Identification novel LQT syndrome-associated variants in Polish population and genotype-phenotype correlations in eight families

The Coronavirus-19 disease (COVID-19) pandemic has influenced the nutrition of individuals, including the diet followed, food availability, and food security. However, thus far, only a few studies have been published regarding the diet and activity of children and adolescents. The aim of the present study was to analyze the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and remote education in this period on the diet and physical activity in a Polish population-based sample of primary school adolescents. In June 2020, the Diet and Activity of Youth during COVID-19 (DAY-19) Study was conducted on a population recruited based on stratified random sampling from all regions (schools sampled from counties, and counties from voivodeships). The sample consisted of a total of 1334 adolescents aged 10–16 years. The study assessed the diet and physical activity of the participants using a validated questionnaire which included questions about the period of remote education and the period before the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were asked about the following: consumption of fruit, vegetables, soft drinks, water, French fries, and fast food; eating meals in front of the television; and the number of days they are physically active and the number of hours they spend watching television. The obtained data were analyzed by stratifying the respondents by the gender, age, size of the city and total COVID-19 morbidity in the voivodeship. It was observed that, during the pandemic and the resultant remote education, the proportion of respondents who declared the recommended intake of fruits and vegetables had increased compared to that before the pandemic—a higher proportion consumed at least three portions of fruit per day (19.0% before pandemic vs. 27.4% during pandemic; p < 0.0001), as well as three and four or more portions of vegetables per day (11.9% vs. 14.5% and 7.5% vs. 11.1%; p = 0.0004). At the same time, the proportion of respondents consuming at least three cups of water per day had increased (41.1% vs. 47.9%; p = 0.0020), whereas the proportion of respondents who never or rarely eat their meals in front of the television had decreased (35.6% vs. 28.9%; p < 0.0001), and the proportion watching television for more than 2 h a day had increased (78.3% vs. 88.4%; p < 0.0001). Based on the results, it may be concluded that, during the period of remote education due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the dietary behaviors of the studied population of Polish adolescents were more beneficial, which included a higher intake of fruit, vegetables, and water, compared to before the pandemic. In spite of the increasing screen time, including eating in front of the television, there was no reduction in the number of days the respondents were physically active.

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Rehospitalization as a predictor of mortality in Polish population of heart failure patients-national registry

European Heart Journal ◽

10.1093/ehjci/ehaa946.0967 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽

Author(s):

M Zaleska-Kociecka ◽

K Witczak ◽

K Bartolik ◽

D Was ◽

A Kleinork ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Cox Regression ◽

National Registry ◽

Funding Source ◽

Polish Population ◽

The European Union ◽

Related Factors ◽

Comorbidity Burden ◽

All Cause Mortality ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background High mortality risk in heart failure (HF) is related to repeat HF hospitalizations but also individual patient characteristics. Purpose To evaluate the impact of HF re-/hospitalizations and patient-related factors (sex, HF etiology, age, comorbidity) on all-cause mortality. Methods Our study represents one of the most extensive retrospective cohort analyses consisting of 1,686,861 adult Polish HF patients who presented into public health system in years 2013–2018. It is a part of a nationwide National Health Fund registry covering out- and in-patient data for the entire Polish population (38,495,659 in 2013) since 2009. HF hospitalizations were extracted using ICD-10 coding, whereas the comorbidity was evaluated by means of Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). Results In years 2013–2018 the absolute number of HF hospitalizations in Poland grew by 33% to 264,808 in 2018, whereas the number of rehospitalizations increased 1.5-fold to reach 137,708 in 2018. In fact, nearly half of HF patients (n=817,432; 48.5%) experienced at least one hospitalization, while 15.4% (n=259,868) were rehospitalized during the study period. After initial hospitalization the readmission rate due to HF/all circulatory diseases at 30, 60, 180, 360, and 720 days was 10.4%/15.1%, 21.2%/28.3%, 43.9%/52.8%, 62%/70.4%, and 81%/87%, respectively. As compared to patients who were hospitalized just once, those who underwent at least one rehospitalization were more often female (p<0.001), slightly older (p<0.001), and with higher burden of comorbidities based on CCI (p<0.001). Patient survival was highly dependent on hospitalization frequency (Fig. 1). Mean survival rate at day 720 was 66.4%, 59.8%, 54.9%, 51%, and 43.9% for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and ≥5th hospitalization, respectively. After adjusting for age, sex, etiology (ischemic/non-ischemic) and CCI using a multivariate stratified Cox regression model, the estimated hazard ratios (HR) for all-cause mortality amounted to 1.22 (95% CI: 1.21–1.23, p<0.001) for 2nd, 1.4 (95% CI: 1.39–1.42, p<0.001) for 3rd, 1.58 (95% CI: 1.56–1.6, p<0.001) for 4th, and 1.97 (95% CI: 1.95–1.98 p<0.001) for 5th and subsequent hospitalizations, as compared to the first hospitalization. Conclusions Hospitalization rate in Poland is alarmingly high. Repeat HF hospitalizations strongly predict mortality rate for HF patients even after adjustment for age, sex, etiology, and comorbidity burden. Figure 1. Kaplan-Meier for survival post hosp. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: Public grant(s) – EU funding. Main funding source(s): The project is co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund under the Operational Programme Knowledge Education Development and it is being carried out by the Analyses and Strategies Department of the Polish Ministry of Health.

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