No abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, computer vision syndrome (CVS) related to online classrooms were unavoidable. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the prevalence, characteristics and associated factors of CVS. A total of 527 students who were currently studying in a virtual classroom (70.40% female, mean (standard deviation; SD) age of 20.04 (2.17) years) were included. The prevalence of CVS assessed by an online CVS-Questionnaire was 81.0% (427/527). Comparing with those in the period before the online study, an increase in screen time (interquartile range) in students with and without CVS was 3 (0–3) and 2 (1–5) h, respectively. Overall, 516 students (97.9%) experienced at least one symptom. The most frequent symptom in CVS subjects was eye pain (96.5%). The most intense symptoms were the feeling of worsening eyesight (15.9%). The factors associated with CVS were female (p < 0.001), age (p = 0.010), atopic diseases (p = 0.020), prior ocular symptoms (p < 0.001), astigmatism (p = 0.033), distance from display <20 cm (p = 0.023), presence of glare or reflection on screen (p < 0.001), low screen brightness (p = 0.045), sleep duration (p = 0.030), inadequate break time between classes (p < 0.001) and increased screen time usage during online study (p < 0.001). Recommendations to prevent CVS based on the adjustable factors might reduce the burden of online study.

This study aims to determine the impact of COVID-19 on the daily lives, agricultural working lives, and mental health of farmers in northern Thailand. This cross-sectional study was carried out in September and October 2021 by interviews. From the stratified random sampling, 2046 farmers responded. There were five sections on the interview form, including demographics, daily life, agricultural working life, stress, and depression experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that COVID-19 negatively affected the daily lives of the farmers, making it worse by 61.2%. COVID-19 increased the cost of planting (57.4%) and the cost of agrochemicals and fertilizers (69.9%). It also decreased the prices of agricultural products (73.5%) as well as agricultural extensions (66.5%). The markets and logistics of agricultural products during the pandemic were more difficult than before it (72.8% and 65.1%, respectively). Half of the farmers (50.3%) had moderate stress, and the highest scores were for the loss of household income (mean ± SD = 3.92 ± 0.94) and increased household expenses (mean ± SD = 3.92 ± 0.98). With regard to depression, 19.6% of farmers had depressive symptoms, and the multivariate analysis shows that the mental health of farmers was associated with the changes in their daily and agricultural working lives, as well as with financial problems. The remarkable findings indicate that the farmers who had high and extremely high stress levels had a higher prevalence of depression than the farmers who had no stress (adj.OR = 10.10 and 22.45, respectively). Our results lead to the conclusion that the COVID-19 crisis had an impact on the daily lives, agricultural working lives, and mental health of farmers. The results of this study can be used to provide pertinent guidance, and they have implications for government and other relevant organizations in their COVID-19 efforts to improve agricultural systems and sustain the mental health of farmers.

A COVID-19 lockdown and restrictive order has had a large impact on the lives of people. This cross-sectional study was conducted to identify factors affecting breastfeeding among mothers living in Thailand during the lockdown. Data were collected from 903 mothers with infants ages 0–12 months from 17 July 2020 to 17 October 2020 after the first nationwide COVID-19 lockdown period by an online platform and interview questionnaire survey. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the association between the effect of lockdown and breastfeeding practices with potential confounder adjustment including maternal age, ethnicity, newborn age <6 months, family income below $16,130 per annum, education below undergraduate level, and working status. Mothers changed breastfeeding practices in this period (n = 39, 4.32%) including having changed from exclusive breastfeeding to combined breastfeeding with formula milk (n = 22, 2.44%), and having reduced the frequency when compared to before the pandemic (n = 13, 1.44%). The associated factors of changing breastfeeding practices were “contact with healthcare services” (aOR = 0.46, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.96, p = 0.04), “infant feeding support from health personnel” (aOR = 0.39, 95% CI 0.16 to 1.94, p = 0.035), and “lack family support and help with feeding your baby after lockdown” (aOR = 7.04, 95% CI 1.92 to 25.84, p = 0.003). In conclusion, this study showed a slight decrease in breastfeeding in the sampled mothers during the COVID-19 lockdown in Thailand. A long-term national surveillance system for maintenance of breastfeeding should be established. Health care service interventions and additional information are needed to support mothers and families for breastfeeding during pandemics.

Cognitive frailty (CF) is defined by the coexistence of physical frailty and mild cognitive impairment. Malnutrition is an underlying factor of age-related conditions including physical frailty. However, the evidence associating malnutrition and cognitive frailty is limited. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the association between malnutrition and CF in the elderly. A total of 373 participants aged 65–84 years were enrolled after excluding those who were suspected to have dementia and depression. Then, 61 CF and 45 normal participants were randomly selected to measure serum prealbumin level. Cognitive function was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Basic (MoCA-B). Modified Fried’s criteria were used to define physical frailty. Nutritional status was evaluated by the Mini Nutritional Assessment–short form (MNA-SF), serum prealbumin, and anthropometric measurements. The prevalence of CF was 28.72%. Malnourished status by MNA-SF category (aOR = 2.81, 95%CI: 1.18–6.67) and MNA-SF score (aOR = 0.84, 95%CI = 0.74–0.94) were independently associated with CF. However, there was no correlation between CF and malnutrition assessed by serum prealbumin level and anthropometric measurements. Other independent risk factors of CF were advanced age (aOR = 1.06, 95%CI: 1.02–1.11) and educational level below high school (aOR = 6.77, 95%CI: 1.99–23.01). Malnutrition was associated with CF among Thai elderly. High-risk groups who are old and poorly educated should receive early screening and nutritional interventions.