The impacts of occupational risks and their effects on work stress levels of health professional (The sample from the Southeast region of Turkey)

OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to determine the occupational risks and their effects on the work stress of the health professionals working in state hospitals in the Southeast of Turkey. METHODS: This cross-sectional and descriptive study was composed of 360 health professionals of the Pazarcık, Ergani, and Şehitkamil State Hospitals between December 2014 and January 2015. The data of the study were obtained by performing the survey which was composed of questions related to the socio-demographic characteristics, factors that were thought to affect the occupational risks and job stress, as well as, the questions of the Work Stress Scale. The analyses of the data have been performed using Student’s t test and one-way analysis of variance. RESULTS: The working hours, the number of being on-duty, insomnia, and burnout in health professionals were determined to be with the highest mean scores among other stressful risks and hazards. The mean work stress level, which increases the success by creating the group-stimulus effect, was indicated as 2.4 and 2.5 for the health professionals in Pazarcık and Ergani State Hospital, respectively. However, the stress level which poses a threat for the group-health and efficiency was found to be 4.0 for the health professionals of the Şehitkamil State Hospital. CONCLUSIONS: As the exposure of the occupational risks increases in the health professionals, the work stress scores also increase (p < 0.05). The occupational risks and work stress of the health professionals in the Şehitkamil State Hospital should be evaluated in terms of occupational health and safety

Preoperative nasopharyngeal swab testing and postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing elective surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Surgical services are preparing to scale up in areas affected by COVID-19. This study aimed to evaluate the association between preoperative SARS-CoV-2 testing and postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing elective cancer surgery. METHODS: This international cohort study included adult patients undergoing elective surgery for cancer in areas affected by SARS-CoV-2 up to 19 April 2020. Patients suspected of SARS-CoV-2 infection before operation were excluded. The primary outcome measure was postoperative pulmonary complications at 30 days after surgery. Preoperative testing strategies were adjusted for confounding using mixed-effects models. RESULTS: Of 8784 patients (432 hospitals, 53 countries), 2303 patients (26.2 per cent) underwent preoperative testing: 1458 (16.6 per cent) had a swab test, 521 (5.9 per cent) CT only, and 324 (3.7 per cent) swab and CT. Pulmonary complications occurred in 3.9 per cent, whereas SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed in 2.6 per cent. After risk adjustment, having at least one negative preoperative nasopharyngeal swab test (adjusted odds ratio 0.68, 95 per cent confidence interval 0.68 to 0.98; P = 0.040) was associated with a lower rate of pulmonary complications. Swab testing was beneficial before major surgery and in areas with a high 14-day SARS-CoV-2 case notification rate, but not before minor surgery or in low-risk areas. To prevent one pulmonary complication, the number needed to swab test before major or minor surgery was 18 and 48 respectively in high-risk areas, and 73 and 387 in low-risk areas. CONCLUSION: Preoperative nasopharyngeal swab testing was beneficial before major surgery and in high SARS-CoV-2 risk areas. There was no proven benefit of swab testing before minor surgery in low-risk areas