Epidemiology
Sajad Bagherian; Majid Mardaniyan Ghahfarrokhi; Ebrahim Banitalebi
Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 12 April 2021
Abstract
Background: According to WHO, immediate self-quarantine is assumed as the best course of action for highly contagious diseases. But, many individuals have so far become overweight and are also suffering from physical problems. Therefore, the present study aimed to effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on interest ...
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Background: According to WHO, immediate self-quarantine is assumed as the best course of action for highly contagious diseases. But, many individuals have so far become overweight and are also suffering from physical problems. Therefore, the present study aimed to effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on interest in home-based exercise.Methods: This descriptive study with a comprehensive electronic systematic search in the Google Trends database using the keyword of “home-based exercise” retrieved the relevant data about the Internet search activity of people in the Iranian community. The data were accordingly obtained within two-time intervals, i.e., from February 18, 2020 to October 18, 2020 and eight months prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 (namely, June 18, 2019 to February 18, 2020). The Wilcoxon test and the Spearman’s correlation coefficient used to analyze the data.Results: The results established significant increase in “home-based exercise” Google search in the eight-month time interval during COVID-19 compared with the same period before the pandemic (p<0.001). As well, the findings revealed a significant correlation between “home-based exercise” Google search and positive COVID-19 cases in the time intervals of February 18, 2020 to April 18, 2020 (r=0.756, p=0.0001), April 18, 2020 to June 18, 2020 (r=-461, p=0.0001) but not, June 18, 2020 to August 18, 2020 (r=0.044, p=0.737), August 18, 2020 to October 18, 2020 (r=0.246, p=0.056), and over time (r=-0.083, 0.0195).Conclusion: The prevalence rate of the COVID-19 pandemic and social constraints including self-quarantine seem to have raised people’s interest in doing exercises, especially home-based exercises.
Infectious Disease
Morteza Arab-Zozani; Hosein Ameri
Abstract
Dear Editor, We have witnessed many advances in all fields of science over the years, especially in the field of health. However, various facts can be obtained in times of adversity. Although programs usually work well until a crisis occurs, they do not well continue during the crises. ...
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Dear Editor, We have witnessed many advances in all fields of science over the years, especially in the field of health. However, various facts can be obtained in times of adversity. Although programs usually work well until a crisis occurs, they do not well continue during the crises. In addition, there are some experiences in every crisis although they are insufficiently used in future plans. Accordingly, we frequently experience various problems in face of similar crises. The outbreak of coronavirus is considered as one of these crises. The world has embraced a new unknown virus called the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) since late December 2019.The first outbreak of this virus was reported in Wuhan, China. Further, it has been reported in all countries worldwide as a pandemic. In the information era, conflicting news exists about the origin of the disease and there is still no general agreement in this respect although we do not intend to discuss it clinically in this article. Some helpful lessons on managing the condition are as follows. From this point of view, the virus revealed some interesting facts about governments and health systems around the world. First, this pandemic showed us that we cannot claim that health systems are capable of responding to emergencies. There are several reasons regarding the inability of a system to respond to a crisis. The weaknesses of governance in health systems worldwide are considered among the substantial reasons. Many health systems do not yet have a clear arrangement, and health decisions are outside the purview of health professionals. For example, when it comes to quarantine a city, many factors affect it and different institutions have to consider it no matter whether they have a health professional. Furthermore, the second point is about how we think about health. Various countries still do not view health as a universal phenomenon and have not realized that their decisions at the level of one country and one system can affect all systems worldwide. Whether or not, there is good thinking among health leaders although the absence of systemic thinking is undeniable. For example, some countries are still blaming each other for the statistics and how they manage the disease after several months of illness and are more looking for the culprit than the solution. Moreover, there are rumors that some countries do not publicly announce their achievements in disease management. The third point is the transparency of governments and health systems in presenting the realities of a disease or crisis. Many health systems in different countries of the world either do not have or publish accurate statistics, and this can be related to a variety of economic, private, political, and other reasons. Additionally, the next point is the lack of cross-sectoral cooperation that can be observed at all international, national, and regional levels. The lack of proper collaboration leads to scattered decisions confusing the general population in a society. The most important issue in times of crisis is to keep calm although this calmness must be accompanied by the expression of reality instead of concealment. Crises have been permanently present and will continue to exist from epidemics to disasters, war, and the like. However, the question remains why responding to a crisis and being prepared for it are always considered as a challenge. Many crises occur unnoticeably and unexpectedly, which is true for China. Nonetheless, the question arises whether the rest of the world consider this crisis as an unexpected one. The other question is why countries are not taking advantage of Chinese experiences and delaying reality. It is assumed that policymakers, especially those in the health area, need to address the behavioral causes of this issue and provide sound and rational decision-making models in times of crisis. The era of hopeful closure is over, and the international community requires a holistic approach for decision making. It should be noted that the implementation of any program necessitates a mutual commitment between the government and the community, and even the best advice will not work well without the commitment of people in the community. Accordingly, it is necessary to comprehensively study why the people of society do not pay enough attention to the recommendations of the government and health systems.
Social Epidemiology
Mohammad-Rafi Bazrafshan; Hamed Delam
Abstract
Dear Editor, Methods that people use to overcome problems are called coping strategies. The concept of coping was first introduced by Lazarus in 1966. He believed that stress involves three stages. First, there is the initial assessment, which is to observe a risk. The second stage involves ...
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Dear Editor, Methods that people use to overcome problems are called coping strategies. The concept of coping was first introduced by Lazarus in 1966. He believed that stress involves three stages. First, there is the initial assessment, which is to observe a risk. The second stage involves the evaluation, which is the search for an answer in the mind, and the third stage is to find the answer to the problem, which is called a coping strategy.1,2 Numerous studies have examined the causes of dangerous behaviors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and self-harming behaviors in individuals; however, many people who are exposed to difficult psychological distress do not tend to engage in such dangerous behaviors. These people have abilities that other people do not.3 Therefore, the differences between people who engage in dangerous behaviors and those who do not show such reactions in facing the problems can be traced to the coping methods used by these individuals when faced with difficult psychological conditions. However, if the coping strategies that a person uses to face with problems are effective, it creates a sense of self-control and therefore the person can finally solve the problem or cope with it, and if the strategies are ineffective, it will eventually lead to the use of ineffective coping strategies and sometimes dangerous behaviors.4 In a study on COVID-19 in China, researchers found that many people who confronted with COVID-19 pandemic have experienced high levels of psychological distress and that many people have used negative coping strategies for adapting to this crisis.5 Finally, it can be stated that the occurrence of dangerous behaviors in such critical situations is not a behavior without introduction. Therefore, some of the characteristics of people could be deduced such as their inability to find solutions to the problems, lack of coping strategies to manage stressors, and inflexibility and limitation of the number of solutions provided by them. To conclude, strengthening effective defense mechanisms by mental health professionals can reduce the incidence of such destructive behaviors in community members.