ABSTRACT
In early 2020, a pandemic caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 affected the world and all countries had to adopt important measures to face a disease named COVID-19. This paper aims at investigating the perceptions about key issues related to COVID-19 held by students attending the third year of three different areas of undergraduate studies at higher education institutions of three Portuguese-speaking countries: Brazil, Mozambique and Portugal. Four hundred and forty university students participated in the study by answering to a questionnaire. They were attending undergraduate programs in the areas of education/pedagogy, natural sciences, and social sciences. Differences emerged among participants of different nationalities and areas of study. Brazilians and education undergraduates showed perceptions that are more consistent with the knowledge base available so far. Health related policies and local culture seem to influence participants' perceptions regarding COVID-19 issues, which are not directly related to the extent of the science component of participants' study programs. The latter relationship should be further studied, in order to uncover what needs to be improved in undergraduates' education to ensure that they develop a good awareness of socio-scientific issues that are relevant for their personal and societal lives. © 2023 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
ABSTRACT
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led an implementation of institutional infection control protocols. This study will determine the effects of these protocols on outcomes of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients treated with endovascular therapy (EVT). Methods: Uninterrupted time series analysis of the impact of COVID-19 safety protocols on AIS patients undergoing EVT. We analyze data from prospectively collected quality improvement databases at 9 centers from March 11, 2019 to March 10, 2021. The primary outcome is 90-day modified Rankin Score (mRS). The secondary outcomes are angiographic time metrics. Results: Preliminary analysis of one stroke center included 214 EVT patients (n=144 pre-pandemic). Baseline characteristics were comparable between the two periods. Time metrics "last seen normal to puncture” (305.7 vs 407.2 min;p=0.05) and "hospital arrival to puncture” (80.4 vs 121.2 min;p=0.04) were significantly longer during pandemic compared to pre-pandemic. We found no significant difference in 90-day mRS (2.0 vs 2.2;p=0.506) or successful EVT rate (89.6% vs 90%;p=0.93). Conclusions: Our results indicate an increase in key time metrics of EVT in AIS during the pandemic, likely related to infection control measures. Despite the delays, we found no difference in clinical outcomes between the two periods.