Quality of life of COVID-19 recovered patients in Bangladesh

Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) quickly surged the whole world and affected people’s physical, mental, and social health thereby upsetting their quality of life. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the quality of life (QoL) of COVID-19 positive patients after recovery in Bangladesh. This was a study of adult (aged ≥18 years) COVID-19 individuals from eight divisions of Bangladesh diagnosed and confirmed by Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) from June 2020 to November 2020. Given a response rate of 60% in a pilot study, a random list of 6400 COVID-19 patients was generated to recruit approximately 3200 patients from eight divisions of Bangladesh and finally a total of 3244 participants could be recruited for the current study. The validated Bangla version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire was used to assess the QoL. Data were analyzed by STATA (Version 16.1) and R (Version 4.0.0). All the procedures were conducted following ethical approval and in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The mean scores of QoL were highest for the physical domain (68.25±14.45) followed by social (65.10±15.78), psychological (63.28±15.48), and environmental domain (62.77±13.07). Psychological and physical domain scores among females were significantly lower than the males (p<0.001). The overall quality of life was lower in persons having a chronic disease. Participants over 45 years of age were 52% less likely to enjoy good physical health than the participants aged below 26 years (AOR: 0.48, CI: 0.28–0.82). The quality of life of employed participants was found 1.8 times higher than the unemployed (AOR: 1.80, CI: 1.11–2.91). Those who were admitted to hospitals during infection had a low QoL score in physical, psychological, and socials domains. However, QoL improved in all aspect except the psychological domain for each day passed after the diagnosis. These findings call for a focus on the quality of life of the COVID-19 affected population, with special emphasis given to females, older adults, unemployed, and people with comorbidities.

Dexmedetomidine versus Ketamine-Propofol for Sedation of Obese Patients Undergoing Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Background Gastrointestinal endoscopy is an uncomfortable and stressful procedure for most patients. Conscious sedation is a common strategy for improving patient comfort during this procedure. Benzodiazepines (gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) agonists) such as midazolam have been used for sedation of patients undergoing gastrointestinal endoscopy. The effective dose ranges of such agents differ considerably among patients, making it difficult to achieve stable sedation. Also obesity is a significant health problem that has assumed epidemic proportions. As a result, the number of obese patients requiring endoscopy is increasing. It is relatively unknown how safe the current practices of sedation for endoscopic procedures are in bariatric patients. Therefore, special consideration should be given to these patients Aim of the Work To compare the sedative properties and haemodynamic and respiratory effects of Dexmedetomidine and a Ketamine-Propofol combination (ketofol) in obese patients undergoing Upper GI Endoscopy. Patients and Methods This study was conducted in the endoscopy unit of Ain Shams University Hospital after obtaining approval from the Research Ethical Committee of Ain Shams University. A prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial was found to be the most suitable design in order to achieve the study objectives. Cases were divided into 2 groups using computer generated random list of numbers in sealed opaque envelopes. Results We found that ketamine-propofol infusion (1:3) is a better sedation regimen for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy compared to dexmedetomidine as lesser time is taken to achieve optimal sedation, with no hemodynamic unstability or postprocedure complications. Conclusion In this study, we compared a group of 40 upper GIT endoscopy obese patients (BMI 30-40) who received procedural sedation with either Dexmedetomidine or propofolketamine combination, we found that ketamine-propofol infusion (1:3) is a better sedation regimen for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy compared to dexmedetomidine as lesser time is taken to achieve optimal sedation, with no hemodynamic unstability or post procedure complications.

Effect of Betadine on Lymphocele Formation During Kidney Transplantation Surgery

Background: Lymphocele formation post-renal transplantation surgery can cause various complications such as pelvic pain, frequent urination, hydronephrosis, deep vein thrombosis, etc. It is, therefore, necessary to prevent and treat lymphocele. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of rinsing the surgical site with betadine (povidone-iodine 2%) on the prevention of lymphocele formation during kidney transplantation surgery. Methods: This case-control study was conducted at Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2019. The study population consisted of 60 kidney transplant patients referred to Sina Hospital, located in Tehran, who were randomized into two groups of study and control by simple randomization using a computer-generated random list. The surgical site of one group (control group: 30 patients) was washed with povidone-iodine 2%, but this operation was not performed for the patients of the other group (control group: 30 patients). One month after the surgery, patients were monitored for lymphocele via ultrasound, and their sera’s creatinine level was measured to assess renal function. For all statistical interpretations, P < 0.05 value was accepted as being significant. Statistical analyses were performed with statistical software package SPSS version 23. Results: Results: The mean serum creatinine level of patients in the case group was 2.50 ± 1.78, and in the control group was 2.31 ± 1.89. Ultrasound performed one-month post-renal transplant showed the presence of lymphocele in 17 patients out of the total 30 in the study group, while the control group had only 12. Conclusions: It seems that the use of betadine during kidney transplant surgery does not prevent the formation of lymphocele after the surgery

Impact of COVID-19 on Child Maltreatment: Income Instability and Parenting Issues

Introduction: Children are widely recognized as a vulnerable population during disasters and emergencies. The COVID-19 pandemic, like a natural disaster, brought uncertainties and instability to the economic development of the society and social distancing, which might lead to child maltreatment. This study aims to investigate whether job loss, income reduction and parenting affect child maltreatment. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of 600 randomly sampled parents aged 18 years or older who had and lived with a child under 10 years old in Hong Kong between 29 May to 16 June 2020. Participants were recruited from a random list of mobile phone numbers of a panel of parents. Of 779 recruited target parents, 600 parents completed the survey successfully via a web-based system after obtaining their online consent for participating in the survey. Results: Income reduction was found significantly associated with severe (OR = 3.29, 95% CI = 1.06, 10.25) and very severe physical assaults (OR = 7.69, 95% CI = 2.24, 26.41) towards children. Job loss or large income reduction were also significantly associated with severe (OR= 3.68, 95% CI = 1.33, 10.19) and very severe physical assaults (OR = 4.05, 95% CI = 1.17, 14.08) towards children. However, income reduction (OR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.15, 0.53) and job loss (OR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.28, 0.76) were significantly associated with less psychological aggression. Exposure to intimate partner violence between parents is a very strong and significant factor associated with all types of child maltreatment. Having higher levels of difficulty in discussing COVID-19 with children was significantly associated with more corporal punishment (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.05, 1.34), whereas having higher level of confidence in managing preventive COVID-19 behaviors with children was negatively associated with corporal punishment (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.76, 0.99) and very severe physical assaults (OR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.58, 0.93). Conclusions: Income instability such as income reduction and job loss amplified the risk of severe and very severe child physical assaults but protected children from psychological aggression. Also, confidence in teaching COVID-19 and managing preventive COVID-19 behaviors with children was significantly negatively associated with corporal punishment during pandemic.

An Analysis for Key Indicators of Reproducibility in Radiology

BackgroundGiven the central role of radiology in patient care, it is important that radiological research is grounded in reproducible science. It remains unexamined whether there is a lack of reproducibility or transparency in radiologic research.PurposeThe purpose of this study was to analyze published radiology literature for the presence or absence of key indicators of reproducibility.MethodsThis cross-sectional, retrospective study was performed by conducting a search of the National Library of Medicine to identify publications contained within journals in the field of Radiology. Journals that were not written in English or MEDLINE indexed were excluded from the analysis. Studies published from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2018 were used to generate a random list of 300 publications for this meta-analysis. A pilot-tested, Google form was used to evaluate key indicators of reproducibility in the queried publications.ResultsOur initial search returned 295,543 records, from which 300 were randomly selected for analysis. Of these 300 records, 294 met the inclusion criteria. Among the empirical publications, 5.6% contained a data availability statement (11/195, 95% CI: 3.0-8.3), 0.51% provided clearly documented raw data (1/195), 12.0% provided a materials availability statement (23/191, 8.4-15.7), none provided analysis scripts, 4.1% provided a preregistration statement (8/195, 1.9-6.3), 2.1% provided a protocol statement (4/195, 0.4-3.7), and 3.6% were preregistered (7/195, 1.5-5.7).ConclusionOur findings demonstrate that key indicators of reproducibility are missing in the field of radiology. Thus, the ability to reproduce radiological studies may be problematic and may have potential clinical implications.

gene-cocite: a web application for extracting, visualising and assessing the cocitations of a list of genes

BackgroundThe outcome from the analysis of high through-put genomics experiments is commonly a list of genes. The most basic measure of association is whether the genes in the list have ever been cocited together.ResultsThe web application gene-cocite accepts a list of genes and returns a list of the papers which cocite any two or more of the genes. The proportion of the genes which are cocited with at least one other gene is given, and the p-value for the probability of this proportion of cocitations occurring by chance from a random list of genes of the same length calculated. An interactive graph with links to papers is displayed, showing how the genes in the list are related to each other by publications.Conclusionsgene-cocite (http://sysbio.mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk/gene-cocite) is designed to be an easy to use first step for biological researchers investigating the background of their list of genes.

Incidence of Febrile Episode During Stem Cell Mobilization (SCM) After High Dose Ciclophosphamide Chemotherapy (HD-CTX) and G-CSF (filgrastim or lenograstim) Administration in Multiple Myeloma (MM) Patients: II Interim Evaluation

Introduction: Clinical use of G-CSF in pts with high grade chemotherapy induced neutropenia does not conduce to a reduction of the incidence of febrile episodes (FE). This paradox may be explained by the acquisition of a defective chemotaxis by neutrophils (PMN) exposed to filgrastim (Fil), due to a higher adhesivity and cytoscheletric alterations. Lenograstim (Leno), a glicosilated form of G-CSF, is able to stimulate PMN production, manteining in vitro all the functional capabilities. On these bases, we hypotized that Leno may prevent FE and reduce their lasting in pts with chemotherapy derived neutropenia. Patients and methods: starting from April 2005, 105 MM pts achieving HD-CTX for SCM were enrolled in 12 Centers. Treatment plan consisted in: HD-CTX (3 or 4 g/sqm) on day 1, G-CSF (random: Fil or Leno) 30 MU/day from day +4 to +9, 60 MU/day from day +10 to the achievement of an optimal CD34+ cell count for staminoapheresis. Random, 1:1, was effectuated on the base of a generated random list. FE, significant if equal or higher than 38 °C for at least 2 different determinations, were recorded till day +30. Primary endpoint is the incidence of FE; secondary endpoints are the duration of FE, efficacy in the CD34+ cell mobilization, time to mobilization. Results: 105 pts were enrolled. All pts underwent post-chemo grade 4 neutropenia and G-CSF was administred starting from day +4. FE were recorded in 23 pts, 14 in the Fil arm (53 total pts) and 9 in the Leno arm (52 total pts). The global fever incidence was 21.9%, 26.4% with Fil and 17.3% with Leno, with a 9.1% difference. Average days with fever are 4.00 with Fil and 3.67 with Leno. Related to the neutropenia grade, 8 FE are recorded with Fil and 1 FE with Leno with absolute PMN count &gt;500/μL (grade 4); 7 episodes with Fil vs 1 with Leno when PMN are &gt;1000/μL (grade 3–4). CD34+ SCM occurs in after an average time of 10.3 day with Fil and 9.8 day with Leno, with an higher absolute count with Leno when compared to Fil: 131.9 CD34+/μL (range 40–640) vs 111.6 (range 40–616) CD34+/μL. Conclusions: Leno is associated with a reduced incidence (17.3% vs 26.3%) of FE in MM patients undergoing to HD-CTX and SCM when compared to Fil. FE are recorded with Fil even in presence of PMN confirming the functional block by Fil on PMN documented in vitro. CD34+ mobilization occurs shorter and with higher efficiency with Leno when compared to Fil. On these evidences, patients’ enrollment will continue to 180 to validate these results.

Assessment of Compliance of Forestry Best Management Practices in West Virginia

The compliance of forestry best management practices (BMP) was assessed based on 116 randomly selected sites harvested between November 2003 and March 2004 in West Virginia. Landowners were contacted to gain permission for site visits according to the random list. The landowners also were interviewed to identify their knowledge and satisfaction about the harvest and BMP. Four checklists were used to assess 29 BMPs on haul roads, skid trails, landings, and in streamside management zones (SMZ). A general increasing trend in BMP compliance was noted in this statewide BMP assessment with an overall BMP compliance of 74%. Results also indicated that the BMP compliances averaged 81% on haul roads, 68% on skid trails, 80% on landings, and 55% in SMZs.