ABSTRACT
Purpose: To describe the causes and trends of corneal donor mortality from eye bank data in India during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID?19) pandemic. Methods: This retrospective eye bank?based study included 13,529 donors who donated their cornea between January 2018 and December 2021. Donors in whom the cause of mortality was documented were included as cases. The data were collected from the eye bank records. Results: Overall, 13,529 corneal donors were included in the study. Most of the donors were males (69.71%). The mean age of the donors was 51.55 ± 20.54 years, whereas the median age was 51 (inter?quartile range: 35–68) years. The mean age of males (49.3 ± 19.47 years) was lesser than the mean age of females (56.72 ± 21.94 years) at the time of donation. The most common age group at the time of donation was during the sixth decade of life with 2,139 (15.81%) donors. The mean age of the donors decreased by a decade from 54.95 ± 20.51 years in 2018 to 44.35 ± 18.88 years in 2021. The most common cause of donor mortality was cardio?respiratory arrest in 5,190 (38.36%) donors and trauma in 3,469 (25.64%) donors, followed by suicide in 2,790 (20.62%) donors. The trend of cardio?respiratory arrest decreased from 53.01% to 9.5% (p = <0.00001), whereas the trends of trauma increased from 21.93% to 36% (p = <0.00001) and suicide increased from 12.71% to 36.41% (p = <0.00001) between 2018 and 2021. Conclusion: Corneal donors are more commonly males in their sixth decade of life. The most common cause of donor mortality was related to cardio?respiratory arrest with a concerning rising trend in suicide cases over the years seen significantly during the pandemic
ABSTRACT
Background: Reports in the last decade have shown that healthcare students face a high degree of stress. Cumulative stress leads to depression and suicidal behaviour in some of them. Aims: This study was designed to identify levels of perceived stress amongst medical and dental students in a private institution of South India. Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey carried out on the first year undergraduate medical and dental students. Perceived stress was assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale. The students were given a questionnaire to be completed by them individually during January-February 2011. Results: A total of 234 students (144 medical and 90 dental students) were studied. The mean PSS score was 16.74(SD 5.99) for medical students and 18.23(SD 5.52) for dental students. While girls perceived greater stress amongst medical students, boys perceived greater stress amongst dental students though the difference did not reach statistical significance. Univariate analysis as well as Pearson's correlations identified interpersonal problems with their friends as well as their course load as the most significant stressors amongst the students. Conclusion: Levels of perceived stress are high in medical students and even higher in dental students. The most common sources of stress were related to academic and psychosocial concerns. Such students blamed reasons such as their course overload, pressure from teachers as well as parents, and problems related to their interpersonal issues. Key Messages: Perceived stress levels were found to be significantly higher amongst dental students than amongst medical students comparable to reports from other parts of the world. If monitored periodically during their student life, they can be helped to tackle their stress levels effectively and be saved from slipping into depressions.