ABSTRACT
Introduction: Telemedicine, once of limited scope, has become common and widespread due to the present and ongoing SARSCoV- 2 pandemic. Center to home delivery, the most common model, allows for convenient and efficient care. Concurrent with this groundshift, there is increasing attention to disparities in medical services, and how these disparities may impact patient outcomes. Telemedicine could be used to help bridge barriers to timely quality care, however, patient access and longstanding institutional biases may limit the potential. Healthcare providers must actively develop systems to ensure that telemedicine is optimized for people across the income spectrum. This exploratory analysis examined how economic disparities in patients being evaluated for obstructive sleep apnea may be associated with providers clinical impressions. The objective was to study the inter-method reliability of pre-test probability of obstructive sleep apnea assessed via telemedicine and in-person evaluations, and to compare that reliability between income classes. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a pre-pandemic interrater reliability study, conducted between March 2017 and January 2019. Our researchers completed a randomized, blinded study comparing the pre-test probability of obstructive sleep apnea between an in-person physician and a separate physician seeing the same patient via televideo conferencing. Patients referred to the University of Rochester (UR) Sleep Center were eligible for the study. Women and men 30-70 years old were invited to participate. The patients were not necessarily referred to the center for evaluation of sleep disordered breathing. Patients with dementia, hearing or visual loss, severe psychiatric or developmental illness, or not fluent in English were excluded. Patients had adequate computer literacy, access to high speed internet, and a computing device with appropriate video camera and microphone.The primary objective of the original study was to assess the interrater reliability between the in-person and telemedicine raters for pre-test probability of sleep apnea (high, moderate, or low). Providers used clinical judgement from the history and examination to determine pre-test probabilityFor this present analysis, we assessed the inter-method reliability separately for strata defined by reported annual income level: low income (< $50,000), middle income ($50,000-$100,000), and high income (> $100,000). Reliability was quantified for each stratum using weighted kappa statistics given the ordinal nature of the outcome variable, pre-test probability of obstructive sleep apnea (high, moderate, or low). Weighted kappa statistics were compared between the income strata (high vs. middle, high vs. low, middle vs. low). The operant statistic assumed an approximate standard normal distribution under the null hypothesis of equal kappa values in the two income strata. The Bonferroni method was used to adjust the p-values for the three pairwise comparisons performed among the three income strata. Results: Data from 53 patients were avaiable for this analysis. 11 of these patients were in the low income group, 22 in the middle income, and 16 were in the high income group. 9 patients did not include their income bracket, and were not included in the analysis. Inter-method reliabilities, assessed using weighted kappa, were 0.83 (low income), 0.24 (middle income), and 0.66 (high income). When comparing between the strata, the kappa statistics were significantly different (p=0.005) between the low and moderate income groups. There was a trend between the high and moderate income groups that did not meet statistical significance (p=0.07). Conclusion: The intermethod reliability was substantial in the low income stratum, moderate in the high income stratum, and slight in the middle income group based on the kappa statistic. There was a significant difference in the reliability values of telemedicine versus in-person assessments between the low and middle income brackets, and there was a trend between the high and mo er te groups. Since the raters were unaware of the patients income levels, this association might suggest possible unconscious bias in evaluating for OSA. It may also suggest that beyond access to telemedicine technology, the quality of the care may also be influenced by socioeconomic factors. With telemedicine in its early stages, it is important to develop this technology that will minimize biases that could result from patients economic fortunes.
ABSTRACT
Objective: The objectives of this study were to measure the global impact of the pandemic on the volumes for intravenous thrombolysis (IVT), IVT transfers, and stroke hospitalizations over 4 months at the height of the pandemic (March 1 to June 30, 2020) compared with two control 4-month periods. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread repercussions on the delivery of health care worldwide. Design/Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, observational, retrospective study across 6 continents, 70 countries, and 457 stroke centers. Diagnoses were identified by ICD-10 codes and/or classifications in stroke center databases. Results: There were 91,373 stroke admissions in the 4 months immediately before compared to 80,894 admissions during the pandemic months, representing an 11.5% (95%CI,-11.7 to-11.3, p<0.0001) decline. There were 13,334 IVT therapies in the 4 months preceding compared to 11,570 procedures during the pandemic, representing a 13.2% (95%CI,-13.8 to-12.7, p<0.0001) drop. Interfacility IVT transfers decreased from 1,337 to 1,178, or an 11.9% decrease (95%CI,-13.7 to-10.3, p=0.001). There were greater declines in primary compared to comprehensive stroke centers (CSC) for stroke hospitalizations (-17.3% vs-10.3%, p<0.0001) and IVT (-15.5% vs-12.6%, p=0.0001). Recovery of stroke hospitalization volume (9.5%, 95%CI 9.2-9.8, p<0.0001) was noted over the two later (May, June) versus the two earlier (March, April) months of the pandemic, with greater recovery in hospitals with lower COVID-19 hospitalization volume, high volume stroke center, and CSC. There was a 1.48% stroke rate across 119,967 COVID-19 hospitalizations. SARS-CoV-2 infection was noted in 3.3% (1,722/52,026) of all stroke admissions. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a global decline in the volume of stroke hospitalizations, IVT, and interfacility IVT transfers. Primary stroke centers and centers with higher COVID19 inpatient volumes experienced steeper declines. Recovery of stroke hospitalization was noted in the later pandemic months, with greater recovery in hospitals with lower COVID-19 hospitalizations, high volume stroke centers, and CSCs.
ABSTRACT
A 1024-pixel CMOS biochip for multiplex polymerase chain reaction application is presented. Biosensing pixels include 137dB DDR photosensors and an integrated emission filter with OD∼6 to perform real-time fluorescence-based measurements while thermocycling the reaction chamber with heating and cooling rates of > ±10°C/s. The surface of the CMOS IC is biofunctionalized with DNA capturing probes. The biochip is integrated into a fluidic consumable enabling loading of extracted nucleic acid samples and the detection of upper respiratory pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2. © 2021 JSAP.
ABSTRACT
As the United States grapples with how best to manage a global pandemic, bankruptcy courts are bracing for the inevitable fallout from COVID-19. As we saw in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, hardhit businesses will need to reorganize to adjust to new conditions, while out-of-work consumers will need debt relief options. But there will be a new twist for this impending wave of bankruptcies: how should bankruptcy courts deal with crypto assets like Bitcoin? This Essay argues that the rise of cryptocurrency investments over the last decade poses serious complications for the next round of consumer and business bankruptcies. Although legislative solutions may be necessary to adequately address these complications, at the very least, greater awareness of these issues will help ensure that courts and stakeholders are better prepared to address this looming crisis.