Low Risk of COVID-19 Infection in an Ambulatory Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Center in Argentina

Background and Objectives. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns have been raised regarding the risk of infection to both healthcare staff and patients during gastrointestinal endoscopy procedures. Given the importance of performing routine endoscopic procedures to an individual’s future health, we sought to estimate the risk of COVID-19 infection for healthcare staff and patients undergoing endoscopic studies at an ambulatory endoscopy center during the pandemic. Material and Methods. This is a prospective(and) analytical cohort study conducted in an ambulatory gastroenterology center located in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Patients undergoing different endoscopic procedures were evaluated for COVID-19 between April 14 and August 31, 2020. COVID-19 was also evaluated in all healthcare and associated staff during the same time period. The risk (cumulative incidence) of acquiring COVID-19 in all patients and staff was calculated. Results. Between April 14 and August 31, 2020, procedures were performed in 3,745 patients with a mean age of 51.12 years; 2,102 (56.18%) were male and 1,643 (43.82%) were female. Follow-up was completed in 3,492 patients, 18 of whom tested positive for COVID-19 standing for an incidence of 0.52% (95%CI 0.31 – 0.81%). Six (5.45%) out of 110 staff members were infected with COVID-19 (1 endoscopist, 4 endoscopy assistants and 1 administrative staff member). In this group, the incidence of positive tests for COVID-19 was 5.45% (95%CI: 2.03 – 11.50%). The increased rates of positive cases among our patients and healthcare professionals were respectively 7.9 and 23.6 times lower than in general population. Conclusion. During the study period, the proportion of COVID-19 infections in our ambulatory specialized in gastrointestinal endoscopy was low and much lower than that in the general population for both patients and healthcare professionals. Endoscopic procedures undertaken at this center were low risk, likely due to strict compliance with established pandemic protocols. Future studies should compare the risk of infection in the hospital setting.

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Exploring the Validity and Operational Impact of Using Allied Health Assistants to Conduct Dysphagia Screening for Low-Risk Patients Within the Acute Hospital Setting

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology ◽

10.1044/2020_ajslp-19-00060 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 1944-1955 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Maria Schwarz ◽

Elizabeth C. Ward ◽

Petrea Cornwell ◽

Anne Coccetti ◽

Pamela D'Netto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Allied Health ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Hospital Setting ◽

Low Risk ◽

False Negatives ◽

Exact Agreement ◽

Risk Patients ◽

Impact Phase ◽

Operational Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine (a) the agreement between allied health assistants (AHAs) and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) when completing dysphagia screening for low-risk referrals and at-risk patients under a delegation model and (b) the operational impact of this delegation model. Method All AHAs worked in the adult acute inpatient settings across three hospitals and completed training and competency evaluation prior to conducting independent screening. Screening (pass/fail) was based on results from pre-screening exclusionary questions in combination with a water swallow test and the Eating Assessment Tool. To examine the agreement of AHAs' decision making with SLPs, AHAs ( n = 7) and SLPs ( n = 8) conducted an independent, simultaneous dysphagia screening on 51 adult inpatients classified as low-risk/at-risk referrals. To examine operational impact, AHAs independently completed screening on 48 low-risk/at-risk patients, with subsequent clinical swallow evaluation conducted by an SLP with patients who failed screening. Results Exact agreement between AHAs and SLPs on overall pass/fail screening criteria for the first 51 patients was 100%. Exact agreement for the two tools was 100% for the Eating Assessment Tool and 96% for the water swallow test. In the operational impact phase ( n = 48), 58% of patients failed AHA screening, with only 10% false positives on subjective SLP assessment and nil identified false negatives. Conclusion AHAs demonstrated the ability to reliably conduct dysphagia screening on a cohort of low-risk patients, with a low rate of false negatives. Data support high level of agreement and positive operational impact of using trained AHAs to perform dysphagia screening in low-risk patients.

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Current prevalence of chronic hepatitis B and C virus infection in the general population and other low-risk populations of the EU/EEA: a systematic review

10.26226/morressier.57fe118cd462b8028d890793 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Sanne Hofstraat

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Chronic Hepatitis ◽

General Population ◽

Virus Infection ◽

Hepatitis B ◽

Chronic Hepatitis B ◽

Low Risk ◽

Current Prevalence ◽

The Eu

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Physical Activity Prescription among Healthcare Professionals in Hospital Setting: In the Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications (IJSRP) ◽

10.29322/ijsrp.9.02.2019.p8692 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. p8692

Author(s):

Getu Teferi

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Theory Of Planned Behavior ◽

Planned Behavior ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Hospital Setting

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Mitigating Children’s Pain and Anxiety during Blood Draw Using Social Robots

Electronics ◽

10.3390/electronics10101211 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 1211

Author(s):

Matthijs H. J. Smakman ◽

Koen Smit ◽

Lotte Buser ◽

Tom Monshouwer ◽

Nigel van Putten ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Young Patients ◽

Hospital Setting ◽

Social Robots ◽

Social Robot ◽

Blood Collection ◽

Medical Procedure ◽

Blood Draw ◽

The Social ◽

Children's Pain

Young pediatric patients who undergo venipuncture or capillary blood sampling often experience high levels of pain and anxiety. This often results in distressed young patients and their parents, increased treatment times, and a higher workload for healthcare professionals. Social robots are a new and promising tool to mitigate children’s pain and anxiety. This study aims to purposefully design and test a social robot for mitigating stress and anxiety during blood draw of children. We first programmed a social robot based on the requirements expressed by experienced healthcare professionals during focus group sessions. Next, we designed a randomized controlled experiment in which the social robot was applied as a distraction method to measure its capacity to mitigate pain and anxiety in children during blood draw in a children’s hospital setting. Children who interacted with the robot showed significantly lower levels of anxiety before actual blood collection, compared to children who received regular medical treatment. Children in the middle classes of primary school (aged 6–9) seemed especially sensitive to the robot’s ability to mitigate pain and anxiety before blood draw. Children’s parents overall expressed strong positive attitudes toward the use and effectiveness of the social robot for mitigating pain and anxiety. The results of this study demonstrate that social robots can be considered a new and effective tool for lowering children’s anxiety prior to the distressing medical procedure of blood collection.

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Review for "Mental health status of the general population, healthcare professionals, and university students during 2019 coronavirus disease outbreak in Jordan: A cross‐sectional study"

10.1002/brb3.1730/v1/review2 ◽

2020 ◽

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Status ◽

General Population ◽

University Students ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Disease Outbreak ◽

Mental Health Status ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional

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Knowledge of healthcare professionals about rights of patient’s images

Einstein (São Paulo) ◽

10.1590/s1679-45082015ao3207 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 255-259 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Bianca Rodrigues Caires ◽

Maria Carolina Barbosa Teixeira Lopes ◽

Meiry Fernanda Pinto Okuno ◽

Cássia Regina Vancini-Campanharo ◽

Ruth Ester Assayag Batista

Keyword(s):

Observational Study ◽

Teaching Hospital ◽

Nursing Staff ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Physical Therapists ◽

Hospital Setting ◽

Penal Code ◽

Healthcare Organizations ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

The City

Objective To assess knowledge of healthcare professionals about capture and reproduction of images of patients in a hospital setting. Methods A cross-sectional and observational study among 360 healthcare professionals (nursing staff, physical therapists, and physicians), working at a teaching hospital in the city of São Paulo (SP). A questionnaire with sociodemographic information was distributed and data were correlated to capture and reproduction of images at hospitals. Results Of the 360 respondents, 142 had captured images of patients in the last year, and 312 reported seeing other professionals taking photographs of patients. Of the participants who captured images, 61 said they used them for studies and presentation of clinical cases, and 168 professionals reported not knowing of any legislation in the Brazilian Penal Code regarding collection and use of images. Conclusion There is a gap in the training of healthcare professionals regarding the use of patient´s images. It is necessary to include subjects that address this theme in the syllabus of undergraduate courses, and the healthcare organizations should regulate this issue.

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Prevalence of Advance Care Planning Practices Among People with Chronic Diseases in Hospital and Community Settings: A Quasi-Experimental Design

10.21203/rs.3.rs-97446/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sarah Yeun-Sim Jeong ◽

Tomiko Barrett ◽

Se Ok Ohr ◽

Peter Cleasby ◽

Ryan Davey

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Chronic Diseases ◽

Advance Care Planning ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Community Setting ◽

Care Planning ◽

Community Settings ◽

Future Health ◽

Number Of Patients ◽

Advance Care

Abstract Background: Advance Care Planning (ACP) enables healthcare professionals to embrace the important process where patients think about their values in life and goals for health care, and discuss their future health care preferences with family members for a time when they are not able to make health care decisions. Despite the promotion of ACP last two decades, and well-known benefits of ACP and a written Advance Care Directive (ACD), they are still underutilised in Australia and across the world. Previous studies have provided some insights, however, an uptake of ACP and prevalence of ACDs in community setting is rarely reported.Methods: The aim of this study was to determine the uptake of ACP and prevalence of ACDs among people with chronic diseases in hospital and community settings. A retrospective medical record audit of eligible patients looking for evidence of ACP was conducted in 16 research sites (eight intervention and eight control) in hospital and community care settings. Participants included those who were admitted to one of the research sites, and who were aged 18 years and over with at least one of nine nominated chronic diseases. The primary outcome measures included the number of patients with evidence of ACP through the following practices: completion of an ACD, appointment of an Enduring Guardian (EG), or completion of a resuscitation plan. Results: The overall prevalence of ACD was 2.8% (n=28) out of 1006 audited records, and only 10 of them were legally binding. The number of EGs legally appointed was 39 (3.9%) across the sites. A total of 151 (15.4%) resuscitation plans were found across the eight hospital sites. 95% (n=144) of the resuscitation plans advised ‘Not-for-resuscitation’. Conclusions: The uptake of ACP is very low. Current medical recording system reveals the challenges in ACP lie in the process of storage, access and execution of the ACDs. Given that having an ACD or EG in place is only useful if the treating physician knows how and where to access the information, it has implications for policy, information system, and healthcare professionals’ education. Trial registration: The study was retrospectively registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (Trial ID: ACTRN12618001627246). The URL of the trial registry record http://www.anzctr.org.au/trial/MyTrial.aspx

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Should the Endoscopic Restrictions during COVID-19 Pandemic Remain Unchanged?

Gastroenterology Insights ◽

10.3390/gastroent12030034 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 358-365

Author(s):

Emilio Bresky ◽

Gustavo Bresky ◽

Domingo Lancellotti ◽

Juan Madariaga ◽

Sebastian Licuime ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cancer Diagnosis ◽

Statistical Tests ◽

Endoscopic Diagnosis ◽

A Posteriori ◽

Risk Of Infection ◽

Gastrointestinal Cancers ◽

Digestive Cancer ◽

Endoscopic Procedures ◽

Potential Cancer ◽

Strict Protocol

(Background) Endoscopic procedures are interventions that have been defined as carrying a high-risk of infection with COVID-19. Most endoscopy units restrict their activity based on pre-endoscopic diagnosis. (Objective) To determine the consequences of endoscopic restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and their impact on digestive cancer diagnosis. (Design) A comparison of upper digestive endoscopies and colonoscopies with gastrointestinal cancers diagnosed between three endoscopic centers, two of which restricted their procedures and one that did not but performed the procedures under a strict protocol. (Setting) A retrospective analysis was performed collecting data between 15 March 2019 and 15 August 2020. Two-factor ANOVA and a Tukey’s a posteriori test were used as statistical tests. (Main outcome measures) There was variation in gastrointestinal cancer diagnosis between 2019 and 2020, considering the endoscopic procedures performed each year. (Result) There was a significant decrease in the total endoscopic procedures performed between 2019 and 2020 (p < 0.001), the result of reduced testing at the two centers (p < 0.001) with pre-endoscopic restrictions, which was not compensated for by a slight increase in procedures at the center without restrictions (p = 0.139). Regarding the total cancers diagnosed, while a significant decrease was observed for the two centers with pre-endoscopic restrictions (p = 0.007), a significant increase was registered in the center that maintained its endoscopic productivity (p < 0.001). After 851 procedures (537 upper digestive endoscopies and 314 colonoscopies) there was no evidence of COVID-19 infection in the endoscopic staff. (Conclusion) Endoscopic restrictions based on pre-endoscopic diagnosis should be reassessed in consideration of local pandemic situations, and a balance should be sought between COVID-19 infection risk and the detrimental delay of potential cancer diagnosis.

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