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Aim: Coronavirus disease-2019 has caused a significant health crisis all over the world. This study aimed to compare obstetric and gynecological data during the COVID-19 pandemic period with the previous three years. Material(s) and Method(s): For this purpose, over a 5-year period, from January 2017 to December 2021, patient records from the hospital's electronic data registry were scanned. The extracted data included the number of patients admitted to the outpatient clinic, the number of emergency outpatient visits, the number of patients inserted and removed with an intrauterine device (IUD), abortions, premature rupture of membranes (PROM), intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) and vaginal delivery and cesarean section. Result(s): The number of patients who underwent IUD removal decreased in the last two years. Also, the number of patients who underwent IUD insertion in 2020 was very low compared to other years (p<0.01, for all). It was observed that the number of patients diagnosed with PROM decreased in the last three years (p<0.01, for all). There was a statistically significant decrease in the total number of deliveries in the last two years (p<0.01). Discussion(s): In conclusion, it is seen that the number of outpatients, the number of emergency outpatients, the number of IUDs removed and the total number of deliveries have decreased in the last two years compared to the previous three years. This may be related to the coronavirus infection, which has caused the pandemic for the last two years.Copyright © 2022, Derman Medical Publishing. All rights reserved.
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Objective. We described three cases of SARS-CoV-2 positive new-borns with both symptomatic and asymptomatic mothers. Materials and Methods. Placentas were analyzed in the pathology department and showed chronic histiocytic intervillositis with presence of CD68+ macrophages, syncytiotrophoblast necrosis and positivity of the syncytiotrophoblast for SARS-CoV-2 antigen or RNA. Results. The first case dates back to March 2020, when a symptomatic COVID-19 positive patient gave birth to a healthy neonate at 37.6 weeks of gestation. Skin to skin contact was not permitted but breastfeeding with a face mask was allowed. The newborn, that remained asymptomatic throughout the entire hospital stay, resulted positive to SARS-CoV-2 immediately after birth, at 24 hours of life and after 7 days. The second was delivered at 35.1 weeks of gestation by caesarean section for non-reassuring fetal status. The mother presented with fever, cough and a positive COVID-19 swab test. The newborn resulted positive on day 7, despite not having contact with the mother. No neonatal complications were observed. The third positive mother was admitted asymptomatic to the obstetric department in September 2021 due to preterm premature rupture of membranes at 20 weeks of gestation in a high-risk twin pregnancy. At 21.4 weeks of gestation her clinical conditions deteriorated, and she delivered two stillborn fetuses: SARSCoV- 2 was detected in all tissues samples. The lung of the first fetus only showed interstitial pneumonia features. Conclusions. We detected SARS-CoV-2 in placentas of both the second and third trimester, implying the passage of the virus through the placenta to the fetuses as the presence of SARSCoV- 2 RNA was demonstrated in swabs and foetal tissues.
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Background Despite robust evidence and national guidance recommending cardiac rehabilitation (CR) for heart failure (HF), access remains poor, a situation magnified by COVID- 19. The Rehabilitation EnAblement in CHronic Heart Failure (REACH-HF) randomised controlled trial demonstrated the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a novel home-based CR selfmanagement programme. The SCOT:REACH-HF study was designed to provide the understanding of real-world implementation needed for NHS-wide roll-out in a Scottish context. Aim To 1) compare outcome improvements and delivery costs with those identified in the RCT;and 2) identify facilitators of and barriers to real-world implementation. Methods A mixed-method implementation study of REACHHF delivery across six NHS Scotland areas in 2021-22. Health professionals were trained to facilitate delivery of the 12-week programme. We assessed patient- and caregiverreported outcomes (including health-related quality of life, psychological wellbeing) pre-and post-REACH-HF participation. Primary Outcome: Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHF). 136 adults with reduced ejection fraction HF (HFrEF) were recruited, and 101 completed follow-up. 54 participants nominated caregivers, 26 of whom completed follow- up. Qualitative interviews with 20 key health professionals (primarily REACH-HF facilitators) were subject to thematic analysis to explore barriers to and facilitators of implementation. Fidelity, contextual, and economic data were also collected. Results REACH-HF participation resulted in significant gains in health-related quality of life, as assessed by the MLHF, PROM-CR+, and EQ-5D-5L, and Self-Care of Heart Failure Index (SCHFI). MLHF improvements were both statistically significant and met the minimum clinically important difference in 63% of participants (see figure 1). Interviewees were largely positive about REACH-HF - considering it to have 'filled a gap' when no other CR was available - and key issues to support future roll-out were identified. Conclusion Our findings support the scaled roll-out of REACH-HF. This would offer people with HFrEF, and their families and friends, an accessible alternative to centre-based CR. (Figure Presented).
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This article presents current data on the impact of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) on pregnancy and perinatal consequences. The working theories of the pathogenesis of obstetric and fetal complications due to infection during pregnancy, already proven to date, are considered. Symptoms of COVID-19 disease, the risk of their development, and frequency of severe disease in non-pregnant and pregnant women of reproductive age do not differ significantly. However, there are powerful studies that have shown that this infection in pregnant women leads to a high probability of a dramatically severe and fulminant course. Pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection have an increased risk of preeclampsia, incl. severe, hemolysis, thrombocytopenia and increased levels of liver enzymes compared with pregnant women without infection. Women who have COVID-19 are twice as likely to have preterm rupture of the membranes and three times as likely to have a preterm birth compared to the not infected pregnant women. Vertical transmission of the virus from mother to fetus is likely, but data are insufficient to be certain. There is also insufficient evidence of an increased miscarriage rate and teratogenic effects of the COVID-19 virus. However, antenatal fetal death is statistically significantly more common in infected pregnant women than in uninfected pregnant women. Morphological and functional disorders in the chorion/placenta are the main pathogenetic factor in the development of preeclampsia, intrauterine growth retardation, antenatal fetal death and impaired state of the fetus and children born by women with COVID-19. Many studies report that mothers with confirmed COVID-19 infection has asymptomatic babies. At the same time, some studies indicate adverse complications in newborns from infected mothers. The most common neonatal disorders in babies from pregnant women with COVID-19 are tachypnea, hyperthermia, and gastrointestinal disorders, in particular vomiting and flatulence. Further research of the COVID-19 impact on pregnancy and perinatal outcomes is urgently needed.Copyright © 2022 Trylyst. All rights reserved.
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Aims: In qualitative research, descriptive text with or without excerpts or patient quotes is used to highlight key findings. Data visualization techniques can be used to efficiently communicate insights from large amounts of text data. However, their use in the context of qualitative research for patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) development is still scarce. The primary purpose of this study was to review the recent literature to get a sense of the data visualization techniques most used to illustrate PROM development studies. Method(s): A PubMed search (2010-2021) with the search terms ''patient-reported outcomes'' or ''self-report measures'' and ''development'' was conducted to identify the top 10 journals (by frequency of relevant publications) that were not specific to therapeutic areas). Studies published in the aforementioned journals that reported qualitative methods to develop a PROM were included in the review. Studies that used qualitative approach to develop conceptual frameworks for quality of life or well-being relative to a health condition or treatment or overall, with the objective of developing a PROM were also included. The title and , full-text screening, and data extraction were completed in duplicate by two independent reviewers using the software package Covidence. Information pertaining to form (e.g., word clouds, bar charts) and the effectiveness (e.g., simplicity of visuals, captioning, use of text) of the visualization approach was extracted. Result(s): The search yielded 3816 unique s. After the eligibility criteria were applied, 355 were screened for full text, out of which 323 were included in the review. A total of 142 studies included some form of visualization of the qualitative data. We found bar charts were most used to describe the frequency of a concept being elicited in an interview at the level of the participant sample and few studies used flow charts to illustrate the relationship between concepts. Most studies failed to meet the good data visualization principles for effective communication of text data. Computational approaches to categorizing and visualizing text data (e.g., sentiment analysis, topic modeling) were largely underused. Conclusion(s): This review highlights the urgent need for using effective data visualization techniques for qualitative research for PROM development.
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Aims: The prevalence of Occupational Burnout has skyrocketed during the Covid-19 pandemic, especially among healthcare professionals (HCP). Hence, it is crucial to have robust measures for ascertaining burnout in this population. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) is the most widely used measure in burnout research, but fundamental methodological flaws permeated its development. The Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire/Measure is a prevalent tool used by the Swedish Health System to diagnose burnout and plan the delivery of mental health services. The 14-item Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM) was developed after a methodological revision of the 22-item Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ). Studies on the psychometric properties of the SMBM exist, but the assessment of the methodological quality of individual studies is lacking. To address this gap, the purpose of this study is to critically appraise the quality of the measurement properties of the 14-item SMBM among HCP. Method(s): Four databases (PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Scopus) were searched for studies on the psychometric properties of the 14-item SMBM among HCP. The methodological quality of the studies was evaluated using the COSMIN Risk of Bias checklist. Evidence supporting the measurement properties of the SMBM was synthesized and graded using the GRADE approach. Result(s): We identified three studies on the psychometric properties of the 14-item SMBM among HCP. One study on the 12-item SMBM was included to estimate content validity. We found a high quality of evidence for internal consistency, moderate quality of evidence for structural and crosscultural validity, and low quality of evidence for hypothesis testing. Most importantly, we found that PROM development and content validity were inadequate. Conclusion(s): Although informed by the Conservation of Resources Theory, the 14-item SMBM warrants revision to engage critical stakeholders for concept elicitation and cognitive interview. Both processes will contribute to the relevance, comprehensiveness, and comprehensibility of the PRO items.
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Background: Autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA) during pregnancy is a rare finding, and few is known about maternal and foetal outcomes. AIHA may either develop or relapse during gestation and postpartum or be an issue in a patient on active therapy who becomes pregnant. AIHA management during pregnancy and lactation is not standardized and drug use is often limited by safety concerns. Aims: We studied AIHA impact on pregnancy focusing on disease severity, treatment need and maternal/foetal outcome. Methods: Through a multicentric retrospective cohort study, we identified 38 pregnancies occurred in 28 women from 1997 to 2021 in 10 European centres in Italy, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, USA, and Spain. All included patients had a previous AIHA history or developed/exacerbated AIHA during gestation or postpartum. AIHA was classified according to the direct antiglobulin test. Results: We registered 18 warm AIHA (10 IgG;8 IgG+C3d), 2 cold agglutinin disease, 3 mixed and 5 atypical forms (Table 1). Evans syndrome (i.e., association of AIHA and immune thrombocytopenia or neutropenia) was present in 4. Mean age at AIHA diagnosis was 27 (3-39) and at pregnancy 32 (21-41) years. AIHA diagnosis predated pregnancy in 15 women and had required at least 1 therapy line in all of them, and >2 lines in 12 (rituximab, N=7;cytotoxic immunosuppressants, N=6;splenectomy, N=5). Among these 15 patients, 6 had a relapse during pregnancy, 3 during postpartum and 9 were on active treatment at the time of pregnancy (steroids, N=8;cyclosporine, N=1;azathioprine, N=1;the latter stopped after positive pregnancy test). A patient with a previous AIHA, relapsed as immune thrombocytopenic purpura during pregnancy. Further 8 patients had an AIHA onset during gestation and 2 postpartum. A patient had AIHA onset during the postpartum of the 1st pregnancy and relapsed during the 2nd one. In the 20 women experiencing AIHA during pregnancy/postpartum, median Hb and LDH levels were 6,4 g/dL (3,1 - 8,7) and 588 UI/L (269-1631), respectively. Management consisted in blood transfusions (N=10) and prompt establishment of steroid therapy+/-IVIG (N=20), all with response (complete N=13, partial N=7). After delivery, rituximab was necessary in 4 patients and cyclosporine was added in one. Anti-thrombotic prophylaxis was given in 7 patients. Overall, we registered 10 obstetric complications (10/38, 26%), including 4 early miscarriages, a premature rupture of membranes, a placental detachment, 2 preeclampsia, a postpartum infection and a biliary colic. Apart from the case of biliary colic and one of the two cases of preeclampsia, 8/10 complications occurred during active haemolysis and treatment for AIHA. Nine foetal adverse events (9/38, 24%) were reported: a transitory respiratory distress of the new-born in a mother with active AIHA, 3 cases of foetal growth restriction, a preterm birth, an infant reporting neurologic sequelae, a case of AIHA of the new-born requiring intravenous immunoglobulins, blood transfusions and plasma exchange, and 2 perinatal deaths. The latter both occurred in women on active AIHA therapy and were secondary to a massive placental detachment and a symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. (Figure Presented ) Summary/Conclusion: AIHA developing/reactivating during pregnancy or postpartum is rare (about 5%) but mainly severe requiring steroid therapy and transfusions. Importantly, severe maternal and foetal complications may occur in up to 26% of cases mostly associated with active disease, pinpointing the importance of maintaining a high level of awareness. Passive maternal autoantibodies transfer to the foetus seems a rare event.
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Background: An important but insufficient aspect of care in people with infam-matory arthritis (IA) is empowering them to acquire good understanding of their disease and build ability to deal effectively with the practical, physical and psychological impacts of it. This extends beyond drug therapy and emphasises the ability to self-manage, with the right support, as an essential component of care. Good self-efficacy and coping skills reduce health and fnancial burden to the individual as well as the health service, beneftting society overall. Provision of excellent supported self-management education is at the heart of what NRAS does and it was due to the difficulty of getting Commissioners to fund our face-to-face group self-management that led to our building an e-learning programme to expand on and replace our 6-week programme. Objectives: To co-create an intuitive, easy to use, modular e-learning programme, free for all and which health professionals (HCPs) could refer their patients to. This makes supported self-management and evidence-based education accessible to all, wherever they live. SMILE enables HCPs to meet both NICE guideline and quality standards in RA against which rheumatology units in England and Wales are currently audited, as well as EULAR Recommendations for self-management strategies in infammatory arthritis. Methods: In 2019 with initial funding in place, we worked with our provider to help us realise our goal of developing a state-of-the art e-learning experience in a modular format for people with RA. The programme had to be 1) simple to use;2) interactive;3) innovative and engaging;4) able to measure impact through achievement of learning objectives and use of a validated patient reported outcome measure. The programme also had to be integrable with our Salesforce database enabling us to collect data and target resources to individuals, driven by identifed need. Results: Delayed by COVID, we launched with 4 modules on 17/09/2021. The 4 modules comprise: Foundation Module covering the importance of self-management which has the RA Impact of Disease PROM embedded;Newly Diagnosed;Meet the Team and Managing Pain and Flares. A ffth module on Medicines in RA will be launched 1st quarter 2022 and 4 further modules will be uploaded in 2022. To date (26/01/22), 760 people have registered, of which 313 have completed a baseline RAID and this reveals that <50% are achieving minimal acceptable state of 3 or less. Over 78% of registrants are not NRAS members, and 634 modules have been completed. Early indications are that almost all are achieving learning objectives. More data will be available by June 2022. Conclusion: Early indications demonstrate that people are successfully engaging with the programme and we have marketing activity lined up to raise further awareness of the value of SMILE with both potential users and rheumatology teams in 2022. Massive workforce issues together with signifcant backlogs of existing patients caused by the pandemic, have restricted the ability of Teams to provide education and self-management support for their patients. SMILE offers high quality, evidence-based learning opportunities for their patients and has been co-created with health professionals and people with RA at every step. With remote consultations here to stay, the importance of patients having access to evidence based online learning which they can tailor to their specifc needs and improve their self-efficacy is even more critical.
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Introduction: The clinical therapy of COVID-19 infection during pregnancy is still insufficient and limited. The current literature on COVID-19 infection during pregnancy and childbirth is summarized in this article, with a focus on maternal and neonatal outcomes. Material and methods: From June 1 to September 7, 2020, a systematic search of pertinent medical subject heading (MeSH) terms, covered by the electronic databases Web of Science and Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and SID key phrases including coronavirus or COVID-19 and pregnancy was undertaken. The search and selection criteria were restricted to English and Farsi literature. COVID-19 in pregnancy articles of all types were considered in the study. The references of relevant studies were also searched. After deleting duplicate and ineligible items, a total of 21 articles were collected. Result: We found 21 studies with a total of 6,569 pregnant women who had COVID-19 infection: only one publication provided disease severity: 368 (95.6%) mild cases, 14 (3.6%) severe cases, and three (0.8%) serious cases. A total of 6,569 women gave birth more often by caesarean than by vaginal delivery. With multiple organ dysfunction syndromes (MODS), some women developed symptoms that necessitated ICU admission. The most commonly administered treatments for pregnant women with COVID-19 were hydroxychloroquine, Beclomethasone, Calamine, diclofenac sodium, Methylprednisolone, Azithromycin, Ganciclovir, Chinese herbal medicine, and Oseltamivir. The most commonly reported symptoms were fever and cough, followed by rhinorrhea, chest tightness, dyspnea, nasal congestion, and myalgias. Maternal outcomes included premature rupture of membranes, maternal death (21), gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, placental abruption, fetal distress, anemia, preterm birth (< 37 weeks), and fetal growth restriction, miscarriage, hypertension, and influenza. Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission, prematurity, birth weight 2,500 g, preterm delivery (37 weeks), fetal discomfort, neonatal asphyxia, stillbirth (5), and neonatal death (9) were among the outcomes for babies. All of the infants had good Apgar scores. Conclusion: Prenatal and neonatal outcomes appear to be favorable in the majority of cases. Pregnant women and babies should be considered particularly vulnerable populations in terms of COVID-19 preventive and management strategies.
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INTRODUCTION: Available data on the association between COVID- 19 and adverse pregnancy outcomes is limited by ascertainment bias. Our objective was to assess the impact of COVID-19 on pregnancy outcomes in a propensity score matching (PSM) study. This allows for balancing of observed baseline covariates and decreases the effect of confounding factors. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, multicenter, case-control study to understand the association between COVID-19 and pregnancy outcomes. We reviewed all consecutive charts of adult females aged 18-45 years with SARS-CoV-2 infection betweenMarch 1, 2020, and August 31, 2020. Cases were patients diagnosed with COVID-19 during pregnancy (COVID+), whereas controls were pregnant patients who tested negative for COVID-19 (COVID-). We excluded cases with multiple gestation or incomplete data. PSM was performed using age, race/ethnicity, body mass index, and past medical history. The primary outcome was a compound score of pregnancy complications (pregnancy loss, neonatal demise, fetal growth restriction, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, preterm premature rupture of membranes, preterm delivery, and placental abruption). Analyses were performed with SAS software. RESULTS: A total of 2,474 patients were identified, of which 2,374 were COVID- and 100 COVID+. There was a trend toward higher rate of adverse pregnancy outcomes in the COVID+ group (48 [48%] versus 917 [38.7%], P=.06). The results remained unchanged after optimal oneto- four PSM was applied (48 [48%] versus 151 [37.8%], P=.06). CONCLUSION: COVID-19 in pregnancy appears to be associated with an increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes. Although our study had a trend toward statistical significance, further research with a large sample size is required.
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Purpose: The purpose of the study is to determine the maternal and fetal outcomes among the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19)-positive pregnant women. Methodology: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted among all the COVID-19 pregnant women who were admitted at Chamarajanagar Institute of Medical Sciences for delivery. Results: The mean age of the study subjects was 26.00 ± 4.89 years, and it ranged between 19 and 37 years. Most of the patients were gravida 2 (51.6%) and primigravida (41.9%);Lower segment cesarean section was the commonest mode of delivery (38.7%). Cough and breathlessness were the symptoms recorded in 1.6% of the patients. Premature rupture of membranes (PROM) (9.7%) and decreased saturation (6.5%) were the maternal complications noted. A majority of the neonates weighed 2.5–3.5 kg (46/63, 73.0%). The mean birth weight of the neonates was 2.97 ± 4.89 kg with the minimum weight recorded being 1.75 kg and maximum was 3.8 kg. The commonest neonatal complication (14.3%) noted was low birth weight (LBW), and among them, eight of them had COVID-19 negative status but for one who was diagnosed COVID-19 positive. There were no deaths recorded among both mother and the neonates. Conclusion: Our results suggest that there are no maternal and neonatal deaths noted among COVID-19 pregnant women, and PROM and decreased saturation were the maternal complications affecting 10.0 and 7.0% of them and LBW was the neonatal complication found among 14.0% of them. Vertical transmission cannot be ruled out 100.0 as 1.6% (1/63) newborn was found to be COVID-19 positive.