ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Health professionals are at the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic and are directly exposed to infection hazards. Therefore, they should have the essential competencies for approaching patients. AIMS: The study aimed to identify essential competencies required for approaching patients with COVID-19. METHODS: All postgraduate health professionals at the Syrian Virtual University SVU (n=28) were invited to participate in the study during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, resulting in 20 postgraduates accepting. The Delphi technique was adopted for identifying competencies in medical education and a virtual meeting was undertaken through the University Management System in order to provide instruction and create a list of competencies. Competency domains were divided into 'knowledge', 'skills', and 'attitudes' and were classified into four categories: etiology, assessment and diagnosis, management, and prognosis. RESULTS: Fifty-two essential competencies were identified; 7 competencies on etiology, 7 related to assessment and diagnosis, 34 related to management, and 4 related to prognosis. CONCLUSION: It is hoped that the identified competencies would help health professionals to deliver the best health care for COVI-19 patients, as well as help policy-makers to support comprehensive training programmes that can equip health professionals with the required competencies to fight the pandemic.
Subject(s)
Clinical Competence/standards , Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Health Personnel/education , Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis , Coronavirus Infections/therapy , Delphi Technique , Humans , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis , Pneumonia, Viral/therapy , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: The recognition of suggestive endoscopic markers in the duodenum during open access endoscopy can help identifying patients who are likely to develop coeliac disease (CD). This study aims to determine the diagnostic accuracy of duodenal endoscopic markers for the diagnosis of CD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All children (0-15 years) who underwent oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) for any reason suggestive of CD at the paediatric department of Al-Assad University Hospital in Latakia, Syria during a 4-year period (from January 2010 to December 2013) were retrospectively included, in the study; this yielded a consecutive cohort without selection bias. The relevant data were obtained from the patients' files. Four duodenal endoscopic markers, including scalloping, reduction of duodenal folds, nodular mucosal pattern, and scattered white spots, were evaluated. RESULTS: During the study period, 504 children underwent EGD of whom 123 (24.4%) were ultimately diagnosed with CD. At least one marker was observed in 200/504 children (39.6%) and the diagnostic values were as follows: Sensitivity (91%), specificity (76%), positive predictive value (56%), and negative predictive value (97%). Scalloping had the highest sensitivity and specificity of 89% and 96%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Careful examination of the second and third parts of the duodenum during endoscopy can be helpful in identifying CD. Scalloping is the most common endoscopic marker, and the high NPV values of endoscopic markers should be interpreted cautiously, as the diagnosis of CD can be missed.
