AIM: The current paper is aimed at discussing the ill effect of digital screens on eyes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
METHODOLOGY: A literature search was done using "PubMed," "Google scholar", and "Scopus" using key terms like "Digital Eye Strain," "Eyestrain," or "Computer Vision Syndrome." Relevant articles were identified and included to support the argument for this narrative review.
RESULTS: Studies conducted in the UK reported that 68% of children extensively use computers, while 54% undertake online activities after the age of 3. Similar studies estimated 4 h and 45 min per day of screen exposure time among adults in the UK. Indian studies reveal that the prevalence of DES is 69% in adults and 50% in children respectively. Indian ophthalmologists found that computer-using and specialized ophthalmologists were more informed of symptoms and diagnostic signs but were misinformed about treatment modalities. The use of social media and multitasking is particularly prominent among younger adults, with 87% of individuals aged 20-29 years reporting the use of two or more digital devices simultaneously. It has been observed that the use of computer glasses corrects refractive errors and helps in the reduction of symptoms, while precision spectral filters help in reducing symptoms of micro-fluctuation of accommodation.
CONCLUSION: We concluded that DES is emerging globally as a "Shadow Pandemic" and it is high time to respond. Community ophthalmologists, public health authorities, and educational sectors especially should be involved to prevent this.
DESIGN AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from March to April 2020 among adults, 18 years old and above, who reside in Myanmar through a structured questionnaire distributed in social media platforms. Univariate and Bivariate analyses were used to estimate the prevalence of COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (CPDI) symptoms and to test the associations between CPDI and the exposure variables. Logistic Regression Analysis was done to identify significant predictors of distress.
RESULTS: There were 530 participants in this study.37.4% of them did not have psychological distress,55.6% experienced mild to moderate psychological distress, and 7% experienced severe psychological distress due to COVID-19 pandemic. Simple and Multiple Logistic Regression Analyses were performed to determine the factors associated with psychological distress due to COVID-19.
CONCLUSIONS: It was shown that the self-employed group and age group older than 45 years old had more psychological distress than others. However, Buddhists and people from the capital city had less distress than other religions and districts. This study recommends the government to develop better strategies for self-employed groups, elders, and the poor for a support, relief, and resettlement of their ruined status.
METHODS: We conduct a side-by-side comparison of the machine learning approach with the traditional time series model. The multilayer perceptron model (MLP), a machine learning technique, and the Box-Jenkins methodology, also known as the ARIMA model, are used for classical modeling. Both methods are applied to the Monkeypox cumulative data set and compared using different model selection criteria such as root mean square error, mean square error, mean absolute error, and mean absolute percentage error.
RESULTS: With a root mean square error of 150.78, the monkeypox series follows the ARIMA (7,1,7) model among the other potential models. Comparatively, we use the multilayer perceptron (MLP) model, which employs the sigmoid activation function and has a different number of hidden neurons in a single hidden layer. The root mean square error of the MLP model, which uses a single input and ten hidden neurons, is 54.40, significantly lower than that of the ARIMA model. The actual confirmed cases versus estimated or fitted plots also demonstrate that the multilayer perceptron model has a better fit for the monkeypox data than the ARIMA model.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION: When it comes to predicting monkeypox, the machine learning method outperforms the traditional time series. A better match can be achieved in future studies by applying the extreme learning machine model (ELM), support vector machine (SVM), and some other methods with various activation functions. It is thus concluded that the selected data provide a real picture of the virus. If the situations remain the same, governments and other stockholders should ensure the follow-up of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) among the masses, as the trends will continue rising in the upcoming 10 days. However, governments should take some serious interventions to cope with the virus.
LIMITATION: In the ARIMA models selected for forecasting, we did not incorporate the effect of covariates such as the effect of net migration of monkeypox virus patients, government interventions, etc.
METHODS: An internet-based cross-sectional survey was conducted from April to August 2021 using convenience sampling among people from different countries. Participants were asked about their level of intention to the COVID-19 vaccine. Participants completed the Digital Health Literacy Instrument (DHLI), which was adapted in the context of the COVID Health Literacy Network. Cross-tabulation and logistic regression were used for analysis purpose.
RESULTS: Overall, the mean DHL score was 35.1 (SD = 6.9, Range = 12-48). The mean DHL score for those who answered "Yes" for "support for national vaccination schedule" was 36.1 (SD 6.7) compared to 32.5 (SD 6.8) for those who either answered "No" or "Don't know". Factors including country, place of residence, education, employment, and income were associated with the intention for vaccination. Odds of vaccine intention were higher in urban respondents (OR-1.46; C.I.-1.30-1.64) than in rural respondents. Further, higher competency in assessing the relevance of online information resulted in significantly higher intention for vaccine uptake.
CONCLUSION: Priority should be given to improving DHL and vaccination awareness programs targeting rural areas, lower education level, lower income, and unemployed groups.
METHODS: A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted conveniently among 381 individuals from the low-income group in Selangor, Malaysia. The remote data collection (RDC) method was used to gather data. Validated interviewer-rated questionnaires were used to collect data via phone call. Respondents included in the study were 18 years and older. A normality of numerical variables were assessed using Shapiro-Wilk test. Univariate analysis of all variables was performed, and results were presented as means, mean ranks, frequencies, and percentages. Mann-Whitney U test or Kruskal Wallis H test was applied for the comparison of DHL and health information seeking behavior with characteristics of the participants. Multivariate linear regression models were applied using DHL as dependent variable and health information seeking behavior as independent factors, adjusting for age, gender, marital status, educational status, employment status, and household income.
RESULTS: The mean age of the study participants was 38.16 ± 14.40 years ranging from 18 to 84 years. The vast majority (94.6%) of participants stated that information seeking regarding COVID-19 was easy or very easy. Around 7 percent of the respondents cited reading information about COVID-19 on the internet as very difficult. The higher mean rank of DHL search, content, reliability, relevance, and privacy was found among participants who were widowed, had primary education, or unemployed. An inverse relationship was found between overall DHL and confidence in the accuracy of the information on the internet regarding COVID-19 (β = -2.01, 95% CI = -2.22 to -1.79).
CONCLUSION: It is important to provide support to lower-income demographics to assist access to high-quality health information, including less educated, unemployed, and widowed populations. This can improve overall DHL.
METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted between February 15, 2022 and March 15, 2022, among 394 healthcare workers from Putrajaya and Selangor hospitals, Malaysia. Maslach Burnout Inventory, World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF 26 inventory, and Brief Resilience Scale were utilized to capture information on burnout, quality of life, and resilience, respectively.
RESULTS: The mean score of physical health of participants who work more than 10 h (11.38) is lower than participants who work from 8 to 10 h (13.00) and participants who work 7 h daily (13.03), p-value < 0.001. Similarly, the mean score of psychological health of participants who work more than 10 h (12.35) is lower than participants who work from 8 to 10 h (13.72) and participants who work 7 h daily (13.68), p-value = 0.001. Higher income levels were associated with high resilience and quality of life.
CONCLUSION: It is imperative that healthcare practitioners and policy makers adopt and implement interventions to promote a healthy workplace environment, address ethical concerns, and prevent burnout among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Managing the issue of long working hours could possibly result in improved resilience, burnout, and quality of life among healthcare workers. Despite this study able to tickle out some policy specific areas where interventions are needed, identifying effective solutions and evaluating their efficiency will require larger and interventional studies.
METHOD: A total of 394 healthcare workers reported their responses on Maslach Burnout Inventory questionnaire, World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF, and Brief Resilience Scale. Respondents were contacted through convenience sampling method and targeted population constituted Malaysian healthcare workers aged 18 years and above.
RESULTS: For occupational exhaustion, about 50.5% of participants have moderate degree, 40.6% have high degree, and 8.9% have low degree of burnout. Health workers from age 25 to 35 years have lower physical health compared to health workers aged <25 years (coefficient = -0.77, p = 0.021). Similarly, healthcare workers who were working more than 10 h every day were more likely to report poor psychological health (coefficient = -2.49, p = 0.06). Positive correlation between physical and psychological health was observed. Further, a negative correlation was found between occupational exhaustion and the quality of life.
CONCLUSION: It is important to target physical as well as psychological wellbeing of the healthcare workers. Also, it is important to understand the contribution of long working hours in declining the quality of life of the healthcare workers. Thus, allocating fixed working hours for healthcare workers would bring a much-required change.
OBJECTIVES: To assess the psychological distress, anxiety, depression, coping strategies, risk perception, and attitude toward interprofessional teamwork among Egyptian healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey which consisted of five sections. The primary outcomes were anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-9), risk perception towards COVID-19, interprofessional teamwork attitude, and coping strategies during the Coronavirus disease-19 pandemic. The web-based questionnaire was distributed to Egyptian healthcare workers from the 20th of April 2020 to the 20th of May 2020. A snowball sampling method was used. Regression analysis was conducted to test the relationship between the socioeconomic characteristics and the previously mentioned outcomes.
RESULTS: A total of 403 participants responded to the online questionnaire. The majority were females (70.5%) and within the age group of 26-40 years (77.7%), with 2-5 years of work experience (43.2%). Most participants were pharmacists (33%) and physicians (22.1%). Eighty-two participants (21%) reported moderate to severe anxiety, and 79 participants reported (19.4%) moderate to severe depressive symptoms. In the univariate model, the marital status was associated with depression (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.28-0.78), anxiety (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.32-0.85), and an attitude toward interprofessional teamwork (β = -1.96 95% CI -2.72 to -1.2). Providing direct care to the patients was associated with lower anxiety symptoms (AOR 0.256, 95% CI 0.094-0.697). More severe anxiety and depressive symptoms were associated with difficulties in everyday life and the professional work environment (AOR 4.246 and 3.3, P = 0.003 and 0.01, respectively). Availability of mental health facilities at the workplace was associated with a lower risk perception towards COVID-19 (β = -0.79, 95% CI -1.24 to -0.34) and a more positive attitude towards teamwork (β = 2.77 95% CI 1.38-4.15).
CONCLUSIONS: According to our results, the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with mild anxiety and depression among healthcare workers in Egypt, especially pharmacists and physicians. We recommend more research targeting the mental health of healthcare workers in Egypt. If proven cost-effective and needed, wide-scale mental health screening and public health campaigns can facilitate effective prevention and treatment strategies. In addition, the availability of mental health facilities at the workplace could alleviate some of the risk perception associated with health emergencies and improve interprofessional teamwork.
METHOD: A nationwide online cross-sectional convenience sampling survey from April 21, 2022 to June 3, 2022 was conducted. The study used descriptive statistics to inform about vaccine hesitancy among parents. Cross-tabulation was performed to calculate the frequency and percentage of vaccine hesitancy, quality of life, e-health literacy, and the 5C psychological antecedents of vaccination among parents with children 5-11 years in Malaysia. Graphical methods were used to portray the levels of e-health literacy and levels of 5C psychological antecedents of vaccination. The study used both bi-variate and multivariate analysis to understand the relationship between vaccine hesitancy and the socio-demo-economic factors, quality of life, e-health literacy and 5C psychological antecedents.
RESULTS: Of 382 participants, almost one-third (33%) of participants reported vaccine hesitancy for their children. For 5C's psychological antecedents of vaccination, around one quarter (26.96%) reported disagreement for confidence in vaccination, almost half (52.36%) reported disagreement for vaccination complacency, three-fifths (60.99%) reported vaccination constraint, one quarter (25.92%) reported calculation antecedent, and almost one-third reported disagreement over collective responsibility antecedent (25.92%). Chi-square test revealed that gender, employment status, and parents' COVID-19 vaccination status were significantly associated (p<0.05) with vaccine hesitancy among parents. Assessing the influence of transactional e-health literacy, only the communication component contained a significant association (p<0.05). Among the 5C psychological antecedents, confidence, calculation, and collective responsibility were significantly associated (p<0.05) with vaccine hesitancy. Parents with secondary [OR: 8.80; CI: 2.44-31.79, (p<0.05)], post-secondary [OR: 5.21; CI: 2.10-13.41, (p<0.05)], and tertiary education [OR: 6.77; CI: 2.25-20.35, (p<0.05)] had significantly higher likelihood of vaccine hesitancy than those with primary education.
CONCLUSION: Highly educated parents are more skeptical and are more likely to perceive the vaccine as unsafe and ineffective for their children. It is critical to disseminate the required information about the vaccine safety to the educated group.
METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was carried out via social media platforms and 1544 Malaysians were selected. The level of depression was assessed by Patient Health Questionnaires (PHQ-9) and scored accordingly for categorization. Zung's Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) was used as a self-assessment survey to quantify the level of anxiety of persons experiencing anxiety-related symptoms. Percentage distribution and logistic regression analysis were used in the data analysis.
RESULTS: Results showed that one-fourth (25.1%) of the participants had severe depressive symptoms. Almost one-sixth (18.7%) had mild depressive symptoms and one-third (34.1%) had mild to moderate anxiety symptoms. Age, gender, and friends infected with virus were the three important predictors of depression and anxiety. The odds of having depression (OR = 1.44; C·I. = 1.32-1.62) and anxiety (OR = 1.36; C·I. = 1.27-1.47) were significantly higher among females than in males.
CONCLUSION: A significant proportion of the study participants were facing mild to severe depression and anxiety symptoms which is very alarming as the pandemic is still now increasing across the country. Immediate interventions including community counselling programmes, TV and social media campaigns are urgently needed to reduce the psychological stress among the Malaysian population.
AIM: This study aimed to explore the perceived social media needs and their impact on the quality of life among the adult population of various selected countries.
METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional, quantitative design and analytical study utilized an online survey disseminated from November to December 2021.
RESULTS: A total of 6689 respondents from ten countries participated in the study. The largest number of respondents was from Malaysia (23.9%), followed by Bangladesh (15.5%), Georgia (14.8%), and Turkey (12.2%). The prevalence of social media users was over 90% in Austria, Georgia, Myanmar, Nigeria, and the Philippines. The majority of social media users were from the 18-24 age group. Multiple regression analysis showed that higher education level was positively correlated with all four domains of WHOQoL. In addition, the psychological health domain of quality of life was positively associated in all countries. Predictors among Social Media Needs, Affective Needs (β = -0.07), and Social Integrative Needs (β = 0.09) were significantly associated with psychological health.
CONCLUSION: The study illuminates the positive correlation between higher education levels and improved life quality among social media users, highlighting an opportunity for policymakers to craft education-focused initiatives that enhance well-being. The findings call for strategic interventions to safeguard the mental health of the global social media populace, particularly those at educational and health disadvantages.
METHODS: A self-administrated online Google form survey was carried out between February 2021 and April 2021. Five thousand eight hundred forty-five participants who regularly exercise and aged ≥18 years responded to the questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed through social media platforms and included five sections: demographic, training characters, knowledge, practice, and attitude.
RESULTS: The participants mean age was 27.4 ± 8.6 years. Males represented 58.2 % of participants. 75.3% of the study participants had not used either hormones or supplements, and about 19% used supplements only. The mean percent score for knowledge, practice, and attitude were 39.3 ± 30.5, 1.1 ± 9.5, and 21.3 ± 23.8, respectively. Level of knowledge was higher among participants who worked in the medical field or as sports coaches. The practice was higher among male participants. The most commonly used anabolic hormones and nutritional supplements were steroids and proteins with bodybuilding being the most common purpose. Internet was the main source of information and pharmacy was the main source for procuring these substances. There was a significant decrease in proteins, carbohydrates, and sports drinks used during the COVID-19 lockdown compared to before the COVID-19 lockdown, while a statistically significant increase in vitamins used during the COVID-19 lockdown compared to before COVID-19 lockdown.
DISCUSSION: In the MENA region, there has been an increase in the use of anabolic hormones and nutritional supplements. Most of the population has low knowledge of the harmful effect of uncontrolled, uninformed and unmonitored use of these substances Therefore, increasing the awareness level of participants and sports coaches should be a priority to limit the unsupervised use of hormones and supplements.
OBJECTIVE: This umbrella review synthesizes findings from systematic reviews and meta-analyses to provide insights into global perceptions on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy across diverse populations and regions.
METHODS: We conducted a literature search across major databases to identify systematic reviews and meta-analysis that reported COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy. The AMSTAR-2 (A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews) criteria were used to assess the methodological quality of included systematic reviews. Meta-analysis was performed using STATA 17 with a random effect model. The data synthesis is presented in a table format and via a narrative.
RESULTS: Our inclusion criteria were met by 78 meta-analyses published between 2021 and 2023. Our analysis revealed a moderate vaccine acceptance rate of 63% (95% CI 0.60%-0.67%) in the general population, with significant heterogeneity (I2 = 97.59%). Higher acceptance rates were observed among health care workers and individuals with chronic diseases, at 64% (95% CI 0.57%-0.71%) and 69% (95% CI 0.61%-0.76%), respectively. However, lower acceptance was noted among pregnant women, at 48% (95% CI 0.42%-0.53%), and parents consenting for their children, at 61.29% (95% CI 0.56%-0.67%). The pooled vaccine hesitancy rate was 32% (95% CI 0.25%-0.39%) in the general population. The quality assessment revealed 19 high-quality, 38 moderate-quality, 15 low-quality, and 6 critically low-quality meta-analyses.
CONCLUSIONS: This review revealed the presence of vaccine hesitancy globally, emphasizing the necessity for population-specific, culturally sensitive interventions and clear, credible information dissemination to foster vaccine acceptance. The observed disparities accentuate the need for continuous research to understand evolving vaccine perceptions and to address the unique concerns and needs of diverse populations, thereby aiding in the formulation of effective and inclusive vaccination strategies.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42023468363; https://tinyurl.com/2p9kv9cr.