Short-Term Outcomes of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation in Critically Ill Patients.

Muscle weakness acquired in the intensive care unit (ICU) adversely affects outcomes of ICU patients. This article reports the short-term respiratory effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in critically ill patients. Patients were randomly assigned to an intervention group (NMES + conventional physiotherapy) and a control group (sham NMES + conventional physiotherapy). The application of NMES in the intervention group resulted in a significant decrease in the duration of mechanical ventilation and reduced the number of weaning trial failures. Other positive outcomes included reductions in the length of ICU stays and decreased mortality when compared with the control group.

Changes in spirometric parameters with position in asymptomatic Egyptian young males with central obesity.

BACKGROUND: Central obesity is a chronic condition that can contribute to impairments in lung functions. Body position is an important technique that effectively restores and increases lung functions. We aimed to address the possible changes in spirometric parameters in asymptomatic overweight individuals with central obesity with a change in posture from sitting to supine in comparison to normal weight non-obese ones. METHODS: Enrolled subjects were healthy Egyptian males, aged between 20-45 years old, asymptomatic and nonsmokers. They underwent spirometry. The following parameters were measured; forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC ratio, and forced expiratory flow (FEF)25-75%. They were classified into overweight with central obesity (n=40) and healthy control (n=40) groups based on their body mass index (BMI), weight-hip ratio (WHR), and waist circumference (WC). Spirometric parameters were compared between the 2 groups and in both setting and supine positions. RESULTS: The central obesity group showed significantly lower all spirometric parameters in comparison to the control one. All measured spirometric parameters had a significant reduction with supine position. There were negative correlations between both the WC and WHR and spirometric parameters. CONCLUSION: In this study of young Egyptian males, individuals with central obesity had reduced spirometric parameters in comparison to healthy ones. Change in position from sitting to supine has significant effects on spirometric parameters in both healthy middle age males with normal weight and those with overweight and central obesity. These results could have important clinical implications.

Utility of a modified distress thermometer in screening COVID-19 patients for psychological distress: a prospective Egyptian study.

BACKGROUND: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has adopted the distress thermometer (DT) as one of the best-known distress-screening instruments. We have adopted a modified version of the NCCN distress thermometer. We questioned if this modified DT (m-DT) could be utilized for measuring the prevalence of psychological distress among COVID-19 patients. METHODS: The prospective study included 2 phases; modification of the original DT and its associated problem list (PL), and evaluation of this m-DT in measuring the prevalence of psychological distress among COVID-19 patients. Egyptian adult subjects with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 at 2 University Hospitals were enrolled. Binary logistic regression tests were carried out to explore the association between the m-DT cut-off scores of 4 and the clinical variables. RESULTS: One hundred sixty-nine (60.4%) patients experienced significant distress (m-DT cut off score ≥4). Logistic regression showed that occupation, presence of special habits, length of quarantine time, worry, cough, shortness of breath, and fever, were independent factors associated with significant distress in COVID-19 patients. CONCLUSION: With the modified distress thermometer (m-DT), 60% of Egyptian COVID-19 patients experienced significant distress. This distress was significantly related to age, marital status, occupation, presence or absence of special habits, and length of the quarantine time. With m-DT, the current study had identified worry, being a health-care worker, shortness of breath, fever, length of quarantine time, presence of special habits, and cough as independent factors associated with significant distress in COVID-19 patients. Further studies are warranted.