الفهرس 
. INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 98 |  |  |
| | | from | 98 | | |
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by coronavirus 2 that causes severe acute respiratory illness (SARS-CoV-2), was initially discovered in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has since spread throughout the world.
The virus is mostly spread by human-to-human contact, and as a result of its rapid spread, the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic in March 2020. Due to their front-line involvement in the COVID-19 outbreak response, healthcare professionals are at risk from a variety of dangers.
Health care workers are suffering from a significant psychological toll as a result of workload and moral dilemmas as the nation is on an upsurge of COVID-19 cases. The purpose of this study is to supply data that is desperately needed to guide resource allocation and government policy both now and in the future during times of crisis. In addition, the study aims to identify possible associations between COVID-19 exposure and mental health, as well as the impact of the virus on social and occupational functioning and sociodemographic factors.
6.1.2. Methods
Study design: A multicenter cross - sectional study design used a self-reported electronic questionnaire.
Setting: The study was conducted in Al -Obour new city.
Population: Physicians, Pharmacists, Dentists, Physiotherapists and Nurses.
Sample size: A sample size of 369, calculated using the GPower program (version 3.1.9.4) with expected effect size=0.05, which detected the difference between quality of life before versus during the pandemic achieved power of 0.80 at significance level 5%. A stratified random sample with a proportionate allocation method was assigned.
Survey: A self-report questionnaire known as ”The WHOQOL-BREF” comprises 26 questions in total that evaluate four domains of quality of life: environment (8 items), social relationships (3 items), psychological health (6 items), and physical health (7 items). Additionally, two items assess overall QOL and general health. Items are ranked from 1 to 5, and each domain’s raw score is the total of all of its item scores. The domain score (range 4–20) is obtained by multiplying the mean of the items within each domain by four. The total domain scores are then normalized to a range of 0-100. Higher QOL is indicated by higher scores.
Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations
49
Statistical Analyses: performed using SPSS software version 25 and consists of three parts:
1. Descriptive statistics to summarize the demographic profile of the respondents and demonstrate the distribution of the score for each domain.
2. Using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, the normality of the distribution of continuous data was examined. In the meantime, Spearman’s correlation was used to test correlations for non-normally distributed data and Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to test correlations for normally distributed data.
3. Multiple linear regression analyses were applied to assess the effect of independent predictors that affect the change in total quality of life score before and during the pandemic and to predict also the strongest factor of WHOQOL among gender, physicians, nurses, hospital providers and which domain of the questionnaire greatly also affects the overall quality of life score for more or less than one year. All tests are two-tailed and a p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
6.1.3. Results
369 participants were enrolled in the study based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Most participants were females N=304(82.4%) while males were N=65(17.6 %). The mean age of the participants were 30.66 ± 5.31 years. The majority of participants (87.8%) were from urban backgrounds and the mean working hours of the participants were 7.78 ± 4.74 hours. Approximately (71.5 %) of participants were married, whereas the percentage of single, divorced and widowed was (28.5%).
Results after using t-tests revealed that overall QOL domains were significantly lower. Firstly in the physical domain, as the mean score decreased from 65.08 to 45.73. The change was statistically significant (t= - 21.79, p= 0.0001). Secondly, the psychological domain recorded a decrease in the mean score from 69.61 to 51.12, which was statistically significant (t=-18.15, p=.0001). Meanwhile, the third domain social relationship was statistically significant (t=-19.08, p=.0001). The mean score decreased from 75.93 to 51.46. The major DROP was in domain four the environmental. The mean score decreased from 73.70 to 45.94, which was statistically significant (t=-26.97, p=.0001).
Multivariate analysis showed that, over all models including (Age, Gender, Specialty, Residence, Smoking and Participants with chronic diseases) were non-significan. That suggests that the models didn’t significantly predict the outcome variable. The lack of a significant coefficient of SLR does not imply that the dependent or independent variables are unrelated; rather, it indicates that there are no meaningful ”linear” relationships between the variables. It denotes a direction of change in both the independent variable and the predictor. However, other factors were statistically significant contributing to predicting one of four domains.
Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations
50
6.2 Conclusion
The results of this study showed that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted HCWs’ psychological, social connection and quality of life. We found a substantial information gap and low knowledge levels. Greater efforts through educational programs that target HCWs and the larger public outside of borders are urgently needed as the COVID-19 danger continues to spread globally. Ensuring the safety of HCWs is crucial for putting an end to the pandemic given the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic and the rising number of infected cases. Therefore, research into the prevalence of COVID-19 among HCWs is essential for reducing the spread of the virus by raising public awareness and providing helpful advice for governmental organizations, such as isolating infected cases in particular well-equipped hospitals. Expanding HCW preventative measures is crucial to lowering infection rates among family members and coworkers because the majority of infections are asymptomatic. Since the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing, these findings need to be confirmed and further explored in bigger population research. The COVID-19 pandemic was linked to a decreasing impact in our sample. Our investigation was able to document some acute COVID-19 pandemic effects on negative mental health. In order to evaluate the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects, our study also recommended a number of crucial topics for further study.
6.3 Recommendations
1- Targeted interventions are required to improve the mental well-being of HCWs and strengthen the capability of the healthcare system throughout the pandemic.
2- Telemedicine can be used to give psychosocial services, along with assuring adequate resources. Adequate support, education and training should also be provided.
3- Individuals’ capacity for coping with the COVID-19 pandemic may be enhanced by seeking out family and social support and engaging in mindfulness activities.
4- At the organizational level, creating a cooperative and encouraging work atmosphere as well as organizing work schedules that allow for enough sleep and relaxation.
5- Providing mental health support and counseling, as well as rest areas for healthcare workers who work long shifts.
6- Implementing online resilience training modules and stress management programs may help healthcare professionals become more resilient and better able to handle mental health issues.
7- Compared to what was anticipated, there are certain knowledge gaps and bad attitudes. For HCWs, it’s a must to be equipped with the information about the mechanism of transmission, the isolation duration and treatment options.
8- These findings will advance our knowledge of how pandemics affect the psychological well-being of healthcare workers.
9- Recommend taking action beyond simply saving the lives of COVID-19 patients.
10- Psychosocial interventions and support should be incorporated into public health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for healthcare workers.
11- It is essential to provide evidence-based psychosocial therapies and support for transient psychological issues as anxiety, depression, and insomnia.
12- It is important to emphasize the benefits of self-relaxation training, frequent exercise, and a healthy lifestyle.
13- There should be more research done to determine how the COVID-19 epidemic will