COVID-19 Preventive Measures Research Articles

The determinants of sustained adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures among older Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Lebanon has battled the COVID-19 pandemic in the midst of an economic crisis. The evolution of the pandemic and a fragile health system have meant that public health policy has had to rely heavily on non-pharmaceutical interventions for disease control. However, changes in disease dynamics, an unraveling economy, and pandemic fatigue have meant that disease control policies need to be updated. Using recent and timely data on older (50 years and above) Syrian refugees in Lebanon, this paper uses multivariate linear probability models to explore the determinants of adherence to two non-pharmaceutical COVID-19 prevention measures (wearing a mask and avoiding social gatherings) among this high-risk subgroup in a vulnerable population. Among respondents who report adhering to these measures, the paper also investigates the determinants of sustained adherence over a period of 6 months. The findings suggest that no individual-level characteristics were robustly associated with mask wearing. For avoiding social gatherings, education was inversely associated with adherence to this preventive measure. Avoiding social gatherings was also significantly lower for residents of informal tented settlements (ITSs). Among initial adherents, and for both preventive practices, ITS dwellers were also significantly less likely to maintain adherence. Identifying variables associated with adherence to non-pharmaceutical preventive practices, particularly for vulnerable groups, can help inform and refine interventions in the face of changing conditions. The material, physical, administrative and socio-economic constraints of life in an ITS suggest that avoiding social gatherings is hardly feasible. Yet despite the challenging conditions of ITSs, the indication to wear a mask is initially complied with, suggesting that tailoring policies to the limits and constrains of context can lead to successful outcomes even in very adverse settings.

What is important for you makes you think about the pandemic differently: moral foundations, pandemic-related fears and convictions (Lo que cada uno consideramos importante nos hace reflexionar sobre la pandemia de forma distinta: fundamentos morales, temores y convicciones sobre la pandemia)

ABSTRACT Building on the Moral Foundations Theory and findings regarding the linkage of values, convictions and beliefs, the aim of the study was to compare people displaying various constellations of moral foundations regarding their tolerance of ambiguity, fear of COVID-19 (FCV), endorsement of COVID-19 conspiracy theories and the extent to which they believed in the effectiveness of five COVID-19 preventive measures. This study was self-report- and questionnaire-based (N = 212), performed on the general public (aged from 18 to 65). Moral foundations clustered into four groups: Individualizing, Binding, Anti-Individualizing and Generally Moral. The endorsement of Individualizing values (Harm/Care, Fairness/Reciprocity) was linked to higher FCV and higher rating of the effectiveness of COVID-19 preventive measures. Endorsing Binding values (Ingroup/Loyalty, Authority/Respect and Purity/Sanctity) was related to lower tolerance of ambiguity and displaying higher conspiracy beliefs. Findings are discussed in the light of their meaning of values for socially responsible behaviour during a pandemic.

Sociodemographic and clinical predictors for COVID-19 preventive measures compliance among pregnant women in Saudi Arabia: a multicenter study

ObjectiveTo assess the levels of adherence among pregnant women to the basic COVID-19 preventive measures, and to analyze the effect of risk perception and sociodemographic and clinical factors on adherence.MethodA multicenter, cross-sectional study was conducted at the obstetrics clinics of 50 primary care centers selected using a multistage sampling method. An online-administered, structured questionnaire was used to collect self-reported levels of adherence to four basic preventive measures against COVID-19, along with perceived COVID-19 severity, infectiousness, and harmfulness to the baby, besides sociodemographic and clinical data including obstetrical and other medical history.ResultsA total of 2460 pregnant women were included with a mean (SD) age of 30.21 (6.11) years. Levels of self-reported compliance were highest for hand hygiene (95.7%), followed by social distancing (92.3%), masking (90.0%), and avoidance of contact with a COVID-19 infected person (70.3%). Perceived COVID-19 severity and infectiousness, and harmfulness to the baby were observed in 89.2%, 70.7%, and 85.0% of the participants, respectively, and were variably associated with compliance to preventive measures. Analysis of sociodemographic factors highlighted the significance of education and economic status in determining adherence to preventive measures, which represents a potential inequity in the risk of COVID-19 infection.ConclusionThis study highlights the importance of patients’ education to enable functional perception of COVID-19 that promotes self-efficacy, besides investigating the specific social determinants of health to tackle inequalities in terms of prevention efficiency and the subsequent health outcomes.

Impact of COVID-19 prevention and control on tuberculosis and scarlet fever in China’s Guizhou

China has implemented a series of long-term measures to control the spread of COVID-19, however, the effects of these measures on other chronic and acute respiratory infectious diseases remain unclear. Tuberculosis (TB) and scarlet fever (SF) serve as representatives of chronic and acute respiratory infectious diseases, respectively. In China’s Guizhou province, an area with a high prevalence of TB and SF, approximately 40,000 TB cases and hundreds of SF cases are reported annually. To assess the impact of COVID-19 prevention and control on TB and SF in Guizhou, the exponential smoothing method was employed to establish a prediction model for analyzing the influence of COVID-19 prevention and control on the number of TB and SF cases. Additionally, spatial aggregation analysis was utilized to describe spatial changes in TB and SF before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. The parameters of the TB and SF prediction models are R2 = 0.856, BIC = 10.972 and R2 = 0.714, BIC = 5.325, respectively. TB and SF cases declined rapidly at the onset of COVID-19 prevention and control measures, with the number of SF cases decreasing for about 3–6 months and the number of TB cases remaining in decline for 7 months after the 11th month. The spatial aggregation of TB and SF did not change significantly before and after the COVID-19 outbreak but exhibited a marked decrease. These findings suggest that China’s COVID-19 prevention and control measures also reduced the prevalence of TB and SF in Guizhou. These measures may have a long-term positive impact on TB, but a short-term effect on SF. Areas with high TB prevalence may continue to experience a decline due to the implementation of COVID-19 preventive measures in the future.

Visual analysis of the prevention and control measures of COVID-19 in Chinese ports.

In 2022, COVID-19 solutions in China have entered a normal stage, and the solutions imported from ports have been transformed from emergency prevention and control measures to investigative long-term prevention and control measures. Therefore, it is necessary to study solutions for COVID-19 at border ports. In this study, 170 research papers related to the prevention and control measures of COVID-19 at ports from 2020 to September 2022 were retrieved from Wanfang database, HowNet database, Wip database, and WoS core collection. Citespace 6.1.R2 software was used to research institutions visualize and analyze researchers and keywords to explore their research hotspots and trends. After analysis, the overall volume of documents issued in the past 3years was stable. The major contributors are scientific research teams such as the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine Sciences (Han Hui et al.) and Beijing Customs (Sun Xiaodong et al.), with less cross-agency cooperation. The top five high-frequency keywords with cumulative frequency are as follows: COVID-19 (29 times), epidemic prevention and control (29 times), ports (28 times), health quarantine (16 times), and risk assessment (16 times). The research hotspots in the field of prevention and control measures for COVID-19 at ports are constantly changing with the progress of epidemic prevention and control. Cooperation between research institutions needs to be strengthened urgently. The research hotspots are the imported epidemic prevention and control, risk assessment, port health quarantine, and the normalized epidemic prevention and control mechanism, which is the trend of research and needs further exploration in the future.

Coinfection of COVID-19 and Tuberculosis in Uganda.

The clinical features and outcomes of tuberculosis (TB) and COVID-19 coinfection are not well established. This short report describes 11 people with TB/COVID-19 coinfection in Uganda. The mean age was 46.9 ± 14.5 years; eight (72.7%) were male and two (18.2%) were coinfected with HIV. All patients presented with cough whose median duration was 71.1 (interquartile range, 33.1, 109) days. Eight (72.7%) had mild COVID-19 whereas two (18.2%) died, including one with advanced HIV disease. All patients were treated with first-line anti-TB drugs and adjunct therapy for COVID-19 using national treatment guidelines. This report presents the possibility of the coexistence of the two diseases and calls for more vigilance, screening, and collective prevention measures for both COVID-19 and TB.

How do primary hospitals enact early response to the relaxation of COVID-19 prevention and control measures? the experience from Chengdu, China.

Due to the highly contagious nature of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 and its subvariants, a high rate of transmission was observed throughout Chengdu, China, within 2 weeks of the relaxation of COVID-19 measures on December 3, 2022, particularly in hospitals. Hospitals experienced different degrees of medical overcrowding during the first 2 weeks, with a high patient volume in the emergency departments and a significant lack of beds in the medical wards, particularly in the respiratory intensive care unit (ICU) and ICU. The authors' place of employment, Chengdu Jinniu District People's Hospital, is a tertiary B-level public hospital situated in the Jinniu District in northwest Chengdu. The hospital's emergency coordination and response efforts emphasized addressing patients' difficulties in obtaining medical care and hospitalization in the region and keeping the mortality rate of patients with pneumonia to a minimal level. It has been emulated by sister hospitals and was well received by the local populace and municipal government. The hospital made the following significant alterations and modifications to this emergency medical care: (1) immediate establishment of the General ICU (GICU), a temporary unit set up in emergency situations that had most of the functions of but was not as complete as the ICU and had a lower ratio of doctors to nurses; (2) dynamic adjustment of anesthesiologists and respiratory physicians jointly stationed in the GICU; (3) choice of nurses with extensive experience in internal medicine and allocation to the GICU according to a 2:3 ICU bed to nurse ratio; (4) emergency purchase or deployment of pneumonia-related treatment equipment; (5) implementation of the GICU resident rotation system; (6) "twinning" of internal medicine and other departments to add beds; and (7) implementation of uniform hospital bed allocation for inpatients.

Assessment of risk factors for COVID-19 spread by staff in intensive care units of a multidisciplinary hospital

Objective. To evaluate the risk factors for COVID-19 spreading by personnel of resuscitation units of a multifield hospital.
 Materials and Methods. The study included epidemiological, statistical, and mathematical research methods with retrospective analysis of COVID-19 morbidity and COVID-19 preventive measures in resuscitation units of a multifield hospital.
 Results. The results of the study indicated the highest incidence of COVID-19 among medical personnel in the cardiac surgery and neuroresuscitation units with the highest rates among physicians (66.6 and 45.5 %). The determining risk factors for infection with COVID-19 and other pathogens of acute respiratory diseases among medical personnel were the following: admission of patients in urgent condition to the department without examination results; high load for doctors working with patients, determining the excessive use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by two, four times; violation of rules for PPE removal and utilization conditions, improper storage and contamination of clean PPE, low proportion of PPE use in the interepidemic period; procedures associated with formation of aerosol, airtightness failure during mask ventilation in 24 % of patients that led to leakage of aerosol into the environment, insufficient coverage of medical personnel with preventive vaccination against COVID-19 in some units.
 Conclusions. The high incidence of COVID-19 among medical personnel and workload, violations of PPE usage, and procedures with aerosol formation specific for resuscitation units all these things determine the increased risk of COVID-19 spread by medical staff in resuscitation units.

Pregnant Women's Knowledge and Practice in Preventing Coronavirus Disease and its Associated Factors in the Dire Dawa Administration, Ethiopia

Background: Severe acute respiratory infections are a group of respiratory tract infections caused by a beta coronavirus (SARS-COV2).Corona Virus Disease ("COVID-19") is a family of SARS caused by a novel coronavirus that has recently spread rapidly throughout the world. The literature reveals gaps in preventive measures for specific groups, such as pregnant women. Thus, this study was aimed at assessing this gap to help with interventions. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May 1 to 30, 2022, in the Dire Dawa city administration, Ethiopia. A systematic random sampling technique was employed to select participants, and data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Data were entered and cleaned by Epi DATA (Version 3.1) and analyzed using SPSS (Version 22). A P-value < 0.25 at bivariate to select variables for multivariate and ≤ 0.05 at multivariate with 95% confidence intervals was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 404 participants were included, for a response rate of 96.4%. About 60.6 percent and 46.3 percent of pregnant women attending antenatal care (ANC) were knowledgeable and had good practice against COVID-19 prevention measures, respectively. The predictors for knowledge were urban residence (AOR = 0.10, 95% CI: 0.06–0.17), media exposure (AOR = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.17–3.40), antenatal care visits (AOR = 2.70, 95% CI: 1.33-5.35), and parity (AOR = 0.40, 95% CI: 0.18–0.88). While urban residence (AOR = 6.60, 95% CI: 4.01–10.90), low income (AOR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.37–0.93), and wanted pregnancy (AOR = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.01- 3.04) were predictors for practice. Conclusion: Knowledge of pregnant women on COVID-19 was moderate compared to other studies, but their prevention practice was poor. Increased health education programs about COVID-19 were recommended for both urban and rural areas, as well as at hospital ANC wards.

Knowledge and attitude towards COVID-19 among adult people in Bangladesh: evidence from an online survey

The objective of this study was to examine the levels and determinants of knowledge and attitudes toward COVID-19 among adult people in Bangladesh, using data from an online survey, conducted in May 2021. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis were performed to extract findings from data. The survey covered 993 respondents. A high level (78.4%) of effective knowledge and positive attitude (78.6%) were observed among the Bangladeshi people. More than eighty percent of the respondents could correctly mention at least one important symptom, mode of transmission, and preventive measures of COVID-19. Good knowledge and positive attitudes were found to be significantly higher among males, living in Dhaka city, having a higher level of education, health professionals, and the wealthiest people. Knowledge about COVID-19 has significant association with positive attitude of people towards COVID-19. Despite the high level of knowledge and positive attitudes, there still prevails some misconceptions among a group of people, as one-third of the respondents opined that COVID-19 is a divine punishment and 13% were in favor of keeping it secrete if COVID-19 infection happen to them. The findings underscore the need for more educational program and behavior change communication (BCC) for the subgroups of the population that has been identified with poor knowledge and negative attitudes towards COVID-19.

College students’ knowledge, attitude, and practices on COVID-19 prevention post e-health education program

This study explored if significant improvements in knowledge, attitude, and practices among college students will be observed post E-health education program on COVID-19 prevention. The study reports a pre-post quantitative research on 178 college students. The participants received nine sessions of e-health education developed using the Communicable Disease Control Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT) through Zoom. The adapted and modified questionnaire was developed from previously published literature regarding viral epidemics related to MERS-CoV disease, infection prevention, and control measures for COVID-19 by World Health Organization and the Communicable Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. The first phase gathers the relevant profile and background of the participants, and the last phase comprises post-evaluation. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 27. The results indicate above-average means for knowledge on COVID-19 prevention in the pretest (17.75±2.27) and the posttest (17.60±2.95). Moreover, the participants were aware of the importance of vaccination, social distancing measures, following health protocols, and the essentiality of compliance with government agencies' guidelines. However, the participants were not practicing some of these health measures, as evidenced by the low means in the pretest (1.75±0.97) and posttest (1.66±1.08). All tests for significant differences of pretest and posttest means of knowledge (p=0.46), attitude (p=0.12), and practices (p=0.41) on COVID-19 prevention were all insignificant. Our study provides evidence that the online health education program improved college students' knowledge and attitude toward COVID-19 prevention. Still, they did not adhere to or practice some of the health measures to prevent its transmission.

Physical Distancing Detection System with Distance Sensor for Covid-19 Prevention

COVID-19 is an ongoing pandemic and dangerous of coronavirus disease 2019. It caused by the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 spreads most often when people are physically close. And, it spreads very easily and sustainably through the air, primarily via small droplets or aerosols, as an infected person breaths, coughs, sneezes, sings or speaks. The recommended preventive measures include hand washing, covering one’s mouth when sneezing or coughing, physical distancing, wearing a face mask in public, ventilation and air-filtering, disinfecting surfaces, and monitoring and self-isolation for people exposed or symptomatic. Hence, this paper proposed the architecture of physical distancing detection system with distance sensor which deployed on UAV System with the help of BTS (2G/3G/4G/5G) to enrich the COVID-19 preventive measures, as well as I have also developed a few algorithms for distance sensor (on UAV System) operations which sensing, tagging and disseminating the current distance, position and waiting time of resident’s information, and forwarding schemes to respective infrastructures and suspected residents including the security forces.

Differences in adoption of COVID-19 pandemic related preventive behaviour by viral load suppression status among people living with HIV during the first wave of the pandemic

BackgroundAdherence to antiretroviral therapy and COVID-19 preventive behaviours among people living with HIV during the pandemic has received little attention in the literature. To address this gap in knowledge, the present study assessed the associations between viral load, adherence to antiretroviral therapy and the use of COVID-19 prevention strategies during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a secondary analysis of data generated through an online survey recruiting participants from 152 countries. Complete data from 680 respondents living with HIV were extracted for this analysis.ResultsThe findings suggest that detectable viral load was associated with lower odds of wearing facemasks (AOR: 0.44; 95% CI:0.28–0.69; p < 0.01) and washing hands as often as recommended (AOR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.42–0.97; p = 0.03). Also, adherence to the use of antiretroviral drugs was associated with lower odds of working remotely (AOR: 0.60; 95% CI: 0.38–0.94; p = 0.02). We found a complex relationship between HIV positive status biological parameters and adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures that may be partly explained by risk-taking behaviours. Further studies are needed to understand the reasons for the study findings.

Determinants of WHO recommended COVID-19 prevention measures among pregnant women attending antenatal care during the third wave of COVID-19 in eastern Ethiopia, 2021.

The novel coronavirus disease has emerged as the most pressing global health issue. In women with COVID-19 disease, pregnancy confers a substantial additional risk of morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to assess WHO-recommended COVID-19 prevention practices and determinant factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care during the third wave of COVID-19 in eastern Ethiopia. An Institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 422 pregnant women attending antenatal care in Harar, from October 10 to November 10, 2021. The sample size was proportionally allocated to all healthcare facilities, then the study participants were selected using systematic random sampling. Descriptive summary statistics were done. Logistic regression analyses were computed to identify associations between dependent and independent variables. Variables with a p-value < 0.05 were declared statistically significant. Out of 422 pregnant women, 61.6% of them had good WHO Recommended COVID-19 Prevention Practices. Those with age 25-34 years (AOR: 9.7, 95%CI: 4.8, 19.3), age 35-44 years (AOR:4.8, 95%CI: 2.6, 9.03), monthly income > 10,000 ETB (AOR: 9.4, 95%CI: 2.1, 42.1), being a student (AOR: 10, 95%CI: 2.3, 47.1), having a good level of knowledge (AOR: 2.3, 95%CI:1.4, 3.8), and having ≥10 family members (AOR: 0.24, 95%CI: 0.06, 0.9) were found to have a significant association with WHO recommended prevention practice among pregnant women. Overall, the WHO-recommended COVID-19 prevention practice among pregnant women attending antenatal care was good, but it needs improvement. In order to improve prevention practices among pregnant women, Harari Regional Health Bureau and other stakeholders should provide repeated, targeted, and tailored information to pregnant women and the community at large through different media.

Investigating the epidemiological and economic effects of a third-party certification policy for restaurants with COVID-19 prevention measures

This study investigates the effects of a third-party certification policy for restaurants (including bars) that comply with indoor infection-prevention measures on COVID-19 cases and economic activities. We focus on the case of Yamanashi Prefecture in Japan, which introduced a third-party certification policy that accredits facilities, predominantly restaurants, that comply with the designated guidelines. We employ a difference-in-differences design for each of our epidemiological and economic analyses. The estimation results show that, from July 2020 to April 2021, the certification policy reduced the total number of new infection cases by approximately 45.3% (848 cases), while increasing total sales and the number of customers per restaurant by approximately 12.8% (3.21 million Japanese yen or $30,000) and 30.3% (2909 customers), respectively, compared to the non-intervention scenarios. The results suggest that a third-party certification policy can be an effective policy to mitigate the trade-off between economic activities and infection prevention during a pandemic, especially when effective vaccines are not widely available.

'We delivered at home out of fear': Maternity Care in Rural Nigeria During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic response overwhelmed health systems, disrupting other services, including maternal health services. The disruptive effects on the utilization of maternal health services in low-resource settings, including Nigeria have not been well documented. We assessed maternal health service utilization, predictors, and childbirth experiences amidst COVID-19 restrictions in a rural community of Kumbotso, Kano State, in northern Nigeria. Using an explanatory mixed methods design, 389 mothers were surveyed in January 2022 using validated interviewer-administered questionnaires, followed by in-depth interviews with a sub-sample (n=20). Data were analyzed using logistic regression models and the framework approach. Less than one-half (n=165, 42.4%) of women utilized maternal health services during the period of COVID-19 restrictions compared with nearly two-thirds (n=237, 65.8%) prior to the period (p<0.05). Non-utilization was mainly due to fear of contracting COVID-19 (n=122, 54.5%), clinic overcrowding (n=43, 19.2%), transportation challenges (n=34, 15.2%), and harassment by security personnel (n=24, 10.7%). The utilization of maternal health services was associated with participant's post-secondary education (aOR=2.06, 95% CI:1.14- 11.40) (p=0.02), and employment type (civil service, aOR=4.60, 95% CI: 1.17-19.74) (p<0.001), business aOR=1.94, 95% CI:1.19- 4.12) (p=0.032) and trading aOR=1.62, 95% CI:1.19-2.94) (p=0.04)). Women with higher household monthly income (≥ N30,000, equivalent to 60 US Dollars) (aOR=1.53, 95% CI:1.13-2.65) (p=0.037), who adhered to COVID-19 preventive measures and utilized maternal health services before the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to utilize those services during the COVID-19 restrictions. In contrast, mothers of higher parity (≥5 births) were less likely to use maternal health services during the lockdown (aOR=0.30, 95% CI:0.10-0.86) (p=0.03). Utilization of maternal services was also associated with partner education and employment type. The utilization of maternal health services declined during the COVID-19 restrictions. Utilization was hindered by fear of contracting COVID-19, transport challenges, and harassment by security personnel. Maternal and partner characteristics, adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures, and pre-COVID maternity service utilization influenced attendance. There is a need to build resilient health systems and contingent alternative service delivery models for future pandemics.

Challenges of COVID-19 prevention during protracted conflicts: differential adherence to preventive measures in "contact line" regions in eastern Ukraine.

Despite the epidemiological importance of social vulnerabilities in compliance with preventive measures, little is known about the disproportional nature of preventive behaviors in crisis-affected populations. We examined adherence to COVID-19 preventive behaviors, focusing on social distancing measures in the conflict-affected regions in eastern Ukraine. From a multisectoral needs assessment conducted in 2020 using a household interview of a stratified simple random sample, we included 1,617 rural and urban households located in the government-controlled area. We performed multivariable binary logistic regression analysis with latent class analysis (LCA) to identify unmeasured patterns of classification of preventive measures using data from a cross-sectional survey. The conflict-affected populations showed difficulty in complying with COVID-19 preventive measures due to losses of housing, partners, and access to food resources due to conflicts. Among the various preventive measures, wearing a face mask (88.1%) and washing hands more regularly (71.4%) were the most frequently reported. Compliance with social distancing was significantly lower in those who experienced the direct impacts of conflicts indicated by damaged accommodation or being widowed. Three different groups who showed distinctive patterns of employing COVID-19 preventive measures were identified via the LCA model, which were "highly complying group", "moderately complying group", and "face masks only group". The group membership was associated with a respondent's poverty status. The findings show the difficulty in compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures among conflict-affected populations indicating secondary impacts of the conflicts on preventive health behaviors. To mitigate the health impacts of conflicts, immediate attention is needed to address barriers to COVID-19 preventive measures among conflict-affected populations in Ukraine. This study suggests the need for public health strategies to improve preventive health behaviors in conflict-affected populations under pandemics or large-scale outbreaks.

Workplace policies and quality of working life (QoWL) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Jordanian hospitals.

Many healthcare organizations place a high value on quality of work-life (QoWL). The healthcare system's long-term sustainability and capability to offer high-quality services to patients depend on improving QoWL for theirhealthcare workers. The study aimed to explore the impact of Jordanian hospitals' workplace policies and measures in three main domains: (I) Infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, (II) Supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), and (III) COVID-19 precautionary measures on the QoWL among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from May to June 2021 through an online self-reported questionnaire (Google Form) targeting hospital healthcare professionals working at Jordanian hospitals (public, private, military, and university). The study used a valid work-related quality of life (WRQoL) scale to study the QoWL. A total of 484 HCWs in Jordanian hospitals participated in the study with a mean age of (34.8 ± 8.28 years). 57.6% of the respondents were females. 66.1% were married, with 61.6% having children at home. An average QoWL among healthcare workers in Jordanian hospitals during the pandemic was observed. The study results also showed a significant positive correlation between workplace policies (IPC measures, supply of PPE, and COVID-19 preventive measures) and the WRQoL among healthcare workers. Our findings highlighted the vital need for QoWL and psychological well-being support services for healthcare staff during pandemics. Improved IPC systems and other precautionary measures at the national and hospital management levels are required to help minimize the stress and fear that healthcare workers experience and lower the risk of COVID-19 and future pandemics.

Knowledge, attitudes, and adherence relating to COVID-19 and its prevention measures in high-risk districts of Uganda in 2020.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. There were no licensed vaccines or explicit medicines available for treatment at the time of conducting this study. Public health and social measures (PHSM) have been widely adopted to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Hence, assessing people's knowledge, attitudes, and adherence/practices related to the management of COVID-19 is crucial for identifying the factors that may promote or hinder adherence to the implementation of PHSM. We conducted a cross-sectional study in the Amuru, Kyotera, Wakiso, and Kampala districts of Uganda. We used a simple random sampling technique to select households and conducted face-to-face interviews in selected households. We administered questionnaires to respondents to assess the factors that promote or hinder adherence to and knowledge about PHSM implementation. We used a Likert scale to assess respondents' attitudes toward COVID-19. Out of the 270 respondents, 54 (20%), 73 (27%), 42 (15.6%), and 101 (37.4%) were from the Kampala, Amuru, Wakiso, and Kyotera districts, respectively. Most of the respondents had adequate knowledge (72.2%), a high level of adherence (63.7%), and approximately 57.8% had good attitudes relating to COVID-19 and its prevention measures. An inferential analysis revealed that people from the Kampala district had higher chances (odds ratio = 4.668) of having a high level of knowledge compared to people from the Amuru district. It was also found that respondents who had a high level of (adequate) knowledge were twice as likely to have good attitudes compared to those with a low level of knowledge. In addition, people with good attitudes were 2.5 times as likely to adhere to the COVID-19 prevention measures compared to those with poor attitudes. Most respondents had limited knowledge though the majority of them had adopted practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Respondents with low knowledge of COVID-19 need to be targeted, to improve their attitude toward the disease and their adherence to safe prevention practices.

Compliance with COVID-19 Preventive Measures: The Role of Intelligence, the Dark Triad and Dysfunctional Impulsivity

Although measures to prevent COVID-19 infection have been greatly relaxed in many countries, they are still quite stringent in others. However, not all citizens comply with them to the same extent. Many studies show the importance of personality traits in predicting compliance with these measures, but it is not so clear what the role of intelligence is. Therefore, we aimed to assess whether intelligence is related to compliance with these measures, and what its predictive role is when considered together with the dark triad and dysfunctional impulsivity. A total of 786 participants answered four questionnaires. We performed correlations, multiple regression analysis, and structural equation analysis. Multiple regression analysis showed that psychopathy and dysfunctional impulsivity were the variables that contributed most to compliance, while intelligence contributed very little. The results of the structural equation modelling suggested that intelligence had only an indirect relationship with compliance, through its relationship with the negative personality traits dysfunctional impulsivity and the dark triad. Intelligence seems to modulate the relationship between negative personality traits and compliance. Therefore, more intelligent people with negative personality traits would not tend to have such low levels of compliance.