ABSTRACT
Telemonitoring has been useful during the COVID19 pandemic, to monitor patients avoiding risk of infection, and patients living in remote areas. Monitoring of SpO2 has been a fundamental parameter to preserve health and go to hospitals only in emergencies. This research develops a prototype of pulse oximetry for telemonitoring using an open-source platform and low-cost elements, the Atmega328 microcontroller and MAX30102 sensor to measure the reflection of light in the blood were used. Our device displays the SpO2 and HR on a screen and through an ESP8266 WiFi module sends the data automatically to a free cloud platform “ThingSpeak”, where it is stored, visualized, or can be exported for analysis in other software. A comparison with a commercial clinical grade device was performed and Bland-Altman charts and ICC to verify the concordance between both. The results are ICC of 0.97 and 0.73 corresponding ±2 BPM and ±3% SpO2 have been obtained. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
Background: Inflammatory markers are pivotal for the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and sepsis. This study compared markers between hospitalised patients with COVID-19 and those with bacterial sepsis. Methods: This retrospective single-centre cohort study included 50 patients with COVID-19 clinical stages II and III and 24 patients with bacterial sepsis. Both groups were treated according to the country's official standards. Leukocytes, C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, and D-dimer were registered at the time of patient's admission and 24, 48, and 72 h after initiating intrahospital treatment. Results: Upon admission, marker levels were high, with a significant decrease at 72 h after antibiotic therapy in the sepsis group. The leukocyte count was higher in deceased patients with sepsis. The mean ferritin levels were 1105 mcg/dl for COVID-19 and 525 mcg/dL for sepsis. Higher ferritin levels in COVID-19 (P = 0.001) seemed to be a predictor of higher mortality. Upon admission, the median D-dimer level was 0.68 mg/L for COVID-19 and 3 mg/L for patients with sepsis, whether recovered or deceased. As D-dimer, procalcitonin levels were higher in patients with sepsis (P = 0.001). CRP levels were equally elevated in both entities but higher in deceased patients with COVID-19. Conclusion: Ferritin was the main inflammatory marker for COVID-19, and leukocytes, procalcitonin, and D-dimer were the main markers of sepsis. Markers that were most affected in deceased patients were CRP for COVID-19 and leukocyte for sepsis. The therapeutic implications of these differences require further study.
ABSTRACT
The aim of the present study was to analyze and compare the decision-making process under uncertainty (TDBI) and low risk (TDBR), and its relationship with executive subcomponents of working memory (MT) and planning, in children and adolescents. A comparative descriptive study was carried out with a retrospective ex post facto type design with two groups. The sample was made up of 110 children and adolescents from 8 to 16 years old, divided into two groups;65 children from 8 to 11 years old and 45 adolescents from 12 to 16 years old. The results showed a riskier behavior in children in the TDBR while no differences were found in the TDBI. Thus, adolescents exhibited safer behavior in TDBR and similar behavior to children in TDBI. In addition, the results suggest a differential contribution of executive functioning in both types of decision-making, while the capacity of MT and planning was related to a better performance in TDBR, no associations with TDBI were found.
ABSTRACT
The objective of the study was to determine the characteristics of the physical activity behavior carried out at the beginning of phase 3 of the epidemiological contingency due to COVID-19 in people over 18 years of age. It is presented a quantitative comparative and cross-sectional study. Two thousand one hundred sixteen professionals affiliated with Physical Education and Sports associations in North, Central and South America participated. In this sample, the main reasons for exercising were physical condition (32.5%), enjoyment (27.8%) and physical appearance (16.3%). More than one in five reported not having time to exercise. There were differences by region and sex for the performance of physical activity during social isolation (p < .05). Even though people recognize the benefits of exercise for health, health is not considered among the main motivations for its performance.
ABSTRACT
A recently published article of this journal stated that informatics solutions can guide better public health decision-making during the COVID 19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) pandemic. Honduras is a country facing the COVID-19 pandemic with a weak health surveillance system while also fighting a dengue epidemic and the aftermath of two hurricanes that struck its territory in November 2020. In response, we as academics started a COVID-19 and Dengue Observatory combining several technological platforms and developing multidisciplinary research to help the country navigate the crisis. Mapping the pandemic and the natural disasters showed us that technology can be applied toward epidemiology to benefit communities in a time of need by quickly building a basic digital health surveillance system for Honduras.