ABSTRACT
Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychological disturbances in the Vietnamese healthcare workers (HCWs) at COVID-19 field hospitals. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) to measure PTSD and the Depression Anxiety Stress scale (DASS) to measure other psychological disturbances. The anxiety about COVID-19 was evaluated by the fear of COVID-19 (FOC) scale. A self-developed questionnaire was used to assess work conditions and HCW's major concerns and preparedness. Ordinal logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with the severity of PTSD. A structural modeling equation (SEM) model was fitted to examine the correlation between PTSD and other psychological disturbances. Results: A total of 542 HCWs participated in this study. The prevalence of PTSD was 21.2%, most cases were mild. In the ordinal logistic regression analysis, a history of mental illness, poor preparedness, working in a condition with poor resources, a greater number of concerns, and greater fear of COVID-19 were independently associated with higher severity of PTSD. The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress was 46.8%, 38.3%, and 60.2, respectively. In the SEM model, PTSD and psychological disturbances had a strong correlation (standardized covariance 0.86). Conclusion: The prevalence of PTSD and other psychological disturbances was alarmingly high among HCWs who worked at COVID-19 field hospitals. The reported associated factors can be useful for policymakers and health authorities in the preparation for future pandemics.
ABSTRACT
Available and flexible choice of methods for screening and detecting ß-thalassemia (ß-thal) can promote control of thalassemia in developing countries. In this study, two methods, the amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) and reverse dot-blot hybridization assays were developed to detect common ß-thal mutations in 244 thalassemia patients and 152 healthy people in North Vietnam. The most common mutation was codon 26 (G>A), also known as Hb E (HBB: c.79G>A), accounting for 26.4% of the total studied chromosomes, followed by codons 41/42 (-TCTT) (HBB: c.126_129delCTTT) and codon 17 (A>T) (HBB: c.c.52A>T), accounting for 19.4 and 16.4%, respectively. In addition, codon 95 (+A) (HBB: c.c.287_288insA) that is known as the Vietnamese mutation, accounted for 0.6%. Moreover, the heterozygous state of the four mutations was also found in healthy people, of which Hb E was again the most common mutation with a frequency 3.0%. The results of this study provide available methods and indicative data for preventive and control strategies concerning the genetic diagnosis of thalassemia.