Impact of COVID-19 anxiety on loneliness and sleep quality of students and professionals in Bangladesh

The relationship between corona disease anxiety and sleep disturbances and suicidal ideation in medical staff: The mediating role of resiliency and cognitive flexibility: A cross-sectional study

Background and Aims

Medical staff have experienced anxiety, sleep disturbances, and suicide due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Thus, this study examined the relationship between corona disease anxiety, sleep problems, and suicidal ideation in medical staff and how resiliency and cognitive flexibility mediate it.

Methods

This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study examined medical staff. In 2022, participants were affiliated with Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Iran educational and treatment centers. Sampling was done at primary COVID-19 treatment centers. Data was collected using validated instruments. Ethics were observed during data collecting.

Results

Path analysis was employed to test hypotheses. Analysis showed significant positive relationships between Corona disease anxiety and sleep disturbances (p = 0.001, β = 0.438) and suicidal ideation (p = 0.001, β = 0.310). Conversely, negative and significant associations were identified between resiliency and cognitive flexibility with sleep disturbances and suicidal ideation.

Conclusions

The study illustrates how medical staff's psychological health is linked to COVID-19. High Corona disease anxiety causes sleep disturbances and suicidal thoughts. Resilience and cognitive flexibility modulated Corona disease anxiety, sleep problems, and suicidal thoughts. The comprehensive study focuses on medical staff mental health issues, suggesting targeted solutions.

Public perceptions of government policies to COVID-19: A comparative study in six African countries

The outbreak of COVID-19 has affected countries across the world, including those in Africa. Governments in these countries have implemented various policies to curb the spread of the virus. However, the effectiveness of these policies largely depends on how the public perceives them. This study aims to investigate public perceptions of government policies regarding COVID-19 in six African countries by conducting a sentiment analysis of the public. The motivation behind this study relies in the recognition that a deeper understanding of public perceptions is essential for crafting effective strategies that resonate with the diverse needs and concerns of the population, ultimately contributing to the ongoing global efforts to navigate the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic. We collected tweets related to COVID-19 and government policies on Twitter's API from March 07, 2020 to February 02, 2022. We performed data processing steps such as tokenization and stop-word removal to clean the data. Next, we used Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques to classify the sentiment of each tweet as positive, negative, or neutral. The six African countries selected for this study are Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, and Uganda. We collected 134,494 tweets on Twitter accounts and we evaluated policies by countries in three categories: while some countries implemented too strict policies, others implemented strict or relaxed policies. The findings of this study will provide valuable insights into how the public perceived the policies. This is used to advice policymakers and public health officials on enhancing their messaging and policies to combat the spread of COVID-19 effectively. Data showed heterogeneous reactions with negative perceptions, for instance, earlier, different governments implemented face mask and lockdown policies and vaccination policy later. Researchers and policymakers should exercise caution and consider complementary data sources and methods to ensure a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of public perceptions in the context of government policies related to COVID-19; also, investigate how government policies during the pandemic may have affected the environment, such as changes in pollution levels, waste management, and conservation efforts.

Exposures to ambient air pollutants increase prevalence of sleep disorder in adults: Evidence from Wuhan Chronic Disease Cohort Study (WCDCS)

BACKGROUND

Sleep disorder contributes to memory dysfunction and chronic diseases. Clear evidence of environment disturbance, such as residential noise, are associated with an increased risk of sleep disorder. However, not enough studies have been conducted on association between residential air pollutants and sleep disorder. We sought to determine whether exposures to residential air pollutants associated with risk of sleep disorder among adults.

METHODS

Using the dataset of the Wuhan Chronic Disease Cohort Study (WCDCS), we investigated the prevalence of sleep disorder and five sleep disorder symptoms in the study. The data of air pollutants (including PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2 and O3) were obtained from 10 air quality monitoring stations in Wuhan. We utilized logistic regression model to evaluate the associations of five types of air pollutants with odds ratio (OR) of sleep disorder and symptoms. The potential moderating effects of socio-demographic factors in the associations were explored using the interaction effects model.

RESULTS

Of the study participants, 52.1 % had sleep disorder. Exposures to higher concentrations of air pollutants were associated with increased prevalence of sleep disorder. For example, per interquartile range (IQR) increases in concentrations of PM10, PM2.5 or SO2 corresponded to the increase of sleep disorder increased prevalence at 14.7 % (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.147, 95 %CI:1.062, 1.240), 8.9 % (aOR = 1.089, 95 %CI: 1.003, 1.182) and 15.8 % (aOR = 1.158, 95 %CI: 1.065, 1.260). For symptoms specific analyses, significant linkages of PM10, PM2.5, SO2 with difficulty in falling asleep, wake up after falling asleep and early awaken were observed. Moderating effects of age and place of residence on the linkages of PM10 with increased prevalence of sleep disorder were identified.

CONCLUSION

Higher level of air pollution exposure could increase the prevalence of sleep disorder. Middle-aged and elderly population, as well as the rural residents are more likely to suffer from sleep disorder.