, as he is the one who selects, analyzes, studies, organizes, builds and proposes the most classic tools to facilitate the learning process [1]. This study is an experience report related to the construction of an educational product that consists of the elaboration of pedagogical strategies, characterized by five didactic sequences in the perspective of collaborating with teaching-learning processes in lato sensu graduate courses. The themes that are part of the didactic sequences were built based on the results obtained in scientific research carried out during the development of the strict sensu postgraduate course in Teaching in Health and Technology, which involved: the work of coordinators who work in the field of health management in Primary Care, situations that challenge the management of Primary Care and the potentialities of work in the management of Primary Care. The didactic sequences have fun teaching strategies that provide meaningful learning for a future qualified professional performance. These sequences involve the use of active methodologies and the use of digital tools. The educational product developed seeks to promote benefits that can collaborate with the improvement of Primary Care Management and teaching-learning processes in the training of health professionals. Therefore, the pedagogical strategies, as well as its entire construction process, were developed through the collaboration of professors of the Health and Society discipline at the State University of Health Sciences of Alagoas (UNCISAL), seeking to make it qualify for effective construction of knowledge and that promote its wide use in the academic environment.

The Relationship of Occupational Health Nurses’ Experiences with Associated Departments in Relation to Project Development of Mental Health Care for Primary Preventive Treatment

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship and experiences of occupational health nurses (OHNs) and related departments in project development of mental health care for primary treatment in the Japanese occupational health setting. Method: A total of 235 OHNs who are members of the Japan Academy of Occupational Health Nursing were sent an anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey. The questionnaire included items on the following: the OHN’s background, whether the OHN had experience in project development, the communication between the associated departments, the Japanese version of the Work Engagement Scale (UWES-J), occupational assessments, workplace assessments, and the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) for health promotion in companies and the OHN’s working environment. We performed logistic regression analysis to examine the relationship between experience and these harmonious relationships with other associated departments. Result: Responses from 61 OHNs (valid response rate: 25.9%) were analyzed. The mean number of years of service as an OHN was 18.9, and 82% of respondents had experience in project development. The logistic analysis further revealed that OHNs who had experience in project development of mental health care usually had a harmonious relationship with other associated departments. Conclusion: To promote mental health care for workers, OHNs have the capability to create individual and workplace assessments, enhance their work engagement, and make further improvements to their working environment. .

Current Situation and Prospect of the Application of Real-World Evidence in Health Care

Objective To summarize the application of real-world evidence(RWE)in the medical and healthcare field of various countries,including relevant policies,application scenarios and application methods.Methods Relevant policies and application scenarios were obtained by consulting the official websites and public documents of various countries’healthcare institutions.Systematic literature retrieval was adopted to search PubMed,EMBASE,Cochrane Library,CNKI,CBM and Wanfang databases,and all papers related to real-world study and application were included.Then,these papers were classified and analyzed by country and application method.Results and Conclusion The RWE was mainly applied to supporting the preliminary approval of a new drug,expanding drug indications,accelerating approval or supporting conditional marketing authorizations and drug safety evaluation,etc.The United Kingdom,the United States,Germany,the Netherlands,Italy,Sweden,and France admitted RWE,but they treated the data obtained from RWE with caution.After systematic literature retrieval,a total of 701 articles were obtained,including relevant studies from 36 countries,among which the United States published 264 in total.The most common study was about using real-world data(RWD)to calculate treatment-related costs,which had a total of 259 studies.Secondly,158 articles were used for epidemiological analysis.Then,138 articles were about establishing risk models to analyze disease risk factors.A total of 70 articles were real-world efficacy evaluation of the drug treatment schemes,54 articles were about pharmacoeconomic evaluation with RWD as parameters.A total of 29 articles used RWD to build predictive models,and 15 articles used RWD to evaluate the health-related quality of life in patients.The application of RWE has been used widely in the medical and healthcare field of various countries.The application scenarios are gradually diversified,the application methods of RWD become mature,and the evidence quality of RWE is also improved greatly.

Electrochemical biosensors for point-of-care testing

Point-of-care testing(POCT)is the practice of diagnosing and monitoring diseases where the patient is located,as opposed to traditional treatment conducted solely in a medical laboratory or other clinical setting.POCT has been less common in the recent past due to a lack of portable medical devices capable of facilitating effective medical testing.However,recent growth has occurred in this field due to advances in diagnostic technologies,device miniaturization,and progress in wearable electronics.Among these developments,electrochemical sensors have attracted interest in the POCT field due to their high sensitivity,compact size,and affordability.They are used in various applications,from disease diagnosis to health status monitoring.In this paper we explore recent advancements in electrochemical sensors,the methods of fabricating them,and the various types of sensing mechanisms that can be used.Furthermore,we delve into methods for immobilizing specific biorecognition elements,including enzymes,antibodies,and aptamers,onto electrode surfaces and how these sensors are used in real-world POCT settings.

Burden of gallstone disease in the United States population:Prepandemic rates and trends

BACKGROUND Gallstone disease is one of the most common digestive disorders in the United States and leads to significant morbidity,mortality,and health care utilization.AIM To expand on earlier findings and investigate prepandemic rates and trends in the gallstone disease burden in the United States using national survey and claims databases.METHODS The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey,National Inpatient Sample,Nationwide Emergency Department Sample,Nationwide Ambulatory Surgery Sample,Vital Statistics of the United States,Optum Clinformatics®Data Mart,and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicare 5%Sample and Medicaid files were used to estimate claims-based prevalence,medical care including cholecystectomy,and mortality with a primary or other gallstone diagnosis.Rates were age-adjusted(for national databases)and shown per 100000 population.RESULTS Gallstone disease prevalence(claims-based,2019)was 0.70%among commercial insurance enrollees,1.03%among Medicaid beneficiaries,and 2.09%among Medicare beneficiaries and rose over the previous decade.Recently,in the United States population,gallstone disease contributed to approximately 2.2 million ambulatory care visits,1.2 million emergency department visits,625000 hospital discharges,and 2000 deaths annually.Women had higher medical care rates with a gallstone disease diagnosis,but mortality rates were higher among men.Hispanics had higher ambulatory care visit and hospital discharge rates compared with Whites,but not mortality rates.Blacks had lower ambulatory care visit and mortality rates,but similar hospital discharge rates compared with whites.During the study period,ambulatory care and emergency department visit rates with a gallstone disease diagnosis rose,while hospital discharge and mortality rates declined.Among commercial insurance enrollees,rates were higher compared with national data for ambulatory care visits and hospitalizations,but lower for emergency department visits.Cholecystectomies performed in the United States included 605000 ambulatory laparoscopic,280000 inpatient laparoscopic,and 49000 inpatient open procedures annually.Among commercial insurance enrollees,rates were higher compared with national data for laparoscopic procedures.CONCLUSION The gallstone disease burden in the United States is substantial and increasing,particularly among women,Hispanics,and older adults with laparoscopic cholecystectomy as the mainstay treatment.Current practice patterns should be monitored for better health care access.

Does community-based health insurance affect lifestyle and timing of treatment seeking behavior?Evidence from Ethiopia

Objectives This paper aims to investigate the effects of enrollment in the Ethiopian community-based health insurance(CBHI)scheme on household preventive care activities and the timing of treatment-seeking behavior for illness symptoms.There is growing concern about the financial sustainability of CBHI schemes in developing countries.However,few empirical studies have identified potential contributors,including ex-ante and ex-post moral hazards.Methods We implement a household fixed-effect panel data regression model,drawing on three rounds of household survey data collected face to face in districts where CBHI scheme is operational and in districts where it is not operational in Ethiopia.Results The findings show that enrolment in CBHI does not significantly influence household behaviour regarding preventive care activities such as water treatment before drinking and handwashing before meals.However,CBHI significantly increases delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for diseases symptoms.Particularly,on average,we estimate about 4-6 h delay for malaria symptoms,a little above 4 h for tetanus,and 10-11 h for tuberculosis among the insured households.Conclusions While there is evidence that CBHI improve the utilization of outpatient or primary care services,our study suggests that insured members may wait longer before visiting health facilities.This delay could be partly due to moral hazard problems,as insured households,particularly those from rural areas,may consider the opportunity costs associated with visiting health facilities for minor symptoms.Overall,it is essential to identify the primary causes of delays in seeking medical services and implement appropriate interventions to encourage insured individuals to seek early medical attention.

Decision-Making and Management of Self-Care in Persons with Traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries: A Preliminary Study

Patients and physicians understand the importance of self-care following spinal cord injury (SCI), yet many individuals with SCI do not adhere to recommended self-care activities despite logistical supports. Neurobehavioral determinants of SCI self-care behavior, such as impulsivity, are not widely studied, yet understanding them could inform efforts to improve SCI self-care. We explored associations between impulsivity and self-care in an observational study of 35 US adults age 18 - 50 who had traumatic SCI with paraplegia at least six months before assessment. The primary outcome measure was self-reported self-care. In LASSO regression models that included all neurobehavioral measures and demographics as predictors of self-care, dispositional measures of greater impulsivity (negative urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance), and reduced mindfulness were associated with reduced self-care. Outcome (magnitude) sensitivity, a latent decision-making parameter derived from computationally modeling successive choices in a gambling task, was also associated with self-care behavior. These results are preliminary;more research is needed to demonstrate the utility of these findings in clinical settings. Information about associations between impulsivity and poor self-care in people with SCI could guide the development of interventions to improve SCI self-care and help patients with elevated risks related to self-care and secondary health conditions.

Ozone Sterilizer for Treatment and Health Care

Ozone is a green broad-spectrum bactericidal disinfectant, and a trace amount of ozone in the atmosphere makes many viruses and bacteria lose their biochemical activity and infectivity. Nature produces trace amounts of ozone in the air through lightning to purify the ecological environment. The product of ozone decomposition is oxygen, without secondary pollution. Ozone sterilizer is widely used in the epidemic prevention and control of intensive breeding farms and achieved remarkable results. If the concentration and action time of ozone can be accurately controlled, then ozone can quickly eliminate pathogens, without harming the normal cells in the human body. How to use medical ozone for epidemic prevention, treatment and health care is a subject worthy of serious study, which should arouse the attention of the experts in the field.

Application of psychological intervention in intensive care unit nursing for patients with severe acute pancreatitis

BACKGROUND Severe acute pancreatitis(SAP)is a familiar critical disease in the intensive care unit(ICU)patients.Nursing staff are important spiritual pillars during the treatment of patients,and in addition to routine nursing,more attention needs be paid to the patient’s psychological changes.AIM To investigate the effects of psychological intervention in ICU patients with SAP.METHODS One hundred ICU patients with SAP were hospitalized in the authors’hospital between 2020 and 2023 were selected,and divided into observation and control groups per the hospitalization order.The control and observation groups received routine nursing and psychological interventions,respectively.Two groups are being compared,using the Self-rating Anxiety Scale(SAS),Self-Determination Scale(SDS),Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation(APACHE)Ⅱ,and 36-item Short Form Health Survey(SF-36)scores;nursing satisfaction of patients;ICU care duration;length of stay;hospitalization expenses;and the incidence of complications.RESULTS After nursing,the SDS,SAS,and APACHEⅡ scores in the experimental group were significantly lower than in the control group(P<0.05).The SF-36 scores in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group(P<0.05).The nursing satisfaction of patients in the experimental group was 94.5%,considerably higher than that of 75.6% in the control group(P<0.05).The ICU care duration,length of stay,and hospitalization expenses in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group,and the incidence of complications was lower(P<0.05).CONCLUSION For patients with SAP,the implementation of standardized psychological intervention measures can effectively alleviate adverse psychological conditions.

Influence of initial check, information exchange, final accuracy check, reaction information nursing on the psychology of elderly with lung cancer

BACKGROUND As one of the fatal diseases with high incidence,lung cancer has seriously endangered public health and safety.Elderly patients usually have poor self-care and are more likely to show a series of psychological problems.AIM To investigate the effectiveness of the initial check,information exchange,final accuracy check,reaction(IIFAR)information care model on the mental health status of elderly patients with lung cancer.METHODS This study is a single-centre study.We randomly recruited 60 elderly patients with lung cancer who attended our hospital from January 2021 to January 2022.These elderly patients with lung cancer were randomly divided into two groups,with the control group taking the conventional propaganda and education and the observation group taking the IIFAR information care model based on the conventional care protocol.The differences in psychological distress,anxiety and depression,life quality,fatigue,and the locus of control in psychology were compared between these two groups,and the causes of psychological distress were analyzed.RESULTS After the intervention,Distress Thermometer,Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale(HADS)for anxiety and the HADS for depression,Revised Piper’s Fatigue Scale,and Chance Health Locus of Control scores were lower in the observation group compared to the pre-intervention period in the same group and were significantly lower in the observation group compared to those of the control group(P<0.05).After the intervention,Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30(QLQ-C30),Internal Health Locus of Control,and Powerful Others Health Locus of Control scores were significantly higher in the observation and the control groups compared to the pre-intervention period in their same group,and QLQ-C30 scores were significantly higher in the observation group compared to those of the control group(P<0.05).CONCLUSION The IIFAR information care model can help elderly patients with lung cancer by reducing their anxiety and depression,psychological distress,and fatigue,improving their tendencies on the locus of control in psychology,and enhancing their life qualities.

COVID-19 pandemic in the intensive care unit:Psychological implications and interventions,a systematic review

BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemic produced changes in intensive care units(ICUs) in patient care and health organizations. The pandemic event increased patients’ risk of developing psychological symptoms during and after hospitalisation. These consequences also affected those family members who could not access the hospital. In addition, the initial lack of knowledge about the virus and its management, the climate of fear and uncertainty, the increased workload and the risk of becoming infected and being contagious, had a strong impact on healthcare staff and organizations. This highlighted the importance of interventions aimed at providing psychological support to ICUs, involving patients, their relatives, and the staff;this might involve the reorganisation of the daily routine and rearrangement of ICU staff duties.AIM To conduct a systematic review of psychological issues in ICUs during the COVID-19 pandemic involving patients, their relatives, and ICU staff.METHODS We investigated the PubMed and the ClinicalTrials.gov databases and found 65 eligible articles,upon which we commented.RESULTS Our results point to increased perceived stress and psychological distress in staff, patients and their relatives and increased worry for being infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 in patients and relatives. Furthermore, promising results were obtained for some psychological programmes aiming at improving psychological measures in all ICU categories.CONCLUSION As the pandemic limited direct inter-individual interactions, the role of interventions using digital tools and virtual reality is becoming increasingly important. All considered, our results indicate an essential role for psychologists in ICUs.

Receiving antenatal care via mobile clinic: Lived experiences of Jordanian mothers

Objective To understand the perceptions of pregnant Jordanian women who received antenatal care via mobile clinic,and to contribute new insights into the experiences of these mothers and how they evaluated the services that were available.Methods Ten Jordanian mothers who had received antenatal care at a mobile clinic discussed their experiences in semi-structured,audiotaped interviews in a study that adopted a qualitative research design.The analysis was done using interpretative phenomenological analysis.Results Three main themes were identified:Being informed about the medical campaign or missing the opportunity of being informed;The experience of receiving antenatal care was wonderful,although there was only one thing lacking;and they safeguard our life and take any opportunity to educate us.Conclusion Data indicate that the mothers were largely satisfied with most facets of the antenatal care services they had received at the mobile clinics.However,while services are generally well received,there are clear opportunities for ameliorating the quality of services provided.For mothers living in remote,deprived areas,outreach is not just an‘optional extra’but rather an essential service.

Prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among Healthcare Workers Following COVID-19 Pandemic in Jazan Region, KSA

Background: COVID-19 was declared a worldwide pandemic by the World Health Organization in 2020. Many pieces of research have been published on the virus’s pattern and transmission routes, and a few studies have been published on its psychological repercussions for the general public and health care workers in particular. We aimed in this study to figure out the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of health care workers in the Jazan region and compare it to non-health care workers. Results: There were 221 participants in this study conducted in the Jazan region KSA, during the first part of 2022. 117 participants were non-HCWs (Health Care Workers) and 104 participants were HCWs. 31.7% of HCWs had high score of PTSD symptoms which may suppress their immunity, PTSD was a clinical concern in 12.5%, 6.7% had probable PTSD, and 49% had no PTSD. The average PTSD score in HCWs was 26.14. In contrast, the great majority of non-HCWs (69.2%) had no PTSD;PTSD was a clinical concern in 16.2%, 11.1% had a score indicating PTSD had the potential for immunosuppression, and 3.4% had probable PTSD. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic did not affect just those who were infected with the virus, nor was it restricted to the mental health of those afflicted;rather, the influence expanded until it reached the general public and, in particular, those who had contact with patients, such as health care workers. As a result, mental health investigation, follow-up, and therapy are required to preserve the mental health of health care workers as well as the general population.

Depression among Health Care Workers in Khartoum State, Sudan, 2022

Introduction: Depression is a serious issue affecting healthcare workers and is a leading cause of disability for both genders. Furthermore, it is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity, responsible for 4.4 percent of global disability. An estimated 350 million people are currently living with depression worldwide. Objectives: to estimate the prevalence of depression among healthcare workers in Khartoum State in 2022 and determine the associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among healthcare workers in Khartoum State, Sudan, in 2022 using a self-administered electronic questionnaire. Depression was screened using the self-reporting questionnaire (PHQ-9). Descriptive statistics in the form of frequencies and percentages were used to display the data. Odds ratios (ORs) with a 95% confidence interval were estimated using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine associations between depression and related factors. Results: A total of 341 valid responses were received, with a mean age of 33.91. The overall prevalence of depression (PHQ-9 > 8) was 258 (75.6%). The prevalence was significantly associated with marital status (single and divorced), occupation (psychologist), and working department (Emergency Department), showing a p-value of Conclusion: Depression is a serious mental health disorder that affects all people, including healthcare workers, and is a growing problem in Sudan. To address this, healthcare organizations must implement policies and strategies to reduce inequality and protect healthcare workers. A multidisciplinary approach that includes mental health professionals, the Ministry of Health, and universities is needed to prioritize mental health issues and ensure quality care and the overall well-being of both healthcare workers and patients.