Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives

Review Article

Public health agencies’ use of social media for communication during pandemics: a scoping review of the literature: Babatunde Abiodun Balogun, Anne Hogden, Nenagh Kemp, Lin Yang, Maria Agaliotis; Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2023;14(4):235-251. Published online August 9, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2023.0095

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Graphical Abstract Abstract PDF: Public health agencies (PHAs) have increasingly incorporated social media into their communication mix during successive pandemics in the 21st century. However, the quality, timing, and accuracy of their health messages have varied significantly, resulting in mixed outcomes for communication, audience engagement, and pandemic management. This study aimed to identify factors influencing the effectiveness of pandemic-related health messages shared by PHAs on social media and to report their impact on public engagement as documented in the literature. A scoping literature review was conducted following a predefined protocol. An electronic search of 7 relevant databases and 5 grey literature repositories yielded 9,714 papers published between January 2003 and November 2022. Seventy-three papers were deemed eligible and selected for review. The results underscored the insufficiency of social media guidance policies for PHAs. Six themes were identified: message source, message topic, message style, message timing, content credibility and reliability, and message recipient profile. These themes encompassed 20 variables that could inform PHAs’ social media public health communication during pandemics. Additionally, the findings revealed potential interconnectedness among the variables, and this study concluded by proposing a conceptual model that expands upon existing theoretical foundations for developing and evaluating pandemic-related health messaging.

Original Article

Quality of life in patients treated for COVID-19–associated mucormycosis at a tertiary care hospital: Pragya Kumar, Rajath Rao UR, Nilanjan Roy, Deepika Agrawal, Shamshad Ahmad, Kranti Bhavana; Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2023;14(2):119-128. Published online April 18, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2022.0307

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Graphical Abstract Abstract PDF: Objectives
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)–associated mucormycosis (CAM) has emerged as a formidable infection in patients with COVID-19. The aggressive management of CAM affects quality of life (QOL); thus, this study was designed to assess the QOL in patients with CAM at a tertiary healthcare institution.
Methods
This cross-sectional study of 57 patients with CAM was conducted over 6 months using a semi-structured standard questionnaire (the abbreviated World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire [WHO-BREF]) and a self-rated improvement (SRI) scale ranging from 0 to 9. Cut-off values of ≤52 and <7 were considered to indicate poor QOL and poor improvement, respectively. The correlations of QOL and SRI scores were evaluated using Spearman rho values.
Results
In total, 27 patients (47.4%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 34.9%–60.1%) and 26 patients (45.6%; 95% CI, 33.4%–58.4%) had poor QOL and poor SRI scores, respectively. The overall median (interquartile range) QOL score was 52 (41–63). Headache (adjusted B, −12.3), localized facial puffiness (adjusted B , −16.4), facial discoloration (adjusted B, −23.4), loosening of teeth (adjusted B, −18.7), and facial palsy (adjusted B, −38.5) wer e significantly associated with the QOL score in patients with CAM.
Conclusion
Approximately 1 in 2 patients with CAM had poor QOL and poor improvement. Various CAM symptoms were associated with QOL in these patients. Early recognition is the key to optimal treatment, improved outcomes, and improved QOL in patients with CAM.

Review Articles

SARS-CoV-2 in brief: from virus to prevention: Hassan Karami, Zeinab Karimi, Negin Karami; Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2022;13(6):394-406. Published online November 28, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2022.0155

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1 Citations

Abstract PDF

The recent outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), ahighly transmissible virus with a likely animal origin, has posed major and unprecedentedchallenges to millions of lives across the affected nations of the world. This outbreak firstoccurred in China, and despite massive regional and global attempts shortly thereafter, itspread to other countries and caused millions of deaths worldwide. This review presents keyinformation about the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and its associated disease (namely,coronavirus disease 2019) and briefly discusses the origin of the virus. Herein, we also brieflysummarize the strategies used against viral spread and transmission.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Surveillance of endemic coronaviruses during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Iran, 2021–2022
Hassan Karami, Kaveh Sadeghi, Sevrin Zadheidar, Fatemeh Saadatmand, Negar Mirsalehi, Nima Hoveidi Ardestani, Shirin Kalantari, Mohammad Farahmand, Jila Yavarian, Talat Mokhtari‐Azad
Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses.2023;[Epub] CrossRef

Scrutiny of COVID-19 response strategies among severely affected European nations: Shine Stephen, Alwin Issac, Rakesh Vadakkethil Radhakrishnan, Jaison Jacob, VR Vijay, Sam Jose, SM Azhar, Anoop S. Nair, Nadiya Krishnan, Rakesh Sharma, Manju Dhandapani; Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2021;12(4):203-214. Published online July 29, 2021; DOI: https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2021.0068

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5 Citations

Graphical Abstract Abstract PDF

Although the health care systems in Europe are considered the global benchmark, European nations were severely affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This manuscript aimed to examine the strategies implemented to combat the COVID-19 pandemic by France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Russia and their outcomes in terms of the number of cases, testing, and deaths. This is the first review of its kind that extensively analyzes the preparedness, mitigation, and response strategies against the COVID-19 pandemic adopted by these nations. This paper further suggests a strategic preparedness model for future pandemics. From the analysis, we found that a decentralized approach, prompt decision-making and timely execution, coordination between local health authorities, and public participation in the implementation of strategies could substantially reduce the case fatality rate. Nations with a high percentage of gross domestic product invested in the health sector, as well as more nurses, physicians, hospital beds, intensive care unit beds, and ventilators, better managed the pandemic. Instead, nations that postponed their pandemic response by delaying tracking, tracing, testing, quarantine, and lockdown were badly affected. The lessons learned from the present pandemic could be used as a guide to prepare for further pandemics.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Antibody titre in infants of covid-19 infected mothers
Shivani Sharma, Pushkar Lal Meena, Rameshwar Lal Suman, Jaya Ninama
IP International Journal of Medical Paediatrics an.2023; 9(2): 68. CrossRef
A study to assess the level of stress among nursing students of IUST during COVID-19 pandemic
Javaid Ahmad Mir, Asmat Parveen, Suheel Rashid Wani, Tayyibah Nisar, Sakeena Majeed, Wahida Kausar, Basit Ul Islam
IP International Journal of Medical Paediatrics an.2022; 8(1): 15. CrossRef
Strategy to prevent infection from Covid-19 among security officers of tertiary care centre: A preexperimental study
Rakesh Sharma, KusumK Rohilla, Lisa Chadha, Priyanka Malhotra, S Sharmila, Prasuna Jelly
Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.2021; 10(9): 3257. CrossRef
Post COVID-19 changes in the perception of the parents towards dentistry for their child
Nahid Iftikhar, Shalini Dixit, Aditi Yadav
IP International Journal of Medical Paediatrics an.2021; 7(3): 155. CrossRef
A comparative study of attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination in the rural and urban population of Uttarakhand, India
Rakesh Sharma, Prasuna Jelly, Vishwas AS, Lisa Chadha, Vartika Saxena, Latika Mohan
Journal of Global Health Economics and Policy.2021;[Epub] CrossRef

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