The COVID-19 pandemic is producing a huge health care burden with millions of cases and thousands of deaths. The coronavirus' high virulence and contagiousness and the frequent sudden onset of illness is overwhelming critical care and frontline healthcare staff. Frontline professionals are exposed to unprecedented levels of intensive existential threat requiring systematic, specialized psychological intervention and support. New psychological services need to be urgently implemented to manage the mental healthcare needs of frontline medical staff working with patients with COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic is a watershed moment: health care systems universally require a step-change to improve our preparedness for future pandemics.
The Covid‐19 outbreak was declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization in January 2020. As a consequence, several protective measures were urged by national governments in order to limit the spread of the pandemic. Drawing on the literature on health behaviours, in the present study, we investigated the psychological factors (i.e., attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioural control, intentions, and risk perception) that were associated with two highly recommended behaviours: frequent hand washing and social distancing (i.e., staying at home except for essential reasons). The study employed a correlational design with a follow‐up. A questionnaire including measures of psychological predictors was administered via social media to a sample of 403 adults residing in Italy during the lockdown. Self‐reported behaviours were assessed one week later. Findings showed that attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioural control were significantly related to hand washing and social distancing through intentions. Risk perception was a significant predictor of social distancing but not of hand washing. These findings suggest that intervention and communication strategies aimed at encouraging preventive measures during the Covid‐19 pandemic should be organized taking into account multiple factors which partially differ depending on the type of behaviour considered. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's
Community and Social Impact Statement
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Radical cystectomy (RC) often affects patients’ life as this surgery is a traumatic and invasive event for the patients, with drawbacks on their daily, social, working, and sex life. Such changes in the quality of life (QoL) of patients are commonly studied through retrospective clinical evaluations and rarely with longitudinal studies. To date, studies focusing on functional outcomes, sexual function, and health-related QoL for female patients are lacking. We evaluated 37 patients using EORTC QLQ-C30 (QLQ-30) and Short-Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaires, before and after surgery, at 3 and 6 months of follow-up. The mean values for the emotional functioning in QLQ-C30 as well as the mental health in SF-36 were significantly higher in the ONB group compared to the IC group at 3 months of follow-up. These differences were not significant at 6 months of follow-up. At 6 months of follow-up, the ONB group showed a higher mean score in the physical and role functioning than the IC group. Although there was a statistically significant age difference at baseline of the two groups, none of the results are correlated with age, as demonstrated by Spearman’s analysis. The ONB seems to represent the most advantageous solution compared to the IC in terms of QOL at the 6-month follow-up.
Women undergoing a radical cystectomy (RC) followed by a urinary diversion (UD) for bladder cancer (BC), experience a substantial reduction in health-related quality of life (HRQOL). At present, studies comparing long-term QOL outcomes for different UD methods in female patients are lacking. We summarize the current state of the QoL assessment in female patients after an RC.
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