A seven-year analysis of the role and impact of a free community eye clinic

Background The Indiana University Student Outreach Clinic (IUSOC) Eye Clinic is a monthly student-run eye clinic that provides free visual screening to the Near East Side community of Indianapolis, IN, USA. Screening includes assessments of visual acuity, intraocular pressure, peripheral visual fields, refraction, and non-mydriatic fundus photography. Methods This is a retrospective chart review of 875 patients seen at the IUSOC Eye Clinic from October 2013 to February 2020. Data on demographics, insurance coverage, ocular history, physical examination, suspected diagnosis, referral status, and glasses provided were collected and analyzed. Results 875 patients were seen at the IUSOC Eye Clinic from October 2013 to February 2020. 39.2% of the patients seen at the clinic reported being uninsured. 61.4% of patients were found to have visual acuity of 20/40 or worse, while 51.3% of patients were found to have a near visual acuity of 20/40 or worse. 20.3% of patients were referred to the local county hospital for further evaluation by an ophthalmologist, 14.4% of patients received free glasses prescriptions, and 27.9% of patients received free reading glasses. Common reasons for referral for further ophthalmology evaluation included glaucoma, decreased visual acuity, and diabetic retinopathy. An estimated value of services provided over the seven years of the clinic was 1271 relative value units. Conclusion The IUSOC Eye Clinic fills an important role in advancing ocular health and preventing irreversible blindness in an underserved Indianapolis community. Additionally, the clinic demonstrates an educational model for involving medical student volunteers.

Comparison of OPD-Referral and Self-Referral Patients In The Emergency Department

Background: To compare outpatient department (OPD) referral patients and self-referral patients in the emergency department (ED) in terms of hospitalization, mortality, and length of stay.Methods: We collected ED patients of a tertiary teaching hospital over a 3-month period. We excluded pediatric patients and patients with certain inconsistent characteristics, such as trauma and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, or referral from other facilities. After propensity score matching, we compared the hospitalization, mortality, and length of stay in the ED of the OPD-referral patents and self-referral patients. We categorized the patients as “emergency” or “urgency” according to their triage information and then analyzed the effects of different severity levels.Results: The OPD-referral ED patients, compared with the self-referral patients, had a higher admission rate (49.8% vs. 28.9%, p < 0.001; odds ratio [OR] = 2.44, 95% confidence intervals [CIs]: 1.91 - 3.12). Among the emergency patients, there was no significant difference regarding the admission rate (62.6% vs. 55.8%, p = 0.257) or the mortality rate (4.6% vs. 8%, p = 0.253). Among the urgent patients, the admission rate was significantly different between the OPD-referral and self-referral groups (46% vs. 20.2%, p < 0.001; OR = 3.36, 95% CIs: 2.48 - 4.55). The urgent patients who were referred from OPD tended to have a higher mortality rate (2.1% vs. 0.5%, p = 0.064). Regarding the length of ED stay, only the discharge and urgent subgroups differed according to OPD- and self-referral status (p < 0.001), with a median of 5.8 hours versus 2.3 hours.Conclusions: The OPD-referral ED patients have a higher admission rate and a longer length of stay than self-referral patients in urgent triage. The OPD-referral ED patients might have more severe and complex conditions. We should be more alert to OPD-referred patients even when they initially appear not severely ill.

Determinants Influencing Bed Occupancy Rate (BOR) at Langsa Hospital in the Covid-19 Pandemic

Health facilities with referral status for COVID-19 cases, reported a decrease in non-COVID inpatients, compared to facilities with non-referral status. The decrease in bed utilization (BOR) was very significant in several health facilities including Langsa Hospital 10-15% before 65-75%,. This study aims to study the Determinants of Factors Affecting the Decrease in Bed Utilization (BOR) at Langsa Hospital during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period in 2021. The research approach uses descriptive qualitative data collection techniques through in-depth interviews and informants are determined by purposive sampling of key informants, namely 4 inpatients and 2 supporting informants. The total number of informants is 6 people. The research instrument is the researcher himself and data collection through interviews, documentation and field observations. Data analysis technique with taxonomy. The results of the study, namely the availability of services due to reduced facilities, hospital policies in implementing health care programs, priority to hospitals from patients in independent practice health care services and community stigma regarding the confirmation of COVID-19 status in each patient, were the driving factors for the decrease in BOR at Langsa Hospital in the 2021 COVID-19 pandemic. It is recommended that the Langsa Hospital management coordinate with IPSRS for the availability of facilities, the health promotion section conducts more effective promotion and socialization methods and nursing provides training on effective communication.

Using ultrasound for screening scoliosis to reduce unnecessary radiographic radiation – a prospective diagnostic accuracy study on 442 schoolchildren

Scoliosis screening is important for timely initiation of brace treatment to mitigate curve progression in skeletally immature children. Scoliosis screening programs frequently include the protocol of referring children screened positive with Scoliometer and Moiré Topography for confirmatory standard radiography. Despite being highly sensitive (88%) for detecting those who require specialist referral, the screening program was found to have more than 50% false positive rate that leads to unnecessary radiation exposure. Radiation-free ultrasound has been reported to be reliable for quantitative assessment of scoliosis curves. The aim of this prospective diagnostic accuracy study was to determine the accuracy of ultrasound in determining the referral status for children initially screened positive for scoliosis. 442 schoolchildren with a mean Cobb angle of 14.0 ± 6.6° were recruited. Using x-ray as the gold standard, the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound in predicting the correct referral status were 92.3% and 51.6% respectively. ROC curve analysis revealed an area under curve of 0.735 for ultrasound alone and 0.832 for ultrasound plus scoliometer measurement. The finding provided strong evidences on the accuracy of ultrasound in determining the referral status that could result in more than 50% reduction of unnecessary radiation exposure for children undergoing scoliosis screening.

Assessing Personality Pathology Response Sets in Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence

Self-report personality inventories may be useful in directing perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) to appropriate intervention programs. They may also have predictive capabilities in assessing the likelihood of desistance or persistence of IPV. However, validity problems are inherent in self-report clinical tools, particularly in forensic settings. Scores of the modifying indices (subsections of the scale designed to detect biases in responding) of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) often are not reported in research. This study analyses the response sets of a sample of 492 IPV perpetrators at intake to a Danish perpetrator program. Profiles were grouped into levels of severity, and the proportion of exaggerated or minimized profiles at each severity level was analyzed. Findings suggested that 30% of the present sample were severely disturbed or exaggerating their symptoms. As expected, there were significant levels of exaggerated profiles present in the severe pathology group and significant levels of minimized profiles in the low pathology group. Self-referred participants were more likely to exaggerate their pathology, but minimization was not associated with referral status. Nor was there an association between gender and the modifying indices. It is suggested that so-called “fake good” or “fake bad” profiles should not necessarily be treated as invalid, but that elevations in the modifying indices can be interpreted as clinically and forensically relevant information in their own right and should be reported on in research.

Decrease in gynecological cancer diagnoses during the COVID-19 pandemic: an Austrian perspective

BackgroundOn March 16, 2020, the federal government of Austria declared a nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the lockdown, screening examinations and routine checkups have been restricted to prevent the spread of the virus and to increase the hospitals’ bed capacity across the country. This resulted in a severe decline of patient referrals to the hospitals.ObjectiveTo assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the rate of newly diagnosed gynecological and breast cancers in Austria.MethodsData of 2077 patients from 18 centers in Austria with newly diagnosed gynecological or breast cancer between January and May 2019 and January and May 2020 were collected. Clinical parameters, including symptoms, performance status, co-morbidities, and referral status, were compared between the time before and after the COVID-19 outbreak.ResultsOur results showed a slight increase of newly diagnosed cancers in January and February 2020 as compared with 2019 (+2 and +35%, respectively) and a strong decline in newly diagnosed tumors since the lockdown: −24% in March 2020 versus March 2019, −49% in April 2020 versus April 2019, −49% in May 2020 versus May 2019. Two-thirds of patients diagnosed during the pandemic presented with tumor-specific symptoms compared with less than 50% before the pandemic (p<0.001). Moreover, almost 50% of patients in 2020 had no co-morbidities compared with 35% in 2019 (p<0.001). Patients, who already had a malignant disease, were rarely diagnosed with a new cancer in 2020 as compared with 2019 (11% vs 6%; p<0.001).ConclusionsThe lockdown led to a decreased number of newly diagnosed gynecological and breast cancers. The decreased accessibility of the medical services and postponed diagnosis of potentially curable cancers during the COVID-19 pandemic may be a step backwards in our healthcare system and might impair cancer treatment outcomes. Therefore, new strategies to manage early cancer detection are needed to optimize cancer care in a time of pandemic in the future.

Integrating Multiple Informants’ Reports: How Conceptual and Measurement Models May Address Long-Standing Problems in Clinical Decision-Making

Assessing youth psychopathology involves collecting multiple informants’ reports. Yet multi-informant reports often disagree, which necessitates integrative strategies that optimize predictive power. The trait-score approach leverages principal components analysis to account for the context and perspective from which informants provide reports. This approach may boost the predictive power of multi-informant reports and thus warrants rigorous testing. We tested the trait score approach using multi-informant reports of adolescent social anxiety in a mixed clinical and community sample of adolescents ( N = 127). The trait score incrementally predicted observed social anxiety (βs = 0.47–0.67) and referral status (odds ratios = 2.66–6.53) above and beyond individual informants’ reports and a composite of informants’ reports. The trait score predicted observed behavior at magnitudes well above those typically observed for individual informants’ reports of internalizing psychopathology (i.e., rs = .01–.15). Findings demonstrate the ability of the trait score to improve prediction of clinical indices and potentially transform widely used practices in multi-informant assessments.

Trauma Analysis Related Injury Severity Score (Triss) in Predicting the Prognosis of Politrauma Patients in Adam Malik General Hospital

Objective : The purposeofthis study wastoanalyzetheabilityof TRISS in predictingthe prognosis ofpolytraumapatients in the Haji Adam Malik General Hospital Medan, January 2016 toDecember 2018. Material and Method : This type of research is an analytic study with cross sectional design, which is a study by measuring independent variables and dependent variables at the same time, which aims to analyze the ability of TRISS in predicting the prognosis of patients in Haji Adam Malik General Hospital Medan January 2016 to December 2018. Results : From January 2016 - December 2018, a total 175 polytrauma patients which mostly was adult patient (>18 y.o) observed. Based on sex, referral status and diagnosis, patients with polytrauma dominated in patients with male sex(143 patients), referred patient (68patients) and diagnosed with head injury (29 patients). Conclusion : There is an influence between TRISS Score on the prognosis of polytrauma patients.

Post-Cesarean Section Maternal Health Outcome and its Determinants in Tigray Regional State, North Ethiopia.

Back ground Cesarean section rate is increasing worldwide. However, the World Health Organization has declared that there is insufficient information on maternal outcome following cesarean section for decision making.Objective The aim of this study was to assess post cesarean section maternal outcome and its associated factors availing evidence for practice and policy.Methods Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 357 mothers who underwent cesarean section in six selected public general hospitals of Tigray regional State, Ethiopia. Mothers were followed for the duration of post-operative period until they became safe for discharge. The maternal outcomes were categorized into either adverse or good outcomes depending on whether mothers develop any cesarean section related morbidity or not. Logistic regression model was constructed to determine the AOR and 95% CI of independent factors associated with maternal outcome following cesarean section.Results The proportion of adverse maternal outcome was 19.3% with 95% CI of (15.7% -23.8%). Route of anesthesia administration (AOR = 0.296, 95% CI: 0.126 - 0.695) and referral status (AOR = 0.371, 95%CI: 0.214 - 0.641) were statistically significant factors associated with maternal outcome following cesarean section.Conclusion There was high proportion of adverse maternal outcome. General anesthesia and referral from lower health facilities were associated with higher risk of post-CS adverse maternal outcome. Equipping lower level health facilities with the human and material capacity for timely detection of CS indications and provision of cesarean section services could decrease the number of referrals and subsequent delays that lead to adverse maternal outcome.

Factors associated with caesarean section at Bukavu Provincial Hospital in Democratic Republic of Congo

Background: Caesarean section is the most common major surgery performed on women Worldwide. Even if caesarean can be useful for mother and foetus, it can provoke some medical and social complications like infection, expensive cost and maternal death. This study aimed at determining the factors associated with caesarean section in Bukavu, at the Provincial Hospital.Methods: Data were collected retrospectively by exploring the files of childbirth established systematically for each pregnant woman. 466 files were exploited including 233 caesarean s (case) and 233 vaginal delivery (control). The normal childbirth which followed a caesarean was served as control. This study was a case-control. Logistic regression was used to model factor associated with caesarean section.Results: During the study period, there were 2170 deliveries in which 491 of them by caesarean section (22.6%). The factors associated with the caesarean section at the Provincial Hospital in Bukavu town were foetal distress, bleeding in the third trimester of the pregnancy, previous caesarean section, referral status and the moment of delivery (day shift).Conclusion: This study recommends an adequate monitoring of the pregnancy and training of professionals in best practices; implementation and technical audit of caesarean with feedback can significantly reduce the rate of Caesarean section in this hospital. Also, allocation in equipment suitable for the treatment of pregnant women is necessary.