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Background: Occupational stress (OS) is a psychological state that results from people's perceptions of an imbalance between job demands and their abilities to cope with those demands. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the teaching and learning process and compounded the stress level among teachers due to fear of transmission of the virus and school closures or the difficulty with adherence to the COVOD-19 prevention protocol. This survey study therefore aimed to investigate the prevalence of occupational stress and its associated factors among primary school teachers during the second wave of COVID-19 in western Ethiopia., Method: An institution-based cross-sectional survey was employed from April to May 2021. The survey was conducted in Gimbi town among all 672 primary school teachers in western Ethiopia. The standardized Teacher Occupational Stress Scale was used to measure occupational stress in the past 4 months. The data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. The collected data were entered into EpiData version 4.6 and analyzed using Stata version 14 software. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with occupational stress. The statistical significance was considered at a value of p of < 0.05 and a 95% confidence interval (CI) with an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) to evaluate the strength of associations., Results: The response rate was 96.8% ( N  = 651). The majority, 389 (59.8%) of the study participants were males. The mean (±SD) age was 35.8 (±9.3) years. The prevalence of occupational stress in the second wave of COVID-19 in the past 4 months was 50.1% ( n  = 326) [95% CI (46.1, 53.9)]. Job dissatisfaction [AOR: 2.06, 95% CI (1.43-2.97)] and high-risk perception of COVID-19 infection [AOR: 2.20; 95% CI (1.46-3.31)] were significantly associated with occupational stress., Conclusion: This survey disclosed a high prevalence of occupational stress among primary school teachers during the second wave of COVID-19. Job dissatisfaction and a high-risk perception of COVID-19 infection were significant predictors of the occurrence of occupational stress in school teachers. Enhancing stress management skills and focusing on primary prevention of identified risk factors were advised to curtail the condition., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Tesfaye, Abate, Kabito and Azale.)

Objective: This study was aimed to explore the prevalence and risk factors of work-related contact dermatitis (WRCD) symptoms among cleaners working in healthcare institutions in Gondar city, Northwest Ethiopia, during the COVID-19 pandemic., Design: A multicentre cross-sectional study was conducted from September to October 2021. An interviewer-administered standardised Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire, V.2002 (NOSQ-2002) was used to assess WRCD. The collected data were entered into EpiData V.4.6 and analysed using Stata V.14 software. The association between dependent and independent variables was computed with a binary logistic regression. The association was determined using an adjusted OR (AOR) with a 95% CI at a p value of <0.05., Setting: The study was conducted in Gondar city healthcare institutions, Northwestern Ethiopia., Participants: A total of 409 cleaners participated in this study., Outcome Measures: The primary outcome is the prevalence of WRCD symptoms, which was measured using the NOSQ-2002., Results: The response rate was 95.6%. The majority, 302 (73.8%), of the study participants were female. The mean age (±SD) was 31 (±7.87) years old. The overall prevalence of self-reported WRCD during the last 12 months was 213 (52.1%) (95% CI (47.1% to 57.0%)). The highest symptoms reported were skin redness, 51.6% (n=110), and the most affected skin body sites were hands (hand dermatitis), 74.2% (n=158). Hand washing frequency more than 20 times per day (AOR=1.73, 95% CI (1.03 to 2.92)), personal history of eczema (AOR=1.46, 95% CI (1.01 to 2.42)) and lack of training on skin hazards (AOR=2.06, 95% CI (1.16 to 3.63)) were factors influencing the occurrence of WRCD., Conclusions: This study revealed the prevalence of WRCD is common during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adjusting hand washing frequency per day, educating people with atopy about the avoidance of exposure to skin irritants and providing training on skin hazards were recommended to minimise the condition., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)