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Background@#A study on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) phobia among students revealed that fear of contracting COVID-19 was associated with commuting to school and spending time with others at school. Therefore, it is the need-of-the-hour for the Korean government to identify factors affecting COVID-19 phobia among university students and to consider these factors while framing the policy direction for the process of returning to normalcy in university education. Consequently, we aimed to identify the current state of COVID-19 phobia among Korean undergraduate and graduate students and the factors affecting COVID-19 phobia. @*Methods@#This cross-sectional survey was conducted to identify the factors affecting COVID-19 phobia among Korean undergraduate and graduate students. The survey collected 460 responses from April 5 to April 16, 2022. The questionnaire was developed based on the COVID-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-S). Multiple linear regression was performed on the C19P-S scores using five models with the following dependent variables: Model 1, total C19P-S score; Model 2, psychological subscale score; Model 3, psychosomatic subscale score; Model 4, social subscale score; and Model 5, economic subscale score. The fit of these five models was established, and a P-value of less than 0.05 (F test) was considered statistically significant. @*Results@#An analysis of the factors affecting the total C19P-S score led to the following findings: women significantly outscored men (difference: 4.826 points, P = 0.003); the group that favored the government’s COVID-19 mitigation policy scored significantly lower than those who did not favor it (difference: 3.161 points, P = 0.037); the group that avoided crowded places scored significantly higher than the group that did not avoid crowded places (difference: 7.200 points, P < 0.001); and those living with family/friends scored significantly higher than those in other living situations (difference: 4.606 points, P = 0.021). Those in favor of the COVID-19 mitigation policy had significantly lower psychological fear than those who were against it (difference: -1.686 points, P = 0.004). Psychological fear was also significantly higher for those who avoided crowded places compared to those who did not difference: 2.641 points, P < 0.001). Fear was significantly higher in people cohabitating than those living alone (difference: 1.543 points, P= 0.043). @*Conclusion@#The Korean government, in their pursuit of a policy that eases COVID-19-related restrictions, will also have to spare no efforts in providing correct information to prevent the escalation of COVID-19 phobia among people with a high fear of contracting the disease. This should be done through trustworthy information sources, such as the media, public agencies, and COVID-19 professionals.
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Background@#Since the supply of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines will be limited worldwide, it is essential to prioritize vaccination based on scientific evidence.Although several frameworks and studies on vaccine distribution have been published, no published systematic review has evaluated the prioritization of the COVID-19 vaccine. @*Materials and Methods@#We searched 4 different databases, PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and EMBASE for articles published between January 2019 and December 31, 2020. Studies were included if they contained the primary search terms “vaccine”, “COVID-19”, and “prioritization”. In addition, we manually included reports from national and international websites. @*Results@#Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. In these studies, older adults were the most frequently mentioned group, and healthcare workers (HCWs) were mentioned as the 1st priority group. HCWs and patients with comorbidities were the 2nd and 3rd most frequently mentioned groups in the reviewed papers. Reducing severe COVID-19 was the most frequently mentioned goal. @*Conclusion@#Since vaccination programs have been initiated in several countries, scientific evidence on vaccination prioritization is needed to increase our knowledge of general vaccine prioritization and improve vaccine acceptance. Our results showed that HCWs and older adults were the most frequently valued in studies.
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Background@#Since the supply of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines will be limited worldwide, it is essential to prioritize vaccination based on scientific evidence.Although several frameworks and studies on vaccine distribution have been published, no published systematic review has evaluated the prioritization of the COVID-19 vaccine. @*Materials and Methods@#We searched 4 different databases, PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and EMBASE for articles published between January 2019 and December 31, 2020. Studies were included if they contained the primary search terms “vaccine”, “COVID-19”, and “prioritization”. In addition, we manually included reports from national and international websites. @*Results@#Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. In these studies, older adults were the most frequently mentioned group, and healthcare workers (HCWs) were mentioned as the 1st priority group. HCWs and patients with comorbidities were the 2nd and 3rd most frequently mentioned groups in the reviewed papers. Reducing severe COVID-19 was the most frequently mentioned goal. @*Conclusion@#Since vaccination programs have been initiated in several countries, scientific evidence on vaccination prioritization is needed to increase our knowledge of general vaccine prioritization and improve vaccine acceptance. Our results showed that HCWs and older adults were the most frequently valued in studies.
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Objectives@#This study aimed 1) to investigate high school students’ reliability on COVID-19 responses in schools and private academies and 2) to identify the differences in COVID-19 prevention practice. @*Methods@#This cross-sectional survey collected data from 200 high school respondents, using an anonymous online questionnaire designed by the Yonsei Global Health Center, from July 2 to 17, 2020 in this study. Chi-square tests were conducted to analyze the differences in preventative practices and practice rates between schools and private academies. Binary logistics regression analysis was conducted to identify the factor affecting the reliability of COVID-19 response. @*Results@#These high school students reliabilityed the schools’ COVID-19 response more than the private academy. In addition, students who studied only at school did more COVID-19 prevention practices than students who studied both at school and academy. There was a significant difference in avoiding public transportation (p=.028), sitting in one row while having a meal (p=.011) in the practice rates depending on the schools’ COVID-19 response. A significant difference in Covering the mouth when coughing and sneezing (p-.041) was also found in the practice rates depending on the private academies’ COVID-19 response. @*Conclusion@#The reason why schools were more reliable than private academies was that there are health teachers. Because schools are supervised by the ministry of education, the Ministry of education and local government need to work together to manage and monitor the COVID-19 response in the academies through cooperation between two organizations. In addition, it is necessary to arrange a temporary circulation health teacher who will provide the COVID-19 prevention education at the academies.
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Objectives@#This study analyzed the perceptions and emotions of Korean and Japanese citizens regarding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It examined the frequency of words used in Korean and Japanese tweets regarding COVID-19 and the corresponding changes in their interests. @*Methods@#This cross-sectional study analyzed Twitter posts (Tweets) from February 1, 2020 to April 30, 2020 to determine public opinion of the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea and Japan. We collected data from Twitter (https://twitter.com/), a major social media platform in Korea and Japan. Python 3.7 Library was used for data collection. Data analysis included KR-WordRank and frequency analyses in Korea and Japan, respectively. Heat diagrams, word clouds, and rank flowcharts were also used. @*Results@#Overall, 1,470,673 and 4,195,457 tweets were collected from Korea and Japan, respectively. The word trend in Korea and Japan was analyzed every 5 days. The word cloud analysis revealed “COVID-19”, “Shinchonji”, “Mask”, “Daegu”, and “Travel” as frequently used words in Korea. While in Japan, “COVID-19”, “Mask”, “Test”, “Impact”, and “China” were identified as high-frequency words. They were divided into four categories: social distancing, prevention, issue, and emotion for the rank flowcharts. Concerning emotion, “Overcome” and “Support” increased from February in Korea, while “Worry” and “Anxiety” decreased in Japan from April 1. @*Conclusions@#As a result of the trend, people’s interests in the economy were high in both countries, indicating their reservations on the economic downturn. Therefore, focusing policies toward economic stability is essential. Although the interest in prevention increased since April in both countries, the general public’s relaxation regarding COVID-19 was also observed.
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Maternal mortality is attracting attention worldwide, but maternal health problems after delivery have received less attention. Most studies focus on prenatal maternal health problems. We aimed to identify factors associated with postpartum health problems among married women of reproductive age in Democratic Republic of the Congo. We employed a cross-sectional study design and randomly enrolled 700 married women of reproductive age in Kenge city. Data collection instrument was developed using the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. T-test, chi-square test, and binary logistic regression analysis were performed using the SPSS version 24.0. Significant risk factors associated with postpartum health problems were initial postnatal care period; within 24 hours (Odds Ratio [OR]=2.197, 95% confidence interval [CI]: [1.1564.174], p=.016); within 7 days (OR=1.972, 95% CI: [1.1023.528, p=.022]; within 14 days (OR=2.124, 95% CI: [1.0824.172], p=.029) among reproductive health and health service utilization characteristics. Health education by RECO (Relais Cmunataure) was associated with postpartum health problems including PCIME (Prise en Charge Integree des Maladies de l'Enfant; OR=1.845, 95% CI: [1.0383.282], p=.037); hand washing (OR=1.897, 95% CI: [1.0603.396], p=.031); malaria (OR=2.003, 95% CI: [1.1923.366], p=.009) among Maternal and Child Health intervention characteristics. In conclusion, it is necessary to develop and promote health policies and educational programs focusing on PNC service within 24 hours, PNC services within 7 days, PCIME, hand washing, prevention of malaria