1.Lung ultrasonography in pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic: an interobserver agreement study among obstetricians
Murat YASSA ; Memis Ali MUTLU ; Pinar BIROL ; Taha Yusuf KUZAN ; Erkan KALAFAT ; Canberk USTA ; Emre YAVUZ ; Ilkhan KESKIN ; Niyazi TUG
Ultrasonography 2020;39(4):340-349
Purpose:
This study investigated interobserver agreement in lung ultrasonography (LUS) in pregnant women performed by obstetricians with different levels of expertise, with confirmation by an expert radiologist.
Methods:
This prospective study was conducted at a tertiary "Coronavirus Pandemic Hospital" in April 2020. Pregnant women suspected to have coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were included. Two blinded experienced obstetricians performed LUS on pregnant women separately and noted their scores for 14 lung zones. Following a theoretical and hands-on practical course, one experienced obstetrician, two novice obstetric residents, and an experienced radiologist blindly evaluated anonymized and randomized still images and videoclips retrospectively. Weighted Cohen's kappa and Krippendorff’s alpha tests were used to assess the interobserver agreement.
Results:
Fifty-two pregnant women were included, with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis rate of 82.7%. In total, 336 eligible still images and 115 videoclips were included in the final analysis. The overall weighted Cohen’s kappa values ranged from 0.706 to 0.912 for the 14 lung zones. There were only seven instances of major disagreement (>1 point) in the evaluation of 14 lung zones of 52 patients (n=728). The overall agreement between the radiologist and obstetricians for the still images (Krippendorff's α=0.856, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.797 to 0.915) and videoclips (Krippendorff's α=0.785; 95% CI, 0.709 to 0.861) was good.
Conclusion
The interobserver agreement between obstetricians with different levels of experience on still images and videoclips of LUS was good. Following a brief theoretical course, obstetricians' performance of LUS in pregnant women and interpretation of pre-acquired LUS images can be considered consistent.
2.Pregnant women’s knowledge about and beliefs toward COVID-19 vaccine: a cross-sectional study
Osman Samet GUNKAYA ; Arzu Bilge TEKIN ; Murat YASSA ; Oguz ARSLAN ; Kübra KARAKOÇ ; Nesibe DEMIRTAŞ ; Canberk USTA ; Çiğdem Künt İŞGÜDER ; Niyazi TUĞ
Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research 2023;12(2):134-142
Purpose:
The aim of this study was to determine the scope of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of pregnant women about the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine.
Materials and Methods:
A total of 886 pregnant women were recruited for the study. A cross-sectional questionnaire was conducted on these selected participants. Data about past infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), SARS-CoV-2 infection of closely related people, and deaths due to COVID-19 among their relatives were questioned.
Results:
The rate of vaccination was higher (64.1%) in pregnant women with higher education levels. Informing about the vaccine, especially by health professionals, showed that the rates of vaccination (25%) increased (p<0.001). In addition, a significant increase was observed in vaccination rates with increasing age and financial income (p<0.001).
Conclusion
The main limitation of our study is that the vaccine, which was approved for “emergency use”, was just started to be administered to pregnant women during the study. Our findings show that our target audience, low-income, low-education, younger pregnant women should be given more attention than those who apply to the doctor for routine follow-up.