Health-Related Quality of Life and its Associated Factors in COVID-19 Patients

Objectives@#Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is one of the most important outcome measures for patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate HRQoL and related factors in Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. @*Methods@#A total of 420 COVID-19 patients who had been discharged from hospital were selected using a systematic sampling. The EuroQol 5-dimensional-5 levels (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire along with medical records of the patients were used to gather the data. The t test and analysis of variance were employed to test the difference between mean EQ-5D-5L scores, and the BetaMix model was used to investigate factors associated with EQ-5D-5L scores. @*Results@#The mean score for the patients who completed the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire (n = 409) was 0.6125. The EQ-5D-5L scores were significantly higher in males, patients with younger age , those with a low level of education, the employed, patients who worked in uncrowded workplaces, patients without diabetes, and those who were not admitted to intensive care unit. The BetaMix model showed that gender, age, education, employment status, having diabetes, heart failure, and admission to the intensive care unit were significant independent predictors of the EQ-5D-5L index values. @*Conclusion@#The mean score for EQ-5D-5L in COVID-19 patients was low in this study. Some of the factors, especially aging and having diabetes, should be considered in the aftercare of patients to improve their HRQoL.

Analysis of mortality in a burn center

Burn injury is a disaster. Burn injuries still produce a significant morbidity and mortality in Iran. Imam Rreza hospital burn center in Khorasan, serves 5420000 people in an area of 302000 krrf. The most of the people injured are from low socioeconomic levels. The aim was to make a critical analysis of mortality in our burn center with a view to finding possible ways of improving the care given to our patients and suggesting ways of reducing mortality. This study was carried out to analyze the epidemiology of 866 patients who died in Imam Reza hospital burn center during the 4 years from 15 march 2003 to 15 march 2007. During this 4-year period, 4697 patients were hospitalized. Eight hundred and eighty-six of the patients [18%] died, of whom 322 were male and 544 female. The age and sex of patients, extent of injury, season of occurrence, and duration of admission to hospital before death, as well as the possible cause [s] of death, were collected from the patient folders. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS soft ware, p value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. The overall incidence rates of hospitalization and death were 21.6 and 3.9 per 100000 persons in each year. The mean age for accidental patients was 30.8 years, and for self-inflicted burns was 28.3 years. In the accidental patients, the BSA of the burns ranged from 5 to 95%, with a median of 70%. In the self-inflicted patients, the median of BSA was 90%. The median hospital stay was 7 days with a range of 1-96 days for burned patients. The majority of accidental burns was caused by Flammable liquid [47%] and of self inflicted burns by kerosene [97%]. The highest mortality was observed in the age group 11-30 years. Factors associated with an increase in mortality were suicidal burns and burn size

[ Study of electrical injuries in Emam Reza burn center of Mashhad]

Electrical injuries currently remain a world-wide problem. Electrical burn injuries account for fewer than 5% of admissions [reported range 3-9%] to major burn centers. Electrical injuries are arbitrarily divided into high voltage [>1000 V], low voltage [<1000 V], lightening strikes, and electric arc. The aim of this study was to explore the mechanisms, complications, morbidity, and mortality associated with electrical injuries. This descriptive study was done from 2002 to 2006 in burn department of Imam Reza hospital of Mashhad. 132 patients with electrical injuries were admitted to the burn center. Collected data included: age, gender, etiology, burn size, hospital stay, amputation of limb and mortality. Data was gathered in a questionnaire and analyzed by descriptive statistics and frequency distribution tables. Of 5875 acute burn admissions during a 5-year period, 132 patients [2.4%] had electrical burn injuries. Their mean age was 26 years [range2-63 years]. Ninety-seven percent [128 patients] were male, and the extent of burn ranged from 1% to 80% TBSA [mean, 13.8% TBSA]. High-voltage electricity caused 75.7% [100 patients] of the electrical injuries, 23.5% [31 patients] were caused by low-voltage currents and 0.75% [1 patient] by lightening. Twenty six patients [19.7%] required one or more amputations. Six patients [4.5%] died. Electrical burn injuries continue to be a serious problem of modern society. Climbing power poles is the most common mechanism for high-voltage injury. Special consideration is required to prevent this type of injury in our region