scholarly journals Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Physicians Working in the Head and Neck Field

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (01) ◽  
pp. e150-e159
Author(s):  
Rui Imamura ◽  
Ricardo F. Bento ◽  
Leandro L. Matos ◽  
William N. William ◽  
Gustavo N. Marta ◽  
...  

Abstract Background With the COVID-19 pandemic, the clinical practice of physicians who work in the head and neck field in Brazil dropped dramatically. The sustained impact of the pandemic is not known. Methods An anonymous online survey was distributed to Brazilian otolaryngologists, head and neck surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, asking about their clinical practice in the third to fourth months of the pandemic. Results The survey was completed by 446 specialists. About 40% reported reduction of more than 75% in outpatient care. A reduction of 90% to 100% in airway endoscopies was reported by 50% of the responders, and the same rate of reduction regarding surgeries (pediatric or nasosinusal) was reported by 80% of them. Family income decreased by 50%, and the psychological burden on physicians was considerable. The availability of personal protective equipment and safety precautions were limited, especially in the public sector. Conclusion COVID-19 is still impacting the head and neck field, and safety concerns may hinder the prompt resumption of elective care.

Author(s):  
Simon Bernatz ◽  
Saif Afat ◽  
Ahmed E. Othman ◽  
Konstantin Nikolaou ◽  
Malte Sieren ◽  
...  

Objectives To find out the opinion of radiological inpatient and outpatient medical staff regarding the measures taken in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic during the first and second waves and to identify the measures that are still perceived as needing improvement. Materials and Methods We conducted an anonymous online survey among more than 10 000 radiologists/technicians in Germany from January 5 to January 31, 2021. A total of 862 responses (head physicians, n = 225 [inpatient doctors, n = 138; outpatient doctors, n = 84; N/A, n = 3]; radiologic personnel, n = 637 [inpatient doctor, n = 303; outpatient doctor, n = 50; inpatient technician, n = 217; outpatient technician, n = 26; N/A, n = 41]) were received. Questions of approximation, yes/no questions, and Likert scales were used. Results During the first/second wave, 70 % (86/123)/43 % (45/104) of inpatient and 26 % (17/66)/10 % (5/52) of outpatient head physicians agreed that they received financial support from the authorities but the majority rated the financial support as insufficient. During the first and second wave, 33 % (8/24) and 80 % (16/20) of outpatient technicians agreed that they were adequately provided with personal protective equipment. The perceived lack of personal protective equipment improved for all participants during the second wave. Inpatient [outpatient] technicians perceived an increased workload in the first and second wave: 72 % (142/198) [79 % (19/24)] and 84 % (146/174) [80 % (16/20)]. Conclusion: Technicians seem increasingly negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Financial support by the competent authorities seems to be in need of improvement. Key Points:  Citation Format


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuo Zhao ◽  
Rui Li ◽  
Yangmyung Ma ◽  
Iman Islam ◽  
Abdul M. Azam Rajper ◽  
...  

UNSTRUCTURED During COVID-19, the clinical and healthcare demands have been on the rapid rise. Major challenges to addressing the pandemic include a lack of testing kits and shortages of ventilators to treat severe cases of COVID-19, insufficient accessibility to personal protective equipment for both hospitals and the public. New technologies have been developed by scientists, researchers, and companies in response to these demands. In this paper, 90 news articles and scientific reports on COVID-19-related innovations during 2020-2021 were screened and shortlisted to form a pool of candidates yielding a total of 20 publications for review which were then categorized into three sections: personal protective equipment, testing methods, and medical treatments. Each study was analyzed for its engineering characteristics and potential social impact on the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the guidelines for future disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment were summarized and discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 883-887
Author(s):  
Hemapriya L ◽  
Maureen Prativa Tigga ◽  
Anil Kumar M.R ◽  
Prathap T ◽  
Neha Wali ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND A novel coronavirus (now termed as SARS-CoV-2) was detected as the causative agent of severe pneumonia in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019. Declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global pandemic in March 2020, it has created profound changes in global economy and healthcare systems. This study evaluates the knowledge and practice with regard to various personal safety measures used by the healthcare professionals. METHODS We conducted a questionnaire study after obtaining approval, from the Institutional ethical committee. An online survey was conducted using a preformatted questionnaire consisting of multiple-choice questions which assessed the knowledge and practices adopted by various healthcare professionals. The survey was done between 1st and 30th of June 2020 and a total of 536 responses was analysed. RESULTS 58.4 % of the participants were females, 66 % of the healthcare workers worked at a private hospital / private medical college with 82.1 % being located in urban areas. Of the 536 respondents, 90.1 % practiced bathing immediately after returning home and 86.8 % sanitized their accessories. 86.9 % of the professionals used frequent sanitization with use of mask and gloves whereas only 12.3 % used full personal protective equipment. 58 % of females had used hydroxychloroquine as prophylaxis whereas only 41 % of males used it (statistically significant, P = 0.005). Healthcare workers in younger age group (23 - 40 years) were more likely to maintain distance with family members, and government doctors were significantly more likely to do so (P < 0.001) as compared to private practitioners. CONCLUSIONS With the medical professionals being at high risk for contracting the infection, the need to provide the healthcare professionals with adequate personal protective equipment is of utmost importance. There is also a need to maintain the well-being of the healthcare professionals as they are the weakest link in the chain. KEY WORDS Medical Practitioners, Personal Protective Equipment, Safety Measures


Author(s):  
Phillip W. Clapp ◽  
Emily E. Sickbert-Bennett ◽  
James M. Samet ◽  
Jon Berntsen ◽  
Kirby L. Zeman ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Hildebrand ◽  
Anthony Bleetman

AbstractBackground:In recent years, the perceived threat of chemical terrorism has increased. It is hoped that teaching civilians how to behave during a chemical incident will decrease the number of “worried well” patients at hospitals, reduce secondary contamination, and increase compliance with the instructions of emergency services. The governments of the United Kingdom and Israel sent booklets to every household in their respective countries. In Israel, the civilian population was issued chemical personal protective equipment (chemical personal protective equipment).Methods:The effectiveness of these public education programs was assessed using a scenario-based questionnaire that was distributed to 100 respondents in Birmingham, UK and Jerusalem, Israel. Respondents were asked how they would behave in three deliberate chemical release scenarios and how they would seek information and help.Results:Only 33% of the UK respondents and 22% of the Israeli respondents recalled reading the government booklets. When asked what they would do after being contaminated in a deliberate release, approximately half of the respondents ranked seeking medical care at a hospital as the most appropriate action.The preferred sources of information in the wake of a chemical strike were (in descending order): radio, television, and the Internet. Approximately half of the respondents would call emergency services for information. Forty-one percent of the UK respondents and 33% of Israeli respondents stated that they either would call or go to the nearest hospital to seek information.Conclusions:The public information campaigns in both countries have had a limited impact. Many citizens claimed they would self-present to the nearest hospital following a chemical attack rather than waiting for the emergency services. A similar response was witnessed in the Sarin attacks in Tokyo and the 1991 Scud missile attacks in Israel.Current UK doctrine mandates that specialist decontamination teams be deployed to the scene of a chemical release. However, this takes >1 hour, and it requires at least 30 minutes to don hospital chemical personal protective equipment. Therefore, it is imperative that hospitals are equipped to cope with unannounced self-presenters after a chemical attack. This requires chemical personal protective equipment and protocols that are easier to use.


2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (02) ◽  
pp. 077-086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph L. Mathew ◽  
T. Lazar Mathew

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated tremendous innovation in India, driven by unprecedented novel needs, sense of urgency, availability of time during the lockdown, funding by Government agencies, and accelerated processing of projects. Therefore, the country has witnessed widespread innovation and imitation of existing technologies in recent weeks, but very few inventions. One novel invention, the Artificial Breathing Capability Device (ABCD) is being speeded up by the current necessity. Other innovations and imitations include (i) healthcare devices/products intended for diagnosis, management, or monitoring of suspected/confirmed COVID-19 patients (in healthcare institutions); (ii) improvisations in personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline healthcare workers and other personnel (including the public); (iii) adaptation of information technology platforms for telehealth, telemedicine, telemonitoring, and tele-education; and (iv) repurposing of existing resources/technologies for COVID-19. Some fruits of these efforts include (i) respiratory support devices (by mechanization of manual ventilation, ventilator splitters, etc.), (ii) personal protective equipment (PPE) (novel face masks, face shields/splash guards, intubation boxes, aerosol guards, etc.), (iii) novel sanitization products, processes or deployment methods, (iv) diagnostic tests (including rapid antibody tests, polymerase chain reaction [PCR] methods, and loop-mediated isothermal amplification [LAMP]), and (v) various adaptations such as repurposing and retrofitting of existing technologies aligned to the needs of COVID-19. These innovations and imitations have laudable features such as extremely rapid development of products (not merely concepts or prototypes); collaboration among individuals, institutions, and industry; willingness of players to work outside traditional comfort zones; and teamwork among stakeholders. Social media and lay press publicity create a sense of achievement and hope in a nation bogged down by the realities of COVID-19. However, these positive developments are associated with unique problems, especially duplication of effort, disregard of intellectual property (IP) issues, unhealthy competition amongst institutions, and failure to consider the needs for which solutions are proposed. The haste for developing products has bypassed the important steps of peer review, laboratory testing, and clinical validation to ensure the safety and efficacy of end users. These unintended side effects of the innovation race can be overcome by coordinated efforts through an innovation pathway proposed in this article under a broader innovation ecosystem.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-43
Author(s):  
Téssia Melo ◽  
◽  
Poliana Costa ◽  
Rafaela Medeiros ◽  
Jorge Araújo-Filho ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 disease pandemic, caused by the new Coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) that originated in Wuhan, China, is an international public health emergency. This disease represents a major challenge for all health professionals, including dentists and their staff. This moment has significantly changed the attendance and routine of dental offices, so there is a great need for information and the development of protocols for the guidance of professionals. This paper aims to systematize the recommendations for dentists’ clinical practice on biosafety and the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), seeking to optimize dental care during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Author(s):  
Venny Larasati ◽  
Soilia Fertilita

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought several changes to people's routine habits. Educating the public about the importance of washing and disinfecting hands as often as possible and the use of personal protective equipment such as masks, googles or face shields to avoid disease transmission and sunbathing habits to get the benefits of sunlight for health and the immune system has an impact on behavior changes on the community. These new habits can bring a negative effect to the skin. The use of disinfectants and personal protective equipment can cause allergic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, skin maceration, secondary fungal infection and acne. Sunbathing can cause changes in skin pigmentation, the appearance of black spots, the skin looks dull and rough and accelerates the appearance of premature wrinkles on the skin. Proper skin care routine during this pandemic situation is essential to maintain skin healthy and avoid skin problems due to the use of disinfectants or PPE. The use of emollients, moisturizers and barrier creams can prevent skin problems to happen. Skin moisturizers can be used regularly after hand washing and before using personal protective equipment. When it comes to maintaining healthy skin during pandemic, skin care routine consists of facial cleansers, toners, moisturizers, serums, morning creams and night creams are also recommended to keep the skin healthy and slow the appearance of premature aging signs on the skin. This activity aims to provide a better understanding to people especially worker how to prevent skin problems and how to maintain healthy skin during pandemic.


2021 ◽  
pp. 99-101
Author(s):  
Hema Praharaju ◽  
Shyam Sunder Indukuri ◽  
Venakata Madhav Makineni

Post-graduate trainees in medical education in India have acted as key frontline healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic,which has had a profound effect on them.This study used an online survey including 144 responses from postgraduate students in the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, India, to understand the impact of the pandemic on them.The survey contained question on personal protective equipment,psychological challenges being faced,clinical & administrative support received, effect on teaching & training, and perception of their services by patients & community. Personal protective equipment was deemed to be adequate by 21%. High levels of stress were described by 75%. Inadequate level of clinical and administrative support was reported by 39% and 46%, respectively. 72% felt that their training has been severely restricted.The majority of the respondents have had either verbal or physical abuse from patients or their attendants.This study highlighted the major problems and the difficult environment being faced by the trainees during the pandemic,and the necessity to address their concerns.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Indah Wahyuni ◽  
Nur Hidayat

ABSTRACTThis study is aimed to determine: (1) the use of posters as a medium of learning at the workshop of Education Department of Civil Engineering and Planning FT UNY, (2) requirements in making posters as instructional media, and (3) Correspondence between poster as a learning media with the workshop at Department of Education of Civil Engineering and Planning FT UNY. This study Applies a descriptive approach (descriptive research). In this study, the researchers did not provide any treatment to what is observed however only describes in detail merely to what was found in the data collection. The findings of this study are (1) poster has been used as a medium of learning both in carpentry, plumbing workshop, and rock workshop. Poster is used to convey information such as personal protective equipment, work step, parts of an instrument, learning products, and K3 (2) the factors of the preconditions if poster at carpentry and rock workshop have been fulfilled. However the preconditions the form of size and color of poster at the plumbing workshop still need to be resized. In addition, the suitability factors such as ease of posters indicators in order to be easily seen in carpentry and plumbing workshop also need to be resized. Other indicators contained in preconditions factors such as expediency and suitability in the third workshop have been fulfilled. (3) The compliance of poster in carpentry, plumbing workshop, and rock workshop at the Education Department of Civil Engineering and Planning FT UNY is good. Posters are suitable to the function and purpose of each workshop. They only need resizing and repositioning. Keywords: instructional media, posters, workshop  ABSTRAKPenelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui: (1) penggunaan poster sebagai media pembelajaran di bengkel Jurusan Pendidikan Teknik Sipil dan Perencanaan FT UNY (2) persyaratan dalam pembuatan poster sebagai media pembelajaran (3) Kesesuaian antara media pembelajaran poster dengan bengkel di Jurusan Pendidikan Teknik Sipil dan Perencanaan FT UNY. Penelitian ini menggunaan pendekatan deskriptif (descriptive reasearch). Dalam penelitian ini, peneliti tidak memberikan perlakuan terhadap apa yang diteliti tetapi hanya sebatas mendeskripsikan secara detail terhadap apa yang ditemukan dalam pengambilan data. Hasil penelitian ini adalah (1) Poster telah dimanfaatkan sebagai media pembelajaran baik di bengkel kayu, bengkel plambing, maupun bengkel batu. Poster digunakan untuk menyampaikan informasi alat pelindung diri, langkah kerja, bagian-bagian dari suatu alat, produk pembelajaran, maupun K3 (2) Faktor prasyarat poster di bengkel kayu dan bengkel batu sudah terpenuhi. Hanya saja untuk prasyarat berupa indikator ukuran dan warna poster di bengkel plambing masih perlu ditingkatkan. Selain itu, faktor kesesuaian berupa indikator kemudahan poster untuk terlihat di bengkel kayu dan plambing juga perlu ditingkatkan. Indikator lain yang terdapat pada faktor prasyarat, kemanfaatan, dan kesesuaian di ketiga bengkel tersebut sudah terpenuhi (3) Kesesuaian poster di bengkel kayu, bengkel plambing, dan bengkel batu di Jurusan Pendidikan Teknik Sipil dan Perencanaan FT UNY sudah baik. Poster sudah sesuai dengan fungsi dan maksud masing-masing bengkel. Hanya saja perlu adanya pembenahan dalam penempatan poster.Kata kunci: media pembelajaran, poster, bengkel


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