Articles: pandemics.
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Ulus Travma Acil Cerrahi Derg · Sep 2023
Percutaneous cholecystostomy in the management of acute cholecystitis-comparative analysis of before and after the COVID 19 pandemic.
Percutaneous cholecystostomy (PC) is a minimally invasive temporary treatment for patients with acute cholecys-titis (AC) who are at high risk for surgery. The aim of this study was to compare the characteristics of patients with AC treated with PC before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) pandemic. ⋯ PC is an effective and safe treatment method that reduced the operating room and intensive care burden during the exacerbation of the COVID 19 pandemic. Therefore, it seems like a logical option to expand the PC indications at times when the number of COVID 19 patients increases.
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There was a significant decrease in emergency department encounters during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our large urban emergency department observed decreased encounters and admissions by youths with chronic health conditions. This study aimed to compare the frequency of emergency department encounters for certain young adults before the pandemic and during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ The number of young adults with certain chronic health conditions decreased during COVID-19, with encounters for subjects with mental health conditions increasing significantly. The proportion of admissions increased during the pandemic with increases for subjects with mental health disorders and diabetes. The number of frequent users decreased during COVID-19. Future research is needed to understand better the causes for these disparities in young adults with chronic conditions who use the emergency department as a source of care.
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Observational Study
Relative billing complexity of in-person versus telehealth outpatient encounters.
Video visits became more widely available during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, the ongoing role and value of video visits in care delivery and how these may have changed over time are not well understood. ⋯ In-person and video visits had differing proportions of complexity codes (typically skewing towards lower complexity for video visits). The complexity of video visits changed over time in many specialities. Observed patterns for both phenomena varied by speciality.
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As the family medicine community continues to adapt to interview season changes secondary to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, discussions are underway regarding new options to improve the overall success and satisfaction of resident recruiting. Tools such as preference signaling, interview capping, and supplementary applications are options that have been investigated, and in some cases implemented, by other specialties for their recruiting seasons. Family medicine as a specialty is now actively scrutinizing the benefits and drawbacks of these tools. ⋯ Because the survey results indicated a high level of support for using these innovative new tools during recruitment season, family medicine should take action to implement these programs/policies.
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Current COVID-19 outbreak has led to many behavioural changes, including smoking behaviours. We aimed to investigate the success of quitting smoking of smoking cessation outpatients. ⋯ Intense stress and depressive symptoms, discontinuation of smoking cessation treatment and being infected with Coronavirus negatively affect the smoking cessation process in pandemic. These parameters should be considered during smoking cessation interviews and behavioural support should be obtained if necessary.