Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Risk Factors For Sars-Cov-2 Transmission In Close Contacts Of Adults At High Risk Of Infection Due To Occupation: Results From The Contact Tracing Strategy Of The Covida Epidemiological Surveillance Study In Bogotá, Colombia, In 2020-2021, Andrea Ramírez Varela, Sandra Contreras-Arrieta, Guillermo Tamayo-Cabeza, Leonardo Salas Zapata, Yuldor Caballero-Díaz, Luis Jorge Hernández Florez, Andrés Patiño Benavidez, Rachid Laajaj, Fernando De La Hoz, Giancarlo Buitrago Gutierrez, Silvia Restrepo, Eduardo Behrentz

Journal Articles

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 transmission in close contacts of adults at high risk of infection due to occupation, participants of the CoVIDA study, in Bogotá D.C., Colombia.

SETTING: The CoVIDA study was the largest COVID-19 intensified sentinel epidemiological surveillance study in Colombia thus far, performing over 60 000 RT-PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study implemented a contact tracing strategy (via telephone call) to support traditional surveillance actions performed by the local health authority.

PARTICIPANTS: Close contacts of participants from the CoVIDA study.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: SARS-CoV-2 testing results were obtained (RT-PCR with CoVIDA …

Fear And Trembling While Working In A Pandemic: An Exploratory Meta-Analysis Of Workers’ Covid-19 Distress, William P. Jimenez, Ian M. Katz, Elissa A. Liguori

Psychology Faculty Publications

The global COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of workers and taken its toll on health and well-being. In line with recent calls for more inductive and abductive occupational health science research, we exploratorily meta-analyzed workers’ COVID-19 distress, defined as psychological and psychosomatic strain contextualized to experiencing the virus and pandemic broadly. We identified many existing COVID-19 distress measures (e.g., Fear of COVID-19 Scale by Ahorsu et al., 2020; Coronavirus Anxiety Scale by Lee, 2020a) and correlates, including demographic variables (viz., gender, marital status, whether worker has children), positive well-being (e.g., quality of life, perceived social support, resilience), negative well-being …

Case Growth Analysis To Inform Local Response To Covid-19 Epidemic In A Diverse Us Community, Marcia C De Oliveira Otto, Frances A Brito, Ji Yun Tark, Eric Bakota, Jose-Miguel Yamal, Dritana Marko, Shreela V Sharma, Michael R Brown, Savitri N Appana, Alison M Rector, Stephen H Linder, Jennifer Kiger, Karen C Tseng, Alanna C Morrison, Eric Boerwinkle

Journal Articles

Early detection of new outbreak waves is critical for effective and sustained response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a growth rate analysis using local community and inpatient records from seven hospital systems to characterize distinct phases in SARS-CoV-2 outbreak waves in the Greater Houston area. We determined the transition times from rapid spread of infection in the community to surge in the number of inpatients in local hospitals. We identified 193,237 residents who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 via molecular testing from April 8, 2020 to June 30, 2021, and 30,031 residents admitted within local healthcare institutions with a positive …

Longitudinal Changes In Wellbeing Amongst Breastfeeding Women In Australia And New Zealand During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Vanessa S. Sakalidis, Alethea Rea, Sharon L. Perrella, Jacki Mceachran, Grace Collis, Jennifer Miraudo, Stuart A. Prosser, Lisa Y. Gibson, Desiree Silva, Donna T. Geddes

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted new mothers’ wellbeing and breastfeeding experience. Women have experienced changes in birth and postnatal care and restricted access to their support network. It is unclear how these impacts may have changed over time with shifting rates of infection and policies restricting movement and access to services in Australia and New Zealand. This study investigated the longitudinal effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on breastfeeding and maternal wellbeing in Australia and New Zealand. Mothers (n = 246) completed an online survey every 4 weeks for 6 months that examined feeding methods, maternal mental wellbeing, worries, challenges, and …

Reduced Social Contact And Attachment Insecurity As Predictors Of Loneliness During Covid-19: A Two-Month Experience Sampling Study, Katie C. Lewis, Michael J. Roche, Fiona Brown, Jane G. Tillman

Psychology Faculty Publications

The impact of reduced social contact on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic has been identified as a major public health concern. While personality factors such as attachment style have been associated with psychological distress during the pandemic, the longitudinal relevance of these factors and the role of daily social contact in mitigating distress remains poorly understood. This study evaluated the impact of social contact and attachment style on changes in loneliness over an 8-week experience sampling period during the COVID-19 pandemic. A general adult sample (n = 184) recruited online completed measures of psychological distress, attachment, and loneliness via …

Is Cadaveric Dissection Essential In Medical Education? A Qualitative Survey Comparing Pre- And Post-Covid-19 Anatomy Courses, Smriti Kochhar, Tasfia Tasnim, Adarsh Gupta

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Faculty Scholarship

CONTEXT: With the surge of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2 [COVID-19]), the modality of teaching anatomy has shifted from in-person cadaveric dissection to virtual lessons for incoming first-year medical students. As a result, we aim to assess the impact that this curriculum change has on student perspectives.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to understand the relative effect of a virtual anatomy course implemented during the pandemic (2019-2020) on the confidence, skills, and perspectives of first-year medical students compared to medical students who had traditional in-person anatomy at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine (Rowan SOM) in Stratford, New Jersey.

METHODS: The authors …

Risk Of Transmission Of Respiratory Viruses During Aerosol-Generating Medical Procedures (Agmps) Revisited In The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review, Jenine Leal, Brenlea Farkas, Liza Mastikhina, Jordyn Flanagan, Becky Skidmore, Charleen Salmon, Devika Dixit, Stephanie Smith, Stephen Tsekrekos, Bonita Lee, Joseph Vayalumkal, Jessica Dunn, Robyn Harrison, Melody Cordoviz, Roberta Dubois, Uma Chandran, Fiona Clement, Kathryn Bush, John Conly, Oscar Larios

Journal Articles

BACKGROUND: In many jurisdictions healthcare workers (HCWs) are using respirators for aerosol-generating medical procedures (AGMPs) performed on adult and pediatric populations with all suspect/confirmed viral respiratory infections (VRIs). This systematic review assessed the risk of VRIs to HCWs in the presence of AGMPs, the role respirators versus medical/surgical masks have on reducing that risk, and if the risk to HCWs during AGMPs differed when caring for adult or pediatric patient populations.

MAIN TEXT: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central, Cochrane SR, CINAHL, COVID-19 specific resources, and MedRxiv for English and French articles from database inception to September 9, 2021. Independent …

Consumption, Nicotine Dependence And Motivation For Smoke Cessation During Early Stages Of Covid-19 Pandemic In Brazil: A Cross-Sectional Study, Ana Paula Coelho Figueira Freire, Bruna A.S. Medina, Marceli R. Leite, Tainá O. Lopes, Ester T. Santos, Milena M. Ferreira, Bruna S.A. Silva, Margaret A. Cavalcante, Francis L. Pacagnelli

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Education and Professional Studies

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic may have changed smoking habits. For the smoking population, information regarding smoking habits and the pandemic could potentially aid COVID-19 prevention and control measures. Our study aimed to analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on tobacco consumption, nicotine dependence levels, and motivation for smoking cessation. We also collected information from smokers regarding their awareness of the consequences of tobacco use and the increased risks smokers have for severe complications from COVID-19.

Methods: In the survey for this observational cross-sectional study, 122 smokers responded to an online form. The participants provided general data about their smoking …

Typologies Of Stress Appraisal And Problem-Focused Coping: Associations With Compliance With Public Health Recommendations During The Covid-19 Pandemic., Justin F. Landy, Aya Shigeto, Daniel J. Laxman, Lawrence M. Scheier

Faculty Articles

BACKGROUND: Given prior research finding that young adults are less likely to engage in recommended public health behaviors (PHBs) than older adults, understanding who is and is not likely to engage in PHBs among young adults is crucial to mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping, this study examined how typologies of stress appraisal (SA) and problem-focused coping (PFC) among young adults were associated with compliance with public health recommendations during the pandemic.

METHODS: An online sample of young adults in the United States, ages 18-35, was recruited during the early …

Rethinking Public Health Risk Mitigation Strategies: Recognizing The Biosocial Nature Of Covid-19, Grace Savard

CSB and SJU Distinguished Thesis

The SARS-CoV-2 virus has rippled throughout every aspect of society and influenced how we live, breathe, and interact with one another. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the interdisciplinary biosocial impacts of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the resulting disease, COVID-19. In order to understand the complexities of caregiving during COVID-19, we conducted 75 semi-structured interviews with 55 healthcare providers across 18 states over a span of two years. This research assesses how COVID-19 risk mitigation strategies were designed with the primary intention to stop the spread of the virus rather than account for the longer-term social and biological …