Background: Secondary traumatization exposure and mental health conditions of health care workers gained importance during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic period. Aims: In our study, we aim to research the secondary traumatization and associated factors among health care workers. Method: This cross-sectional study was applied through an online questionnaire using the snowball sampling method. Two hundred fifty-one health care workers from different units/services and 312 non-medical worker adults attended to the research. Health care workers were divided into two groups based on working with COVID-19 patients at the frontline or not. The data were collected via Introductory Information Form, Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS) and Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) between 22 May and 30 May 2020. Results: Among the 563 participants, 251 (44.6%) were health care workers and 312 (55.4%) were non-medical workers. The anxiety, depression and secondary traumatization scores of the frontline health care workers for the COVID-19 were found to be significantly higher than those of the other health workers or non-medical workers ( p < .001). Also, we found that being a woman, being in the first years of the work, living with a parent, having a chronic disease, having a trauma history and increased social media use are related to having higher scores from the secondary traumatization scale. Conclusion: The secondary traumatization exposure and the mental health conditions of the health care workers directly working with the COVID-19 patients should be taken into consideration. It is important to provide social support, examine and control riskier groups for mental health regularly during the pandemic.

No abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak has caused anxiety among children with hematology-oncology disease and their families, as it has in every segment of society. In this study, we aimed to detect the anxiety levels of children with hematologic or oncologic disease and of their parents after the COVID-19 outbreak. The sample consisted of 15 patients 12 to 18 years of age receiving treatment in the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Unit in Altinbaş University Medical Faculty Bahçelievler Medikalpark Hospital and 33 parents of the same unit patients between 6 and 18 years of age, and their 35 healthy peers and their parents. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was applied to participant children and their parents to evaluate their general anxiety and pandemic-related anxiety levels. Children with a hematology-oncology disease and their families were compared with healthy peers and their families. No significant difference was observed for pandemic-related anxiety levels (P>0.05). Both parent groups exhibited higher anxiety levels with regard to the pandemic than did their children (P<0.05). Children with hematology-oncology disease reported significantly higher trait anxiety levels when compared with healthy peers (P=0.01). The families of children who had not received stem cell transplantation had higher state and trait anxiety scores than the families of children who had received the transplantation (P<0.05). Even though they were in the high-risk group, children with a hematology-oncology disease and their families had pandemic-related anxiety levels comparable with those of healthy peers and their families.

No abstract

No abstract