Investigation of an alternative education module in raising middle school student's awareness of acute stroke.

INTRODUCTION: Public knowledge and recognition of stroke and prompt calls to ambulance services when stroke is suspected are vital to the survival of stroke patients and to minimize their disability. In this study, our aim was to investigate the effectiveness of an online education session to increase middle school (11-14-year-old) students' awareness of stroke. METHODS: An interactive education session was organized for students using the online education portal of a local middle school. The effectiveness of this intervention was measured using knowledge measurement tests before, immediately after, and three months after the session. The compliance of the data with the normal distribution was checked with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The McNemar chi-square analysis was used to compare the distribution of correct and incorrect answers among the tests, and one-way analysis of variance was conducted to compare the mean values of correct answers. RESULTS: The students' stroke knowledge levels were found to be higher in both tests applied after the educational session and all the questions compared to the baseline evaluation. Stroke awareness was also determined to be higher among the students living with a family member aged over 65 years. CONCLUSIONS: Online interactive education can increase students' awareness of stroke. Such programs can be included in the education curriculum of schools. Public awareness of vital diseases should continue even in extraordinary situations, such as pandemics.

Clinical Features of the 60 Years and Older Patients Infected with 2019 Novel Coronavirus: Can We Predict Mortality Earlier?

INTRODUCTION: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which has affected over 100 countries in a short while, progresses more mortally in elderly patients with comorbidities. In this study, we examined the epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of the patients aged 60 and over who had been infected with COVID-19. METHODS: The data of the patients admitted to the hospital within 1 month from May 8, 2020 onwards and hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia were obtained from the hospital medical records, and the epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory parameters of the patients during the admission to the emergency department were examined. Patients were divided into 2 groups regarding the criteria of having in-hospital mortality (mortality group) and being discharged with full recovery (survivor group). The factors, which could have an impact on the mortality, were investigated using a univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: This retrospective study included 113 patients aged 60 years and older, with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia. The mean age of the patients was 70.7 ± 7.9, and 64.6% (n = 73) of them were male. The mortality rate was 19.4% (n = 22). Among the comorbid illnesses, only renal failure was significant in the mortality group (p = 0.04). A CURB-65score ≥3 or pneumonia severity index (PSI) class ≥4 manifested a remarkable discrimination ability to predict 30-day mortality (p < 0.001). When the laboratory parameters were considered, the value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was significant in predicting mortality in univariate and multivariate analysis (odds ratio [OR] = 1.11; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.03-1.21; p = 0.006, and OR = 1.51; 95% CI, 1.11-2.39; p = 0.044, respectively). CONCLUSION: In our study, NLR was determined to be an independent marker to predict in-hospital mortality among patients with COVID-19. PSI and CURB-65 revealed a considerably precise prognostic accuracy for the patients with COVID-19 in our study as well. Moreover, thanks to that NLR results in a very short time, it can enable the clinician to predict mortality before the scoring systems are calculated and hasten the management of the patients in the chaotic environment of the emergency room.