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Introduction: Loop diuretics are the first-line treatment for volume overload in acute decompensation of congestive heart failure (AHF). Loop diuretic resistance is common due to pharmacologic tachyphylaxis. Therefore, thiazide and thiazide-like diuretics are often used as add-on therapy to combine two different pharmacologic mechanisms. This systemic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesize the current evidence on the efficacy and safety of metolazone and other thiazide-like diuretics in AHF. Method(s): PRISMA guidelines were followed in conducting this systematic review. PubMed, Scopus, PubMed Central, and Embase databases were searched using relevant keywords for studies published before 5 Jan 2022. and title screening was performed, followed by full-text screening using the Covidence software. Data were extracted, and analysis was done using Cochrane Review Manager (RevMan v5.1). The results were reported in odds ratio and mean difference with 95% confidence intervals. Result(s): Out of 2999 studies identified by database search, eight studies met the inclusion criteria (2 RCTs and 6 cohort studies). Pooled analysis using a random-effects model showed no difference in mean difference among the metolazone group and control group for 24 hours total urine output (MD 69.32, 95% CI -638.29 to 776.94;n = 551;I2 = 84%), change in urine output in 24 hours (MD -284.09, 95% CI -583.99 to 15.81;n = 345;I2 = 0%), 48 hours total urine output (MD -465.62, 95% CI -1302.22 to 370.99;n = 242;I2 = 0%) and urine output at 72 hours (MD -13.24, 95% CI -90.88 to 64.40;n = 205;I2 = 0%). However, studies with furosemide only in the comparator arm, 24 hours of total urine outcome favored metolazone (MD 692.70, 95% CI 386.59 to 998.82;n = 334;I2 = 0%). There was no difference between the two groups in the rate of adverse events, loss of weight, mortality, or readmission rates. Conclusion(s): Metolazone therapy in diuretic resistant AHF may improves urine output and facilitates achieving a net negative balance. Thus, metolazone and thiazide-like diuretics can be used as add-on therapy in acute decompensation of heart failure, especially in diuretic resistance.Copyright © 2023 The Author(s)
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Currently, there is no availability of any proven specific treatment or prevention strategy to fight against COVID-19. Convalescent plasma (CP) therapy is expected to increase survival rates in COVID-19 as in the case of emerging viral infection (SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV). To collect all the studies relevant to CP therapy in critically ill or severe COVID-19 patients and summarize the findings. The systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA consensus statement. A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases on April 25, 2020. A total of six studies (28 patients) relevant to CP therapy in severe or critical COVID-19 are considered for inclusion. Two authors extracted the data about study characteristics, demographics, symptoms, co-morbidities, clinical classification of COVID-19, drug therapies, oxygen therapy, laboratory results, chest CT, neutralizing antibody titer, SARS-CoV-2 RNA load, aal outcome. The review findings revealed that CP therapy increases lymphocyte count, reduced s serum inflammatory markers (CRP, IL-6, Procalcitonin) and liver enzyme levels (AST or ALT). There was a rise in serum neutralizing antibody titers in 10 of 14 patients after CP transfusion. In 4 of 14 patients, the titer levels remain unchanged after CP transfusion. All 28 cases (100%) achieved negative to the SARS-CoV-2 RNA after CP transfusion. The convalescent plasma transfusion can improve neutralizing antibody titers and reduces the viral load in severe/critical COVID-19 patients. The review recommends a well-controlled trial design is required to give a definite statement on the safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma therapy in severe/critical COVID-19.
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Purpose: This study aims to conduct a systematic literature review to investigate the mental health problems during COVID-19 and the role of nutrition in minimizing mental and health-related issues during COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach: A literature search was done electronically on April-May 2022 in the databases Google Scholar, PubMed and Cochrane Library, reviewing all the articles published in English. There were no limitations for the study (such as study design, region or any time frame). The quality assessment was done. The beginning database search picked out a total of 654 articles, 47 in PubMed, 575 in Google Scholar, 22 in Cochrane Library and 10 records from other sources. A total of 565 (duplicates found 89) were found after removing the duplicated articles, after reading the title and s were further decreased to 88 full-text articles. These 88 studies went for full-text analysis, which excluded 56 studies and generated a final 32 articles for systemic analysis. The quality of the included study for the systematic review was assessed in two ways: one is evidence-based and another one on the JBI checklist. Findings: People in social isolation and home quarantine suffer from severe anxiety, stress, depression, loneliness, anger and panic attack. During COVID-19, the vital role of diet and nutrients in mental health has been acknowledged and helps mitigate COVID-19 infection. Many studies showed stress and anxiety due to increased unhealthy eating and lifestyle practices. Originality/value: This review will explain the interlink between diet and mental health because what we eat and think is interconnected with the gut-brain axis. The dietary elements and psychobiotic help in improving the immune system and psychological distress during the pandemic. This paper describes the role of different nutrients, psychobiotics and phytochemicals, to minimize mental and health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper also contains a balanced diet plan to withstand COVID-19.
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Background: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the constant transformation of the SARS-COV-2 virus form, exposure to substantial psychosocial stress, environmental change, and isolation have led to the inference that the overall population's mental health could be affected, resulting in an increase in cases of psychosis. Objective(s): We initiated a systematic review to determine the impact of the SARS-COV-2 virus and its long-term effects-in both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases-on people with or without psychosis. We envisioned that this would give us an insight into effective clinical intervention methods for patients with psychosis during and after the pandemic. Method(s): We selected fifteen papers that met our inclusion criteria, i.e., those that considered participants with or without psychiatric illness and exposed to SARS-COV-2 infection, for this review and were retrieved via Google, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, PubMed, and PsychINFO Database. Key Gap: There is a dearth of research in understanding how COVID-19 affects people with or without a prior personal history of psychosis. Result(s): The systematic review summary provides insight into the state of knowledge. Insights from the systematic review have also been reviewed from the salutogenesis model's perspec-tive. There is moderate evidence of new-onset psychosis during the COVID-19 pandemic in which some antipsychotics treated the psychotic symptoms of patients while treating for COVID-19. Suggestions and recommendations are made for preventive and promotive public health strategies. Conclusion(s): The Salutogenesis model and Positive Psychology Interventions (PPI) provide another preventive and promotive public health management approach.Copyright © 2023 Bentham Science Publishers.
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Objectives: Meta-analyses have investigated associations between race and ethnicity and COVID-19 outcomes. However, there is uncertainty about these associations' existence, magnitude, and level of evidence. We, therefore, aimed to synthesize, quantify, and grade the strength of evidence of race and ethnicity and COVID-19 outcomes in the US. Method(s): In this umbrella review, we searched four databases (Pubmed, Embase, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Epistemonikos) from database inception to April 2022. The methodological quality of each meta-analysis was assessed using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews, version 2 (AMSTAR-2). The strength of evidence of the associations between race and ethnicity with outcomes was ranked according to established criteria as convincing, highly suggestive, suggestive, weak, or non-significant. The study protocol was registered with PROSPERO, CRD42022336805 Results: Of 880 records screened, we selected seven meta-analyses for evidence synthesis, with 42 associations examined. Overall, 10 of 42 associations were statistically significant (p <= 0.05). Two associations were highly suggestive, two were suggestive, and two were weak, whereas the remaining 32 associations were non-significant. The risk of COVID-19 infection was higher in Black individuals compared to White individuals (risk ratio, 2.08, 95% Confidence Interval (CI), 1.60-2.71), which was supported by highly suggestive evidence;with the conservative estimates from the sensitivity analyses, this association remained suggestive. Among those infected with COVID-19, Hispanic individuals had a higher risk of COVID-19 hospitalization than non-Hispanic White individuals (odds ratio, 2.08, 95% CI, 1.60-2.70) with highly suggestive evidence which remained after sensitivity analyses. Conclusion(s): Individuals of Black and Hispanic groups had a higher risk of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization. These associations of race and ethnicity and COVID-19 outcomes existed more obviously in the pre-hospitalization stage. More consideration should be given in this stage for addressing health inequity.Copyright © 2023
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The world has faced huge challenges throughout the endemic of COVID-19. The survivors of Covid too are facing health difficulties. The non-availability of specific treatments made researchers search for all the possible treatment regimens including traditional medicines. India has the greatest culture of Ayurveda. Indian government's AYUSH ministry has granted permission for use of ancient systems of medicine for treatment of some of the COVID-19 cases, especially which are not at advanced stages. Along with this certain reports are there which have shown the positive outcomes of Ayurvedic treatment of COVID-19. However, it is more beneficial to build the immune system of the host from a large population and its health perspective to avoid widespread infection and control the potency of the infectious viral particles. A vaccine can offer protection by boosting specific immunity in the host at the same time non-specific ways to improve host immunity are suggestible. This has carved a path for the use of ancient Indian therapeutic methods such as Ayurveda and Yoga. Although there are many general articles where the home remedies have suggested but, more scientific references are required to document the ayurvedic medicines for Covid related ailments. In this review, an attempt is made to organize available evidences of usefulness of Ayurveda, Yoga, in COVID-19.
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Introduction: The pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus is a challenge for global health systems and generates problems both in socio-economic and individual levels. Objectives: The aim of the study was the general presentation of viral pathogenesis, its transmissibility and maternal-fetal complications that occur following SARS-CoV2 virus infection that have been identified in the literature and its prevention. Results: This paper is a systematic review that includes a summary of the literature using the PubMed database with a selection of studies from January 2020 to July 2022. Many studies have reported a slightly increased severity of COVID-19 among pregnant women compared to non-pregnant women due to complications during pregnancy that resulted in miscarriages, premature births or preeclampsia. Conclusion: Therefore, further investigations are needed to elucidate how COVID-19 affects pregnant women and newborns as well as the long-term impact of SARS-CoV2 infection on women who have given birth, regardless of immunological status at birth.
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Health is a multifaceted issue and providing and promoting all its dimensions is an interdisciplinary task. Examination of crisis conditions shows that the retention of health human resources is very important due to the high volume of work in these conditions. Due to the severity of the prevalence of COVID-19, the health system must have an acceptable plan for dealing with this disease. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the retention and stability of human resources in crises. We used a critical review method using specific keywords ("human resources retention", "COVID-19", and some other related keywords) in, Pubmed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and SID databases until September 2022 without time limitation. Reviewers screened founded studies separately and finally, we summarized the main results of 12 eligible articles. Four main strategies (Organizational management and leadership, risk reduction, improving the mental health of health workers, and financial and welfare support) are possible solutions to reduce healthcare workers' burnout and increase their resilience to this hard situation. It seems that planning, appropriate policy-making to implement the solutions found, division of tasks, and compilation of a national document on human resource protection in crises with the cooperation of people and officials can be very helpful.
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Health-care providers or health-care workers (HCWs) are at higher risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection when compared to the general population. An early routine screening of both symptomatic and asymptomatic HCWs is essential to prevent transmission of infection and thus the nosocomial spread. The cumulative prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among Indian HCWs is unknown. This systematic review was aimed to analyse the prevalence of SARS-Co-V2 disease (COVID-19) among Indian HCWs. Data were collected from a comprehensive computerised search in PubMed, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, ResearchGate, Scopus and Web of Science using the terms 'Prevalence of COVID-19 among HCWs in India' and 'prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among HCWs in India'. Results of original research papers and meta-analysis published were collected and data analysed. Results of seven studies on 31656 HCWs in India were pooled. Overall, average prevalence of COVID-19 among the HCWs was 12.3%. Majorities were frontline workers irrespective of the gender. Most of the cases were symptomatic, with cough and fever as major clinical presentations. Findings suggest that adequate organisation of clinical wards and personnel, appropriate personal protective equipment supply and training of all workers directly and repeatedly exposed to COVID-19 patients should be prioritised to decrease the risk of infection. Furthermore, the duty time of HCWs who works in COVID treating area should be minimised.
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The COVID-19 pandemic situation demands the discovery of newer drugs and/ or repurposing of the existing drugs. The anti-viral drugs approved for COVID-19 are remdesivir and favipiravir. Two more directly acting oral anti-viral drugs have been granted Emergency Use Authorization by US-FDA, molnupiravir on December 23, 2021, and nirmatrelvir and ritonavir (PaxlovidTM) on December 22, 2021. Molnupiravir, an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) inhibitor, has also been approved in the UK and is under review with other regulatory agencies. PaxlovidTM (a combination of the new anti-viral drugs nirmatrelvir and ritonavir) has been developed and approved by US-FDA and CDSCO, India. Nirmatrelvir acts by inhibiting 3CL (chymotrypsin-like) protease enzyme and it is combined with ritonavir to slow down its breakdown by cytochrome P450 enzymes and to increase the bioavailability. Both molnupiravir and PaxlovidTM have been approved for mild and moderate COVID-19 and in patients who have a higher risk of disease progression to severe disease including hospitalisation and death. This article systematically reviews the clinical trials of molnupiravir and PaxlovidTM that evaluated their efficacy and safety against COVID-19 in both published and unpublished literature.
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This special issue includes 17 articles addressing knowledge gaps in the tourism and hospitality literature regarding the sharing economy and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The articles provide systematic literature syntheses, seminal theory-building efforts and creative endeavors that unveil novel findings related to the sharing economy's evolution in the post-pandemic era.
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This special issue contains 8 articles that discuss and highlights the importance of nutrition in mitigating the mental and health-related issues associated with the pandemic, as well as its effects on diet quality and physical activity levels. Topics include: (1) a systematic literature review that emphasizes the role of nutrition in minimizing mental and health-related issues during COVID-19. The review concludes that a healthy diet rich in essential nutrients can play a crucial role in supporting mental health, immune function and overall well-being during the pandemic. In addition, it highlights the need for public health interventions that promote healthy eating habits and provide access to nutritious foods, (2) adherence to the Mediterranean diet in Greek adolescents during COVID-19, (3) a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial investigated the effect of synbiotics on inflammatory markers and white blood cell count in COVID-19 patients, (4) COVID-19 pandemic anxiety was reflected in nutritional habits in adults, (5) investigation of the link between metabolic risks, dietary patterns and COVID-19 prognosis, (6) exploration of the factors related to sedentary lifestyle in a Brazilian sample during the COVID-19 initial quarantine.
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The systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted for COVID-19 infections in kidney transplant patients. Recent research on this topic was still scarce and limited meta-analysis research discussion, specific to some risks or treatment in kidney transplantation patients with COVID-19 infection. Therefore, this article demonstrated the fundamental steps to conducting systematic review and meta-analysis studies to derive a pooled estimate of predictor factors of worse outcomes in kidney transplant patients with positive for the SARS-CoV- 2 testâ¢PICOT Framework to determine the research scopeâ¢PRISMA strategy for study selectionâ¢Forest Plot for meta-analysis study.
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Background: Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) are common and may lead to complications. Most children experience between three and six ARTIs annually. Although most infections are self-limiting, symptoms can be distressing. Many treatments are used to control symptoms and shorten illness duration. Most treatments have minimal benefit and may lead to adverse events. Oral homeopathic medicinal products could play a role in childhood ARTI management if evidence for their effectiveness is established. This is an update of a review first published in 2018. Objectives: To assess the effectiveness and safety of oral homeopathic medicinal products compared with placebo or conventional therapy to prevent and treat ARTIs in children. Search methods: We searched CENTRAL (2022, Issue 3), including the Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Specialised Register, MEDLINE (1946 to 16 March 2022), Embase (2010 to 16 March 2022), CINAHL (1981 to 16 March 2022), AMED (1985 to 16 March 2022), CAMbase (searched 16 March 2022), and British Homeopathic Library (searched 26 June 2013- no longer operating). We also searched the WHO ICTRP and ClinicalTrials.gov (16 March 2022), checked references, and contacted study authors to identify additional studies. Selection criteria: We included double-blind randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or double-blind cluster-RCTs comparing oral homeopathy medicinal products with identical placebo or self-selected conventional treatments to prevent or treat ARTIs in children aged 0 to 16 years. Data collection and analysis: We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. Main results: In this 2022 update, we identified three new RCTs involving 251 children, for a total of 11 included RCTs with 1813 children receiving oral homeopathic medicinal products or a control treatment (placebo or conventional treatment) for ARTIs. All studies focused on upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), with only one study including some lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs). Six treatment studies examined the effect on URTI recovery, and five studies investigated the effect on preventing URTIs after one to four months of treatment. Two treatment and three prevention studies involved homeopaths individualising treatment. The other studies used predetermined, non-individualised treatments. All studies involved highly diluted homeopathic medicinal products, with dilutions ranging from 1 x 10-4 to 1 x 10-200. We identified several limitations to the included studies, in particular methodological inconsistencies and high attrition rates, failure to conduct intention-to-treat analysis, selective reporting, and apparent protocol deviations. We assessed three studies as at high risk of bias in at least one domain, and many studies had additional domains with unclear risk of bias. Four studies received funding from homeopathy manufacturers;one study support from a non-government organisation;two studies government support;one study was co-sponsored by a university;and three studies did not report funding support. Methodological inconsistencies and significant clinical and statistical heterogeneity precluded robust quantitative meta-analysis. Only four outcomes were common to more than one study and could be combined for analysis. Odds ratios (OR) were generally small with wide confidence intervals (CI), and the contributing studies found conflicting effects, so there was little certainty that the efficacy of the intervention could be ascertained. All studies assessed as at low risk of bias showed no benefit from oral homeopathic medicinal products, whilst trials at unclear or high risk of bias reported beneficial effects. For the comparison of individualised homeopathy versus placebo or usual care for the prevention of ARTIs, two trials reported on disease severity;due to heterogeneity the data were not combined, but neither study demonstrated a clinically significant difference. We combined data from two trials for the outcome need for antibiotics (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.35 to 1.76;low-certainty evi
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Comprehensive medication management (CMM) is increasingly provided by health care teams through telehealth or hybrid modalities. The purpose of this scoping literature review was to assess the published literature and examine the economic, clinical, and humanistic outcomes of CMM services provided by pharmacists via telehealth or hybrid modalities. This scoping review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping Reviews. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies were included if they: reported on economic, clinical, or humanistic outcomes;were conducted via telehealth or hybrid modalities;included a pharmacist on their interprofessional team;and evaluated CMM services. The search was conducted between January 1, 2000, and September 28, 2021. The search strategy was adapted for use in Medline (PubMed);Embase;Cochrane;Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature;PsychINFO;International Pharmaceutical s;Scopus;and grey literature. Four reviewers extracted data using a screening tool developed for this study and reviewed for risk of bias. Authors screened 3500 articles, from which 11 studies met the inclusion criteria (9 observational studies, 2 RCTs). In seven studies, clinical outcomes improved with telehealth CMM interventions compared to either usual care, face-to-face CMM, or educational controls, as shown by the statistically significant changes in chronic disease clinical outcomes. Two studies evaluated and found increased patient and provider satisfaction. One study described a source of revenue for a telehealth CMM service. Overall, study results indicate that telehealth CMM services, in select cases, may be associated with improved clinical outcomes, but the methods of the included studies were not homogenous enough to conclude that telehealth or hybrid modalities were superior to in-person CMM. To understand the full impact on the Quadruple Aim, additional research is needed to investigate the financial outcomes of CMM conducted using telehealth or hybrid technologies.Copyright © 2022 Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc.
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Relevance: The global consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic emphasize today the importance of the concept of "One Health" for the health system, which provides for the use of a coordinated, joint, interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach to eliminate potential or existing risks arising at the interface of the "environment-animal-human-ecosystem". The aim of the work is to study the experience of countries in implementing the concept of "One Health". Search strategy: comparative analysis of publications on the research topic, sources indexed in the databases of the electronic library e-Library, Google Academy, Pubmed, Web of Science, Scopus. 26 countries from the European Union, South America and Africa were subject to analysis. The criteria defined are: institutional framework;mechanisms of intersectoral interaction and programs/tools for the implementation of the concept of "One Health". Results: The literature review provides a comparative analysis of the experience of implementing the concept of "One Health" in 26 countries. Realizing the importance of "One Health" in the general concept of public safety, countries have launched an active policy to promote it in the last decade. Characteristic features of country policies are the intersectoral approach with appropriate support from the government of the country, the activity of all participants in promoting the initiative and their investment.
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In recent years, the rapid development of artificial intelligence has enabled the launch of many new screening tools. This review aims to facilitate screening tool selection through a systematic narrative review and feature analysis. The current adoption rate of transparent tool reporting is low: by screening 191 studies published in the Review of Educational Research since 2015, we found that only eight studies reported screening tools. More research is needed to understand the reasons behind this phenomenon. After consulting various sources, 26 available screening tools in the market were found. Among them, we identified and evaluated 12 screening tools for educational reviewers and ranked them in descending order of feature score: Covidence (1), DistillerSR (2, tied), EPPI-Reviewer (2, tied), CADIMA (4), Swift-Active (5), Rayyan (6, tied), SysRev (6, tied), Abstrackr (8, tied), ReLiS (8, tied), RevMan (8, tied), ASReview (11), and Excel (12). In the discussion, we provide insights into the promise and bias in tools' machine learning algorithms. Our results encourage researchers to report their tool usage in publications and select tools based on suitability instead of convenience. © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
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Relevance: Despite the undoubted successes achieved in the fight against infectious diseases, the importance of pathogens in human pathology not only does not decrease, but also shows a tendency to increase. Thousands of people die from complications every year. This is due to the fact that viruses, primarily influenza viruses and coronaviruses, have the ability to change their structure and the mutated virus is able to infect a person again. So, a person who has had the flu has a good immune barrier, but nevertheless a new modified virus is able to easily penetrate it, since the body has not yet developed immunity against this type of virus. To date, the most effective measure of protection against viral infections is vaccination. Aim: Analysis of literature data on the role of vaccination in the system of anti-epidemic and preventive measures in the fight against viral infections, including COVID-19. Search strategy: Scientific publications were searched in the following databases: PubMed, Medline, e-Library, using the Google Scholar scientific search engine. The search depth is 3 years. Criteria for inclusion: publications in Russian and English by thematic requests: vaccination, COVID-19, pandemic;publications included in the PubMed, Medline, e-Library databases;publications for the last 3 years. Criteria for excluding: articles with paid access;s. A total of 168 sources were found. 62 articles passed the selection algorithm, accepted for analysis. Results: Analysis of the literature data has shown that today vaccination is an effective and beneficial measure against various infections worldwide. Vaccines save millions of lives every year. The development of safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19 is a huge step forward towards ending the pandemic and returning to a normal lifestyle. Conclusions: Based on the literature review, it became known that with the help of vaccines, humanity managed to get rid of a number of dangerous infections, and today, in the confrontation with the coronavirus pandemic, great hope is placed on them. A lot of research teams in different countries have joined in the search for a reliable vaccine.
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BACKGROUND: COVID-19 led to a rapid acceleration in the number of systematic reviews. Readers need to know how up to date evidence is when selecting reviews to inform decisions. This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate how easily the currency of COVID-19 systematic reviews published early in the pandemic could be determined and how up to date these reviews were at the time of publication. METHODS: We searched for systematic reviews and meta-analyses relevant to COVID-19 added to PubMed in July 2020 and January 2021, including any that were first published as preprints. We extracted data on the date of search, number of included studies, and date first published online. For the search date, we noted the format of the date and where in the review this was reported. A sample of non-COVID-19 systematic reviews from November 2020 served as a comparator. RESULTS: We identified 246 systematic reviews on COVID-19. In the abstract of these reviews, just over half (57%) reported the search date (day/month/year or month/year) while 43% failed to report any date. When the full text was considered, the search date was missing from 6% of reviews. The median time from last search to publication online was 91 days (IQR 63-130). Time from search to publication was similar for the subset of 15 rapid or living reviews (92 days) but shorter for the 29 reviews published as preprints (37 days). The median number of studies or publications included per review was 23 (IQR 12-40). In the sample of 290 non-COVID SRs, around two-thirds (65%) reported the search date while a third (34%) did not include any date in the abstract. The median time from search to publication online was 253 days (IQR 153-381) and each review included a median of 12 studies (IQR 8-21). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the context of the pandemic and the need to easily ascertain the currency of systematic reviews, reporting of the search date information for COVID-19 reviews was inadequate. Adherence to reporting guidelines would improve the transparency and usefulness of systematic reviews to users.
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COVID-19 , Humans , Cross-Sectional Studies , Systematic Reviews as TopicABSTRACT
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, a variety of digital technologies have been leveraged for public health surveillance worldwide. However, concerns remain around the rapid development and deployment of digital technologies, how these technologies have been used, and their efficacy in supporting public health goals. Following the five-stage scoping review framework, we conducted a scoping review of the peer-reviewed and grey literature to identify the types and nature of digital technologies used for surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic and the success of these measures. We conducted a search of the peer-reviewed and grey literature published between 1 December 2019 and 31 December 2020 to provide a snapshot of questions, concerns, discussions, and findings emerging at this pivotal time. A total of 147 peer-reviewed and 79 grey literature publications reporting on digital technology use for surveillance across 90 countries and regions were retained for analysis. The most frequently used technologies included mobile phone devices and applications, location tracking technologies, drones, temperature scanning technologies, and wearable devices. The utility of digital technologies for public health surveillance was impacted by factors including uptake of digital technologies across targeted populations, technological capacity and errors, scope, validity and accuracy of data, guiding legal frameworks, and infrastructure to support technology use. Our findings raise important questions around the value of digital surveillance for public health and how to ensure successful use of technologies while mitigating potential harms not only in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also during other infectious disease outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics.