Lifestyle Changes that Impact Personal Quality of Life in the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea

The Moderating Role of Self-Care Behaviors in Personal Care Aides of Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges and work changes for formal caregivers such as personal care aides with an impact on their quality of life (QoL). This cross-sectional study aims to analyze the relationships and contribution of sociodemographic and psychological variables towards QoL including the moderating role of self-care. This study included 127 formal caregivers from Portugal who were assessed on depression, anxiety and stress (DASS-21); professional self-care (SCAP); quality of life (SF-12); COVID-19 traumatic stress (COVID-19TSC) and preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors (PCOVID-19 IBS). Professional self-care was positively associated with QoL and also moderated the relationship between distress and QoL (p < 0.001). According to results, nursing homes should provide formal caregivers, such as personal care aides, with the professional support they need in order to promote their QoL and prevent burnout.

Psychological Capital and Quality of life of Refugees in Uganda During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Serial Mediation Model

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has in the past two years caused and continues to cause enormous effects on lifestyle, mental health, and quality of life. With no known treatment and vaccination, behavioral control measures became central in controlling the pandemic. However, the intensity of the pandemic and the stringent control measures were immensely stressful. The control measures became an added psychological burden to people living in precarious situations such as refugees in low-income countries. Purpose: Given the benefits of psychological capital, the present study aimed at investigating the role of psychological capital in enhancing the quality of life among refugees in Uganda during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was hypothesized that the effects of psychological capital on quality of life are serially mediated through coping strategies, adherence to COVID-19 control measures, and mental health. Methods: Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire in July and August 2020 after the first lockdown. Participants were 353 South Sudanese and Somali refugees living in Kampala city suburbs and Bidibidi refugee settlement. Findings: Psychological capital was positively associated with approach coping, mental health, and quality of life. However, psychological capital was negatively associated with adherence to COVID-19 control measures. Significant indirect effects of psychological capital on quality of life through approach coping, mental health, and adherence were found. However, serial mediation effects were only substantial via approach coping and mental health. Conclusion: Psychological capital is an important resource in coping with the challenges posed by COVID-19 and maintaining a good level of psychological functioning and quality of life. Preserving and boosting psychological capital is essential in responding to COVID-19 and other related disasters and crises, which are common in vulnerable populations such as refugee communities in low-income countries.

Characteristics of Cognitive Function Changes and Related Factors in Individuals With Cognitive Impairment During the Pandemic of COVID-19: A Retrospective Chart Review Study

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to explore the characteristics and factors related to changes in cognitive function in vulnerable individuals with cognitive impairment during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

METHODS

Among patients who visited a local university hospital with subjective cognitive complaints, those who had been tested for cognitive function at least once after the onset of COVID-19 and tested regularly at least three times within the last 5 years were included (1st, the initial screening; 2nd, the test immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic; 3rd, the most recent test after the pandemic). Finally, 108 patients were included in this study. They were divided into groups according to whether the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) was maintained/improved and deteriorated. We investigated the characteristics of the changes in cognitive function and related factors during COVID-19.

RESULTS

When comparing CDR changes before and after COVID-19, there was no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.317). Alternatively, the main effect of the time when the test was conducted was significant (p<0.001). There was also a significant difference in the interaction between the groups and time. When the effect of the interaction was analyzed, the CDR score of the maintained/ improved group significantly decreased before COVID-19 (1st-2nd) (p=0.045). After COVID-19 (2nd-3rd), the CDR score of the deteriorated group was significantly higher than that of the maintained/improved group (p<0.001). Mini-Mental State Examination recall memory and changes in activity during COVID-19 were significantly associated with CDR deterioration.

CONCLUSION

Memory dysfunction and decreased activity during the COVID-19 pandemic are strongly related to the deterioration of cognitive impairment.

Mental Health Problems During COVID-19 and Attitudes Toward Digital Therapeutics

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to elucidate public mental health problems and associated factors during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Furthermore, we evaluated people's attitudes toward digital therapeutics during the pandemic.

METHODS

Data was collected online from participants, aged between 20-50 without any history of mental illness, from June 1st to June 30th 2021. The survey consisted of questions regarding demographics, changes during pandemic and attitude towards digital therapeutics, and mental health measures.

RESULTS

Among the total of 445 participants, 49.2% reported significant level of stress and 13.5% and 7.0% met the screening criteria for major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, respectively. Significant predictive factors for mental health problems were-younger age group, female sex, currently being treated for medical or surgical disease, change in the amount of time spent on mobile device or computer after pandemic, change in household income, and change in work environment due to pandemic. Furthermore, 35.1% of participants, considered psychiatric consultation, at least slightly, but were hesitant to receive it due to the fear of contacting COVID-19 at the clinics. Instead, 54.4% of them preferred using digital therapeutics as an alternative to visiting offline clinics.

CONCLUSION

We demonstrated that COVID-19 increased mental health problems along with access problems and identified their predictive factors. Digital therapeutics emerged as a viable solution to mental health problems and it was well-received by those in need of psychiatric consultation. Therefore, development and implementation of digital therapeutics should be considered to improve the mental health of people.

Suicide and Suicide Prevention Awareness in Korea During the COVID-19 Pandemic

OBJECTIVE

Owing to prolonged social distancing and the resultant isolation, the prevalence of depression and suicidality has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the severity of depression and suicidality in Korean community populations and examine their awareness of suicide and suicide prevention during the pandemic.

METHODS

This study surveyed a community population in 2020 and 2021, involving 668 participants. We evaluated the severity of depression and suicidality using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation as well as questions about awareness of suicide. We performed a correlation analysis to confirm the association between variables, and compared participants' suicide awareness according to the severity of depression.

RESULTS

The severity of depression and suicidality in the community population decreased in 2021 compared to 2020. Awareness of the importance of suicide prevention increased in 2021, but the percentage reporting that it is possible decreased slightly. The group with higher depressive symptoms reported a lower possibility of suicide prevention.

CONCLUSION

Increasing social interest in suicide, as well as awareness of suicide prevention, is important for reducing suicide rates. Suicide prevention campaigns, education, and social policies are needed, particularly during the pandemic.

Air pollution and COVID-19 mortality and hospitalization: An ecological study in Iran

Exposure to air pollution can exacerbate the severe COVID-19 conditions, subsequently causing an increase in the death rate. In this study, we investigated the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and risks of COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality in Arak, Iran. Air pollution data was obtained from air quality monitoring stations located in Arak, including particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), ozone (O₃) and carbon monoxide (CO). Daily numbers of Covid-19 cases including hospital admissions (hospitalization) and deaths (mortality) were obtained from a national data registry recorded by Arak University of Medical Sciences. A Poisson regression model with natural spline functions was applied to set the effects of air pollution on COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality. The percent change of COVID-19 hospitalization per 10 μg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ were 8.5% (95% CI 7.6 to 11.5) and 4.8% (95% CI 3 to 6.5), respectively. An increase of 10 μg/m³ in PM_2.5 resulting in 5.6% (95% CI: 3.1-8.3%) increase in COVID-19 mortality. The percent change of hospitalization (7.7%, 95% CI 2.2 to 13.3) and mortality (4.5%, 95% CI 0.3 to 9.5) were positively significant per one ppb increment in SO₂, while NO₂, O₃ and CO were inversely associated with hospitalization and mortality. Our findings strongly suggesting that a small increase in long-term exposure to PM_2.5, PM₁₀ and SO2 elevating risks of hospitalization and mortality related to COVID-19.

Citizen Environmental Behavior From the Perspective of Psychological Distance Based on a Visual Analysis of Bibliometrics and Scientific Knowledge Mapping

Global warming and other climate issues seriously threaten global sustainable development. As citizen environmental behavior can have a positive impact on the environment, it is of great theoretical significance and practical reference value to study the impact of psychological distance theory on citizen environmental behavior. This study obtained 2,633 related studies from 1980 to 2020 from the Web of Science as research objects, and used CiteSpace, VOSviewer, Netdraw, and other software programs to perform a bibliometric analysis, which can show the complex relationship implied in the citation, intuitively grasp the development context and hot frontier in this field, and help scholars better study citizen environmental behavior. The results and conclusions are as follows. (1) The related research covered three periods: infancy, growth, and outbreak. (2) Chronologically, the relevant research evolved from building models to analyze the impact of environmental enrichment on human environmental behavior, to studying the motivation behind citizen environmental behavior, and finally to paying attention to sustainable development. (3) A cluster analysis of high-frequency keywords identified three research hotspots: “drivers of psychological distance of environmental change perception on citizen environmental behavior,” “impact of social distance on adolescents’ behavior,” and “construal level theory and citizen green behavior.” Based on these findings, possible future research directions were identified, including changing from a single theory to a combination of multiple theories to comprehensively study citizen environmental protection behavior; analyzing the motivation of citizen environmental behavior and summarizing the general motivation of environmental behavior according to its internal relationship; and determining how to narrow the global psychological distance, strengthen the awareness of the community of human destiny, and explore the establishment of an efficient global climate cooperation mechanism.

COVID-19 mortality and exposure to airborne PM2.5: A lag time correlation

COVID-19 has escalated into one of the most serious crises in the 21st Century. Given the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its high mortality rate, here we investigate the impact and relationship of airborne PM_2.5 to COVID-19 mortality. Previous studies have indicated that PM_2.5 has a positive relationship with the spread of COVID-19. To gain insights into the delayed effect of PM_2.5 concentration (μgm^-3) on mortality, we focused on the role of PM_2.5 in Wuhan City in China and COVID-19 during the period December 27, 2019 to April 7, 2020. We also considered the possible impact of various meteorological factors such as temperature, precipitation, wind speed, atmospheric pressure and precipitation on pollutant levels. The results from the Pearson's correlation coefficient analyses reveal that the population exposed to higher levels of PM_2.5 pollution are susceptible to COVID-19 mortality with a lag time of >18 days. By establishing a generalized additive model, the delayed effect of PM_2.5 on the death toll of COVID-19 was verified. A negative correction was identified between temperature and number of COVID-19 deaths, whereas atmospheric pressure exhibits a positive correlation with deaths, both with a significant lag effect. The results from our study suggest that these epidemiological relationships may contribute to the understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic and provide insights for public health strategies.