Supplier selection framework to evade pseudo-resilience and to achieve sustainability in supply chains

PurposeDue to increasing uncertainty in the global business scenario, research on supply chain resilience is gaining significance. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated and magnified the issues already pertaining in the supply chain thereby increasing the vulnerabilities in the network. This study attempts to build the concept of pseudo-resilience in supplier selection and evaluation for supply chain sustainability.Design/methodology/approachA combination of multi-criteria decision-making methods AHP and R is adopted, and an integrated method called Combined AHP–R method is used to identify and include the property of pseudo-resilience into supplier selection processes.FindingsThe authors identified various factors contributing to pseudo-resilience considering supplier selection process and found the most important attribute. Using the combined AHP–R method, the suppliers were evaluated, considering the attributes contributing to the pseudo-resilience of supply chains and best supplier was selected.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first study addressing a supplier selection problem for sustainable supply chains, considering pseudo-resilience. Also, this is the first study to apply the AHP–R method for supplier selection in the resilience or sustainability context.

Mission Vaccine Suraksha - A Massive COVID 19 Vaccination Drive by Reliance Industries Limited

Introduction: Since the beginning of COVID 19 pandemic, more than 641 million cases and 6.63 million confirmed deaths were reported worldwide. A rapid development of COVID 19 Vaccine was the breakthrough in the prevention and control of COVID 19. India has commenced its vaccination drive from January 16, 2021 and has administered more than 219 crores vaccination to date it its people. On war foot, Reliance Industries Limited also launched its free vaccination coverage program - Mission Vaccine Suraksha for employees, family members, and community by collaborating with local authorities and governments. The organization also provided free vaccination to Kerala, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra besides various other national and regional organisations to speed up the vaccination drive. Methodology: A taskforce including stakeholders form the Medical Services, HR, Procurement, Logistics, transportation, digital systems was formed to oversee, implement, monitor, and evaluate a successful vaccine roll-out drive. The drive included Covishield and Covaxin COVID 19 vaccines. As a single point of contact, Reliance Foundation HN Hospital procured, stored, and transported vaccines to all locations. At par with Govt. protocols, Reliance developed its own workplace COVID vaccination centres (CVCs) at its corporate headquarters and 11 other manufacturing sites in Maharashtra and Gujrat. For Cold chain management, Reliance procured Ice Lined Refrigerators (ILRs), refrigerators, vaccine carriers, icepacks, etc. for each CVC. Dedicated medical and paramedical staffs were recruited and trained to carry out vaccination drive with all the COVID 19 protocols in place. Reliance tied up with multiple hospitals to carry out pan-India vaccination drive. The entire operation was digitally enabled by involving mediums such as Reliance's in-house app JioHealthHub (JHH) that included end-to-end vaccination journey, i.e., from slot booking, CoWIN registration, post-vaccination care, uploading of the certificates, etc. Vaccine inventory was monitored by Reliance's digital system named KiviHealth. A vaccination dashboard was created to track real time vaccination update. Result(s): 40 lakh vaccine doses were provided free of cost to support the nationwide vaccination programme. Till date, 31,63,870 beneficiaries were covered under R-Suraksha under which, 15,94,357 people received their 1st dosage, 13,36,613 received the 2nd dose, and 2,32,900 people have received the precautionary dose. Reliance also commenced vaccination for children aged 12 to 17 years covering 7369 children for 1st dose, 5802 children for 2nd dose. Reliance has achieved 100% compliance for 2 doses of COVID 19 vaccination for its employees and contract workers across manufacturing units. Precautionary dose was administered to 75% of employees and contract workers to date. 25 mild and 3 moderate Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) cases were recorded during vaccination at workplace CVCs, which were managed and sent home. Conclusion(s): Reliance's Mission Vaccine Suraksha has reached to all corners of the country, including people with disabilities, the elderly, homeless, and those in far-flung locations. Reliance faced hurdles in procuring and storing of the vaccines at the beginning of the operation. However, this was tackled effectively with strategic approach. The initiative is still ongoing ensuring maximum precautionary dosage coverage for everyone.

Implementation of Modified Shutdown Protocol during COVID 19 Pandemic for Risk Mitigation at Manufacturing Sites

A well-planned pandemic protocol and define emerging risk preparedness checklist during pandemic help to ensure the shutdown is conducted safely and well efficiently so that manufacturing sites can be returned to normal operation as per defined timeline. As such we have implemented shutdown protocol to mitigate Occupational Health Hazards risk. The major challenge to manage the large workforce and additionally prevention of COVID 19 spread among workforces. COVID 19 risk management is a proactive preparedness which was included in revised shutdown protocol and implanted across all sites. This strategy would be great help to mitigate the risk and successfully completion of shutdown at respective manufacturing location. Methods & Guidelines: Methods: To managed shutdown risk management during a pandemic, the following methodology was considered during planning. * The first step was virtual meeting with the plant team to understand the shutdown job, list of hazardous activities, the number of the workforce, days of shutdown, etc. * The second step was to plan a Sustainable COVID 19 management program including testing and create a Bio bubble for all the employees and business partners involved in the shutdown. * The third step was to determine potential exposure to chemical, physical and biological agents, including medical OH requirements, the review of existing control measures. * The fourth step was to verification, planning, and execution of all requirements in the prescribed checklist and plant round to identify any gaps followed by a plant shutdown meeting. Result(s): Pandemic Management protocol and defined OH-IH emerging risk preparedness checklist during the pandemic had helped to ensured that Shutdown activities were well managed with proactive control program and robust system. Emerging risk details of one of the manufacturing sites are mentioned below. * Total no of workforce health screening: 25000 Nos Approx. * 24x7 ACLS ambulance with medical officer and nursing staff a defined job location * RT PCR testing before entry and periodic testing * Availability of antidotes & Safety Data Sheet * Basic first-aider training and shift wise availability * Arrangement of accommodation (Bio Bubble) till completion of shutdown Conclusion(s): Modified shutdown protocol with inclusion of COVID 19 management is great tool/approach to mitigate OH hazard including COVID 19 in shutdown and comprehensive monitoring of hazardous activities. The recommended control measures would help to ensure the next turnaround project will be completed with a well-defined checklist having all controls in place.

Occupational Health Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment with Introduction of Biomass in Coal Based Captive Power Plant

Introduction: Occupational Health should aim at the Promotion and Maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental, and social well-being of all the employees. A pilot project was taken up due to acute shortages of coal during the COVID Pandemic, on industrial level, mixing of biomass with coal at a ratio of 20:80 respectively was considered as a good raw material. With introduction of biomass, workers were exposed to different organic substances either directly through dermal route or respirable dust with risk of becoming victims to Occupational diseases. Objective(s): The objective of the study is to identify and mitigate occupational health hazard of various nature prevailing at workplace after introduction of new raw materials;to safeguard the workforce from discomfort and occupational illness and to provide healthy working environment at RIL-Hazira. Method(s): Walk through survey was initiated by team of industrial hygienist and medical officer along with the process engineer. Subsequent workplace evaluation was done according to ACGIH screening criteria for respirable dust & VOC monitoring. To measure airborne respirable contaminants, we have considered housekeeping staff, operator, field executive, Boiler operation engineer which were found more likely to be at the risk of airborne contaminant exposure. To identify the concentration of contaminants, personal air sampler (SKC Make) was used for collection of respirable dust samples for different job category of workers. NIOSH 600 method was used for exposure assessment and samples were collected by using PVC filter used at the flow rate of 2.5 lpm. The composition of biomass pellets was received from biomass team & chemical analysis of biomass was done at our laboratory. Occupational Diseases known to be caused by organic agricultural compounds used as fuel were taken into account such as Bagasossis, farmer's lung & other hypersensitivity pneumonias, non-tubercular mycobacterial infections, infections caused by various fungi & bacteria. Prevention & Control measures were taken during the project such as modification of process, local exhaust ventilation, worker education on different diseases, personal hygiene, use of PPE, good housekeeping. Result(s): Through effective Risk assessment, Hazard Identification and measures taken to mitigate Occupational health hazards, no occupational health disease was reported after implementation of the change in process in a total of 55 identified workers. Moving forward these workers will be periodically monitored. The amount of total respirable dust was reduced by approx. 10- 25% at different location of the plant after control measures taken. This project also brought huge monetary benefits to the plant. Leading forward as the pilot project for introduction of biomass was a great success it has been planned to be scaled up to 40% mixture of biomass.

Analysis of Student's Learning Perception of Online Classes in Polytechnic colleges and Engineering programmes in Kerala

Educational institutions and students find it a challenging task to complete the syllabus prescribed in the given period of academic year in compliance with the academic calendar, as they remain closed for an indefinite period due to the outbreak of Covid. Efforts are being made by them to chalk out ways n means to achieve the goal of completing the portions of syllabus well in time in spite of the hostile situation. Assurance of quality of learning is also a matter of prime importance for which the content has to be designed well and delivered in a professional manner. Most of the students face constraints in learning through online platform and as such it deserves high attention as to how the content is organized and presented before them so as to address such constraints and to make the learning effective. As the pandemic and subsequent restrictions led to the sudden change from conventional class room to online mode, teachers and students have faced much challenges. Most of the institutions couldn't rise to the occasion so as to formulate quality contents to deliver through online platform. Online learning can be made easy, efficient and productive if the experiences of students and learning are incorporated in the study. The findings of this study indicated that majority of the students evinced a positive attitude towards online classes in the wake of corona. The online learning was found to be advantageous as it provided flexibility and convenience for the learners. Students preferred well-structured content with recorded videos uploaded in university web-sites. They also indicated the need for interactive sessions with quizzes and assignments at the end of each class to optimize the learning experience. © 2022 IEEE.

Dry eye symptoms and digital eyestrain - Emerging epidemics among university students due to online curriculum amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study.

Purpose: Increased screen time has been a major concern among the students who have adopted the online curriculum amid the pandemic. The study was conducted to shed light on the changing trends of symptoms pertaining to dry eye disease and digital eyestrain due to the online curriculum and its negative implications on the ocular health of students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among students of Manipal Academy of Higher Education who are currently following the E-learning curriculum amid the COVID-19 pandemic the participants were surveyed using a pre-validated structured questionnaire. Results: The mean age of study participants was 23.33 ± 4.604 years. In total, 97.9% (321/352) of the respondents experienced at least three symptoms associated with the usage of digital devices. 88.1% of the participants were exposed to an average screen time of more than 4 hours per day. An increased number of hours of digital device usage was found to be associated with higher total symptom scores (P = 0.04). The total symptom scores were found to be considerably higher for those with continuous contact with the screen (P = 0.02). Headache (69.9%, n = 246) is the most commonly reported symptom followed by neck pain (65.3%, n = 230), tearing (44.6%, n = 157), eye pain (40.9%, n = 144), and burning sensation (40.1%, n = 141). Conclusion: This study highlights a tremendous increase in the prevalence of symptoms related to dry eye and digital eyestrain among students attending online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eye care professionals need to be aware of this emerging public health threat and the appropriate measures for its prevention.

Design of Covid19 Detection Based on Relative Eccentric Feature Selection Using Deep Vectored Regressive Neural Network for Corona Virus

The world has seen various diseases in different variants, numerous pandemics in the twentieth century like covid-19. Fly infections are the fundamental driver of contaminations. An epidemic known as COVID-19 has been declared, and it has had a significant impact on society and the global economy. The diagnosis of Covid19 or non-Covid-19 cases early detection at the correct separation at the lowest cost early stages of the disease is one of the major problems in the current coronavirus pandemic. To address this problem, the proposed Deep learning and Design of covid19 detection based on Relative Eccentric Feature Selection (REFS) Using Deep Vectorized Regressive Neural Network (DVRNN) for corona virus the early detection of the Covid19 virus. Initially collects the covid19 sample test dataset, then the raw dataset trained into preliminary process is used to remove unwanted noise. After that preliminary processed dataset trained into the feature selection process is done to identify the best features of covid19 using Ensemble recursive feature selection. Further, the proposed DVRNN algorithm is done to classify the accurate detection of coronavirus. The proposed model would be useful for the timely and accurate identification of the coronavirus at different stages. Therefore it can detect the accurate results of covid19 effectively and accomplish good performance compared with previous methods. © 2022 IEEE.

Supplier selection framework to evade pseudo-resilience and to achieve sustainability in supply chains

Purpose Due to increasing uncertainty in the global business scenario, research on supply chain resilience is gaining significance. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated and magnified the issues already pertaining in the supply chain thereby increasing the vulnerabilities in the network. This study attempts to build the concept of pseudo-resilience in supplier selection and evaluation for supply chain sustainability. Design/methodology/approach A combination of multi-criteria decision-making methods AHP and R is adopted, and an integrated method called Combined AHP-R method is used to identify and include the property of pseudo-resilience into supplier selection processes. Findings The authors identified various factors contributing to pseudo-resilience considering supplier selection process and found the most important attribute. Using the combined AHP-R method, the suppliers were evaluated, considering the attributes contributing to the pseudo-resilience of supply chains and best supplier was selected. Originality/value To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study addressing a supplier selection problem for sustainable supply chains, considering pseudo-resilience. Also, this is the first study to apply the AHP-R method for supplier selection in the resilience or sustainability context.

Changing customer mindset in adopting digital financial services during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from India

Digital Financial Services (DFS) have been growing steadily all over the world. The COVID-19 crisis has reinforced the need for DFS. This study aims to examine the growth of DFS in the global and Indian markets and to analyze the factors that change the mindsets and attitudes of adults towards the adoption of DFS during the pandemic. The growth of DFS is analyzed using secondary data. The changing customer mindset is studied and analyzed through primary data collected by a survey approach. The unit of analysis includes adults who use or prefer to use DFS. A total of 384 respondents, determined by Krejcie and Morgan formula, were personally interviewed. 384 is taken as sample size as this sample size avoids type II errors in the data analysis. The collected data were processed in SPSS21 software. The study results found that technological benefits (67.9%) have the most significant positive effect on changing people's mindsets and attitudes towards DFS followed by the pandemic forces (50.7%). Peer influences (33.2%) and perceived trust (38.3%) have also affected the change in mindsets and attitudes of adults regarding DFS. But the change in mindset is significantly and positively influenced by perceived risk (50.1%) rather than affecting negatively. So, the factors are confirmed again. The factors that drive changes in mindsets and attitudes of adults towards the adoption of DFS are Pandemic Forces & Convenience, Perceived Safety and Security, User Benefits and Experiences, Peer Influences, and Perceived Trust during the pandemic. © Ravikumar T, Rajesh R, Krishna T A, Haresh R, Arjun B S, 2022.

Impact of COVID-19 on individuals' mental health and preventive health behaviours: a conceptual framework

The corona virus disease (COVID-19) is a pandemic that facilitate a confrontation space for scientific and social existence of human frontiers. The rapid spread and mortality rate of COVID-19 and the preventive measures including social distancing and its impact on economy, developed an unprecedented consciousness around the globe. It has created an effect on the mental health of individuals employed across various sectors and is outlined in this study. There is currently an inadequate theoretical model that focuses on the comprehensive understanding of the psychology of preventive behaviour during the outbreak of pandemics. In this study, a transnational model is delineated for assessing the adoption of preventive behavioural practices associated with COVID-19 pandemic. It uses the components derived from the theories of situational awareness and health belief model and literatures related to impact of containment strategies on various sectors. The contribution includes policy recommendations that can be helpful for the healthcare professionals and government to control the disease spread.

COVID-19 Detection from X-rays using Deep Learning Model

Currently, COVID-19 has posed a significant threat to everyone, including the health professionals and administrations worldwide, from its detection to its treatment. The whole world is facing a lockdown-like situation because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers are making efforts to obtain the possible solutions to control this pandemic in their respective areas. The researchers’ most common and efficient methods are the use of CT-scans and X-rays images to analyze the images of lungs for COVID-19 detection. A strategy based on artificial intelligence is used to detect COVID-19 patients utilizing the actual world datasets of X-ray CT scan chest pictures, based on a deep learning neural coexistence network. In order to detect such patients, we study chest X-ray pictures. Our results show that such an analysis is useful in determining COVID-19, as X-rays are readily obtainable at cheap prices and promptly. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Molecular dynamics simulations explore effects of electric field orientations on spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 virions.

Emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its current worldwide spread have caused a pandemic of acute respiratory disease COVID-19. The virus can result in mild to severe, and even to fatal respiratory illness in humans, threatening human health and public safety. The spike (S) protein on the surface of viral membrane is responsible for viral entry into host cells. The discovery of methods to inactivate the entry of SARS-CoV-2 through disruption of the S protein binding to its cognate receptor on the host cell is an active research area. To explore other prevention strategies against the quick spread of the virus and its mutants, non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations have been employed to explore the possibility of manipulating the structure-activity of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein by applying electric fields (EFs) in both the protein axial directions and in the direction perpendicular to the protein axis. We have found out the application of EFs perpendicular to the protein axis is most effective in denaturing the HR2 domain which plays critical role in viral-host membrane fusion. This finding suggests that varying irradiation angles may be an important consideration in developing EF based non-invasive technologies to inactivate the virus.

Ocular occlusions in two cases of COVID-19.

In late 2019, we saw the emergence of a new coronavirus, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which rapidly evolved into a global pandemic. We report two cases of ocular vascular occlusion related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease. The first case is of choroidal artery occlusion, while the second case is of combined central retinal artery and vein occlusion (CRAO and CRVO). We performed a thorough literature search and to the best of our knowledge, neither any of the above said has been reported in COVID-19-positive patients.

Dealing with a Pandemic: Emerging Tools, Solutions, and Challenges.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, nations across the globe have responded by attempting to understand how the virus was spreading in their communities, in order to isolate cases, reduce morbidity and mortality, and avoid overwhelming healthcare facilities. In this article, we describe the global response to tracking the virus and discuss new technological advances in molecular testing that have been deployed and developed to track and mitigate COVID-19. We also discuss how the successes and failures observed in the COVID-19 pandemic can be extrapolated to improve our ability to respond to the next pandemic.

Post COVID Syndrome in patients with COVID -19 : A Cross-Sectional study

Background: Long COVID is defined as the persistence of symptoms beyond 1 to 3 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. To better understand the long-term course and etiology of symptoms we analysed data of COVID-19 patients post discharge prospectively. Methods: A home care cell monitored COVID-19 patients post discharge. A paramedical staff interviewed the patient using the pretested questionnaire and refer the patient to doctor if required. The doctor spoke with these select cases and offered them treatment, counselling, referral to consultant/ hospital as per the need. Results: We followed up with 4354 (2724 employees and 1630 dependents) patients for 3 months. 592 (13%) patients were hospitalized for COVID and others were under home isolation. 4108 (94%) patients did not have any symptoms post COVID and 239 (6%) were known to have either one or more post COVID symptoms. For 153 (64%) patients symptoms lasted for more than a month post discharge and 86 (36%) patients were symptomatic for more than 2 months post discharge. The most common symptoms identified were fatigue and weakness (69%), dry cough (39%) body ache (31%), fever (23%) shortness of breath (15%) etc. Interpretation: Long COVID symptoms can persist for 1- 3months after recovery, this may lead to long absenteeism and may reduce productivity and quality of life significantly. Post COVID syndrome can also have an adverse effect on the mental health of an individual. Post COVID complications can be severe leading to hospitalization and disability. The continued assessment of patients with PCS is an important and effective step to reduce complications.

Plasmonically Enhanced Ultrasensitive Epitope-Specific Serologic Assay for COVID-19.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has rapidly spread and resulted in the global pandemic of COVID-19. Although IgM/IgG serology assay has been widely used, with the entire spike or nucleocapsid antigens, they only indicate the presence or absence of antibodies against these proteins but are not specific to the neutralization antibodies, therefore providing only generic information about infection stage and possible future immune protection. Novel technologies enabling easy-to-use and sensitive detection of multiple specific antibodies simultaneously will facilitate precise diagnosis of infection stage, prediction of clinical outcomes, and evaluation of future immune protection upon viral exposure or vaccination. Here, we demonstrate a rapid and ultrasensitive quantification method for epitope-specific antibodies, including different isotypes and subclasses, in a multiplexed manner. Using an ultrabright fluorescent nanolabel, plasmonic-fluor, this novel assay can be completed in 20 min and more importantly, the limit of detection of the plasmon-enhanced immunoassay for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies is as much as 100-fold lower compared to the assays relying on enzymatic amplification of colorimetric signals. Using convalescent patient plasma, we demonstrate that this biodetection method reveals the patient-to-patient variability in immune response as evidenced by the variations in whole protein and epitope-specific antibodies. This cost-effective, rapid, and ultrasensitive plasmonically enhanced multiplexed epitope-specific serological assay has the potential to be broadly employed in the detection of specific antibodies, which may benefit the advanced epidemiology studies and enable improvement of the clinical outcomes and prediction of the future protection against the SARS-CoV-2.

GerIATrIC PSYCHIATrY Caring for Older Adults With Mental Health Disorders During the Pandemic

The article discusses the care of older adults with mental health disorders during the pandemic in the U.S. as of November 2021. Topics covered include the expected increase of the geriatric population and their mental health disorders, and the group's susceptibility to the coronavirus and social exclusion. Also noted are such psychiatric care means as electronic platforms for virtual interactions, telephone evaluations, and community websites for older adult services to help this sector.

Pimavanserin for the treatment of psychosis in Alzheimer's disease: A literature review.

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is among the most prevalent forms of dementia in the world and neuropathological studies suggest similar high prevalence of mixed (AD + vascular) dementias. Approximately 25%-50% of individuals with AD develop psychosis sometime during their illness. The presence of psychosis in AD worsens outcomes. Currently there are no United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medications for the treatment of psychosis in AD. Pimavanserin, a novel atypical antipsychotic medication, was approved by the FDA for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson disease psychosis and is currently in clinical trials for the treatment of psychosis in AD. AIM: To evaluate the existing literature regarding the use of pimavanserin for treating psychosis among individuals with AD. METHODS: A literature review of clinical studies of pimavanserin treatment for psychosis in individuals with AD was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guidelines. Trials were identified by systematically searching PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, and Scopus through October 2019. The 5-point Jadad scoring system was used to assess the methodologic quality of the randomized placebo-controlled trials. RESULTS: A total of 499 citations were retrieved and pooled in EndNote and de-duplicated to 258 citations. This set was uploaded to Covidence for screening. Two separate screeners (Srinivasan S and Tampi RR) evaluated the titles, abstracts, and full text of eligible articles. Of the identified 258 abstracts, 98 articles underwent full text review and 2 publications from 1 randomized controlled trial (RCT) were included in the final analysis. The quality of evidence was assessed to be of good methodologic quality, scoring 4 out of 5 using the 5-point Jadad questionnaire with the Jadad Scoring calculation. This systematic review found only one RCT that evaluated the use of pimavanserin for the treatment of psychosis among individuals with AD. This phase 2 trial resulted in two publications, the second of which was a subgroup analysis from the original study. The evidence from these two publications showed that pimavanserin improves psychotic symptoms among individuals with AD when compared to placebo at week 6. CONCLUSION: Pimavanserin may be a pharmacologic consideration for the treatment for psychosis in AD. Additional RCTs are needed to assess the evidence of effectiveness before pimavanserin is considered a standard treatment.

Systematic review of benzodiazepines for anxiety disorders in late life.

BACKGROUND: Benzodiazepines are currently the most commonly prescribed medication for the treatment of anxiety in older adults, although there is a dearth of good-quality data on this subject. The aim of this review was to systematically review studies examining the efficacy and tolerability of benzodiazepines for the treatment of anxiety disorders among older adults. METHODS: The authors conducted a systematic review, searching PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. All searches were limited to English-language articles. The quality of each study was appraised using criteria developed by the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine for randomized controlled trials. RESULTS: A total of 8,785 citations were retrieved and pooled in EndNote and de-duplicated to 3,753. This set was uploaded to Covidence for screening. Two separate screeners (AG and SAF) evaluated the titles, abstracts, and full text of the eligible articles. Five studies met the inclusion criteria. Across all studies, benzodiazepines were associated with decreased anxiety at the end of the study period. The limited tolerability data show mild adverse effects from the benzodiazepines studied. Limitations of the trials included limited data on the long-term use of benzodiazepines for anxiety and a preponderance of trials examining generalized anxiety disorder, with relatively less data on other anxiety disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Benzodiazepines are effective for treating anxiety disorders in late life, at least in the short term, but more data is needed to establish tolerability and their long-term benefits.