ABSTRACT
Introduction: The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is a protracted stressor with far-reaching effects on daily life. Although most individuals exhibit resilience in the wake of adversity, it is not clear which characteristics reliably predict resilience versus longstanding distress. It is vital to delineate predictors of pandemic-related distress to highlight modifiable risk factors that can be targeted to enhance psychological resilience. Sleep reactivity may be an important predictor of pandemic reactions because it reflects a vulnerability to experience pronounced sleep disturbances in response to stress, which serve as barriers to healthy adjustment to adversity. Therefore, this study tested sleep reactivity as a prospective predictor of pandemic-related distress. Methods: Participants were recruited from a previous randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing self-guided digital CBT-I against a sleep education control in treating insomnia and preventing depression. Participants in the RCT were enrolled between 2016-2017 and were eligible for this follow-up study conducted between April and May 2020 (N = 208;dCBT-I: n = 102;control: n = 106). Pre-treatment sleep reactivity was measured in 2016-2017 (T1) using the Ford Insomnia Response to Stress Test (FIRST). COVID-19 distress was measured in April 2020 (T2) using the Impact of Events Scale (IES) and Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS). All analyses controlled for treatment condition and COVID-19 impact. Results: T1 FIRST predicted T2 IES (b = 0.29, + 0.14 SE, p < .05) and QIDS (b = 0.16, + 0.04 SE, p < .001), such that higher sleep reactivity pre-pandemic predicted more severe stress responses and depressive symptoms during the pandemic 3-4 years later. Exploratory analyses revealed T1 FIRST was a predictor of the IES subscales arousal and intrusions (bs = 0.02, + 0.01 SEs, ps < .05), but not avoidance. Conclusion: These findings build on evidence that sleep reactivity prospectively predicts reactions to trauma and demonstrate its predictive utility generalizes to pandemic responses. Sleep reactivity is a modifiable risk factor that may be targeted using cognitivebehavioral or mindfulness-based approaches, and thus may offer a new pathway to resilience.
ABSTRACT
Objectives The perceptions maintained by the teaching profession have a plausible influence on the effectiveness of online teaching practices, but they have not been well comprehended in many institutions in Pakistan. This study is the first to demonstrate how different academic disciplines address the challenges and opportunities regarding online teaching during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and whether there exists a strong correlation between respondents' attitudes and their field of discipline. Materials and Methods A multi-centric cross-sectional survey was conducted online, and data gathered from the online survey were analyzed using SPSS version 16, demographic and categorical data were analyzed in frequencies and percentages. A relationship between the attitudes of teachers with their areas of discipline and a difference in response between genders and age groups were analyzed using a chi-square test. Results The findings of our study provide valuable understandings that most of the higher education faculty felt positively (64.1%) regarding the online mode of teaching. However, their perceived attitudes have a significant influence on the nature of their academic discipline. Conclusion These findings provide relevant suggestions to the core aspects of the use of the e-learning system during the COVID-19 pandemic to foster positive teaching experiences. The administrations and institutions can use it to identify the e-learning constraints within multiple fields of profession and help instructors generate quality materials that will reshape the framework of online education and preserve the practice of blended teaching even after the pandemic. © 2022 Mary Ann Liebert Inc.. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background and Aim: The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SAR-CoV-2) had severe consequences and complications on the global health care system. Recent medical studies have been focused on the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on pregnancies outcomes especially early pregnancies. The present study aimed to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic early-trimester pregnancies. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was carried out on 76 women who visited Obstetrics and Gynecology department for the first and second-trimester viability scan at Government Hospital, Samnabad Lahore from 1st January 2021 to 30th June 2021. Individuals of age between 19 years and 40 years with a diagnosis of spontaneous miscarriage were enrolled in this study. Ethical approval was taken from the respective hospital's ethical review committee. Patients with recurrent pregnancy loss, induced miscarriage, and other co-morbidities were excluded. All the demographic details were taken from the hospital medical record. All the patients underwent routine baseline tests to confirm the COVID-19 history and its impacts on the early trimester of pregnancy. The outcomes of early trimester pregnancy were viable pregnancy, miscarriage, pregnancy loss, and ectopic pregnancy were calculated in terms of frequency and percentage. SPSS version 20 was used for data analysis. Results: The overall mean age study group patients was 28.72± 3.63 years. The control group comprised 57 pregnant women with a gestational age of 5 weeks to 11 weeks, and the mean maternal age was 34.83±4.91 years. Out of total pregnant women, 31 (40.7%) were of age 19-25 years old, 29 (38.2%) had age 25 to 30 years, and 31 to 40 years were 16 (21.1%). Of the total 76 pregnant women, about 41 (54%) had a miscarriage with positive COVID-19 tests and 24 (31.6%) had spouses who had COVID-19 positive tests. History of both spouse and personal positive COVID tests were eleven patients (14.4%). The incidence of miscarriage among control group was 10 (17.5%). Conclusion: Our study found that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affects the rate of pregnancy loss during the early trimester (first and second pregnancy). The maternal viremia or vertical transmission caused early trimester pregnancy loss and maternal infection during COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease that is caused by severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Although elective surgical procedures are being cancelled in many parts of the world during the COVID-19 pandemic, acute craniomaxillofacial (CMF) trauma will continue to occur and will need to be appropriately managed. Surgical procedures involving the nasal, oral, or pharyngeal mucosa carry a high risk of transmission due to aerosolization of the virus which is known to be in high concentration in these areas. Intraoperative exposure to high viral loads through aerosolization carries a very high risk of transmission, and the severity of the disease contracted in this manner is worse than that transmitted through regular community transmission. This places surgeons operating in the CMF region at particularly high risk during the pandemic. There is currently a paucity of information to delineate the best practice for the management of acute CMF trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, a clear protocol describing optimal screening, timing of intervention and choice of personal protective equipment, is needed. The authors have proposed an algorithm for management of CMF trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that urgent and emergent CMF injuries are addressed appropriately while optimizing the safety of surgeons and other healthcare providers. The algorithm is based on available evidence at the time of writing. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve and more evidence and better testing becomes available, the algorithm should be modified accordingly.