Long COVID-19 Symptoms among Recovered Teachers in Israel: A Mixed-Methods Study

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

 

The authors present a good research paper. 

 

• The relevance of the topic: Good.
• Introduction: Can be improved.
• Methodology: Good.
• Results: Good.
• Discussion: Good.  

 

However, ACCEPT AFTER MINOR REVISION. In general, the paper follows an adequate structure and correct scientific support and can be published considering some limitations. The study is interesting in the field of muscle exercises. However, there are a series of limitations that should be considered.

 

In the first place, carry out a review of the existing literature related to the subject, being essential to inquire into the MPDI – COVID journal itself, since there are papers related to its manuscript that can help to improve it. Therefore, include those references, if any, especially from the last five years. In addition, recommend reading some papers related to the topic of Covid-19 symptoms:

 

Tri Sakti, A. M., Mohd Ajis, S. Z., Azlan, A. A., Kim, H. J., Wong, E., & Mohamad, E. (2022). Impact of COVID-19 on school populations and associated factors: a systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(7), 4024.

van Kessel, S. A., Olde Hartman, T. C., Lucassen, P. L., & van Jaarsveld, C. H. (2022). Post-acute and long-COVID-19 symptoms in patients with mild diseases: a systematic review. Family practice, 39(1), 159-167.

 

 

Specific comments.

 

Title. The title of the manuscript is correct.

 

Abstract. Incorporate in the summary, a more precise sentence of the results.

 

Introduction. This section presents the problem in a coherent and clear manner with the correct support of the scientific literature. However, it is convenient to update the references, since there are different documents related to the subject and no mention is made, and it would even be interesting to mention the different existing studies related to Covid-19 symptoms. Also, it could be a future study of review. Some bibliographical references are attached to carry out the section of Covid-19 symptoms:

 

Ghasemi, F., Herman, K. C., & Reinke, W. M. (2022). Shifts in stressors, internalizing symptoms, and coping mechanisms of teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. School Mental Health, 1-15.

 

Methods. Modify the method section, and specifically, in the section: Design.

 

-       Study design. To write the design section, we recommend that you take some of the following methodologists as references.

 

Ato, M., López-García, J. J., & Benavente, A. (2013). A classification system for research designs in psychology. Annals of Psychology, 29(3), 1038-1059.

 

Results. Summary of study data and table are correct.

 

Discussion. The section Discussion is correct.

 

Conclusion. Differentiate the discussion of the main conclusions of the study. To do this, you must create this section. And modify the limitations of the study and locate them in said section at the end. Also, they must be direct, and highlight the main contributions of the study.

 

References. They should be reviewed and updated according to the publication standards. There are many errors in the references. Therefore, correct them and adapt them to the magazine's regulations.

Author Response

March 14, 2023

Dear Prof. Eva-Maria Skoda

COVID journal,

Editorial Office - COVID

Dear Professor Prof. Maria Skoda:

Submission of a Revision for Manuscript ID 2289123

 

Enclosed please find our revised manuscript ID 2289123, titled “Long COVID-19 symptoms among recovered teachers in Israel: A mixed-methods study”, which we are submitting for possible publication in the Special Issue on "COVID and Post-COVID: The Psychological and Social Impact of COVID-19".

 

We thank you and the reviewers for the useful comments, which have significantly improved our manuscript.

Sincerely, 

 

 

Prof. Inbar Levkovich, Ph.D.

Faculty of Graduate Studies

Oranim Academic College, Kiryat Tiv'on 36006, Israel

e-mail = [email protected]

Phone = +972-3925859

 

 

Response to Reviewer 1

 The authors present a good research paper.  However, ACCEPT AFTER MINOR REVISION. In general, the paper follows an adequate structure and correct scientific support and can be published considering some limitations. The study is interesting in the field of muscle exercises. However, there are a series of limitations that should be considered.

 In the first place, carry out a review of the existing literature related to the subject, being essential to inquire into the MPDI – COVID journal itself, since there are papers related to its manuscript that can help to improve it. Therefore, include those references, if any, especially from the last five years. In addition, recommend reading some papers related to the topic of Covid-19 symptoms:

 Tri Sakti, A. M., Mohd Ajis, S. Z., Azlan, A. A., Kim, H. J., Wong, E., & Mohamad, E. (2022). Impact of COVID-19 on school populations and associated factors: a systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(7), 4024.

van Kessel, S. A., Olde Hartman, T. C., Lucassen, P. L., & van Jaarsveld, C. H. (2022). Post-acute and long-COVID-19 symptoms in patients with mild diseases: a systematic review. Family practice, 39(1), 159-167.

Thank you for these suggestions. We added updated references in the Introduction section of the revised version (pp. 3-6).

 Specific comments.

 Title. The title of the manuscript is correct.

 Thank you for this positive comment.

Abstract. Incorporate in the summary, a more precise sentence of the results.

Thank you for this important feedback. We added a summary sentence based on the research findings

Introduction. This section presents the problem in a coherent and clear manner with the correct support of the scientific literature. However, it is convenient to update the references, since there are different documents related to the subject and no mention is made, and it would even be interesting to mention the different existing studies related to Covid-19 symptoms. Also, it could be a future study of review. Some bibliographical references are attached to carry out the section of Covid-19 symptoms:

 Ghasemi, F., Herman, K. C., & Reinke, W. M. (2022). Shifts in stressors, internalizing symptoms, and coping mechanisms of teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. School Mental Health, 1-15.

 Thank you for this important comment. We supplemented the Introduction with more empirical research.

Methods. Modify the method section, and specifically, in the section: Design.

 Study design. To write the design section, we recommend that you take some of the following methodologists as references. 

Ato, M., López-García, J. J., & Benavente, A. (2013). A classification system for research designs in psychology. Annals of Psychology, 29(3), 1038-1059.

 Thank you for this comment. We added this reference to the Methods section (p. 7).

Results. Summary of study data and table are correct.

Thank you for your positive comment.

 Discussion. The section Discussion is correct.

Thank you.

 Conclusion. Differentiate the discussion of the main conclusions of the study. To do this, you must create this section. And modify the limitations of the study and locate them in said section at the end. Also, they must be direct, and highlight the main contributions of the study.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. In the revised version we added a separate Conclusions section. Additionally, we reorganized the structure of our paper, such that after the discussion we give practical recommendations, limitations, and conclusions as separate sub-sections. We also removed the reference to the potential contribution of the study.

 References. They should be reviewed and updated according to the publication standards. There are many errors in the references. Therefore, correct them and adapt them to the magazine's regulations.

Thank you for this comment. We have revised and updated the entire reference list to adhere to the citation rules outlined in the journal guidelines.

Reviewer 2 Report

I reviewed the Manuscript "covid-2289123 " titled "Long COVID-19 symptoms among recovered teachers in Israel: A mixed-methods study" submitted for publication in "COVID".

This article is interesting. However, there are some improvements that must be done to merit publication in this journal:

1. Line 10, I think it's better to write 170

2. Line 15, please be careful about fonts (25% is written in a weird way)

3. Line 17, please put a comma "," after study

4. Please consider adding more results in your abstract, instead of percentages, consider adding P values or anything significant.

5. Line 28, please write the full term "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) instead of writing the acronym, as it is the first time it appears in the text.

6. Line 32, same thing with SARS

7. Line 82, I think  it's best to rephrase and start your last paragraph by clearly stating your objective (eg. this study aimed at...the aim of this study was....etc).

8. Table 1 and 2, what is "f" ???

9. Line 174, please add the full name of SPSS and consider adding a citation for it.

10.There are some confusing parts in the methodology and results section. Honestly, I'm not very convinced by the way you conducted your study. I will just advise the authors to carefully revise these parts.

11. Discussion section was well handled, please consider comparing your findings with more previous studies, as this part should be highly referenced.

I wish the authors good luck.

Author Response

March 14, 2023

Dear Prof. Eva-Maria Skoda

COVID journal,

Editorial Office - COVID

Dear Professor Prof. Maria Skoda:

Submission of a Revision for Manuscript ID 2289123

 

Enclosed please find our revised manuscript ID 2289123, titled “Long COVID-19 symptoms among recovered teachers in Israel: A mixed-methods study”, which we are submitting for possible publication in the Special Issue on "COVID and Post-COVID: The Psychological and Social Impact of COVID-19".

 

We thank you and the reviewers for the useful comments, which have significantly improved our manuscript.

Sincerely, 

 

 

Prof. Inbar Levkovich, Ph.D.

Faculty of Graduate Studies

Oranim Academic College, Kiryat Tiv'on 36006, Israel

e-mail = [email protected]

Phone = +972-3925859

 

 

 

Response to Reviewer 2

This article is interesting. However, there are some improvements that must be done to merit publication in this journal:

1. Line 10, I think it's better to write 170

Corrected

2. Line 15, please be careful about fonts (25% is written in a weird way)

Corrected

3. Line 17, please put a comma "," after study

Corrected

 

4. Please consider adding more results in your abstract, instead of percentages, consider adding P values or anything significant.

Thank you for your comment. We have reduced the amount of information about the symptoms and added information about the correlations and significance, all while staying within the abstract's word limit.

5. Line 28, please write the full term "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) instead of writing the acronym, as it is the first time it appears in the text.

            Thank you for the comment. Corrected.

6. Line 32, same thing with SARS

Corrected

7. Line 82, I think  it's best to rephrase and start your last paragraph by clearly stating your objective (eg. this study aimed at...the aim of this study was....etc).

Thank you for your feedback. We changed the paragraph according to your suggestion.

8. Table 1 and 2, what is "f" ???

We appreciate that you pointed out this error, which is now corrected to N.

9. Line 174, please add the full name of SPSS and consider adding a citation for it.

We added the full name and the citation.

10.There are some confusing parts in the methodology and results section. Honestly, I'm not very convinced by the way you conducted your study. I will just advise the authors to carefully revise these parts.

We added the research hypotheses before the methodology section to further specify the quantitative research.  Additionally, we made modifications to Table 3 to clarify the symptom frequency. We hope these clarifications make these sections clearer and easier to understand.

11. Discussion section was well handled, please consider comparing your findings with more previous studies, as this part should be highly referenced.

Thank you for the feedback. In the discussion section we added references to the findings of more current articles in the field.

Reviewer 3 Report

I would like to congratulate the authors for having chosen such an interesting and topical subject.

Please correct the point inserted after " in lines, 220, 236 and 266.

The part on qualitative studies contains more psychological than scientific reflections, however it is fine, I would leave it anyway.

I would add among the limitations the low number of patients enrolled, both in the quantitative and especially in the qualitative study.

I would also ask you to answer a few questions.

Did the number of vaccinations, being chronically ill influence the results obtained? 

From a medical point of view, how many patients were hospitalised? How many took treatments to counteract the covid? If you don't know, please add this as a limitation of the study.

I really appreciated in both the introduction and the discussion part the concise and accurate way you describe the long covid symptoms found in other scientific papers, and the comparison with the data obtained in your research.

Reviewer 4 Report

This study aimed to examine the impact of long COVID symptoms on the occupational status of teachers after recovery. However, several points are raised.

-Abstract: to add methods.

-Introduction: What is hypothesis?

-Methods: The study recruited participants only in June of 2022? Please to add the flowchart of inclusion of subjects.

-Results: Table 3 is very confusing. I suggest to transf in a Fig.

 

Minor: to change "gender" to "sex".

 

 

Author Response

March 14, 2023

Dear Prof. Eva-Maria Skoda

COVID journal,

Editorial Office - COVID

Dear Professor Prof. Maria Skoda:

Submission of a Revision for Manuscript ID 2289123

 

Enclosed please find our revised manuscript ID 2289123, titled “Long COVID-19 symptoms among recovered teachers in Israel: A mixed-methods study”, which we are submitting for possible publication in the Special Issue on "COVID and Post-COVID: The Psychological and Social Impact of COVID-19".

 

We thank you and the reviewers for the useful comments, which have significantly improved our manuscript.

Sincerely, 

 

 

Prof. Inbar Levkovich, Ph.D.

Faculty of Graduate Studies

Oranim Academic College, Kiryat Tiv'on 36006, Israel

e-mail = [email protected]

Phone = +972-3925859

 

Response to Reviewer 3

 

This study aimed to examine the impact of long COVID symptoms on the occupational status of teachers after recovery. However, several points are raised.

Abstract: to add methods.

Thank you for this important input. We added the methods to the abstract.

Introduction: What is hypothesis?

Thank you for the feedback. We added the hypotheses on page 6.

Methods: The study recruited participants only in June of 2022? Please to add the flowchart of inclusion of subjects.

The data were collected during June 2022 in Israel. Since teachers are on summer vacation during July and August, we made significant efforts to gather the data before their vacation in order to create a homogenous group with respect to school reopening. We add a flowchart of showing inclusion of participants.

 

Results: Table 3 is very confusing. I suggest to transf in a Fig.

In line with the reviewer’s comment, we revised Table 3 so that the data are now shown in percentages. We hope this is easier to understand.

 Minor: to change "gender" to "sex".

Corrected

 

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Corrections made are fine. To be accepted.