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Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and anxiety levels of healthcare workers in Turkey and South Africa and to determine the possible factors associated with anxiety. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 864 healthcare workers in Turkey and South Africa was conducted during May 1-October 30, 2020. The questionnaire included sociodemographic, individual, work-related, and about coronavirus disease 2019 questions. Anxiety was measured with the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Results: A total of 864 people answered the questionnaire, 527 from South Africa and 337 from Turkey. Healthcare workers in both countries have mild anxiety levels, and the median value of the Beck Anxiety Scale score was significantly higher in the participants from South Africa (10) than the participants in Turkey (8) (P = .004). Compared to Turkey, the risk of moderate/severe anxiety was 1.56 times higher in South Africa. Female gender, duties out of work definition, difficulties of chronic illness management, difficulties in accessing the treatment of mental health problem, living with a person who is older than 65 or has a comorbidity, and personal protective equipment support were found to be associated with moderate/severe anxiety (P < .05). Conclusion: In order to reduce the mental health impact on healthcare workers, pandemic readiness plans must take into account working hours and workload, adequate personal protective equipment supply, and measures to provide psychological support to healthcare workers, especially those with pre-existing mental health illnesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Different assessment tools are used to screen for joint hypermobility. One of the most commonly used tools is the Beighton score. However, the inclusion of the item "hands on floor" (HOF) has been questioned, as this maneuver is not a pure measure of the range of motion because it involves multiple joints and stretching of muscular structures. This study therefore aimed to determine the value of the HOF item to the Beighton score in children aged 6-11 years. Methods: Exploratory research involved children in Grades 1-4 attending four different primary schools in South Africa. Children with a severe medical or neurological condition were excluded from the study. Hypermobility was determined as a score =5/8 on the Beighton score excluding the HOF item. Results: A total of 460 children (median age 8.58 years [interquartile range, 7.33-9.50]) were tested, of which 34.57% were hypermobile. However, only 8.91% of all children scored positive on HOF. Although a significant association was found between HOF and the hypermobility classification (p=0.007), 86.16% of the hypermobile children could not place their hands flat on the floor. Internal consistency improved slightly when HOF was removed from the scale (a changed from 0.698 to 0.703), with a weak corrected item-total correlation (r=0.16). The specificity of the item HOF in identifying hypermobility is high (93.69%); however, the sensitivity is very low (13.84%). Conclusion: This study does not show an additional value of the item HOF of the Beighton score in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]