COVID-19 related concerns of people with long-term respiratory conditions: a qualitative study

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic is having profound psychological impacts on populations globally, with increasing levels of stress, anxiety, and depression being reported, especially in people with pre-existing medical conditions who appear to be particularly vulnerable. There are limited data on the specific concerns people have about COVID-19 and what these are based on. Methods The aim of this study was to identify and explore the concerns of people with long-term respiratory conditions in the UK regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and how these concerns were affecting them. We conducted a thematic analysis of free text responses to the question “What are your main concerns about getting coronavirus?”, which was included in the British Lung Foundation/Asthma UK (BLF-AUK) partnership COVID-19 survey, conducted between the 1st and 8th of April 2020. This was during the 3rd week of the UK’s initial ‘social distancing measures’ which included advice to stay at home and only go outside for specific limited reasons. Results 7039 responses were analysed, with respondents from a wide range of age groups (under 17 to over 80), gender, and all UK nations. Respondents reported having asthma (85%), COPD (9%), bronchiectasis (4%), interstitial lung disease (2%), or ‘other’ lung diseases (e.g. lung cancer) (1%). Four main themes were identified: (1) vulnerability to COVID-19; (2) anticipated experience of contracting COVID-19; (3) pervasive uncertainty; and (4) inadequate national response. Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic is having profound psychological impacts. The concerns we identified largely reflect contextual factors, as well as their subjective experience of the current situation. Hence, key approaches to reducing these concerns require changes to the reality of their situation, and are likely to include (1) helping people optimise their health, limit risk of infection, and access necessities; (2) minimising the negative experience of disease where possible, (3) providing up-to-date, accurate and consistent information, (4) improving the government and healthcare response.

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COVID-19 related concerns of people with long-term respiratory conditions: A qualitative study

10.1101/2020.06.19.20128207 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Keir EJ Philip ◽

Bradley Lonergan ◽

Andrew Cumella ◽

Joe Farrington-Douglas ◽

Michael Laffan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Free Text ◽

Negative Experience ◽

Wide Range ◽

Psychological Impacts ◽

The Government ◽

The Uk ◽

Consistent Information ◽

The Impact ◽

Respiratory Conditions

ABSTRACTBACKGROUNDThe COVID-19 pandemic is having profound psychological impacts on populations globally, with increasing levels of stress, anxiety, and depression being reported, especially in people with pre- existing medical conditions who appear to be particularly vulnerable. There are limited data on the specific concerns people have about COVID-19 and what these are based on.METHODSThe aim of this study was to identify and explore the concerns of people with long-term respiratory conditions in the UK regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and how these concerns were affecting them. We conducted a thematic analysis of free text responses to the question “What are your main concerns about getting coronavirus?”, which was included in the British Lung Foundation/Asthma UK (BLF-AUK) partnership COVID-19 survey, conducted between the 1st and 8th of April. This was during the 3rd week of the UK’s initial social distancing measures.RESULTS7,039 responses were analysed, with respondents from a wide range of ages, gender, and all UK nations. Respondents reported having asthma (85%), COPD (9%), bronchiectasis (4%), interstitial lung disease (2%), or ‘other’ lung diseases (e.g. lung cancer) (1%). Four main themes were identified: 1) vulnerability to COVID-19; 2) anticipated experience of contracting COVID-19; 3) wide-reaching uncertainty; and 4) inadequate national response.CONCLUSIONSThe COVID-19 pandemic is having profound psychological impacts. The concerns we identified largely reflect objective, as well as subjective, aspects of the current situation. Hence, key approaches to reducing these concerns require changes to the reality of their situation, and are likely to include i) helping people optimise their health, limit risk of infection, and access necessities; ii) minimising the negative experience of disease where possible, iii) providing up-to-date, accurate and consistent information, iv) improving the government and healthcare response.

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Impact of Diagnosed and Undiagnosed Respiratory Pseudomonas on VAP and VAE During Long-Term Acute Care

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology ◽

10.1017/ice.2020.823 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 41 (S1) ◽

pp. s258-s259

Author(s):

James Harrigan ◽

Ebbing Lautenbach ◽

Emily Reesey ◽

Magda Wernovsky ◽

Pam Tolomeo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bacterial Community ◽

Acute Care ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

Care Hospital ◽

16S Sequencing ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Wide Range ◽

The Impact

Background: Clinically diagnosed ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is common in the long-term acute-care hospital (LTACH) setting and may contribute to adverse ventilator-associated events (VAEs). Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common causative organism of VAP. We evaluated the impact of respiratory P. aeruginosa colonization and bacterial community dominance, both diagnosed and undiagnosed, on subsequent P. aeruginosa VAP and VAE events during long-term acute care. Methods: We enrolled 83 patients on LTACH admission for ventilator weaning, performed longitudinal sampling of endotracheal aspirates followed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing (Illumina HiSeq), and bacterial community profiling (QIIME2). Statistical analysis was performed with R and Stan; mixed-effects models were fit to relate the abundance of respiratory Psa on admission to clinically diagnosed VAP and VAE events. Results: Of the 83 patients included, 12 were diagnosed with P. aeruginosa pneumonia during the 14 days prior to LTACH admission (known P. aeruginosa), and 22 additional patients received anti–P. aeruginosa antibiotics within 48 hours of admission (suspected P. aeruginosa); 49 patients had no known or suspected P. aeruginosa (unknown P. aeruginosa). Among the known P. aeruginosa group, all 12 patients had P. aeruginosa detectable by 16S sequencing, with elevated admission P. aeruginosa proportional abundance (median, 0.97; IQR, 0.33–1). Among the suspected P. aeruginosa group, all 22 patients had P. aeruginosa detectable by 16S sequencing, with a wide range of admission P. aeruginosa proportional abundance (median, 0.0088; IQR, 0.00012–0.31). Of the 49 patients in the unknown group, 47 also had detectable respiratory Psa, and many had high P. aeruginosa proportional abundance at admission (median, 0.014; IQR, 0.00025–0.52). Incident P. aeruginosa VAP was observed within 30 days in 4 of the known P. aeruginosa patients (33.3%), 5 of the suspected P. aeruginosa patients (22.7%), and 8 of the unknown P. aeruginosa patients (16.3%). VAE was observed within 30 days in 1 of the known P. aeruginosa patients (8.3%), 2 of the suspected P. aeruginosa patients (9.1%), and 1 of the unknown P. aeruginosa patients (2%). Admission P. aeruginosa abundance was positively associated with VAP and VAE risk in all groups, but the association only achieved statistical significance in the unknown group (type S error <0.002 for 30-day VAP and <0.011 for 30-day VAE). Conclusions: We identified a high prevalence of unrecognized respiratory P. aeruginosa colonization among patients admitted to LTACH for weaning from mechanical ventilation. The admission P. aeruginosa proportional abundance was strongly associated with increased risk of incident P. aeruginosa VAP among these patients.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

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Modeling Building Stock Development

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13020723 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 723

Author(s):

Antti Kurvinen ◽

Arto Saari ◽

Juhani Heljo ◽

Eero Nippala

Keyword(s):

Model Development ◽

Housing Demand ◽

Quality Data ◽

Building Stock ◽

Test Arena ◽

Climate Targets ◽

Wide Range ◽

Key Variables ◽

The Impact

It is widely agreed that dynamics of building stocks are relatively poorly known even if it is recognized to be an important research topic. Better understanding of building stock dynamics and future development is crucial, e.g., for sustainable management of the built environment as various analyses require long-term projections of building stock development. Recognizing the uncertainty in relation to long-term modeling, we propose a transparent calculation-based QuantiSTOCK model for modeling building stock development. Our approach not only provides a tangible tool for understanding development when selected assumptions are valid but also, most importantly, allows for studying the sensitivity of results to alternative developments of the key variables. Therefore, this relatively simple modeling approach provides fruitful grounds for understanding the impact of different key variables, which is needed to facilitate meaningful debate on different housing, land use, and environment-related policies. The QuantiSTOCK model may be extended in numerous ways and lays the groundwork for modeling the future developments of building stocks. The presented model may be used in a wide range of analyses ranging from assessing housing demand at the regional level to providing input for defining sustainable pathways towards climate targets. Due to the availability of high-quality data, the Finnish building stock provided a great test arena for the model development.

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KUALITAS PELAYANAN SEKOLAH TTERHADAP KEPUASAN MAHASISWA DAN PENCIPTAAN BRAND IMAGE

10.31219/osf.io/6axnt ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Lusiah

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

High School ◽

Brand Image ◽

Good Service ◽

Good Image ◽

New Students ◽

The Government ◽

The Impact

The development of higher education in Indonesia is increasingly evident. It is characterized by many private colleges are spread all over Indonesia. But in recent years the government did not give permission to those who want to establish a college. One reason is the government not only menginginkankan development in terms of quantity alone, but must be accompanied by good quality of any existing college.The number of colleges that exist today is already growing its own competition. The high level of competition among private universities is happening now requires every college has the right strategy to attract the interest of new students. Each college offers the advantages of each. However, not all universities have a particular brand image compared with other universities.One of the determining factors of brand image is the satisfaction of its customers. While satisfaction itself arises as a result of service perceived by the customer.College is not only required to provide a good quality education, but they also must be able to provide good service to students as well. Good service is expected to provide satisfaction for students. Of course in the long term, the impact of satisfaction that will form a good image for the college concerned anyway.STIE IBBI Medan is one of the private high school that has a good image in the city of Medan. However, STIE IBBI still have to further improve the quality of services provided to students. It is necessary to maintain the good image that has been owned STIE IBBI today.The plan of the research will be conducted in STIE IBBI Medan. The population is all students STIE IBBI. The long term goal of this research is to STIE IBBI to increase public confidence in higher education that will take in high school applying good quality excellent service. Expected from the results of this study, STIE IBBI can also implement appropriate marketing strategies to improve the quality of service to students. In addition, the results of this research can be a good reference for prospective new students who will pursue higher education in the STIE IBBI Medan.

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Application of natural language processing methods to extract coded data from administrative data held in the Scottish Prescribing Information System

International Journal for Population Data Science ◽

10.23889/ijpds.v1i1.263 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Clifford Nangle ◽

Stuart McTaggart ◽

Margaret MacLeod ◽

Jackie Caldwell ◽

Marion Bennie

Keyword(s):

Information System ◽

Natural Language Processing ◽

Natural Language ◽

Language Processing ◽

Drug Exposure ◽

Drug Dose ◽

Free Text ◽

Wide Range ◽

The Impact ◽

Prescribing Information

ABSTRACT ObjectivesThe Prescribing Information System (PIS) datamart, hosted by NHS National Services Scotland receives around 90 million electronic prescription messages per year from GP practices across Scotland. Prescription messages contain information including drug name, quantity and strength stored as coded, machine readable, data while prescription dose instructions are unstructured free text and difficult to interpret and analyse in volume. The aim, using Natural Language Processing (NLP), was to extract drug dose amount, unit and frequency metadata from freely typed text in dose instructions to support calculating the intended number of days’ treatment. This then allows comparison with actual prescription frequency, treatment adherence and the impact upon prescribing safety and effectiveness. ApproachAn NLP algorithm was developed using the Ciao implementation of Prolog to extract dose amount, unit and frequency metadata from dose instructions held in the PIS datamart for drugs used in the treatment of gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Accuracy estimates were obtained by randomly sampling 0.1% of the distinct dose instructions from source records, comparing these with metadata extracted by the algorithm and an iterative approach was used to modify the algorithm to increase accuracy and coverage. ResultsThe NLP algorithm was applied to 39,943,465 prescription instructions issued in 2014, consisting of 575,340 distinct dose instructions. For drugs used in the gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and respiratory systems (i.e. chapters 1, 2 and 3 of the British National Formulary (BNF)) the NLP algorithm successfully extracted drug dose amount, unit and frequency metadata from 95.1%, 98.5% and 97.4% of prescriptions respectively. However, instructions containing terms such as ‘as directed’ or ‘as required’ reduce the usability of the metadata by making it difficult to calculate the total dose intended for a specific time period as 7.9%, 0.9% and 27.9% of dose instructions contained terms meaning ‘as required’ while 3.2%, 3.7% and 4.0% contained terms meaning ‘as directed’, for drugs used in BNF chapters 1, 2 and 3 respectively. ConclusionThe NLP algorithm developed can extract dose, unit and frequency metadata from text found in prescriptions issued to treat a wide range of conditions and this information may be used to support calculating treatment durations, medicines adherence and cumulative drug exposure. The presence of terms such as ‘as required’ and ‘as directed’ has a negative impact on the usability of the metadata and further work is required to determine the level of impact this has on calculating treatment durations and cumulative drug exposure.

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Congenital Micropenis: Aetiology And Management

Journal of the Endocrine Society ◽

10.1210/jendso/bvab172 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Marianna Rita Stancampiano ◽

Kentaro Suzuki ◽

Stuart O’Toole ◽

Gianni Russo ◽

Gen Yamada ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Racial Differences ◽

Small Sample Size ◽

Small Sample ◽

Long Term Outcomes ◽

Penile Length ◽

Appearance Quality ◽

Wide Range ◽

The Impact

Abstract In the newborn, penile length is determined by a number of androgen dependent and independent factors. The current literature suggests that there are inter-racial differences in stretched penile length in the newborn and although congenital micropenis should be defined as a stretched penile length of less than 2.5SDS of the mean for the corresponding population and gestation, a pragmatic approach would be to evaluate all boys with a stretched penile length below 2 cm, as congenital micropenis can be a marker for a wide range of endocrine conditions. However, it remains unclear as to whether the state of micropenis, itself, is associated with any long-term consequences. There is a lack of systematic studies comparing the impact of different therapeutic options on long-term outcomes, in terms of genital appearance, quality of life and sexual satisfaction. To date, research has been hampered by a small sample size and inclusion of a wide range of heterogeneous diagnoses; for these reasons, condition specific outcomes have been difficult to compare between studies. Lastly, there is a need for a greater collaborative effort in collecting standardized data so that all real-world or experimental interventions performed at an early age can be studied systematically into adulthood.

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A cross-sectional survey assessing the preparedness of the long-term care sector to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada

10.21203/rs.3.rs-57368/v3 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Henry Yu-Hin Siu ◽

Lorand Kristof ◽

Dawn Elston ◽

Abe Hafid ◽

Fred Mather

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Long Term Care ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Term Care ◽

Wide Range ◽

Significant Public Health ◽

Public Health Officials ◽

The Government

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is a significant public health emergency that impacts all sectors of healthcare. The negative health outcomes for the COVID-19 infection have been most severe in the frail elderly dwelling in Canadian long-term care (LTC) homes.Methods: An online cross-sectional survey of Ontario LTC Clinicians working in LTC homes in Ontario Canada was conducted to provide the LTC clinician perspective on the preparedness and engagement of the LTC sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey questionnaire was developed in collaboration with the Ontario Long-Term Care Clinicians organization (OLTCC) and was distributed between March 30, 2020 to May 25, 2020. All registered members of the OLTCC and Nurse-led LTC Outreach Teams were invited to participate. The primary outcomes were: 1) the descriptive report of the screening measures implemented, communication and information received, and the preparation of the respondent’s LTC home to a potential COVID-19 outbreak; and 2) the level of agreement, as reported using a five-point Likert scale), to COVID-19 preparedness statements for the respondent’s LTC home was also assessed.Results: The overall response rate was 54% (160/294). LTC homes implemented a wide range of important interventions (e.g. instituting established respiratory isolation protocols, active screening of new LTC admissions, increasing education on infection control processes, encouraging sick staff to take time off, etc). Ample communications pertinent to the pandemic were received from provincial LTC organizations, the government and public health officials. However, the feasibility of implementing public health recommendations, as well as the engagement of the LTC sector in pandemic planning were identified as areas of concern. Medical director status was associated with an increased knowledge of local implementation of interventions to mitigate COVID-19, as well as endorsing increased access to reliable COVID-19 information and resources to manage a potential COVID-19 outbreak in their LTC home.Conclusions: This study highlights the communication to and implementation of recommendations in the Ontario LTC sector, despite some concerns regarding feasibility. Importantly, LTC clinician respondents clearly indicated that better engagement with LTC leaders is needed to plan a coordinated pandemic response.

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Incentive Contract Design considering Fairness Preferences and Carbon Emission Reduction Multiobjective Tasks

Mathematical Problems in Engineering ◽

10.1155/2021/6541682 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Zhipeng Li ◽

Shuzhen Zhu ◽

Xinyu Cao

Keyword(s):

Discount Rate ◽

Emission Reduction ◽

Carbon Emission ◽

Correlation Coefficients ◽

Carbon Emission Reduction ◽

Incentive Model ◽

Incentive Strategies ◽

The Government ◽

The Impact

Considering the multitargets of corporate carbon emission reduction and the fairness preference psychology of the company, a government incentive model for corporate carbon emission reduction was constructed. The impact of corporate fairness preferences on government carbon emission reduction incentive strategies is studied. In addition, numerical simulation is used to analyze the impact of changes in correlation coefficients, fairness preference coefficients, and discount rates on the optimal enterprise effort coefficient and the government optimal incentive coefficient. Research shows that the degree of fairness preference of a company has a direct impact on the degree of corporate effort, while the discount rate will only have an impact on the company’s long-term effort. In order to improve corporate carbon emission reduction efforts, the government must not only consider the impact of fairness preference on corporate efforts but also flexibly adjust the incentive coefficient of long-term and short-term tasks based on the discount rate.

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Guanxi, Trust, and Long-Term Orientation in Chinese Business Markets

Journal of International Marketing ◽

10.1509/jimk.13.2.28.64860 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 28-56 ◽

Cited By ~ 243

Author(s):

Don Y. Lee ◽

Philip L. Dawes

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Interpersonal Relationships ◽

Chinese Culture ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Business Markets ◽

Latent Construct ◽

Chinese Business ◽

The Government ◽

The Impact

This research focuses on buying firms’ trust in a supplier's salesperson and posits that this type of trust is determined by characteristics of the salesperson, the interpersonal relationships between a salesperson and the buying firm's boundary personnel, and characteristics of personal interactions between these two parties. More important, the authors discuss the concept of interpersonal relationships in the context of Chinese culture and model it as a three-dimensional latent construct, which, in some literature, is called guanxi. A key aspect of this research is that the authors investigate the impact of each dimension of guanxi on salesperson trust separately. Moreover, the authors consider the buying firm's trust in the supplying firm and its long-term orientation toward the supplier the consequences of salesperson trust. To test the model, the authors use data collected from 128 buying organizations in Hong Kong. The sampled firms are from both the government and private sectors.

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Accounting for gaming in the time of plague: COVID-19 in Macau

Sustainability Accounting Management and Policy Journal ◽

10.1108/sampj-12-2020-0423 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Carlos Noronha ◽

Jieqi Guan ◽

Sandy Hou In Sio

Keyword(s):

Critical Event ◽

Gaming Industry ◽

Content Type ◽

The Public ◽

The Social ◽

Social Account ◽

The Government ◽

The Impact ◽

Practical Implications

Purpose While the COVID-19 virus has been spreading worldwide, some studies have related the pandemic with various aspects of accounting and therefore emphasized the importance of accounting research in understanding the impact of COVID-19 on society as a whole. Recent studies have looked into such an impact on various industries such as retail and agriculture. The current study aims at applying a sociological framework, sociology of worth (SOW), to the gaming industry in Macau, the largest operator of state-allowed gambling and entertainment in China, which will allow for its development during the COVID-19 pandemic to be charted. Design/methodology/approach The study uses the theory of SOW as a framework and collects data from various sources, such as the government, gaming operators and the public, to create timelines and SOW frameworks to analyze the impact of the virus on the gaming industry and the society as a whole. Findings Detailed content analysis and the creation of different SOW matrices determined that the notion of a “lonely economy” during a time of a critical event may be ameliorated in the long term through compromises of the different worlds and actors of the SOW. Practical implications Though largely theory-based, this study offers a thorough account of the COVID-19 incident for both the government and the gaming industry to reflect on and to consider new ways to fight against degrowth caused by disasters or crises. Social implications The SOW framework divides society into different worlds of different worths. The current study shows how the worths of the different worlds are congruent during normal periods, and how cracks appear between them when a sudden crisis, such as COVID-19, occurs. The article serves as a social account of how these cracks are formed and how could they be resolved through compromise and reconstruction. Originality/value This study is a first attempt to apply SOW to a controversial industry (gaming) while the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are ongoing. It offers a significant contribution to the social accounting literature through its consideration of the combination of unprecedented factors in a well-timed study that pays close attention to analyses and theoretical elaboration.

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