ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To determine the needs of informal caregivers during the long-term health management of minors who have undergone craniopharyngioma surgery. Design and methodology This is a qualitative and descriptive research study. Purposive sampling was used to select participants, and semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the needs of 21 informal caregivers for postoperative minors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the respondents were provided with the options of online video call or offline one-on-one interviews. Following this, a content analysis method was conducted. RESULTS: Four themes and 14 sub-themes were extracted from the results of the study, including needs for relieving psychological stress (including psychological pressure on both minors and on caregivers); requirement for on-campus assistance (physical activity, eliminating verbal violence in schools, special education needs for child, healthcare services provided by school hospitals); demands for medical help (acquiring medical knowledge, need for medication management, convenience and reliable access to medical services, need for technological development, expectations of multidisciplinary cooperation, the necessity of health review reminders); and the desire for financial aid (charity platform assistance, inclination of government policy). CONCLUSIONS: In China, informal caregivers of young patients with onset craniopharyngioma require both the multidisciplinary cooperation of medical institutions and the multi-departmental cooperation of society. Information and medical technology advancements may benefit families with young patients. Improving community hospitals' medical services and encouraging the practical use of online medical treatment and prescriptions are both necessary in the context of COVID-19. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: By identifying the needs of informal caregivers, medical professionals are able to develop care plans and interventions aimed at reducing the burden of care for minors who have undergone craniopharyngioma surgery.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To evaluate the performance of chest CT regarding the initial presentation of patients suspected of having coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from 103 patients who were under investigation for COVID-19 based on inclusion criteria according to the World Health Organization Interim Guidance were retrospectively collected from January 21, 2020, to February 14, 2020. All patients underwent chest CT scanning and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing for COVID-19 at hospital presentation. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) (with 95% confidence intervals) were calculated to evaluate the performance of CT. Subgroup analyses were also performed based on the geographical distribution of these cases in the province of Henan, China. RESULTS: There were 88/103 (85%) patients with COVID-19 confirmed by RT-PCR testing. The overall sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 93% (85%, 97%), 53% (27%, 77%), 92% (83%, 96%), and 42% (18%, 70%), respectively. Similar results were shown in both geographic regions. The respective sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV for chest CT in the districts of Xinyang and Zhumadian (n = 56) were 92% (80%, 97%), 63% (26%, 90%), 93% (81%, 98%), and 56% (23%, 85%), while these indicators in the district of Anyang (n = 47) were 95% (81%, 99%), 43% (12%, 80%), 90% (76%, 97%), and 60% (17%-93%). There were no significant differences in the prevalence of positive examinations in the two geographic subgroups for CT (P = .423) or RT-PCR (P = .931). CONCLUSION: Although initial chest CT obtained at hospital presentation showed high sensitivity in patients under investigation for COVID-19 in the two geographic regions in Henan Province, the NPV was only modest, suggesting a low value of CT as a screening tool.© RSNA, 2020.