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INTRODUCTION: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a dramatic physical, personal, and emotional effect on healthcare workers (HCWs). The main objective of this study was to identify risk factors associated with psychosocial distress among HCWs working in a hospital environment during the pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive survey involving HCWs of a tertiary care hospital was completed using an online survey software (Google Forms). The survey collected respondents' sociodemographic data, perception towards personal protective equipment (PPE) and knowledge about COVID-19, and satisfaction score towards performance of the World Health Organization, the Malaysian police, civil service, healthcare system, and government. Psychosocial distress was assessed using the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ- 12). RESULTS: A total of 675 responses were collected. Female gender and doctors were identified to be associated with greater psychosocial impact from the pandemic among the HCWs. Several factors such as self-rated health status, confidence level towards PPE in disease prevention, degree of familiarity in using PPE, knowledge regarding care for COVID-19 patients, and capability in answering questions asked by the public regarding the disease were found to be associated with the degree of psychosocial impact from the pandemic. CONCLUSION: This study identified the vulnerable groups of HCWs at risk of psychosocial distress and its associated risk factors. These findings highlight the need for strategies to reduce risks and to prioritise psychological support and intervention during the pandemic.
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INTRODUCTION: Isolation of SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals is an important COVID-19 pandemic control measure. While most cases have uncomplicated infection, a small proportion of them has developed life-threatening disease. We set up a retrospective study to determine preadmission triaging tool to predict the development of severe COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted from 1 October 2020 to 31 January 2021 with enrolment of all SARS-CoV-2 PCR-confirmed persons aged ≥13 years. The disease severity was assessed on admission and daily throughout the hospitalisation. Test-positive individuals were considered as having "severe COVID-19" if they had ≥1 of the following: room air oxygen saturation 30 breaths/minute, signs of severe respiratory distress, or received mechanical ventilation and/or vasopressor therapy. Uni- and multi-variate analyses using SPSS Statistics Ver. 26 were performed. RESULTS: We showed that age ≥ 60 years, BMI ≥ 30.0, presentation on days 7-12 of illness, and ≥1 comorbidity were associated with development of severe COVID-19. A scoring system based on the four variables is a useful COVID-19 risk assessment tool. A total score ≥2 had a sensitivity of 60.9%, specificity of 88.2%, positive predictive value of 37.8% and negative predictive value of 95.0%. CONCLUSION: Development of preadmission triaging tool can help health care providers (HCPs) decide on the placement of test-positive individuals to appropriate isolation facilities according to the risk of developing severe COVID-19.