International Journal of Preventive Medicine
Volume:13 Issue: 7, Jul 2022

This vision of the National Health Policy (NHP)[1] of India is reinforced in the recently released National Digital Health Blueprint (NDHB). This NDHB is a follow‑up to the NHP‑2017, which aimed to deliver universal healthcare to all Indian people through the use of digital technology in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is the pathogen responsible for an acute respiratory disease designated COIVD‑19, which has spread throughout the world. Despite all the struggles with this virus, still, the majority of societies are affected by COVID‑19, which raises many questions such as are these ways of management enough, which is crucial in order to contain the virus spread, and which is not effective. In this systemic review, we tried to summarize the data on different ways of managing COVID‑19 outbreaks. Through understanding the efficacy and downsides of different approaches to manage COVID‑19, public health officials, governing bodies, and health care administrators may be better equipped with the tools necessary to best manage COVID‑19 and pandemics.

This systematic review was carried out by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‑Analyses (PRISMA) protocol. Articles were selected using several databases PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar, all peer‑reviewed and published articles from December 1, 2019 to April 23, 2020 that met the inclusion criteria were selected.

The majority of the included articles were mathematical modeling, cohort studies (n = 9), cross‑sectional (n = 6), and one case series. Most articles originated from China and then Singapore. The measures that have been practiced in these articles consisted of close contact tracing and case isolation, quarantine, strict surveillance, lockdown, and travel surveillance.

The most effective approach is at least the combination of case detection and isolation, and contact tracing or containment measures. In the literature, travel controls seem to be ineffective, personal hygiene should be tough and emphasized.

Prevention of the incidences of mental disorders, psychological problems, or their rapid diagnosis is an important issue that has led to the creation of a mental health literacy concept and the development of standard tools for evaluating them. This study is the first step in the designing and psychometrics of the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire (MHLQ) in Iran. The purpose of this study was to design the psychometric properties of the MHLQ in soldiers.

This study is a methodological study that was designed in three phases: 1) Designing the instrument, 2) Assessing the items, and 3) Psychometric assessment. This study was conducted during 2017‑2018, and the soldiers were selected by using a convenience sampling method from different garrisons of Tehran, Iran. To evaluate the content validity of the questionnaire 10 experts, to evaluate the face validity 9 soldiers, and for the pilot study 103 soldiers formed the sample size. Finally, construct validity was assessed among 251 soldiers.

In the first phase, 78 items were collected and designed. Then, based on the experts’ opinions and preliminary studies, the items were reduced to 52 in the “Assessing the items phase” and then to 42 items in the psychometric phase. In the third phase, 31 items remained in the final version. The CVR and CVI scores of the 52 items were 0.91 and 0.94, respectively. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 4‑factor structure with 31 items of special value that were higher than five that accounted for 55.04 of the total scale variance. The fit indices values indicated that the model is fit for the data. In the total scale, the test–retest reliability and Cronbach’s alpha were 0.81 and 0.76, respectively.

The MHLQ of soldiers has appropriate psychometric properties and can be considered as a suitable tool for evaluation and screening as well as a basis for educational and research interventions.

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are considered at higher risk of COVID‑19 infection due to treatment with immune modulators and immune‑suppressive agents. The exact risk factors are not clear. So, we aimed to conduct a study to determine the predictors of catching COVID‑19 infection during the pandemic stage in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

We conducted a multicenter screening study and developed an online questionnaire to collect patients’ self‑reported demographic features along with MS‑related and COVID‑19–related information. The online questionnaire link was released by the Iran Multiple Sclerosis Society (IMSS) social media channel, accessible for 4160 MS patients totally and also was sent by WhatsApp for nonmember cases.

Totally, 1448 MS patients participated in our study. Twenty‑five (1.7%) patients were diagnosed with COVID‑19, from which 4 were hospitalized, 4 were treated with medical therapy, and 17 patients had home‑quarantine. The patients with COVID‑19 diagnosis were more frequently treated with rituximab (28% vs 24%, P = 0.001) than others, and cardiovascular comorbidity was more frequent in this group (8% vs 1.6%, P = 0.01). Regression analysis showed that cardiovascular disease was a significant positive predictor of COVID‑19 infection (OR = 5.2, 95% CI: 1.1–23.7).

Patients with MS who have cardiovascular disease should be more monitored for COVID‑19 infection as they are at higher risk of infection.

Patient safety as a goal can be achieved by reporting medical errors (ME); however, most errors are never reported. The aim of this study is to explore the causes of ME, and the obstacles in reporting them amongst nurses.

We conducted semi‑structural interviews, with 12 nursing managers in the biggest teaching hospital in southern Iran (2015‑2016). The interview guide concentrated on the causes of ME and barriers in reporting them. All face‑to‑face interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis.

In this study 4 main themes were extracted for the causes of ME: personal/social characteristics, nonprofessional practice, hospital related factors/organization contextual factors, and poor management. Also, 5 main themes (such as; personal characteristics, fear from reporting, nonprofessional practices, cultural and social factors, and error surveillance system features) were obtained with regards to barriers in reporting.

ME can be reduced by improving professional practice and better human resource management. Also, reporting errors can be increased by focusing on cultural and social factors

Tobacco use is an established preventable risk factor for many noncommunicable diseases and is considered as an important indicator for monitoring progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study aimed to determine the situation of tobacco use among Iranian adults using 2016 household survey.

This is a secondary analysis of the data from 2016 nationally representative STEPwise approach to Surveillance (STEPs) survey with a sample size of 31,050. The data on tobacco consumption was gathered using questions incorporated in the survey questionnaire.

The prevalence of current tobacco use in Iran was 25.2 % (24.4‑25.9) in men versus 4% (3.7‑4.3) in women. The prevalence was higher in rural areas and among second wealth group. The prevalence of current daily cigarette smoking was 20.1% (19.4‑20.7) in men versus 0.9% (0.8‑1.1) in women). Average number of cigarettes per day among current cigarette smokers was 14.5% (14.1‑14.9), mean age at start smoking among daily cigarette smokers was 21.6% (21.1‑22), and 95.2% (94.4‑96) of daily current daily cigarette smokers attempted for cessation during past 12 months. Prevalences of exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke among nonsmokers at homes and workplaces were 23.21% (22.65‑23.76) and 18.04% (17.2‑18.87), respectively.

There was a large difference between the prevalence of tobacco use between men and women (25.2% vs. 4%). Higher prevalences of tobacco use in rural areas and among lower wealth quintiles require more equity‑based approaches in tobacco combatting actions.