Psychological impact on COVID-19 patients during the outbreak in China: A case-control study.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused widespread panic due to its highly infectious and pandemic transmission. We aimed to evaluate the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on infected subjects in China. METHODS: This case-control, survey-based study assessed the psychological status of COVID-19 patients and non-infected controls from February 10 to March 18, 2020, in China. Sex, age, education years, marital status, jobs, annual household income, living status, and geographic origin were matched between the two groups. The main outcome measures included anxiety, depression, insomnia, help-seeking behaviors, and treatment for mental problems. RESULTS: A total of 326 patients and 1304 (1:4 ratio) matched non-infected controls were enrolled. Compared with controls, patients had higher scores on the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) (all p<0.01). Patients had higher rate of any mental problems (62.6% vs 42.5%, p<0.01), anxiety (27.3% vs 12.2%, p<0.01), depression (26.7% vs 14.6%, p<0.01), suicidal ideation (16.0% vs 10.7%, p<0.01), and insomnia (57.7% vs 36.7%, p<0.01). Among the subjects with mental problems, the proportion of seeking help (15.2% vs 6.9%, p<0.01) and receiving treatment (11.3% vs 4.3%, p<0.01) was higher in patients than controls. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed a higher prevalence of mental problems in COVID-19 patients compared to controls, suggesting a great psychological impact of COVID-19 infection. Our findings highlighted the urgent need for psychological assistance for COVID-19 patients.

Application of microlecture teaching methods in standardized residency training during COVID-19 in Wuhan: a randomized, controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Providing high-quality training to residency students during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been a goal of our institution. Since 2108, we began to take microlectures to students teaching. Microlectures are online presentations, and the microlecture teaching method has many advantages, such as a short teaching time, situational resource composition, diverse communication, strong pertinence and can attend microlectures from home. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the advantages of the microlecture teaching method on students in standardized residency training. METHODS: Students from our department were randomly divided into the traditional teaching group (control group) and the microlecture teaching group (observation group). The teaching duration for both groups was 3 months. All students were assessed on basic knowledge of the neurology before enrollment. After the teaching session, the students were assessed on teaching effect, theoretical operation, and clinical practice satisfaction. The students also evaluated the teachers, and the teachers evaluated the students. RESULTS: A total of 84 students participated in the study and were divided equally into the observation group (42 students) and the control group (42 students). The results showed that the rate of reaching the standard of teaching effect, achievement of theory and operation, satisfaction with clinical practice, the student's grades by teachers, and student satisfaction with teachers were significantly higher in the observation group than in the control group (all P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The microlecture teaching method can effectively improve the clinical teaching effect for neurology students and should be adopted in clinical teaching, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia with onset of dizziness: a case report.

The 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) epidemic continues, with the number of infections and deaths increasing. The respiratory tract is the main route of transmission of the virus, and the majority of symptoms are respiratory relative. Until now, there has been no reports concerning the nervous system onset. We present a 2019-nCoV patient with the onset of simple dizziness, accompanied by dry throat, no fever, no cough, no headache, no mental abnormality, and no obvious abnormality in the nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head. Meanwhile, chest computed tomography (CT) scans showed multiple small spot shadows and interstitial changes in the early stage, especially in the extrapulmonary zone. There was a development of multiple ground-glass shadows and infiltrative shadows in both lungs with mild pleural effusion. The nucleic acid gene detection was positive, and thus the diagnosis of 2019-nCoV was confirmed. At last, the prognosis was good after active treatment. After antiviral and anti-infective treatment, the symptoms recovered. We presume that 2019-nCoV can also manifest in the nervous system alone, and lung CT, which has relative specificity, should be used as a routine screening method.