Perceived implications of COVID-19 on physical, mental and social aspects of resident doctors in a tertiary care hospital.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has put health care systems of many countries under major stress. Due to its high transmission capacity, it has spread across the globe at a rampant pace. India is one of the countries which has been severely affected by COVID-19. It has posed onerous tasks in front of doctors. Along with it, it has left physical, social and mental implications on well-being of doctors. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to get an in-depth understanding about the implications of COVID-19 on physical, social and mental aspects of resident doctors in tertiary care hospital. METHOD: We performed a qualitative study which involved in-depth interviews of resident doctors who have worked during the COVID-19 pandemic from general medicine department of tertiary care hospital. Interviews were then manually transcribed and analyzed. RESULT: Data analysis by preparing transcript unveiled that doctors were constantly facing burnout and mental distress along with less social support. Our study also found that there was a shortage of resources and demonstrated poor doctor patient ratio which led to a decrease in efficiency of doctors. Our findings are not only confined to doctors facing burden but has also explored sanguine perceptions of resident doctors. CONCLUSION: While treating COVID-19 patients, resident doctors suffered a great setback. Providing them with mental aid, social support, ample resources and decreasing their work burden is recommended to effectively manage future pandemic.

Effects of orally self-administered bath salt constituent 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) in mice.

Synthetic cathinones in bath salts products are psychostimulant drugs of abuse, and 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) is a common constituent of these products. Oral MDPV has been show to stimulate locomotor activity but reinforcing, locomotor and appetitive stimulus effects of oral MDPV are unknown. Choice procedures evaluated preference for 0.03, 0.10, 0.30, and 1.00mg/mL MDPV solutions versus 0.10mg/mL quinine solution or water. To verify that oral MDPV produced pharmacological effects, locomotor activity was monitored during and after consumption of water, quinine, or MDPV solutions. Conditioned place preference (CPP) tested the apparent appetitive effects of a preferred concentration of oral MDPV with locomotor stimulant effects (0.30mg/mL), using water as a control, and compared with results from intraperitoneally-administered MDPV. Consumption of MDPV solutions (0.03-1.00mg/mL) was low when the alternative fluid was water, but a history of MDPV consumption increased MDPV choice. When paired with a quinine control solution, MDPV solutions (0.03-0.30mg/mL) were almost exclusively preferred, and treatment with the catecholamine synthesis inhibitor αMPT decreased MDPV choice. Consumption of MDPV concentrations (0.1-1.0mg/mL) stimulated locomotor activity. Chronic (10day) access to 0.30mg/mL MDPV resulted in escalated consumption, but locomotor effects did not systematically change across the access period. Finally, consumption of 0.30mg/mL MDPV elicited CPP with a magnitude similar to the preference observed following intraperitoneal administration of MDPV. Consistent with human abuse patterns, oral MDPV has reinforcing effects in the mouse which are most likely related to its psychostimulant-like pharmacological profile.