ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Evidence on long-term associations between COVID-19 and risks of multi-organ complications and mortality in older population is limited. This study evaluates these associations. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The cohorts included patients aged ≥60 year diagnosed with COVID-19 infection (cases), between 16 March 2020 and 31 May 2021 from the UK Biobank (UKB cohort, n = 11 330); and between 01 April 2020 and 31 May 2022 from the electronic health records in Hong Kong (HK cohort, n = 213 618). Each patient was randomly matched with up to 10 individuals without COVID-19 infection based on age and sex (UKB, n = 325 812; HK, n = 1 411 206) and were followed for up to 18 months until 31 August 2021 for UKB, and up to 28 months until 15 August 2022 for HK cohort. Caracteristics between cohorts were further adjusted with propensity score-based marginal mean weighting through stratification. For evaluating long-term association of COVID-19 with multi-organ disease complications and mortality after 21-days of diagnosis, Cox regression was employed. RESULT: Older adults with COVID-19 were associated with a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular outcomes [major cardiovascular disease (stroke, heart failure and coronary heart disease): hazard ratio (UKB): 1.4 (95% Confidence interval: 1.2,1.7), HK:1.2 (95% CI: 1.1,1.3)]; myocardial infarction: HR (UKB): 1.8 (95% CI: 1.4,2.5), HK:1.2 (95% CI: 1.1,1.5)]; respiratory outcomes [interstitial lung disease: HR (UKB: 3.5 (95% CI: 2.6,4.7), HK:6.6 (95% CI: 2.1,21.2); chronic pulmonary disease: HR (UKB): 1.6 (95% CI: 1.2,2.1), HK:1.7 (95% CI: 1.4,2.1)]; neuropsychiatric outcomes [seizure: HR (UKB): 2.7 (95% CI: 1.7,4.2), HK:1.8 (95% CI: 1.4,2.3)]; and renal outcomes [acute kidney disease: HR (UKB): 1.4 (95% CI: 1.1,1.6), HK:1.7 (95% CI: 1.4,2.1)]; and all-cause mortality [HR (UKB): 4.8 (95% CI: 4.4,5.4), HK:2.7 (95% CI: 2.6,2.8)]. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 is associated with long-term risks of multi-organ complications in older adults (aged ≥60). Infected patients in this age-group may benefit from appropriate monitoring of signs/symptoms for developing these complications.
ABSTRACT
Companion bots such as chatbots in cyberspace or robots in real space gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic as a means of comforting humans and reducing their loneliness. These bots can also help enhance the lives of elderly people. In this paper, we present how to design and implement a quick prototype of companion bots for elderly people. A companion bot named "Hello Steve"that is able to send emails, open YouTube to provide entertainment, and remember the times an elderly person must take medicine and remind them is designed and implemented as a quick prototype. In addition, the bot combines the features of a mobile robot and a chatbot. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the design through its very high accuracy when navigating mobile-robot-like tasks and responding to chatbot-like tasks via voice commands. © 2023 MYU K.K.
ABSTRACT
The necessity of modern intensive care units (ICU) based on IoT is becoming obvious as a result of the population boom and, most notably, coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The continual monitoring of patients' vital indicators (Blood Pressure, ECG, Heart Rate, Blood Saturation, Body Temperature) is one of the most important aspects of an ICU. Existing improvements in informatics, signal processing, or engineering, which potentially reduce the pressure on ICUs, have yet to be implemented. It's possible due to a lack of user participation in research and development. This manuscript focuses on the improvement of a completely integrated system where the doctors can directly connect to patients through the Smart Portable ICU, and physicians can access the patients. Thus, the crucial boundaries of a patient to the concerned specialist at a far-off position have been resolved simply and helpfully. Thus, the specialist can attend to the patient remotely and infuse lifesaving drugs from the distant area if necessary. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
A most life-threatening situation caused by a novel coronavirus has been unfolding over the last 2years at breakneck speed. The general public is desperate to learn more about how the current situation with COVID-19 is unfolding, including statistics on the number of people who have been affected, as well as news about deaths, recovery rates, and the various ages of people who have been affected across India, particularly those with disabilities and the elderly. This chapter is intended to combine the COVID-19 demand and proceeds with the available statistics onto a single platform. The virus has spread across the globe, and much of the information in the public domain is not accurate. It also affects people adversely if information is unreliable, and so there should be dependable and trustworthy data that individuals can use and rely on in such perilous situations. COVID HUB, a valuable smart application, will provide the public with the accurate information that they deserve. This suggested handy application includes data on the number of people impacted, death rates, recovery rates, and the numbers of elderly and differently abled people affected. The information sources for this new smart app are observed through the application program interface, which obtains data from a remote source, maps its key points and values, and aligns them in a data center. Once the app is started automatically by the system, the application program interface call is made. If COVID symptoms are detected in one or more of the neighboring states, this function collects all of the phone numbers to be dialed from each state. Dart is used for implementation of this COVID HUB. Flutter, which supports both Android and iOS, as well as being a tool chain, coding platform, SDK management, and Dart extensions, are all included in this implementation. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The wandering of older persons with Covid is one of the several behavioral difficulties that they experience, and it is the source of the most anxiety for their caregivers. Using a novel mobile phone-based safety assistance system, we have been able to relay information about a wandering individual's whereabouts to others who are near that person. The wearable sensor is made up of a GSM module, an Arduino UNO, and a GPS module. It is possible to determine the position of the wandering individual after they have beyond a particular meter. When the old person leaves the area, the GSM transmits the position of the wandering elderly person, which is determined with the aid of GPS. The server computer sends an SMS to the caregiver to notify him or her of the situation. The caregiver may keep track of the wandering person's whereabouts on a map by connecting to the Internet. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Collisions between opened doors and approaching vehicles such as bicycles are common occurrences in urban areas around the world. For example, in Chicago, 20#x00025;of all bicycle accidents involve collisions with doors, which occur over 300 times a year. In addition, there are concerns about a further rise in accidents due to the recent increase in home delivery services and bicycle commuting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that are designed to help prevent this type of accident have already been introduced. These systems detect approaching vehicles with sensors and alert the person opening the door via LED lights or a buzzer when the door is opened. The occupant must understand the meaning of the alert and stop opening the door quickly to prevent an accident. However, if the occupant is an elderly person or a child, it is difficult to stop opening the door quickly. One possible countermeasure for this issue is an ADAS that completely locks the door if there is a possibility of collision with the door. This paper presents how this function can be realized. This paper also presents voice guidance as a method of removing the fear of being trapped, which is a new issue associated with the realization of a complete door lock system, and a method of unlocking the door by special operation of the door open button when the occupant wants to open the door even if there is a possibility of collision of present. © 2022 SAE International. All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
With the growth of aging societies, the health of the elderly is considered one of the critical issues. Regular physical activity is linked to improving physical and mental functions. Therefore, there is an urgent need to motivate the elderly to be physically active. The self-monitoring of physical activity may positively impact the awareness of exercise and health and increase activity levels. In this study, we conducted a 12-week trial with thirty Japanese elderly to investigate the effects of self-monitoring on their attitudes, awareness, and activity levels. During the trial, the participants wore activity trackers daily and responded to repeated questionnaires weekly. The Covid-19 pandemic has begun to appear a few weeks after starting this trial. Therefore, we explored the impact of this pandemic on the participants' activity and psychological status. Overall, the participants increased their perception of the benefits of self-monitoring and willingness to check the activity tracker's feedback. Despite there was a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in the participant number of steps due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the percentage of reduction was small (11%). The self-monitoring of activity may help the elderly maintain activity level during the pandemic. Furthermore, the participants agreed with the importance of monitoring physical activity and the necessity to maintain activity level during the Covid-19 pandemic. © 2021 Association for Computing Machinery. All rights reserved.