Experiences of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 - A single centre qualitative study.

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic caused a huge impact on the healthcare system worldwide. With a spectrum of outcome ranging from mild symptoms to mortality, the experiences of patients admitted in isolation wards have not been documented. Objective: To explore the experience of COVID-19 patients during hospitalization during the early phase of pandemic. Materials and Methods: A qualitative study using in-depth interviews was conducted among 30 COVID positive patients admitted in COVID wards of a private medical college in Coimbatore, South India between May and June 2020. Qualitative data analysis was done using the seven steps of Colaizzi's descriptive phenomenological method. Results: The experiences of COVID-19 patients during their hospitalization were categorized into three themes. Firstly, their initial reaction to being diagnosed positive for COVID-19. Secondly, experience during hospitalization with regards to their mental health, treatment providers, caregivers (family and relatives) and other COVID patients admitted in the same ward. Lastly, perceived change in their quality of life after discharge. Conclusion: The study highlights that the psychological experiences of COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital were heterogeneous. Therefore, primary care physicians should provide individualized psychological interventions based on the needs. Since many expressed fear on diagnosis and stigma of the disease, hence policy makers and health care providers should plan intervention for control and treatment without causing stigma to patients and their families.

Clinico-dermatologic patterns of Paederus dermatitis in a teaching hospital, South India.

Background: Paederus dermatitis (PD) is common skin condition occurring in South India caused due to contact with Rove beetle. It is often misdiagnosed due to wide difference in its presentation. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical, sociodemographic, and environmental condition of patient's presenting with PD. Methodology: A descriptive study was done among all patients diagnosed of PD at the Dermatology department of a teaching hospital in Trichy, South India, between January and December 2020. A detailed clinical history, examination of the lesion, and systemic examination was done. Patients were followed-up after 1 week to re-assess the lesion. A total of 117 cases were included in the final analysis. Results: The mean age of patients was 24.54 ± 11.8 years. Female were 51% with 84.6% residing in rural area. Majority of the cases presented between January and May. Presence of thick vegetation (85.5%) and sleeping with windows open (60.7%) were found to be the common risk factors. Most patients reported noticing the lesion in the morning with sudden onset associated with redness and tenderness with a bizarre pattern of lesion. Face, neck, and upper extremity were the most affected sites with burning sensation and itching, experienced by 82.1% and 76.1%, respectively. Ocular involvement with peri-orbital odema was seen among 17% of cases. Post-inflammatory pigmentation was present in 92.1% patients. Conclusion: PD present has a varying degree of skin lesions with absence of the typical linear pattern. Knowledge of its presentation is important to avoid misdiagnosis.

Missed Case of Pancreatogenic Diabetes Diagnosed Using Ultrasound.

Nonalcoholic pancreatogenic diabetes mellitus (type 3c DM) is an often-misdiagnosed entity usually seen in young men of tropical countries. Although most of the patients present with abdominal pain and symptoms of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, there is still a subset that does not present with these classical symptoms, which emphasizes the need for special diagnostic considerations. The significance of identifying this subset of diabetic lies not only in the change in management of the disease but also in early detection for pancreatic carcinoma that is more common among those patients. In our case, ultrasound with X-ray played a vital role in diagnosis, prompting us to consider it as an essential part of the investigation panel in all newly diagnosed nonobese diabetic individuals.

Effect of an e-learning tool on knowledge of recent Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme guidelines among Medical Interns.

BACKGROUND: Medical students should have adequate knowledge on tuberculosis (TB) and national guidelines pertaining to its control, which is a major public health problem in developing countries. The present study aims to evaluate the knowledge on TB and Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) among medical interns and the change in the level of knowledge following the dissemination of self-directed learning (SDL) modules using an e-learning tool (WhatsApp). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, nonrandomized, pre- and posttest study was done among 124 medical interns in a private medical college during July-August 2019. A semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire was prepared and filled by the interns in the pretest. Following the educational intervention, the same questionnaire was administered and posttest data were collected. The pre- and posttest results were expressed in frequency and percentage. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare the change in the total mean score of knowledge using the e-learning tool following the dissemination of SDL modules. RESULTS: The mean age of the interns was 22.82 ± 0.82 years. Of the total 124 interns, 60 (48.3%) had heard about the recent changes in RNTCP. The Internet (25.8%) and textbooks (23.4%) were the most common source of recent information regarding TB and RNTCP. The mean pretest score was 12.9 ± 3.08, which increased to 15.3 ± 2.62 during the posttest (z = -9.75, P < 0.05) following the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The knowledge regarding TB and RNTCP among the interns was inadequate. The usage of an e-learning tool "WhatsApp" was found to be effective in improving the knowledge in posttest as compared to pretest.