Anxiety and Stress Related to COVID-19 Among the Community Dwelling Older Adults Residing in the Largest Refugee Camp of the World.

The current cross-sectional study was conducted among 864 older adults aged ≥ 60 years residing in Rohingya refugee camp through face-to-face interviews during November-December 2021. COVID-19-related anxiety was measured using the five-point Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) and perceived stress using the 10-point Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The linear regression model identified the factors associated with COVID-19-related anxiety and perceived stress. The prevalence of COVID-19-related anxiety and perceived stress was 68% and 93%, respectively. The average COVID-19-related anxiety score expected to be significantly higher among those who were physically inactive, concerned about COVID-19, had a close friend/family member diagnosed with COVID-19, and had some difficulty in getting food and routine medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the average perceived stress score was expected to be significantly higher among those without partners, who were feeling overwhelmed by COVID-19, and who experienced COVID-19-related anxiety during the pandemic. The findings suggest providing immediate psychosocial support to older Rohingya adults.

Receptor model-based sources and risks appraisal of potentially toxic elements in the urban soils of Bangladesh.

Rapid urbanization and industrial development have prompted potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in urban soil in Bangladesh, which is a great concern for ecological and public health matters. The present study explored the receptor-based sources, probable human health and ecological risks of PTEs (As, Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, and Cu) in the urban soil of the Jashore district, Bangladesh. The USEPA modified method 3050B and atomic absorption spectrophotometers were used to digest and evaluate the PTEs concentration in 71 soil samples collected from eleven different land use areas, respectively. The concentration ranges of As, Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, and Cu in the studied soils were 1.8-18.09, 0.1-3.58, 0.4-113.26, 0.9-72.09, 2.1-68.23, and 3.82-212.57 mg/kg, respectively. The contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), and enrichment factor (EF) were applied to evaluate the ecological risk posed by PTEs in soils. Soil quality evaluation indices showed that Cd was a great contributor to soil pollution. The PLI values range was 0.48-2.82, indicating base levels to continuous soil degradation. The positive matrix factorization (PMF) model showed that As (50.3 %), Cd (38.8 %), Cu (64.7 %), Pb (81.8 %) and Ni (47.2 %) were derived from industrial sources and mixed anthropogenic sources, while Cr (78.1 %) from natural sources. The highest contamination was found in the metal workshop, followed by the industrial area, and brick filed site. Soil from all land use types revealed moderate to high ecological risk after evaluating probable ecological risks, and the descending order of single metal potential ecological risk was Cd > As > Pb > Cu > Ni > Cr. Ingestion was the primary route of exposure to potentially toxic elements for both adults and children from the study area soil. The overall non-cancer risk to human health is caused by PTEs for children (HI=0.65 ± 0.1) and adults (HI=0.09 ± 0.03) under USEPA safe limit (HI>1), while the cancer risks from exclusively ingesting As through soil were 2.10E-03 and 2.74E-04 for children and adults, respectively, exceeding the USEPA acceptable standard (>1E-04).

Older adults with non-communicable chronic conditions and their health care access amid COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh: Findings from a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Burgeoning burden of non-communicable disease among older adults is one of the emerging public health problems. In the COVID-19 pandemic, health services in low- and middle-income countries, including Bangladesh, have been disrupted. This may have posed challenges for older adults with non-communicable chronic conditions in accessing essential health care services in the current pandemic. The present study aimed at exploring the challenges experienced by older Bangladeshi adults with non-communicable chronic conditions in receiving regular health care services during the COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study followed a cross-sectional design and was conducted among 1032 Bangladeshi older adults aged 60 years and above during October 2020 through telephone interviews. Self-reported information on nine non-communicable chronic conditions (osteoarthritis, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, chronic kidney disease, cancer) was collected. Participants were asked if they faced any difficulties in accessing medicine and receiving routine medical care for their medical conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The association between non-communicable chronic conditions and accessing medication and health care was analysed using binary logic regression model. RESULTS: Most of the participants aged 60-69 years (77.8%), male (65.5%), married (81.4%), had no formal schooling (58.3%) and resided in rural areas (73.9%). Although more than half of the participants (58.9%) reported having a single condition, nearly one-quarter (22.9%) had multimorbidity. About a quarter of the participants reported difficulties accessing medicine (23%) and receiving routine medical care (27%) during the pandemic, and this was significantly higher among those suffering from multimorbidity. In the adjusted analyses, participants with at least one condition (AOR: 1.95, 95% CI: 1.33-2.85) and with multimorbidity (AOR: 4.75, 95% CI: 3.17-7.10) had a higher likelihood of experiencing difficulties accessing medicine. Similarly, participants with at least one condition (AOR: 3.08, 95% CI: 2.11-4.89) and with multimorbidity (AOR: 6.34, 95% CI: 4.03-9.05) were significantly more likely to face difficulties receiving routine medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that a sizeable proportion of the older adults had difficulties in accessing medicine and receiving routine medical care during the pandemic. The study findings highlight the need to develop an appropriate health care delivery pathway and strategies to maintain essential health services during any emergencies and beyond. We also argue the need to prioritise the health of older adults with non-communicable chronic conditions in the centre of any emergency response plan and policies of Bangladesh.