The purpose of this study was to analyse attitudes, motivation, and reasons for hesitancy toward COVID-19 vaccination among healthcare workers (HCWs) in northern Slovakia. A cross-sectional study was conducted between 30 August 2021 and 30 September 2021. An anonymous questionnaire was administered. The study was completed by 1277 employees. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify predictors of COVID-19 vaccination status. A total of 1076 (84.3%) were vaccinated, and 201 (15.7%) were unvaccinated. Physician job type (OR = 1.77; CI95 1.13–2.78), history of COVID-19 (OR = 0.37; CI95 0.26–0.37), influenza vaccination at any time (OR = 1.97; CI95 1.12–3.46), compulsory vaccination for HCWs (OR = 9.15; CI95 2.92–28.62), and compulsory vaccination for selected groups (OR = 9.71; CI95 2.75–34.31) were the predictors significantly associated with COVID-19 vaccination acceptance. Non-physician HCWs, employees in hospitals, and employees without a history of COVID-19 significantly more distrusted the efficacy of vaccines against COVID-19. Results of our study confirmed that physicians have higher vaccination rates and lower hesitance to get vaccinated than non-physician HCWs. HCWs play an important role in influencing vaccination decisions and can be helpful in vaccine advocacy to the general public.

The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination among medical students worldwide. Three electronic databases, i.e., PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science (WoS), were used to collect the related studies according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The study population included undergraduate medical students who had already been vaccinated reported in original articles published between January 2020 and December 2021. The heterogeneity of results among studies was quantified using the inconsistency index I2. Publication bias was assessed by using Egger’s test. Six cross-sectional studies with 4118 respondents were included in this study. The prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination was 61.9% (95% CI, 39.7–80.1%). There were no statistical differences between gender and vaccination acceptance, 1.038 (95% CI 0.874–1.223), and year of study and vaccination acceptance, 2.414 (95% CI, 0.754–7.729). The attitudes towards compulsory vaccination among healthcare workers can be determined by a prevalence of 71.4% (95% CI, 67.0–75.4%). The prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination among medical students was at a moderate level. Placing a greater emphasis on prevention seems essential in the medical curriculum.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify personal variables and nonoccupational risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome and to analyse the strength of association of these factors.Methods: We performed a case-control study with 162 cases and 300 controls. We studied consecutive patients with an electrophysiologically confirmed diagnosis of symptomatic carpal tunnel syndrome. Univariate analysis was performed in the case group and control comparing them for presence of various risk factors. Multivariate analysis was carried out through logistic regression.Results: The mean BMI and age were greater in the case group than in the control. Multivariate analysis showed that BMI (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.01-1.11) and arterial hypertension (OR = 4.63, 95% CI = 2.88-7.44) were the only factors significantly associated with carpal tunnel syndrome. The age, cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking were at the edge of significance.Conclusions: Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common peripheral neuropathy and has been related to occupational activities in some but not all studies. Clarifying this relationship has important implications for workers' compensation systems. Based on our findings, BMI and arterial hypertension are considered to be the most significant risk factors of carpal tunnel syndrome in our study.

The aim of this study was to assess prevalence and associated risk factors of burnout syndrome among healthcare workers (HCWs), especially among nurses during the pandemic of COVID-19. The sample of the cross-sectional study consists of 201 employees of University Hospital. The Maslach Burnout Inventory—Human Services Survey for Medical Personnel (MBI–HSS MP) was used. An anonymous questionnaire was administered between 15 January and 1 February 2022. The majority of HCWs were female (79.4%). Overall, 69.2% displayed high levels of emotional exhaustion (EE), 35.3% high levels of depersonalization (DP), and 35.5% low levels of personal accomplishment (PA). Burnout was frequent among staff working in COVID units (EE 76.1%; DP 47.8%; and PA 46.7%). Burnout in EE and DP (70.7% and 36.6%, respectively) significantly prevailed in nurses working in COVID-19 units compared to non-frontline nurses (59.6 and 21.1%, respectively). Prevalence of burnout in PA was significantly higher in nurses working in non-COVID-19 units (47.4% vs. 29.3%). It is crucial to pay attention to the high prevalence of burnout syndrome in HCWs, especially in nurses, and not only in the frontline.

Introduction: The most common occupational disease is carpal tunnel syndrome. The aim of this study was to translate and validate the Slovakian version of BCTSQ. Methods: The original questionnaire was translated into the Slovakian language by two expert translators. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to analyze the internal consistency of the questionnaire. Construction validity was evaluated by using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Spearman’s rank correlation. The results were processed in the statistical program SPSS 24. The level of significance p > 0.05 was considered significant. To analyze the validity, a factor analysis of the BCTSQ and the correlation between BCTSQ and SF-36 were obtained. Results: A total of 32 employees at risk of local muscular overload completed the BCTSQ and Health Questionnaire SF-36. Cronbach’s alpha for SSS was >0.8. The alpha coefficient for FSS was >0.9. The Pearson’s coefficient and Spearman’s rank correlation was >0.9 for each domain. Cronbach’s alpha for SF-36 was >0.7 and the Pearson’s coefficient and Spearman’s rank correlation was >0.6 and p-values <0.001. Conclusions: The questionnaire has sufficient reliability, validity and can be a suitable tool for the evaluation of subjective response of employees at the risk of local muscular overload, as well as of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.