Post-COVID-19 syndrome, who at risk and why: an insight from Qatar 2022.

Background: Despite the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, many people experience post-COVID-19 syndrome, which negatively impacts their health and function. This condition has become a significant public health problem that requires immediate attention. Objective: To study the prevalence, clinical characteristics, and predictors of post-COVID-19 Syndrome in Qatar during 2022. Methods: An analytic cross-sectional study was conducted among COVID-19 confirmed cases from January 2022 to July 2022 in Qatar. A simple random sample was employed to include (n = 588) participants from the list of cases and invited to participate in a telephone survey. The World Health Organization's standard case definition for PCS was adopted. Results: Out of 368, the prevalence of post-COVID-19 syndrome was 43.2% (n = 159). Most PCS cases were females (67.9%; n = 108), married (73.6%; n = 117), and university and higher educational level (83.6%; n = 133). However, 78.7% (n = 125) reported poor to moderate levels of social support. Only 30.2% (n = 48) of PCS patients had a history of chronic diseases, and 5.7% (n = 9) required hospital admission during acute illness. Among PCS cases, the most commonly reported symptoms were fatigue (75.5%), followed by anxiety (49.1%), forgetfulness (46.5%), mood alteration (45.3%), and general weakness (39.6%). The logistic regression revealed that female gender (AOR: 2.58 95%CI: 1.58-4.225, p < 0.0001), university and high educational level (AOR: 2.2, 95%CI: 1.256-3.98, p < 0.006), poor level of social support (AOR: 2.45; 95%CI: 1.55-4.13; p < 0.002), were significant predictors for PCS. Conclusion: Post-COVID-19 syndrome may go under-recognized. More efforts are needed to raise awareness and mobilize the resources to respond to this ongoing public health problem.

The role of preoperative transfusion in sickle cell disease, a systematic review and meta-analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to provide guidance on preoperative blood transfusion strategies for patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). We included all randomized controlled and observational studies exploring the clinical outcomes of preoperative blood transfusion among patients with SCD compared to the conservative transfusion strategy until 14/09/2022. Sixteen studies involving 3486 participants were analysed. The findings revealed a significantly higher bleeding rate in patients who received preoperative transfusion than those who followed a conservative strategy (RR = 4.32, 95% CI 1.75-10.68, P = 0.002, I2 = 0%). However, the two strategies had no significant differences in other clinical outcomes, such as acute chest syndrome, painful crisis, fever, neurological complications, thrombosis, ICU admission, and mortality. It is important to note that all the included studies had a moderate risk of bias. Preoperative transfusion in SCD was associated with a higher bleeding risk but a similar risk in other outcomes compared to conservative strategies. Notably, the increased bleeding risk observed seldom had clinical significance. We recommend individualizing management strategies, considering the overall positive impact of transfusions in reducing complications. Further high-quality studies are needed to refine recommendations.

Development and validation of a multi-dimensional COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy questionnaire.

Background: Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines have been developed to tackle the disease. However, many people worldwide were not confident enough to take the vaccines. Developing a questionnaire to measure COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy will give the health authorities and policymakers a clear picture to establish appropriate interventions addressing vaccine hesitancy among the community. Methods: In this study, we used a mixed-method design over two phases. Phase 1 entailed a qualitative approach to developing the questionnaire, including a literature search, expert panel review, and focus group discussion. Phase 2 used a quantitative method for establishing the content and construct validity of the questionnaire via exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA & CFA). Internal consistency was checked using Cronbach's Alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient. Results: We developed a 50-item instrument designed to measure COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among adults in the state of Qatar. The study involved 545 adult participants. In terms of content validity, our study showed a value of 0.92 for the scale-level content validity index based on the average and a value of 0.76 for the scale-level content validity index - universal agreement. In the EFA, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was calculated at 0.78, with statistical significance (P = 0.001). Regarding model fit indices of the seven-factor model, our findings showed an acceptable model-data-fit, with a relative chi-square: 1.7 (<3), Root mean square error of approximation: 0.05 (<0.08), PCLOSE = 0.41, Comparative fit index: 0.909, Tucker-Lewis index: 0.902, Incremental Fit Index: 0.910 and, Standardized Root mean square residual: 0.067 (<0.08). The seven-factor model of the questionnaire met the criterion of good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.73). Conclusion: This tool is deemed of methodological merits in terms of validity, reliability, and determining the underlying conceptual structure of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and its associating factors.

Telephone versus face-to-face consultation on smoking cessation at primary health care centers in Qatar during COVID-19 pandemic.

Smoking cessation leads to a reduction in risks of smoking-related morbidity and mortality. During the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, smoking cessation services were interrupted. Providing smoking cessation counseling by telephone could be a convenient and safe alternative to traditional face-to-face service. However, the effectiveness of telephone smoking cessation counseling has not yet been thoroughly investigated. This study evaluated telephone smoking cessation counseling compared to face-to-face consultations during the COVID-19 era. In addition, it investigated the association between sociodemographic and health-related factors and cessation rates. A retrospective cohort design was used. Participants were randomly selected from two lists: (1) telephone counseling and (2) face-to-face counseling in smoking cessation clinics in five primary health care centers in Qatar between March 2020 and March 2021. Cessation rates were compared between the two groups at 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify the significant associations with smoking cessation. Smokers who underwent telephone consultations had significantly lower quit rates at all follow-ups compared to those who attended face-to-face visits. At the 12-week follow-up, the adjusted odd ratio for quitting through face-to-face consultations was 1.96 (95% CI [1.15-3.35]) times higher than that achieved through telephone consultations. In addition to receiving face-to-face counseling, higher self-efficacy to cease smoking was an independent predictor of successful cessation. Providing smoking cessation counseling by telephone could be a safer but less effective mode of delivery versus traditional face-to-face encounters during the pandemic.

The impact of telemental health interventions on maternal mental health outcomes: a pilot randomized controlled trial during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The lethal potential of COVID-19 was often emphasized and repeatedly brought to the attention of pregnant women, leading to a higher level of anxiety, depression, and COVID-19-specific phobia among this population. Furthermore, legislation forced social distancing and isolation to interrupt the infection cycle. Together these factors resulted in higher maternal mental health distress requiring intervention. Nevertheless, there is a lack of evidence regarding the impact of low-intensity psychosocial telemental interventions on maternal mental health outcomes. Therefore, the objective of this pilot study is to assess the efficacy of video low-intensity psychosocial telemental maternal intervention on COVID-19-specific phobia, antenatal depression, and anxiety among pregnant women. We hypothesized that the intervention arm would be superior to the control arm. A parallel design randomized interventional controlled trial with 1:1 randomization was conducted at the Women Wellness and Research Center. We enrolled fifty-eight pregnant women in their second trimester who spoke English or Arabic. We assessed antenatal anxiety, depression, and Covid-19-specific phobia at baseline (T0), and thirty-three pregnant women completed the follow-up after four weeks (T1). Pregnant women receiving psychotropic medications and follow up in mental health services were excluded. Results: A low-intensity psychosocial telemental maternal session helps reduce antenatal anxiety. We found statistically significant differences in antenatal anxiety scores between the intervention (2.4 ± 2.2) and control (4.2 ± 1.6) groups (p = 0.013) with a large effect size of Hedges' g value (0.96, 0.22-1.74). The absolute risk reduction was 27.27 percent. However, the intervention had no statistically significant effect on reducing antenatal depression or COVID-19-specific phobia. Conclusions: Low-intensity psychosocial telemental maternal sessions effectively reduce antenatal anxiety. While our findings are promising, further RCTs are needed to replicate these findings. Trial registration: 2a-ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04594525.. Registered on 20/October/2020; updated 9/March/ 2022. Available from: Maternal Telemental Health Interventions in Response to Covid-19* - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov.