5 results
Search Results
2. Depressive symptoms and perception of risk during the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic: A web‐based cross‐country comparative survey.
- Author
-
Terraneo, Marco, Lombi, Linda, and Bradby, Hannah
- Subjects
MENTAL depression risk factors ,SCIENTIFIC observation ,ATTITUDE (Psychology) ,CROSS-sectional method ,MEDICAL care costs ,MENTAL health ,RISK perception ,RISK assessment ,COMPARATIVE studies ,MEDICAL care use ,MENTAL depression ,QUESTIONNAIRES ,STATISTICAL sampling ,COVID-19 pandemic - Abstract
Evidence is accumulating of the negative impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic and related public health measures on mental health. In this emergent field, there has been little research into the role of risk perception on depressive symptoms and the contribution of health‐care resources to model risk perception and mental health. The aim of this paper is to describe the relationship between individual‐level perception of risk and depression, controlling for a set of confounders and for country‐level heterogeneity. A cross‐sectional and observational online survey was conducted using a non‐probability snowball sampling technique. We use data on 11,340 respondents, living in six European countries (Italy, Sweden, United Kingdom, France, Poland, Czech Republic) who completed survey questionnaires during the first months of the pandemic. We used a fixed‐effect approach, which included individual and macro‐level variables. The findings suggest that a high proportion of people suffering from depression and heightened risk perception is positively associated with reporting depressive symptoms, even if this relationship varies significantly between countries. Moreover, the association is moderated by contextual factors including health‐care expenditure as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product, hospital beds for acute care, and number of medical specialists per head of population. Investment in health care offers a concrete means of protecting the mental health of a population living under pandemic restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Scrutiny of COVID-19 response strategies among severely affected European nations.
- Author
-
Stephen, Shine, Issac, Alwin, Radhakrishnan, Rakesh Vadakkethil, Jacob, Jaison, Vijay, V. R., Jose, Sam, Azhar, S. M., Nair, Anoop S., Krishnan, Nadiya, Sharma, Rakesh, and Dhandapani, Manju
- Subjects
INFECTION control ,HEALTH policy ,STRATEGIC planning ,DECISION making ,COVID-19 pandemic ,EMERGENCY management - Abstract
Although the health care systems in Europe are considered the global benchmark, European nations were severely affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This manuscript aimed to examine the strategies implemented to combat the COVID-19 pandemic by France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Russia and their outcomes in terms of the number of cases, testing, and deaths. This is the first review of its kind that extensively analyzes the preparedness, mitigation, and response strategies against the COVID-19 pandemic adopted by these nations. This paper further suggests a strategic preparedness model for future pandemics. From the analysis, we found that a decentralized approach, prompt decision-making and timely execution, coordination between local health authorities, and public participation in the implementation of strategies could substantially reduce the case fatality rate. Nations with a high percentage of gross domestic product invested in the health sector, as well as more nurses, physicians, hospital beds, intensive care unit beds, and ventilators, better managed the pandemic. Instead, nations that postponed their pandemic response by delaying tracking, tracing, testing, quarantine, and lockdown were badly affected. The lessons learned from the present pandemic could be used as a guide to prepare for further pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. A Method of Estimating Time-to-Recovery for a Disease Caused by a Contagious Pathogen Such as SARS-CoV-2 Using a Time Series of Aggregated Case Reports.
- Author
-
Koutsouris, Dimitrios-Dionysios, Pitoglou, Stavros, Anastasiou, Athanasios, and Koumpouros, Yiannis
- Subjects
DISEASE progression ,COMPUTER software ,COVID-19 ,CONFIDENCE intervals ,TIME ,CONVALESCENCE ,WORLD health ,EPIDEMICS ,TIME series analysis ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,SENSITIVITY & specificity (Statistics) ,PREDICTION models ,COVID-19 pandemic ,ALGORITHMS - Abstract
During the outbreak of a disease caused by a pathogen with unknown characteristics, the uncertainty of its progression parameters can be reduced by devising methods that, based on rational assumptions, exploit available information to provide actionable insights. In this study, performed a few (~6) weeks into the outbreak of COVID-19 (caused by SARS-CoV-2), one of the most important disease parameters, the average time-to-recovery, was calculated using data publicly available on the internet (daily reported cases of confirmed infections, deaths, and recoveries), and fed into an algorithm that matches confirmed cases with deaths and recoveries. Unmatched cases were adjusted based on the matched cases calculation. The mean time-to-recovery, calculated from all globally reported cases, was found to be 18.01 days (SD 3.31 days) for the matched cases and 18.29 days (SD 2.73 days) taking into consideration the adjusted unmatched cases as well. The proposed method used limited data and provided experimental results in the same region as clinical studies published several months later. This indicates that the proposed method, combined with expert knowledge and informed calculated assumptions, could provide a meaningful calculated average time-to-recovery figure, which can be used as an evidence-based estimation to support containment and mitigation policy decisions, even at the very early stages of an outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
5. Choice of Outcome in COVID-19 Studies and Implications for Policy: Mortality and Fatality.
- Author
-
Westreich, Daniel, Edwards, Jessie K, Tennant, Peter W G, Murray, Eleanor J, and Smeden, Maarten van
- Subjects
HEALTH policy ,COGNITION disorders ,COVID-19 ,COVID-19 vaccines ,DECISION making ,COVID-19 pandemic - Abstract
In this brief communication, we discuss the confusion of mortality with fatality in the interpretation of evidence in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and how this confusion affects the translation of science into policy and practice. We discuss how this confusion has influenced COVID-19 policy in France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom and discuss the implications for decision-making about COVID-19 vaccine distribution. We also discuss how this confusion is an example of a more general statistical fallacy we term the "Missing Link Fallacy." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
Discovery Service for Jio Institute Digital Library
For full access to our library's resources, please sign in.