Background: Internally displaced people in Iraq are still suffering because the solutions were not radical. This study aims to assess the impact of displacement on the socio-economic, well-being and mental health status of internally displaced families in Anbar province, Iraq. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from 3rd to 17th April 2017. Data was collected using a universal sampling technique. A total of 355 households interviewed with a modified questionnaire consisting of 26 close-ended questions related to the socio-economic, demographic, wellbeing and the mental health characteristics. Results: At the time of the study, about 55.5% of the surveyed displaced families have not returned home yet. Big families of more than seven members (59.4%) and residency in renting houses (82.8%) are two variables that may contribute to an economic burden. Mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety spread among 62.3% of surveyed families. Significant rise in chronic diseases from 64 (18.0%) cases before displacement to 102 cases (28.7%) after displacement. Few of them (21.6%) were able to access public health services. People who experienced violence are verbally abused at 52.1%. Lack of the services (50.3%), the inability to repair the destroyed houses (26.4%) and the loss of house due to complete destruction (23.3%) were the significant factors inhibited families to return home back. Conclusion: Our findings indicate the need for urgent and strategic plans to improve the quality of logistics, health and infrastructure services to motivate the displaced families to return back to their homes.

Background: Iraq was among the first countries invaded by the novel human coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) after China. This study aimed to assess the Iraqi people's knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19 during the pandemic.  Methods: A cross-sectional study recruiting an online self-reported survey conducted from 17-31 July 2020. Data of 877 participants have undergone descriptive, univariate, and multivariable regression analyses, respectively, to assess the differences in mean scores and identify factors associated with knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward COVID-19. Results: Most of the respondents (78.8%) from the urban region, highly educated (69.7%), aged less than 45 years (61.2%), females (58.3%), married (51.9%), and 74.0% self-ranked health as good. Less than half (45.4%) were employed; however, the average monthly income was USD 400 or more in about 66.8% of them. The mean knowledge, attitude and practice score was 15.57 ± 2.46 (range: 0-20), 38.88 (SD = 3.57, (range: 11-55), and 5.13 (SD = 1.14, range: 0–6), respectively. Findings of regression analysis showed that higher educated (p< 0.001), urban residents (P <0.001), employed (P =0.040), and having an income level of USD 400 or more (P <0.001) were significantly associated with upper knowledge score. Female gender and employed respondents are significantly associated with positive attitude scores, but inversely respondents with an income of USD 400 or more are significantly associated with a negative attitude. Regarding practice score, the female gender and those living in an urban region had better practice, but the young age group (0-44 years) was significantly associated with the weak practice. Conclusion: Although Iraq has adopted a preventive and precautionary plan to control the spread of coronavirus. However, the public's knowledge and attitude toward COVID-19, coupled with the unstable political and security situation, have greatly affected the commitment to preventive measures.

Background: Measuring knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19 helps policymakers observe knowledge gaps and provide key messages to people to act better against the pandemic. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19 among Syrian people resident in Turkey.  Methods: A cross-sectional study designed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19 among the Syrian people resident in Turkey. The data were collected via a web-based and self-administered questionnaire of 313 participants from 17-31 July 2020. SPSS version 16.0 was recruited to analyze the data using univariate and multivariable regression data analyses. Results: Our finding as the first study among Syrian people resident in Turkey found a high rate of good knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19 accordingly with 83.0%, 72.0%, 84.0%. Regression analysis showed that age-group of 45 years and more years, marital status of being married, female gender, living in urban area were significantly associated with upper knowledge score. Age-group of 45 years and more significantly associated with positive attitude score but inversely being married and unemployed statues significantly associated with a negative attitude. Regarding practice score, married and female people had better practice, but poor-rated health status was significantly associated with the weak practice. Conclusion: Although our finding showed a good rate for knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19, but it needs to improve cause of many barriers on Syrian people resident in Turkey, such as living in a crowded place, distant from health care services, losing whole or part of their income due to COVID-19 as an economic crisis, different language barriers. Some groups like men, people living in a rural area, and those unemployed or lost their job should be exposed by timely and accurate knowledge.

Background: Healthcare providers are increasingly interested in patient satisfaction as an indicator to assess the quality of health services. This study investigates the level of satisfaction among Iraqi patients attending the outpatient (OP) clinic. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted from October to December 2019 among outpatient attendees in two busiest centers in Iraq. A convenience sample of 235 (response rate of 88.0%) completed the self-administered short-form patient satisfaction questionnaire (PSQ-18). The independent variables included socio-demographic, economic, and self-perceived health status. Data were analyzed in SPSS, where descriptive analysis (mean ± standard deviation) and univariate (independent sample t-test, ANOVA test) and multivariate linear regression “Enter technique” was done at 0.05 level of significance and 95% confidence interval. Results:  The mean age of respondents was 39.3 (±14.8). The sample was mostly women (55.3%), and 37.4% in the age group of 30-49 years.  More than half of participants residing in the urban regions (54.5%) from families of monthly household income less than 500,000 Iraq Dinars (USD 400). However, the majority (70.6%) have the first visit to the OP clinic, and 53.6% self-perceived health as good or very good. Results of multiple linear regression showed that patients residents in rural regions (B= 5.4 , P <0.001), married (B= 4.8, P <0.001), unemployed (B= 4.7, P <0.001)  and low educated (B= 1.5, P <0.051)  exhibited higher service satisfaction score compared to urban residents, single, employed and high educated participants respectively. However, patients aged fifty years and more (B= -2.1, P <0.001) and those with poor health (B=-2.5, P <0.001) exhibited lower service satisfaction scores compared to young age patients and the healthy participants, respectively. Conclusion: The high demand for the use of health resources in metropolitan cities by the rural population indicates inequality in the distribution of health services and an increase in the rural-to-urban displacement.

Background: During the last decade, the events of violence against healthcare providers have been escalated, especially in the areas of conflicts. This study aimed to test the impact of conflict-related and workplace-related violence on job satisfaction among Iraqi physicians. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a self-administered survey was conducted among medical doctors in Iraq from January to June 2014. Participants (n=535, 81.1% response rate) were selected at random from 20 large general and district hospitals using a multistage sampling technique. Results: The mean (+SD) value on the total job satisfaction score was 42.26 (+14.63). The majority of respondents (67.3%) experienced unsafe medical practice; however, the conflict- related violence showed no significant difference in job satisfaction scores. In backward regression analysis, two socio-demographic variables (age, gender), and three work-related variables (being a specialist, working less than 40 hours per week, working in both government and private sector) were positively related to job satisfaction, while the workplace violence variables were negatively related. It was found that increases in physical attack, verbal abuse, bullying, and racial harassment brought about decreases in job satisfaction scores of 6,087, 3.014, 9,107, and 4,242, respectively. Conclusion: Our results suggest that work-related variables and workplace violence do affect job satisfaction. Specifically, when physicians have been physically attacked, verbally abused, bullied, and racially harassed, their job satisfaction decreases significantly.