Symptoms and risk factors for long COVID in Tunisian population.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has presented various challenges, one of which is the discovery that after the acute episode, around 30% of patients experience persistent symptoms or develop new ones, now known as long COVID. This new disease has significant social and financial impacts. The objective is to determine the prevalence of long COVID in the Tunisian population and identify its predictive factors. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among Tunisians who were infected with COVID-19 between March 2020 and February 2022. An online self-administered questionnaire was distributed through social media, radio, and television channels over the course of one month (February 2022). Long COVID was defined as the persistence of existing symptoms or the development of new symptoms within three months after onset, lasting for at least two months, and with no differential diagnosis. We performed univariate and multivariate analyses using binary stepwise logistic regression with a significance level set at 5%. RESULTS: A total of 1911 patients participated in our study, and the prevalence of long COVID was 46.5%. The two most frequent categories were general and neurological post-COVID syndrome, with a prevalence of 36.7% each. The most commonly observed symptoms were fatigue (63.7%) and memory problems (49.1%). In the multivariate analysis, the predictive factors for long COVID were female gender and age of 60 years or older, while complete anti-COVID vaccination was found to be a protective factor. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that complete vaccination was a protective factor against long COVID, while female gender and age of 60 years or older were identified as the main risk factors. These findings are consistent with studies conducted on other ethnic groups. However, many aspects of long COVID remain unclear, including its underlying mechanisms, the identification of which could guide the development of potential effective treatments.

Patient safety culture in Tunisian maternity care: Analytic study.

INTRODUCTION: Given the potential risks involved in childbirth, patient safety is of utmost importance in maternity care. AIM: To compare the level of patient safety culture between physicians and paramedics in public maternity care structures in Sousse, Tunisia. METHODS: An observational descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted among health professionals working in all public health maternities of Sousse, Tunisia. A valid Hospital Survey On Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) questionnaire was used to gather data, and a score was calculated for each dimension by taking the average of the positive response proportions per item. RESULTS: The global response rate was 86.4%. Paramedics had a higher response rate compared to physicians (90.6% versus 62.1%). The overall scores for the ten dimensions of patient safety culture showed significantly higher scores for physicians compared to paramedics for the dimensions of "Expectations and actions of superiors regarding care safety" and "healthcare professional-patient relationship and safety culture" (88.43% versus 63.73%; p=0.027 and 75.38% versus 65.73%; p=0.041 respectively). Conversely, a significant difference was found in favor of paramedics compared to physicians regarding the dimension of "Management support for care safety" (37.3% versus 13%; p=0.019). CONCLUSION: Significant differences in patient safety culture scores among healthcare professionals. It suggest that efforts should be made to improve management support for care safety for physicians, while paramedics could benefit from increased attention to expectations and actions of superiors regarding care safety and healthcare professional-patient relationship.

[Strength of academic motivation among medical students in the Faculty of Medicine of Sousse (Tunisia)].

INTRODUCTION: Motivation is an important component of learning. It remains a complex phenomenon to explore, largely influenced by multiple external and internal factors. It is important to measure the strength of student motivation in a long training course such as medical studies and its influencing factors. AIM: to measure strength of motivation among medical students the Faculty of Medicine of Sousse (FMS). METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study conducted among medical students enrolled at the FMS during the 2021/2022 academic year for 3 months using a questionnaire based on a validated scale: Strength of Motivation for Medical School-Revised (SMMS-R). RESULTS: A total of 185 students participated in the study. The mean age was 20.97 ± 1.8 years. The sex ratio was 0.34. The SMMS-R score was 55[47-63]. This score was higher international students (p=0.029), students who chose medical studies before passing the baccalaureate (p<10-3) and students satisfied with their choice of medical studies (p<10-3). CONCLUSION: Our results revealed a strong association between students' satisfaction and motivation. Thus, the learning environment, governed mainly by institutional rules, educational activities and evaluative practices, greatly influences satisfaction and therefore motivation of medical students.