COVID-19, which quickly became a global problem, in addition to its effects on public health, is very important in terms of the effect on mental health and anxiety in health care providers. Job burnout should be considered during such health crises. The study design is a cross-sectional study. A total of 87 health care providers (nurses and physicians) were included in the study. Their general information such as age, gender, years of experience, and hours working in COVID-19 was asked. They all filled Maslach burnout inventory, a questionnaire measuring job burnout with three dimensions: Emotional exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA). We found that in physicians, EE (r:0.54, P<0.001) and DP were correlated with hours working in the COVID-19 ward, but no such correlation was found in nurses. Physicians had a higher DP score (mean 12.66 vs. 8.28, P<0.001) and lower PA score (mean 22.71 vs. 25.62, P:0.004) both of them represent higher burnout levels in physicians. Comparing our results with previous studies show that during the COVID-19 breakout higher level of job burnout could be found in health care workers, especially in physicians. Hours working in COVID-19 special wards can increase the level of burnout.

Background: Rhinosinusitis involves inflammation within the paranasal sinuses and the nasal mucosa. It is a very common chronic health condition. This paper performs a validation process on the Persian translation of the rhinosinusitis quality-of-life questionnaire (RhinoQOL), for use in clinical assessment of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients. The Lund-Mackay score is also used widely in assessing CRS, and this study aims to describe its relationship to RhinoQOL. Methods: The Persian RhinoQOL adaptation was carried out on 110 CRS patients. A follow-up questionnaire was completed two weeks later. Psychometric properties were determined by statistical analysis (reliability, reproducibility, validity, responsiveness). A total of 45 patients were included for radiologic score calculation. The Spearman’s test was used for assessing the correlation between the RhinoQOL scores and Lund-Mackay score. Results: Internal reliability was excellent for the impact scale (Cronbach’s alpha=0.92). Cronbach’s alpha was 0.63 and 0.55 for frequency and irritation scales, which reflects lower internal consistency values. Temporal stability or Test-retest reliability was excellent across all three scales. ICC was 0.96, 0.97, and 0.99 for RhinoQOL frequency, irritation, and impact scales. No significant correlation was observed between the Lund-Mackay score and RhinoQOL scores in terms of frequency, irritation and impact scales. Conclusion: The Persian version of RhinoQOL appears to be as reliable, valid, and sensitive to change as the English version.

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Since the late 2019 months’ pandemic of Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19), it has spread globally and claimed abundant lives due to its expeditious interpersonal transmission and high mortality rate. Early studies showed that the upper aerodigestive tract procedures had the highest rates of nosocomial spread due to high viral load in upper respiratory and pharyngeal secretions. Between March 10 and April 10, 2020, a total of 28 rigid endoscopies were performed under general anesthesia for the removal of esophageal foreign bodies at our center. All the patients were screened on admission for symptoms of COVID-19 and a chest CT scan was performed and they were later followed up for further investigations. No patient had symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough, and dyspnea) on admission, and only one patient (3.57 %) had a suspicious CT scan for COVID-19. The mean age of 27 asymptomatic cases, including 14 men and 13 women, was 45.2 years old. Their average hospital stay was 0.8 days. all patients were later interviewed, inspected, and closely observed for any upcoming symptoms which would raise suspicion for COVID-19 during isolation. Of the 27 patients who cooperated, none showed COVID-19 symptoms. What makes this experiment prominent is that with suitable plans in a careful and precautionary manner, we can provide first-rate care for patients and meanwhile protect physicians during this pandemic promptly.