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Elmohamady B, Omar M, El-Dakhakhny AS, Sayedahmed K, Ghazwani Y, Bin Hamri S, Alkhayal A, Alrabeeah K, Kamal W, Abbasy M, Farahat Y, Noureldin YA. Effects of first year COVID-19 pandemic on urology practice in three major Arab Countries: Sub-Analysis of a survey by Arab association of urology research group. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0293458. [PMID: 38236912 PMCID: PMC10796057 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic on March 11, 2020. The health care system faced tremendous challenges in providing ethical and high-quality care. The impact of COVID-19 on urological practices varied widely worldwide, including in Arab countries. This study aimed to compare the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on urology practice in Egypt, the KSA, and the UAE during the first year of the pandemic. METHODS This sub-analysis assessed the demographics and COVID-19's effects on urological practice in terms of adjustments to hospital policy, including outpatient consultations, the management of elective and urgent surgical cases, and the continuation of education across the three countries. The availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) and urologists' emotional, physical, and verbal intimidation during COVID-19 were also compared. RESULTS Regarding the impact on hospital policy, consultations replaced by telemedicine were significantly higher in the KSA (36.15%), followed by the UAE (33.3%), then Egypt (10.4%) (P = 0.008). Elective cases requiring ICU admission were 65.1% in Egypt, 45.2% in the KSA, and 58.2% in the UAE and were performed only in high-risk patients. PPE was freely available in 20.8% of the Egyptian hospitals compared to 83.3% in the KSA and 81.8% in the UAE. Online courses were significantly higher in Egypt (70.8%), followed by the UAE (53%) and the KSA (41.7%) (P = 0.02). Emotional intimidation was higher than verbal intimidation, representing 80%, 75.9%, and 76% in the UAE, KSA, and Egypt, respectively. CONCLUSION This sub-analysis outlined significant hospital policy changes across the three Arab countries. Exposure to emotional, verbal, and physical intimidation was observed. The development of teleconsultations and online platforms for educational purposes was observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Basheer Elmohamady
- Department of Urology, Benha Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt
| | - Mohamed Omar
- Department of Urology, Menoufiya University Hospital, Menoufiya, Egypt
| | - Amr S. El-Dakhakhny
- Department of Urology, Benha Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt
| | - Khalid Sayedahmed
- Department of Urology, Menoufiya University Hospital, Menoufiya, Egypt
| | - Yahia Ghazwani
- College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, KSA
- Division of Urology, King Abdulaziz Medical City, MNGHA, Riyadh, KSA
| | - Saeed Bin Hamri
- College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, KSA
- Division of Urology, King Abdulaziz Medical City, MNGHA, Riyadh, KSA
| | - Abdullah Alkhayal
- College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, KSA
- Division of Urology, King Abdulaziz Medical City, MNGHA, Riyadh, KSA
| | - Khalid Alrabeeah
- College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, KSA
- Division of Urology, King Abdulaziz Medical City, MNGHA, Riyadh, KSA
| | - Wissam Kamal
- Department of Urology, King Fahd Hospital, Jeddah, KSA
| | - Mohamed Abbasy
- Emergency Medicine Department, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
| | - Yasser Farahat
- Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt
- Urology Department, Sheikh Khalifa General Hospital, Umm Al Quwain, UAE
| | - Yasser A. Noureldin
- Department of Urology, Benha Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt
- Division of Urology, King Abdulaziz Medical City, MNGHA, Riyadh, KSA
- Urology Department, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
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Uhlenbrock G, Schulze S, Sappl I, Rapp MA, Tallarek M, Spallek J, Holmberg C. [Concern about Covid-19 Infection and the Risk of Burnout Symptoms: a Study of Caregiver Stress in Brandenburg Nursing Homes During the Covid-19 Pandemic]. PSYCHIATRISCHE PRAXIS 2023; 50:353-360. [PMID: 37072030 DOI: 10.1055/a-2019-6495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/20/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Investigation of the association of concern about own infection or infection of friends, family and care recipients with Covid-19 and burnout symptoms of caregivers in Brandenburg full inpatient geriatric care facilities. METHODS Cross-sectional survey of nursing staff (n=195) in Brandenburg nursing homes between August and December 2020 regarding their psychosocial stress at work. RESULTS Concern about having infected oneself, family and/or friends, or care recipients with Covid-19 is associated with increased expression of burnout symptoms (b=0,200, t(155)=2,777, p=0,006). CONCLUSION Increased experience of burnout symptoms due to concerns of risk of infection with Covid-19 in the workplace indicates a need for comprehensive support measures as well as sustainable approaches to managing psychosocial stress for geriatric caregivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Greta Uhlenbrock
- Institut für Sozialmedizin und Epidemiologie Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane, Brandenburg
| | - Susanne Schulze
- Institut für Sozialmedizin und Epidemiologie Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane, Brandenburg
- Fakultät für Gesundheitswissenschaften, Gemeinsame Fakultät der Universität Potsdam, der Brandenburgischen Technischen Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg und der Medizinischen Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane, Potsdam
- Sozial- und Präventivmedizin, Universität Potsdam
| | - Isabella Sappl
- Institut für Sozialmedizin und Epidemiologie Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane, Brandenburg
| | - Michael A Rapp
- Fakultät für Gesundheitswissenschaften, Gemeinsame Fakultät der Universität Potsdam, der Brandenburgischen Technischen Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg und der Medizinischen Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane, Potsdam
- Sozial- und Präventivmedizin, Universität Potsdam
| | - Marie Tallarek
- Fakultät für Soziale Arbeit, Gesundheit und Musik, Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg
| | - Jacob Spallek
- Fakultät für Gesundheitswissenschaften, Gemeinsame Fakultät der Universität Potsdam, der Brandenburgischen Technischen Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg und der Medizinischen Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane, Potsdam
- Fakultät für Soziale Arbeit, Gesundheit und Musik, Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg
| | - Christine Holmberg
- Institut für Sozialmedizin und Epidemiologie Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane, Brandenburg
- Fakultät für Gesundheitswissenschaften, Gemeinsame Fakultät der Universität Potsdam, der Brandenburgischen Technischen Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg und der Medizinischen Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane, Potsdam
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Should routine risk reduction procedures for the prevention and control of pandemics become a standard in all oncological outpatient clinics? The prospective COVID-19 cohort study: protect-CoV. Med Oncol 2022; 39:104. [PMID: 35397689 PMCID: PMC8994860 DOI: 10.1007/s12032-022-01700-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Limited knowledge exists on the effectiveness of preventive preparedness plans for the care of outpatient cancer patients during epidemics or pandemics. To ensure adequate, timely and continuous clinical care for this highly vulnerable population, we propose the establishment of preventive standard safety protocols providing effective early phase identification of outbreaks at outpatient cancer facilities and communicating adapted standards of care. The prospective cohort study Protect-CoV conducted at the LMU Klinikum from mid-March to June 2020 investigated the effectiveness of a rapid, proactive and methodical response to protect patients and interrupt SARS-CoV-2 transmission chains during the first pandemic wave. The implemented measures reduced the risk of infection of individual cancer patients and ensured safe adjunctive infusion therapy in an outpatient setting during the early COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the immediate implementation of standard hygiene procedures, our results underscore the importance of routine PCR testing for the identification of asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic COVID-19 cases and immediate tracing of positive cases and their contacts. While more prospective controlled studies are needed to confirm these results, our study illustrates the importance of including preventative testing and tracing measures in the standard risk reduction procedures at all out patient cancer centers.
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Crocerossa F, Visser W, Carbonara U, Falagario UG, Pandolfo SD, Loizzo D, Imbimbo C, Klausner AP, Porpiglia F, Damiano R, Cantiello F, Autorino R. The impact the COVID-19 pandemic on urology literature: a bibliometric analysis. Cent European J Urol 2022; 75:102-109. [PMID: 35591965 PMCID: PMC9074064 DOI: 10.5173/ceju.2021.291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2021] [Revised: 12/27/2021] [Accepted: 12/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has caused wide-reaching change to many aspects of life on a worldwide scale. The impact of these changes on peer-reviewed research journals, including those dedicated to urology, is still unknown. Material and methods The Web of Science database was queried to retrieve all COVID-19 urological articles written in English language and published between January 1st, 2020 and December 10th, 2021. Only original and review articles were considered. A bibliometric analysis of the total number of papers, citations, institutions and publishing journals was performed. Non-COVID-19 publications were also retrieved to compare the duration of publication stages. Results A total of 428 COVID-19 articles and 14,874 non-COVID-19 articles were collected. Significant differences in the duration of all the publication stages were found between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 articles (all p <0.001). The most productive countries were the USA (100 articles), Italy (59 articles) and the United Kingdom (55 articles). The published literature has focused on four topics: COVID-19 genitourinary manifestations, management of urological diseases during the pandemic, repercussions on quality of life and impact on healthcare providers. Conclusions A significant reduction in peer review time for COVID-19 articles might raise concerns regarding the quality of peer review itself. USA, Italy and UK published the highest number of COVID-19 related articles. Restrictive measures taken by governments to reduce the spread of infection had a strong impact on mental stress and anxiety of patients and healthcare professionals. A coerced deferral of diagnosis and treatment of emergencies and uro-oncological cases represented the most challenging task from a clinical standpoint.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Crocerossa
- Division of Urology, VCU Health, Richmond, Virginia, USA
- Division of Urology, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
| | - William Visser
- Division of Urology, VCU Health, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Umberto Carbonara
- Division of Urology, VCU Health, Richmond, Virginia, USA
- Department of Urology, Andrology and Kidney Transplantation Unit, University of Bari, Bari, Italy
| | - Ugo Giovanni Falagario
- Urology and Renal Transplantation Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
| | - Savio Domenico Pandolfo
- Division of Urology, VCU Health, Richmond, Virginia, USA
- Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - Davide Loizzo
- Division of Urology, VCU Health, Richmond, Virginia, USA
- Department of Urology, Andrology and Kidney Transplantation Unit, University of Bari, Bari, Italy
| | - Ciro Imbimbo
- Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | | | - Francesco Porpiglia
- Division of Urology, San Luigi Hospital University of Turin, Orbassano, Italy
| | - Rocco Damiano
- Division of Urology, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
| | - Francesco Cantiello
- Division of Urology, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
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