Curse of the technology-computer related musculoskeletal disorders and vision syndrome: a study

Background: Computer Related Musculoskeletal disorders and Vision Syndrome (CRMSKVS) is defined as symptoms due to prolonged use of Visual Display Terminal (VDT).Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was done among office-workers working on computer terminal. A self-reported questionnaire was distributed and Musculoskeletal (MSK) and visual symptoms in the preceding 12 months (01 October 2017 to 30 September 2018) were taken as dependent variable. Multivariate analysis was done to identify the determinants of CRMSKVS.Results: Responses from 1193 subjects were included in the study. CRMSKVS was present in 489 cases (40.98%; males - 37.5%, females - 58.29%).  The main MSK symptoms were pain/stiffness in neck (40.98%), shoulder (38.99%), lower back (35.6%) and elbow/wrist/hand/fingers (23.1%). The ocular symptoms were excessive watering (39.6%), pain (24.99), irritation (18.6%), burning/itching sensation (29.8%), redness (40.7%), blurring of vision (13.2%) and headache (40.9%). Female gender (OR-1.498(1.262-1.778)), long duration of working hours (OR-2.77(2.399-3.214)), poor break duration (OR-2.59(2.172-3.089)), excessive smart phone use (OR-2.071(1.834-2.338)), poor posture (OR-3.883(3.282-4.592)), inappropriate distance of computer screen (OR-2.173(1.829-2.582)), low height of screen (OR-1.936(1.527-2.454)), distance of keyboard (OR-3.161(2.528-3.953)) and distance of mouse (OR-5.785(3.932-8.512)) were identified as significant determinants of CRMSKVS.Conclusions: CRMSKVS is an emerging pandemic which needs urgent attention by medical and administrative authorities. The device factors, personal factors, environmental and ergonomic factors are the modifiable risk factors for CRMSKVS.

Smart phones for medical undergraduates: friend or foe?

Background: Smart phones are truly a boon for us in all aspects of our life. It helps mankind to lead a faster and easier life, but the same devices used to get things done are now the gatekeepers of an infinite number of distractions and sources of instant gratification. Even though, there is an ocean full of information a click away, we fail to utilize it for something resourceful. Increased media consumption, multi screening and social media usage reduce the ability to focus on tasks and duties which have a much higher priority.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted with a validated questionnaire among 200 undergraduate MBBS students of a deemed to be medical university.Results: Among the ninety-eight per cent of the students who own a smartphone, all have access to the internet. Seventy-seven per cent of the students use these gadgets on a very regular basis throughout the day and among them only forty-six per cent were found to be using it for academic purposes.Conclusions: Through this study, it has become more discernible that smart phones have paved its way for a reckless future, though if used wisely it would become a blessing in disguise. The ever-changing medical fraternity could really benefit from this discovery but alas, a tool made to make our lives easier is weighing us down with its addictive and time-consuming features.

Improvement of the teaching methods of infectious diseases in the Internet era / 中华实验和临床病毒学杂志

With the rapid development of network communication, the traditional teaching mode of infectious diseases can not meet the needs of new age. Network teaching has been paid more and more attention, showing the incomparable advantages of traditional teaching.

Smart use of smart phones in severe TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) – A miniature Tele therapy.

This is the era of Smart phones. Smart phones have revolutionised all the fields including the field of medicine. Absence of internet coverage in the remote rural areas which was a constraint and limitation for their use has also been overcome by the technological advancements in the yesteryears. Simultaneously the availability of CT and MRI scan has seen the light in the District Headquarters hospitals of North Coastal Andhra Pradesh. In trauma care, the ubiquitous concept of the “golden hour” suggests that the time between the occurrence of an accident and the receipt high quality, appropriate treatment is a critical factor in patient survival. Therefore, saving time from the moment of occurrence all the way through to the moment of appropriate treatment is critical. Introduction of various APPs in Smart phones has made transmission of visual images instant and easy from any remote corner of the world. This advancement in function, applied to the health care sector in India made an enormous difference in providing emergency specialist care services to the remote areas of India.

The KIDROP model of combining strategies for providing retinopathy of prematurity screening in underserved areas in India using wide-field imaging, tele-medicine, non-physician graders and smart phone reporting.

Aim: To report the Karnataka Internet Assisted Diagnosis of Retinopathy of Prematurity (KIDROP) program for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening in underserved rural areas using an indigenously developed tele-ROP model. Materials and Methods: KIDROP currently provides ROP screening and treatment services in three zones and 81 neonatal units in Karnataka, India. Technicians were trained to use a portable Retcam Shutt le (Clarity, USA) and validated against ROP experts performing indirect ophthalmoscopy. An indigenously developed 20-point score (STAT score) graded their ability (Level I to III) to image and decide follow-up based on a three-way algorithm. Images were also uploaded on a secure tele-ROP platform and accessed and reported by remote experts on their smart phones (iPhone, Apple). Results: 6339 imaging sessions of 1601 infants were analyzed. A level III technician agreed with 94.3% of all expert decisions. The sensitivity, specifi city, positive predictive value and negative predictive value for treatment grade disease were 95.7, 93.2, 81.5 and 98.6 respectively. The kappa for technicians to decide discharge of babies was 0.94 (P < 0.001). Only 0.4% of infants needing treatment were missed.The kappa agreement of experts reporting on the iPhone vs Retcam for treatment requiring and mild ROP were 0.96 and 0.94 (P < 0.001) respectively. Conclusions: This is the fi rst and largest real-world program to employ accredited non-physicians to grade and report ROP. The KIDROP tele-ROP model demonstrates that ROP services can be delivered to the outreach despite lack of specialists and may be useful in other middle-income countries with similar demographics.