ABSTRACT
Background: Obesity is a major contributing factor for poor prognosis in many diseases and COVID-19 is no exception. Studies regarding the relationship between obesity and poor COVID-19 disease severity and outcome are however lacking in the gulf region. This study aimed to examine links between BMI and high mortality rate, duration of intensive care unit admission, and time on mechanical ventilation support among COVID-19 patients under the care of Dubai Health Authority (DHA) in the United Arab Emirates. Subjects dan Method: This was a retrospective, descriptive, record-based study of 637 patients admitted with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 PCR at three tertiary hospitals in Dubai, UAE. Demographic and clinical data were obtained from March 1st, 2020, through June 1st, 2020, all patients aged 18 and above were included, pregnant ladies were excluded. The dependent variables were ICU admission, COVID severity, need of respiratory support, viral clearance. The independent variables were the disease outcome between the obese and non-obese. The data were analyzed using chi-square test.
ABSTRACT
Background: Many adaptations to medical education have been made in response to the new emergent COVID-19 pandemic and its enormous global effects including the teaching and learning strategies to assure the educational process's safety and advancement. Accordingly, it was necessary to implement new online instructional approaches at the Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University in Egypt. Objective: To assess online learning advantages and disadvantages as perceived by medical students in addition to their preference regarding online vs face-to-face learning, Subjects and methods: This study was conducted as a cross-sectional study that included 340 students who filled an online survey consisting of 16 questions and was conducted on the Google Forms platform. Target population: years 1, 2 and 3 undergraduate medical students at Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University who experienced online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: The mean age of students was 19.57±1.02, ranged from 17 to 23 years, 61% of them were females. About 63.8% of students had no previous experience with online learning. The main perceived advantages were the ability to stay home (63.8%), comfortable surrounding (52.1%) and access to online materials (47.1%), while the main perceived disadvantages were technical problems (67.6%), lack of interaction with patients (58.8%), and reduced interaction with teachers (48.5%). Most of the students found face-to-face learning is superior to online learning in improving the knowledge (p=0.005), clinical skills (p<0.001) and social competence (p<0.001). Though 77% of them rated online learning as enjoyable. Conclusion: Most of our participants preferred traditional face-to-face learning over the online learning. Stakeholders should take the required steps to improve learning by reducing the disadvantages and increasing advantages of online learning as perceived by students during this study. © 2021, Ain Shams University Faculty of Medicine. All rights reserved.