Proportion of hematological cancer patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a novel infection which has spread rapidly across the globe and currently presents a grave threat to the health of the cancer patient. Objective The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the proportion of hematological cancer patients with the SARS-CoV-2 infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method A comprehensive literature review was performed on PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, EKB SciELO, SID, CNKI and Wanfang databases to retrieve all relevant publications up to January 31, 2021. Observational studies, consecutive case-series and case-control studies were included. The proportion for hematological cancer patients with COVID-19 was estimated using the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (95% CIs). Results Fourteen studies with a total of 3,770 infected cancer patients and 685 hematological cancer cases with COVID-19 were selected. Combined data revealed that the overall proportion of hematological cancer patients with COVID-19 was 16.5% (95% CI 0.130 - 0.208, p ≤ 0.001). The stratified analysis by ethnicity showed that the proportion was 18.8% and 12.4% in Caucasian and Asian hematological cancer patients with COVID-19, respectively. Moreover, subgroup analysis by country of origin showed that its proportion was the highest in the United Kingdom (22.5%), followed by France (17.1%) and China (8.2%). Conclusion This meta-analysis result indicated that the proportion of hematological cancer patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection during the COVID-19 pandemic was 16.5%. Further larger sample sizes and multicenter studies among different ethnic groups are necessary to get a better assessment of the proportion.

Development a Difficulty Scale in Care for Nurses to Be Engaged in Hematological Cancer Nursing

<p>Purpose: To develop a hematological cancer nursing difficulty (HCND) scale and analyze its reliability and validity. Methods: Self-reported questionnaires were distributed to nurses who were engaged in hematological cancer nursing. Results: As a result of explanatory factor analysis, six subscales comprising 35 items were extracted, which are as follows: to provide psychological support and decision making for patients and their families over a long period of time, understand the treatment and pathology of a variety of hematological cancers, alleviate the symptoms caused by chemotherapy and deterioration of the patient’s general condition, collaborate with physicians, manage the symptoms of the complications that occur after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and support the selection of the location and achievement to get end-of-life care. The reliability of the scale was confirmed using the Cronbach’s α coefficient of 0.96 (0.84‒0.94 for subscales). The criterion-related validity was confirmed by comparison with the 49-item Nurses’ Difficulty with Cancer Care (NDCC) scores. In terms of the validity of known groups, the HCND score for the nurses who were engaged for over 4 years in hematological cancer nursing was significantly lower than those who were engaged for less than 4 years in hematological cancer nursing. Conclusion: The reliability and validity of HCND were confirmed. Therefore, this scale may contribute in determining outcomes of educational or organizational interventions.</p>