University Educator and Staff Well-being and Common Mental Health Symptoms during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines

Educators and staff adapted to work-from-home setup amidst the covid-19 pandemic.  The transition to full-online classes and services leads to poor mental health. The current study explored the association of educator and staff personal characteristics, well-being, and mental health.  326 university employees completed the demographic profile, mental health, and well-being scales. Various hierarchical regression was conducted to determine if personal characteristics and well-being predict common mental health symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress). Series of multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to determine the difference between the levels of mental health symptoms according to mental health category, and personal characteristics. The results support the hypothesis with psychological and emotional well-being inversely predicting depression, anxiety, and stress. However, social well-being failed to serve as a significant determinant of common mental health symptoms. MANOVA obtained a significant difference with common mental health symptoms and mental health category and personal characteristics

Role of Work Engagement, Autonomy Support, Psychological Capital, and Economic Factors to Educator and Staff Well-being in the Philippines

Educational institutions are transitioning their learning modalities to flexible learning from remote education; educators and staff continuously encounter ambiguous work demands that negatively affect their well-being. Literature indicates the influence of autonomy support, psychological capital, work engagement, and economic factors (i.e., financial preparedness and job insecurity) on well-being. We propose that social, psychological, work, and economic factors influence the well-being of university educators and staff. 315 employees voluntarily completed the autonomy support, work engagement, hope, self-efficacy, job insecurity, and financial preparedness scales. We used IBM SPSS Amos for the confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Five separate models were conducted to test the research objective. Results indicate good to excellent model fit indices for the research scales and structural model. We also found that self-efficacy, work engagement, hope, and financial preparedness during emergencies positively predict well-being, while job insecurity is detrimental. Our findings could serve as a basis for mental health programs to address the mental issues of educators and staff

Effects of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery: an international prospective cohort study an international prospective cohort study

We aimed to determine the impact of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery during the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We performed an international prospective cohort study including patients undergoing elective surgery in October 2020. Isolation was defined as the period before surgery during which patients did not leave their house or receive visitors from outside their household. The primary outcome was postoperative pulmonary complications, adjusted in multivariable models for measured confounders. Pre-defined sub-group analyses were performed for the primary outcome. A total of 96,454 patients from 114 countries were included and overall, 26,948 (27.9%) patients isolated before surgery. Postoperative pulmonary complications were recorded in 1947 (2.0%) patients of which 227 (11.7%) were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients who isolated pre-operatively were older, had more respiratory comorbidities and were more commonly from areas of high SARS-CoV-2 incidence and high-income countries. Although the overall rates of postoperative pulmonary complications were similar in those that isolated and those that did not (2.1% vs 2.0%, respectively), isolation was associated with higher rates of postoperative pulmonary complications after adjustment (adjusted OR 1.20, 95%CI 1.05–1.36, p = 0.005). Sensitivity analyses revealed no further differences when patients were categorised by: pre-operative testing; use of COVID-19-free pathways; or community SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. The rate of postoperative pulmonary complications increased with periods of isolation longer than 3 days, with an OR (95%CI) at 4–7 days or ≥ 8 days of 1.25 (1.04–1.48), p = 0.015 and 1.31 (1.11–1.55), p = 0.001, respectively. Isolation before elective surgery might be associated with a small but clinically important increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Longer periods of isolation showed no reduction in the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. These findings have significant implications for global provision of elective surgical care. We aimed to determine the impact of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery during the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We performed an international prospective cohort study including patients undergoing elective surgery in October 2020. Isolation was defined as the period before surgery during which patients did not leave their house or receive visitors from outside their household. The primary outcome was postoperative pulmonary complications, adjusted in multivariable models for measured confounders. Pre-defined sub-group analyses were performed for the primary outcome. A total of 96,454 patients from 114 countries were included and overall, 26,948 (27.9%) patients isolated before surgery. Postoperative pulmonary complications were recorded in 1947 (2.0%) patients of which 227 (11.7%) were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients who isolated pre-operatively were older, had more respiratory comorbidities and were more commonly from areas of high SARS-CoV-2 incidence and high-income countries. Although the overall rates of postoperative pulmonary complications were similar in those that isolated and those that did not (2.1% vs 2.0%, respectively), isolation was associated with higher rates of postoperative pulmonary complications after adjustment (adjusted OR 1.20, 95%CI 1.05–1.36, p = 0.005). Sensitivity analyses revealed no further differences when patients were categorised by: pre-operative testing; use of COVID-19-free pathways; or community SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. The rate of postoperative pulmonary complications increased with periods of isolation longer than 3 days, with an OR (95%CI) at 4–7 days or ≥ 8 days of 1.25 (1.04–1.48), p = 0.015 and 1.31 (1.11–1.55), p = 0.001, respectively. Isolation before elective surgery might be associated with a small but clinically important increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Longer periods of isolation showed no reduction in the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. These findings have significant implications for global provision of elective surgical care