Low vaccine acceptance is a major barrier to vaccination coverage in every health system. This study aimed to explore the prevalence and associated factors of the COVID‐19 vaccine hesitancy in a ...sample of the general population in Iraqi Kurdistan. The general population with both genders with different educational levels and sociodemographic characteristics from the Duhok governorate was eligible to participate in this cross‐sectional study in 2021. Therefore, an online Google form was sent to main pages and social groups through two main social media platforms. To obtain a representative sample of individuals with different educational levels, the author visited the main shopping center in Duhok city to collect the information from illiterate and low‐level education individuals. The study found that 83.5% (n = 773) of the participants have not received and 51.4% (n = 476) did not intend to receive the COVID‐19 vaccine. A small percentage has not decided to receive a COVID‐19 vaccine yet (n = 17, 1.8%). The intention to receive a COVID‐19 vaccine was increased with increasing level of education; 25.9%, 26.7%, 39.8%, and 53.6% in illiterate, under high school, high school, and college and higher, respectively (p < 0.0001). Healthcare workers were more likely to intend to receive a COVID‐19, 57.5% vs 40.1%, p < 0.0001. Individuals who had concerns about the side effects of a COVID‐19 vaccine were more likely to not receive and not intend to receive the COVID‐19 vaccine. Prevalence of COVID‐19 vaccine hesitancy was high in this region and was correlated with lower education and concerns about side effects.
Healthcare workers are at high risk of developing sleep disorders during an outbreak. This study aimed to measure severity of sleep difficulty and its correlation with duration of deal with ...suspected/confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in physicians.
In this cross-sectional study, 268 physicians from different medical settings were included during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The mean age and experience of physicians were 35.06 (33–70 years) and 10.13 years. The median duration of dealing with suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19 was 1.0 (0–30 days). The mean sleep score and stress of physicians were 8.43 of 24.0 and 4.20 of 10, respectively. More than two-thirds of the physicians were sleepless (68.3%) and majority had stress (93.7%). The study did not find a significant difference in sleep score of physicians with different specialties (P = 0.059). However, most physicians were sleepless; including anesthesia and intensive care (77.8%); general physicians (80.8%), and obstetrics and gynecology (80.0%). They were sleepless in morning (58.7%); evening (77.8%); night (100%); and multi-shift (70.9%). The physicians who dealt with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 or with stress had more escalated sleep compared to those who did not deal with patients or without stress (9.39 vs. 7.17 and 8.78 vs. 2.69 P < 0.001). The sleep of physicians was escalated with increasing stress (r = 0.558; P < 0.001) and a number of days that physicians dealt with suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19 (r = 0.210; P = 0.001), respectively.
The study confirmed that working with COVID-19 patients has a negative effect on the sleep of physicians.
•Sleep quality of physicians is poor during the COVID-19 outbreak.•Most of the physicians are sleepless during the COVID-19 outbreak.•Physicians sleep is escalated with duration of COVID-19 patient interaction.•Physicians sleep is escalated with stress during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Aim and objective
We explored the experiences of nurses who cared for coronavirus disease 2019 patients in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Background
Nurses play a major role in response to pandemics and epidemics ...in delivering patient care. The experiences of nurses who provided care have significant short and long‐term consequences for individuals, communities, and the nursing profession.
Methods
Descriptive qualitative research approach was adopted in this study. We interviewed 12 nurses (22–50 years) who cared for the coronavirus disease 2019 patients in one of the clinical units of two coronavirus disease 2019 hospitals in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2020. Interviews were conducted via phone calls and were analysed using the thematic analysis method. The Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research checklist was applied when constructing this paper.
Results
The nurses had to care for a number of situations during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 in Kurdistan. As people in the public did not believe that there was such a virus, nurses often had to deal with this lack of knowledge and aggression from some patients and their family members. Most nurses changed their preventive behaviours since the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak at hospital or in public. This was mainly to protect not only themselves but their patients, colleagues, family members and friends. They were cautious about the use of a mask at the hospital and in public. Most nurses experienced fear, stress, anxiety and isolation during this period.
Conclusions
The patients had some concerns about their health and staying at hospitals, and some of them had aggressive behaviours towards nurses at corona hospitals. The public, close friends and relatives of the nurses had a fear of getting the infection by the virus through the nurses. However, the nurses attempted to protect themselves, colleagues and family members, and provide the best care to coronavirus disease 2019 patients. The nurses had a high obligation towards care giving at hospitals.
Relevance to clinical practice
The negative experiences of the nurses regarding the care of coronavirus disease 2019 patients must be considered in clinical settings. Sensitive policy programs must be established to protect nurses from the ostracization and stigmatization of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and to allow them to be able to achieve their professional practices safely.
•Cancer children experience adverse effects.•Investigators use Art therapy for symptoms severity.•Art therapy improved the overall QoL.
Children with cancer undergoing chemotherapy experience many ...adverse effects. The effectiveness of painting- and handcrafting-based art therapy on the various dimensions of health-related quality of life in paediatric outpatients previously diagnosed with heterogeneity of malignancy was evaluated in the present study.
In an experimental randomized controlled trial, a total of 60 children aged 7–13 years previously diagnosed with malignancy together with their parents were assigned randomly either to an experimental (30 patients) or a control group (30 patients) in 2017 in Iraq. The patients in the experimental group participated in painting and handcrafting group art therapy (creative art therapy) conducted by a professional fine artist for a one-month period. The dimensions of health-related quality of life in both study groups were measured through the KIDSCREEN-10 Index after project completion.
The patients in the experimental group were significantly more physically active and energetic (P < 0.001), were less depressed and emotional, and had fewer stressful feelings (P = 0.004). Moreover, they enjoyed their social and leisure time more and participated more in social activities (P = 0.003) in addition to an improvement in their relationships with other children (P = 0.043) and had better overall health status (P < 0.001). However, the children’s overall interaction with other children, parents, and healthcare providers (P = 0.074) and their perception of cognitive capacity for school performance (P = 0.257) were not significantly different between the two groups.
The findings of the study suggest that exposure to painting- and handcrafting-based art therapy improves the overall health-related quality of life in children with cancer.
This paper explores the lived experience and any mental health issues of COVID-19 survivors throughout the disease crisis using a qualitative method. The semi-structured interviewing method was ...conducted with COVID-19 patients who were admitted and non-admitted to hospitals in Kurdistan, Iraq. The patients had positive and negative perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic and disease including beliefs and thoughts about COVID-19, conspiracy thinking, and concerns toward the family and their children. The patients were affected by the disease in different ways including physical consequences of COVID-19 infection, social isolation, life changes, and mental wellbeing. But they had some coping strategies to overcome the disease such as seeking help, preventive measures, and coping techniques. The patients had some concerns about health settings and therapeutic procedures including lack of sufficient care, receptiveness, hospital environment, and infection guidelines. This study showed that the COVID-19 disease had devastating effects on patients either physically or psychologically.
Despite Iraq having started the COVID-19 vaccine in January 2020, there is no official data on vaccination and hospitalization across the country. We aimed to explore the role of the COVID-19 vaccine ...on the hospitalization and outcomes of patients with COVID-19 in Iraqi Kurdistan. In this prospective study, patients who were admitted to two COVID-19 hospitals in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2021 were followed-up by the discharge time between August and November 2021. The mean age of the patients was 57.6 (27-98 years) of both genders. Most of the patients were illiterate (69.3%) or had a lower level of education (20.5%). A small percentage of patients had previous thrombotic disorders (4.7%) and close to half of the patients had chronic diseases (44.9%). The patients had mild to moderate (44.9%), moderate-severe (36.2%), and critical (18.9%) status. The median hospitalization day was 9 days (1-45 days). The study found that 91.3% of the COVID-19 hospitalized patients did not receive the vaccine and 26.8% of patients died. We did not find a significant association between receiving vaccination and patients' outcomes or disease severity. No patients with previous thrombotic disorders received the COVID-19 vaccine. The male patients were more likely to receive the COVID-19 vaccine compared to female patients; 14.55% vs. 4.17%, p=0.0394. This study showed that most patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to the hospitals have not received the COVID-19 vaccine. A high percentage of the COVID-19 hospitalized patients died of the disease in this region.
The healthcare workers are at high risk of developing stress-related problems during outbreaks. This study aimed to explore the perceived stress and its relation to the duration of dealing with ...COVID-19 patients in medical doctors.
The doctors who work in different medical settings in Iraqi Kurdistan during coronavirus outbreak were invited into this cross-sectional study. The doctors were invited from one pediatric, one emergency, one special corona, and one maternity and gynecology hospital. The "Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS)" measured the perceived degree of a doctor who experienced stress. The information was collected through a web-based technique to avoid the disease spread.
Doctors' mean duration of dealing with suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19 was 1.2 (Range: 0-16 days). The mean stress score was 18.81 out of 40. Most of the doctors had a moderate level of stress (69.4%), followed by a low (21.1%) and a high level of stress (9.6%). The general physicians and medical lab specialties had higher stress scores; 21.56 and 19.88, respectively. The high level of stress was among general physicians and community and family medicine doctors; 20.0% and 25.0%, respectively. Whether or not doctors dealt with suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19, did not have a significant difference over the perceived stress score; 19.02 vs. 18.87; P = 0.786). The mean score of stress was raised with increasing duration of dealing with suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19; r = 0.202; P = 0.004 and decreased with increasing age (r = -0.141; P = 0.045), and clinical experience (r = -0.139, P = 0.048).
This study showed that medical doctors are at a moderate level of perceived stress during the COVID-19 outbreak in Iraqi Kurdistan.
PDF
