Logistics workers are a key factor for SARS-CoV-2 spread in Brazilian small towns: case-control study (Preprint)

Background The term failure to cope (FTC) is often used to dismissively describe hospitalized older adults. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors associated with receiving a label of FTC. Methods Age-matched, case-control study with electronic and paper chart review identifying patient characteristics and admission details. Results One hundred eighty-five patients 70 years of age or older admitted to a general medicine team over two years: 99 patients with the label of FTC and 86 controls. No patients labelled with FTC came from long-term care. Characteristics associated with a label of FTC included living alone (aOR 3.8, 95% CI 1.9-7.8), falls (aOR 3.8, 95% CI 1.9-7.8), rehospitalization (aOR 3.6, 95% CI 1.7-8.0), and living in an independent dwelling (aOR 2.4, 95% CI 1.0-5.5). A higher number of chronic medications was associated with a lower likelihood of being labelled with FTC (aOR 0.9, 95% CI 0.8-1.0). Conclusions The results suggest that FTC is a label based predominantly on social factors and has no role in a medical assessment. The patient’s home setting was the key factor in being labelled with FTC, most medical factors did not play a significant role, and a pervasive language of blame was present.

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Socio-Motor Improvisation in Schizophrenia: A Case-Control Study in a Sample of Stable Patients

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnhum.2021.676242 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

Author(s):

Robin N. Salesse ◽

Jean-François Casties ◽

Delphine Capdevielle ◽

Stéphane Raffard

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

Direct Evidence ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Case Control ◽

Clinical Context ◽

Shared Attention ◽

Key Factor ◽

And Behavior ◽

Two Sides ◽

Control Study

Improvising is essential for human development and is one of the most important characteristics of being human. However, how mental illness affects improvisation remains largely unknown. In this study we focused on socio-motor improvisation in individuals with schizophrenia, one of the more debilitating mental disorder. This represents the ability to improvise gestures during an interaction to promote sustained communication and shared attention. Using a novel paradigm called the mirror game and recently introduced to study joint improvisation, we recorded hand motions of two people mirroring each other. Comparing Schizophrenia patients and healthy controls skills during the game, we found that improvisation was impaired in schizophrenia patients. Patients also exhibited significantly higher difficulties to being synchronized with someone they follow but not when they were leaders of the joint improvisation game. Considering the correlation between socio-motor synchronization and socio-motor improvisation, these results suggest that synchronization does not only promote affiliation but also improvisation, being therefore an interesting key factor to enhance social skills in a clinical context. Moreover, socio-motor improvisation abnormalities were not associated with executive functioning, one traditional underpinning of improvisation. Altogether, our results suggest that even if both mental illness and improvisation differ from normal thinking and behavior, they are not two sides of the same coin, providing a direct evidence that being able to improvise in individual situations is fundamentally different than being able to improvise in a social context.

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P17.21 Failure to engage as key factor of loss to follow-up from care and treatment among hiv-infected children in botswana: a case-control study

Sexually Transmitted Infections ◽

10.1136/sextrans-2015-052270.599 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 91 (Suppl 2) ◽

pp. A231.1-A231

Author(s):

EM Machine ◽

SL Gillespie ◽

N Homedes ◽

B Selwyn ◽

MW Ross ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Case Control Study ◽

Case Control ◽

Loss To Follow Up ◽

Key Factor ◽

Care And Treatment ◽

Control Study

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Metformin is the key factor in elevated plasma growth differentiation factor-15 levels in type 2 diabetes: A nested, case-control study

Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism ◽

10.1111/dom.13519 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 412-416 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Andrea Natali ◽

Lorenzo Nesti ◽

Elena Venturi ◽

Angela C. Shore ◽

Faisel Khan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Type 2 Diabetes ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Case Control ◽

Elevated Plasma ◽

Growth Differentiation Factor 15 ◽

Differentiation Factor ◽

Key Factor ◽

Nested Case Control ◽

Control Study

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Logistics Workers Are a Key Factor for SARS-CoV-2 Spread in Brazilian Small Towns: Case-Control Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.30406 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Breno Bernardes-Souza ◽

Saulo Ricardo Costa Júnior ◽

Carolina Ali Santos ◽

Raimundo Marques Do Nascimento Neto ◽

Fernando De Carvalho Bottega ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Infection Rate ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Household Survey ◽

Population Based ◽

Small Towns ◽

Case Control ◽

Southeastern Brazil ◽

Factors Associated ◽

The Town ◽

Control Study

BACKGROUND Data on how SARS-CoV-2 enters and spreads in a population are essential for guiding public policies. OBJECTIVE This study seeks to understand the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in small Brazilian towns during the early phase of the epidemic and to identify core groups that can serve as the initial source of infection as well as factors associated with a higher risk of COVID-19. METHODS Two population-based seroprevalence studies, one household survey, and a case-control study were conducted in two small towns in southeastern Brazil between May and June 2020. In the population-based studies, 400 people were evaluated in each town; there were 40 homes in the household survey, and 95 cases and 393 controls in the case-control study. SARS-CoV-2 serology testing was performed on participants, and a questionnaire was applied. Prevalence, household secondary infection rate, and factors associated with infection were assessed. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated by logistic regression. Logistics worker was defined as an individual with an occupation focused on the transportation of people or goods and whose job involves traveling outside the town of residence at least once a week. RESULTS Higher seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was observed in the town with a greater proportion of logistics workers. The secondary household infection rate was 49.1% (55/112), and it was observed that in most households (28/40, 70%) the index case was a logistics worker. The case-control study revealed that being a logistics worker (OR 18.0, 95% CI 8.4-38.7) or living with one (OR 6.9, 95% CI 3.3-14.5) increases the risk of infection. In addition, having close contact with a confirmed case (OR 13.4, 95% CI 6.6-27.3) and living with more than four people (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.1-7.1) were also risk factors. CONCLUSIONS Our study shows a strong association between logistics workers and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and highlights the key role of these workers in the viral spread in small towns. These findings indicate the need to focus on this population to determine COVID-19 prevention and control strategies, including vaccination and sentinel genomic surveillance.

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