Impact of an inclusive COVID-19 visitation policy on patient satisfaction and visitor safety.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic presented unique and unprecedented challenges due to limited knowledge regarding the virus's transmissibility. With guidance from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), healthcare systems instituted widespread visitor restrictions. Hospitalization is a stressful time for patients. Visitor support can help minimize this during and after discharge. METHODS: A telephone interview was conducted among hospitalized COVID-19 positive patients discharged between March 1st and August 31st, 2021 to explore the patients and visitors' experiences and the impact of the visitor policy during their hospitalization. RESULTS: A total of 238 patients were interviewed. For patients with visitors, 98% felt that the presence of visitors improved their overall wellbeing and satisfaction. Additionally, 86% reported that visitors were involved in helping with their care upon discharge. For patients with no visitors, 59% felt that having a visitor would have improved their hospital stay. Nearly 50% reported that the absence of visitors made it difficult for family members to remain updated and informed of their hospital care. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that visitation for COVID-19 patients can be done safely and that there is a positive impact on patient wellbeing with increased visitor access. As we move towards COVID-19 endemicity, implementing evidence-based visitation policies that maximize patient wellbeing will be essential.

Loss-of-function genomic variants highlight potential therapeutic targets for cardiovascular disease.

Pharmaceutical drugs targeting dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease (CVD) may increase the risk of fatty liver disease and other metabolic disorders. To identify potential novel CVD drug targets without these adverse effects, we perform genome-wide analyses of participants in the HUNT Study in Norway (n = 69,479) to search for protein-altering variants with beneficial impact on quantitative blood traits related to cardiovascular disease, but without detrimental impact on liver function. We identify 76 (11 previously unreported) presumed causal protein-altering variants associated with one or more CVD- or liver-related blood traits. Nine of the variants are predicted to result in loss-of-function of the protein. This includes ZNF529:p.K405X, which is associated with decreased low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (P = 1.3 × 10-8) without being associated with liver enzymes or non-fasting blood glucose. Silencing of ZNF529 in human hepatoma cells results in upregulation of LDL receptor and increased LDL uptake in the cells. This suggests that inhibition of ZNF529 or its gene product should be prioritized as a novel candidate drug target for treating dyslipidemia and associated CVD.