Anxiety, self-efficacy, and their determinants in school students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a survey in Southeastern Iran.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has been linked to various psychological disorders, including anxiety, particularly among the general public. It is crucial to monitor the mental health of school students, who are considered a vulnerable group in society, and assess their self-efficacy, as it can significantly affect their mental health. This study aimed to investigate the levels of anxiety and self-efficacy among school students during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This cross-sectional study utilized convenience sampling to examine a sample of 335 school students from Sistan and Baluchestan province in southeastern Iran. An online questionnaire, distributed through social media platforms, was used to collect data. The questionnaire included demographic information, COVID-19 related items, the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children-MASC, and the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children-SEQ-C. Data analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS version 24, with a significance level set at < 0.05. RESULTS: The study revealed a significant negative correlation between children's anxiety and self-efficacy (r = -0.23, P < 0.001). Several factors were identified as predictors of anxiety, including low self-efficacy (ß = -0.29, P < 0.001), female gender (ß = 0.27, P < 0.001), concern about family members contracting COVID-19 (ß = 0.18, P < 0.001), persistent advice of others to adopt preventive measures (ß = 0.14, P < 0.005), level of education (ß = -0.12, P < 0.017), and perceived risk of COVID-19 infection (ß = -0.11, P < 0.030). These variables collectively accounted for 17% of the variance in anxiety. CONCLUSION: The findings of the study highlight the importance of addressing the mental health of school students, specifically their anxiety levels, during epidemics. The results also indicate that enhancing self-efficacy among students during a pandemic could be a beneficial strategy for promoting their mental health.

Nurses' knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding osteoporosis prevention and its correlation with their nutritional behaviors.

Background: Nurses have good opportunities to communicate with osteoporotic patients and the public as well as convey osteoporosis prevention education to them. Therefore, nurses require specific knowledge, attitude, practice (KAP), and desirable nutritional behaviors for osteoporosis prevention and treatment strategies. Little is known about the KAP for osteoporosis prevention and nutritional behaviors among nurses in Iran. Purpose: The present study was conducted to evaluate nurses' KAP and nutritional behaviors for osteoporosis prevention. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 195 nurses working in three hospitals in southeastern Iran. Nurses were selected using a stratified random sampling method between April and June 2020. The data collection tools included questionnaires of KAP and nutritional behaviors to prevent osteoporosis. Findings: According to the findings, nurses' knowledge regarding osteoporosis prevention was high level (20.23 ± 3.79) and their attitude (72.71 ± 6.97), practice (48.25 ± 6.38), and nutritional behavior scores (110.12 ± 13.68) were desirable. In addition, nurses' KAP regarding osteoporosis prevention was correlated with their nutritional behaviors (p = 0.001). Conclusions: Given the high levels of knowledge, desirable practices, and in Iranian nurses regarding the prevention of osteoporosis, they can play a significant role in changing KAP and nutritional behaviors of people to prevent this disease. To this end, educational and support programs should be implemented in clinical and community settings to develop a healthy lifestyle in the community.

Factors associated with disordered feeding among high school students in Kerman City, Iran.

BACKGROUND: Mental health problems and disordered eating, are more common in adolescents. This study investigated relationship between mental health and disordered eating in high school girls in southeast Iran. METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive correlational study accomplished in high school girls of Kerman at the southeast of Iran in 2019. Using three parts demographic, Standard General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and Eating Attitudes questionnaire, (Eat-26) with three subscales: eating habits, desire to eat and oral control. We investigated high school girl's mental health and relationship with disordered eating with cluster sampling method (600 high school girl). Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the association between significant variables and the risk of General Health (Yes/No) and Eating attitude (Yes/No). Spearman correlation test, Mann-Witheny U test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used, and Significant level was considered at P < 0.05. RESULTS: A direct and significant relationship between mental health and disordered eating (r = 0/19, P < 0.001). In other words, the higher the mental health disorder score, the higher the disordered eating score, and the higher disordered eating score, the higher mental problems. There was a direct and significant relationship between mental health and all aspects of disordered eating including eating habits (r = 0/12, P < 0.05), desire to eat (r = 0/1, P < 0.05) and oral control (r = 0/14, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: It seems that the disordered eating and mental health have a determinant role in relationship with each other. Therefore, prevention and health promotion programs should be implemented to improve female adolescent mental health and reduce disordered eating.

Mental health is considered one of the determinants of people's general health, and disordered eating is frequent in adolescents with the highest prevalence in adolescent girls. The present study describes the correlation between mental health and disordered eating in Iranian High School Girls. 600 participants in this study. There was a strong relationship between mental health and disordered eating, which means the higher the mental health disorder score, the higher the disordered eating score, and the higher disordered eating score, the higher mental problems. High school eating disorders and mental health should be monitored by public health and School health services (SHS) to provide interventions which focus on preventing this kind of problems.

Iranian psychosocial status during and after COVID-19 outbreak mandatory quarantine: A cross-sectional study.

Quarantine, one of the most effective protection measures, plays an essential role in preventing the spread of infectious diseases. The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, along with quarantine, can have devastating consequences for individuals' mental and social health. This study examined the psychosocial status of individuals during and after quarantine in the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 714 individuals in the general population during (365) and 3 months after quarantine (349) in southeastern Iran. Data were collected using General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) based on an online questionnaire. Data were collected from April 13 to April 20, 2020 (in quarantine) and 3 months later from August 20 to September 20, 2020. Psychological disorders in the quarantined population were significantly higher than that after quarantine. The risk of a mental disorder in the quarantined population was 1.54 times higher than that after quarantine. The results showed that quarantine is associated with a significant level of psychosocial disorders; therefore, interventions should be considered to reduce the effects of quarantine on the mental health of general population as a public health priority at the community level.

Spiritual Well-Being among Medical and Nonmedical Science Students.

Spiritual well-being is one dimension of health that provides a person with stability, meaning, fulfillment in life, and self-belief. This study aimed to compare the spiritual well-being among students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences and the Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman. With the demographic questionnaire and 20-item spiritual well-being scale of the "Paloutzian and Ellison" questionnaire, a cross-sectional study was conducted on 626 students of the universities of medical and nonmedical sciences by the quota sampling method in Kerman in 2017-2018. The scores of spiritual well-being and its two components were significantly higher in nonmedical science students (89.83 ± 16.79) than in the medical science students (81.61 ± 15.21) (p < 0.05). In addition, one percent of the nonmedical science students had a low level, 67.7% had a moderate level, and 31.3% had a high level of spiritual well-being. 0.3% of the medical science students had a low level, 84% had a moderate level, and 15.7% had a high level of spiritual well-being. Since spirituality is important for the profession of medical science students, it may be necessary to expand this component in their curriculum.

The Impact of COVID-19 Outbreak on Nosocomial Infection Rate: A Case of Iran.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is a new type of coronavirus that has caused a global pandemic. The disease is highly contagious, and all people are susceptible to the disease. Therefore, extensive measures were taken to prevent the spread of the disease at the community and hospitals. This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on nosocomial infection rate. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in an educational hospital, southeast Iran. The nosocomial infection rates of critical/intensive care units (CCU/ICUs) and medical-surgical units were assessed during and before the COVID-19 outbreak. RESULTS: There was a 19.75-point decrease in the total rate of nosocomial infection during the COVID-19 outbreak (P = 0.02). In addition, there was a 39.12-point decrease in the total rate of CCU/ICUs' nosocomial infection during the COVID-19 outbreak (P < 0.001). A 19.23-point decrease was also observed in the total rate of medical-surgical units' nosocomial infection during the COVID-19 outbreak (P = 0.13). All kinds of CCU/ICUs' nosocomial infections had between 31.22- and 100-point decreases during the COVID-19 outbreak. Among medical-surgical units, 33.33- and 30.70-point decreases were observed only in UTI and SSI, respectively, during the COVID-19 outbreak, while BSI had a 40-point increase during the COVID-19 outbreak. CONCLUSIONS: Proper implementation of infection control protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic seems to reduce nosocomial infections.