dePression, ANxiety, and acaDEMIC Performance in COVID-19: Pandemic. A Cross-sectional Study. (preprint)

Depression and anxiety are common after months of social isolation, and they can have a negative impact on anyone's quality of life if they are not treated promptly and appropriately. The purpose of this study was to determine whether undergraduate and graduate students preferred classroom or online classes and to determine whether the existence of sadness or anxiety connected to the COVID-19 pandemic changed their view of their academic achievement. A cross-sectional design was used in this investigation. To determine the presence of mental health disorders in undergraduate and graduate students, we employed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) depression screening scale and the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) anxiety screening scale. We examined whether these diseases changed students' perceptions of their academic success using the Academic Self-Concept Scale (ASCS). 610 students responded to the survey. When questioned about their preferred class type, 581 students (95.2 percent) said that they preferred classroom classes. The average score on the Academic Self-Concept Scale was 2.760.35. PHQ-9 mean scores were 11.946.90, while GAD-7 mean scores were 10.305.66. The intensity of depression and anxiety had a significant effect on Academic Self-Concept Scale scores (p0.001 and p0.05, respectively). The findings indicate that students in a typical circumstance do not face difficulty transitioning from classroom-based instruction to online delivery.

Cardiovascular findings in Echocardiography in post Covid-19 mild infection population in Argentina (preprint)

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess differences in echocardiographic findings between a normal adult and a post Covid-19 population. Background: Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is known to produce a systemic inflammatory syndrome, with pulmonary and cardiac involvement. However, the cardiovascular impact in patients with mild clinical forms of the disease is uncertain. There is small evidence supporting the finding of global ventricular longitudinal strain (GLS) alterations in these patients. Methods: One hundred and five consecutive patients admitted to an ambulatory care center, underwent a conventional transthoracic echocardiographic (TTE) study with acquisition of GLS. Patients were included if they underwent a positive diagnostic reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, having no relevant preexisting conditions, with exception of obesity. Demographic and clinical data were prospectively obtained. For this purpose, we considered a normal cut off point of -17,09%, based on previous studies. Echocardiographic findings were compared with those of 67 healthy individuals. Results: Out of 172 patients, 105 correspond to Covid-19 group, and 67 to healthy individuals. There were no significant differences in GLS regarding age, left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and E/e’ ratio. The multivariate analysis showed that the percentage of patients with pathological GLS values was significantly higher within the Covid-19 and male groups (OR 6.02 IC 1.88-22.57; p 0.004 and OR 3.17 IC 1.03-10.50; p 0.05, respectively). Conclusion: These data support that Covid-19 infection could affect ventricular GLS and encourage the use of conventional TTE with GLS measurements in patients with non-significant forms of the disease.