Use of telemedicine and artificial intelligence in Eye and ENT: A boon for developing countries

Developing countries like Nepal face challenges in accessing health services due to sparse distribution in communities, difficult geographic terrain, limited transportation, poverty, and lack of health human expertise in rural areas. The COVID-19 pandemic added woes to the wound. To address this gap, the Hospital for Children, Eye, ENT, and Rehabilitation Services adopted an innovative approach to remote rural patient care using telehealth and artificial intelligence in close coordination with IT professionals and healthcare professionals. We developed a deep learning-based disease prediction model that incorporates telemedicine with AI for screening and diagnosing Eye and ENT diseases using nonspecialist health workers. Deep learning-based disease prediction models in Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) and Glaucoma added quality specialized services to telehealth. This paper presents the adoption of digital innovations and the incorporation of telehealth to tackle various diseases. To predict DR, 61,458 colorful retinal photographs from fundus photography and 1500 for Glaucoma were used. To reduce the biases, EyePACS data sets were also incorporated. Inception V3 transfer learning model was used for DR and employed DenseNet architecture for Glaucoma. An accuracy of more than 90 %in both models was achieved. Accurate specialized diagnosis, better medical care, patient monitoring, limited specialized hospital visits, and easier with shorter wait times are now possible. In the future, this successful model can be replicated nationally and in other developing countries. © 2022 IEEE.

Epidemiological and clinical features of COVID-19 in elderly patients: A cross-sectional study

Background: Elderly population represents the most vulnerable group with increased risk of developing severe COVID-19 infection and high mortality. More research is needed in understanding the complexity of disease due to limited data as only few studies have been conducted till date in India. Objectives: This study aimed to identify the epidemiological and clinical features among elderly population with COVID-19 infection at a tertiary care center, south India. Materials and Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted among reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 elderly patients >= 60 years admitted at a tertiary care center in south India from June 2021 to August 2021 after the institutional ethical committee clearance. Their demographic and clinical data were collected and analyzed. Results: A total of 32 RT-PCR-confirmed patients of age >= 60years were included. Majority (62.5%) of them were in the age group of 60-70 years, and the mean age was 70.25 +/- 5.68 years. Females were predominant. Severe infection was found in 31.25% of the patients, and 56.25% had moderate infection. Hypertension (43.75%) was the predominant comorbidity followed by diabetes mellitus (34.37%). Cough (82%), dyspnea (70%), and fever (63%) were the most common presenting symptoms. The mean duration of symptoms to hospitalization was 4.7 +/-;2.09 days, with majority of patients presenting bilateral lung involvement. Conclusion: There is high prevalence of COVID-19 in the age group of 60-70 years, predominantly female patients. Cough and dyspnea are common presenting symptoms. Hypertension and diabetes are major comorbidities. Most patients presented with bilateral lung involvement and longer duration of symptom onset to hospitalization. High index of suspicion with preventive strategies is required for better healthcare in elderly patients.

Anxiety, Depression and Functional Impairment among Health Care Workers during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Crosssectional Online Survey.

Background COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. The number of cases and dramatic loss of human life worldwide created psychological problems among general public, including health care workers. Objective To determine the burden of anxiety, depression, and functional impairment among health care workers in the early days of lockdown during the first wave of COVID-19 outbreak in Nepal. Method A hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out among all the employees of Hospital for Children Eye ENT and Rehabilitation Services, Bhaktapur during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown from April 3, 2020 to May 2, 2020 using an online questionnaire. The tools used were adopted from Nepali version of Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS) and Nepali version of WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0). Result The mean age (SD) of the participants (n=86) was 32.53 (7.92) years. Male and female participants were equal in number. The point prevalence of anxiety and depression was 25.6% and 14.0%, respectively. Females had a higher prevalence of both anxiety (39.5% vs 11.6%, p < 0.01) and depression (18.6% vs 9.3%, p=0.351). Clinical and nonclinical staff both had a higher prevalence of both anxiety (31.0% and 20.5%, p=0.265) and depression (16.7% and 11.4%, p=0.478). The mean functional impairment score (WHODAS 2.0) among all participants and participants with anxiety and depression was 19.47 (95% CI: 18.13-20.80), 21.27 (95% CI: 18.08-24.46), and 19.92 (95% CI: 15.28- 24.56), respectively. Conclusion Anxiety and depression during the first lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic were highly prevalent in clinical and non-clinical employees. Besides controlling the outbreak, special consideration should be given to mental health.

Systematic Review Paper on Influence of Ingenious Human Resource Practices on Employee Engagement during Pandemic In Banking Sector

The COVID-19 epidemic has a profound impact on the global economy and human health. However, in contrast to the global financial crisis of 2007-2009, which required the use of taxpayers' money to rescue banks in many countries, banks are being asked to help reduce the impact of COVID-19. The organization was the development of many active participatory activities, such as online family interaction, visual learning, training, online video conference, online courses, communication and is the sole discretion of the session of meditation, and social interaction in the virtual office, e‐learning. The inclusion of the in-house activity, it is very suitable for both the employees and the organizations. In light of this, the study investigates with an emphasis on the Indian banking sector, the responsible measures were approved by banks to reduce the negative effects of the epidemic on its employees.The findings of our article are based on review of documents and reviews of major banking websites. © The Electrochemical Society

Telecommuting and its Implications in the Era of COVID-19: Issues, Challenges &Opportunities

Telecommuting as a substitute to conventional arrangements by which workforces achieve their work purposes during COVID-19 outbreak. Telecommuting is the practice of telecommunication expertise to permit personnel to accomplish their work responsibilities distantly, detached from their main place of work consistent with job arrangements. It’s a virtuous impression to comprehend the significance, paramount practices and possible wellbeing hazards tangled. As organisations around the globe are obligatory to telecommute amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous employees are struggling with the idea of working from home for comprehensive stages of lockdown periods. Before 2020, telecommuting for all the employees was viewed as unsociable nightmare. Currently, it's the prevailing trend of most organisations. This research paper is an attempt to find out the issues, challenges and opportunities of telecommuting in the era of Covid-19.