Conectar
by Brooke Linden, Amy Ecclestone
The brief version of the Post-Secondary Student Stressors Index (Brief-PSSI) was developed in order to improve the usability of the instrument as a method for evaluating the severity and frequency of stressors faced by post-secondary students. While the original 46-item instrument has been thoroughly psychometrically validated and successfully used among student populations, the length of the instrument limits its utility. Providing a valid, shortened version of the PSSI will enable institutions to include the tool on existing online surveys currently being deployed to surveil the mental health and wellbeing of their students. This study reports preliminary evidence in support of the validity and reliability of the Brief-PSSI using a cross-sectional pilot sample of students attending an Ontario university in 2022. A total of 349 participants (average age 25 (SD = 7.7), range 19–60) completed the first survey, while 149 completed the follow-up survey (average age of 26 (SD = 7.7), range 17–60). Evidence of internal structure, relations to other variables, and of test-retest reliability was assessed according to established index validation guidelines, including the specification of multiple-indicator, multiple-cause models, and Spearman’s rho correlation coefficients. Results provide preliminary support for the validity and reliability of the tool, which demonstrated acceptable goodness-of-fit statistics, statistically significant relationships with like constructs in the hypothesized directions, and good test-retest reliability correlation coefficients. The Brief-PSSI is a useful tool for evaluating the sources of stress among post-secondary students, assessing both the severity of stress experienced and frequency with which each stressor occurred. Future research should explore the practical utility of adding the Brief-PSSI to existing survey assessments as well as pursue the continued collection of validation evidence for the tool among varied student populations.To explore and model factors affecting antibiotic prescribing decision-making early in the pandemic.
Semistructured qualitative interview study.
National Health Service (NHS) trusts/health boards in England and Wales.
Clinicians from NHS trusts/health boards in England and Wales.
Individual semistructured interviews were conducted with clinicians in six NHS trusts/health boards in England and Wales as part of the Procalcitonin Evaluation of Antibiotic use in COVID-19 Hospitalised patients study, a wider study that included statistical analysis of procalcitonin (PCT) use in hospitals during the first wave of the pandemic. Thematic analysis was used to identify key factors influencing antibiotic prescribing decisions for patients with COVID-19 pneumonia during the first wave of the pandemic (March to May 2020), including how much influence PCT test results had on these decisions.
During the first wave of the pandemic, recommendations to prescribe antibiotics for patients with COVID-19 pneumonia were based on concerns about secondary bacterial infections. However, as clinicians gained more experience with COVID-19, they reported increasing confidence in their ability to distinguish between symptoms and signs caused by SARS-CoV-2 viral infection alone, and secondary bacterial infections. Antibiotic prescribing decisions were influenced by factors such as clinician experience, confidence, senior support, situational factors and organisational influences. A decision-making model was developed.
This study provides insight into the decision-making process around antibiotic prescribing for patients with COVID-19 pneumonia during the first wave of the pandemic. The importance of clinician experience and of senior review of decisions as factors in optimising antibiotic stewardship is highlighted. In addition, situational and organisational factors were identified that could be optimised. The model presented in the study can be used as a tool to aid understanding of the complexity of the decision-making process around antibiotic prescribing and planning antimicrobial stewardship support in the context of a pandemic.
FreshRSS 