Trends and research on COVID-19 and farmers using vosviewer

Objective: The aim of this study was to use bibliometric analysis to provide an overview of the empirical and theoretical research that has been carried out with regard to COVID-19 focusing on scientific publications on the topic of farmers. Design/methodology/approach: The global literature on COVID-19 and agricultural producers (farmers) published between 2019 and 2022 (August 8), was obtained from the SCOPUS database, comprising a total of 665 documents. VOSviewer was used to perform a bibliometric analysis of these papers. Results: The two countries that published the most research related to the terms studied were the United States and India. Research conducted in these countries was found in the most cited studies. The studies focused on five major topics: agriculture, epidemiology, psychology, economic impact, as well as rural areas and risk determination. The evolution of the topics over time showed that the research originally began with health-oriented studies, and that once the protocols for the return to normal were generated, studies were carried out to visibilize the producers and their challenges during the pandemic in addition to the support strategies that were generated and the impact that the pandemic had on them, as well as on the local, regional, national, and global economy. Limitations on study/implications: The documents analyzed are exclusive to the SCOPUS database, so literature was excluded from other sources such as Google Scholar or Web of Science, which could contain important information on the subject in relation to other disciplines. Findings/conclusions: This type of study makes it possible to better understand the current state of the art regarding the effect of COVID-19 on the agri-food sector, thus allowing researchers to visualize the relevance of, and guide, their research on the topic.

Assessing the social validity of telehealth-based applied behavior analysis services for autism spectrum disorder

During the COVID-19 pandemic, applied behavior analysis services for many autistic individuals were transitioned to telehealth. The current study assessed caregiver-reported quality of life (QoL) and social validity for families of autistic children receiving only telehealth services (n = 96) or a combination of telehealth and in-person services (n = 173). Barriers to the telehealth experience were analyzed via an ANOVA, and the impact of funding source was analyzed using an independent samples t-test. Caregivers reported benefit across QoL and social validity items, with scores ranging from 3.31 to 4.44 (1 = least benefit, 5 = most benefit). While many caregivers reported no barriers regarding technology (44.61%), childcare (69.52%), and employment (64.68%), the presence of those barriers significantly impacted QoL and social validity scores. Funding source was not found to have a significant impact. Overall, caregivers found value in their child's telehealth services. Clinicians have an obligation to mitigate barriers to ensure the success of the intervention. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Impact and effectiveness of Abdala vaccine in Matanzas province in the face of symptomatic disease and death from COVID-19

Introduction: To obtain control of the COVID-19 epidemic in Cuba, the decision was made by the highest management of the government and the Ministry of Public Health to carry out a health intervention with Abdala vaccine in Matanzas province, due to its high incidence and mortality. Objective: To estimate the impact and effectiveness of Abdala vaccine in the face of symptomatic disease of reported cases and death in hospitals in Matanzas province. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted, with a cohort of vaccinated people consisting of 252,557 people who met the three-dose schedule, and another of unvaccinated or who had not complied with the complete vaccination schedule of 325,462 people. Age and personal pathological history were explored. As a source of information, the registry of confirmed cases and deaths issued by the Ministry of Public Health and the automated vaccination base Andariego Higia were used. It was calculated the effectiveness (VE=1-RR) and by confidence intervals and analyzed epidemiological indicators with the Bayesian structural time series method. Results: The effectiveness against symptomatic disease and death was 75.5 % and 95.7 %, respectively. In the analysis of the causal impact, values of reduction of 90.0% of the reported incidence and 86.0% of mortality were evidenced with respect to the expected figures. Conclusions: Abdala vaccine showed high effectiveness and impact in the prevention of symptomatic disease and death in real-world conditions. © 2022, Editorial Ciencias Medicas. All rights reserved.