Articles: pandemics.
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Semin Respir Crit Care Med · Jun 2023
ReviewTransmission and Risk Factors of COVID-19 among Health Care Workers.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses a significant occupational risk factor to health care workers (HCWs). As in previous events, this occupational risk amplifies and compounds the adverse impact of the pandemic. We conducted a narrative review summarizing risk factors associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission in HCWs. ⋯ Job category, work environment, personal protective equipment (PPE) noncompliance, lack of PPE awareness and training, unvaccinated status, and competing community and household exposures were identified as risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 transmission among HCWs. Effective measures to protect HCWs from SARS-CoV-2 need to account for the identified occupational risk factors. Identifying and understanding COVID-19 risk factors among HCWs must be considered a public health priority for policy makers to mitigate occupational and community transmission in current and future epidemics.
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Medical language provides essential communication with patients and among healthcare providers. Some words appear frequently in this communication, in clinical records, and in the medical literature, and the use of these words assumes that the listener and reader understand their meaning in the context related to their current use. Words, such as syndrome, disorder, and disease, should have obvious definitions but often, in fact, have uncertain meanings. ⋯ The development of electronic medical records, internet-based communication, and advanced statistical techniques has the potential to clarify important features of syndromes. However, the recent analysis of certain subsets of patients in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that even large amounts of information and advanced statistical techniques using clustering or machine learning may not provide precise separation of patients into groups. Clinicians should use the word syndrome carefully.
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Observational Study
Estimated Reimbursement Impact of COVID-19 on Emergency Physicians.
The delivery and financing of health care services were altered in unprecedented ways by COVID-19 and subsequent policy responses. We estimated reimbursement losses to emergency physicians in 2020 compared to 2019 related to shifting acute care utilization during COVID-19. ⋯ Our analyses provide an estimate of the scale of economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings warrant consideration for policymaker relief and future redesign of emergency care financing. Ultimately, the COVID-19 pandemic likely expanded known cracks in the financing of health care into steep fault lines.
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Surgery residency confers stress burdens on trainees. To monitor and mitigate areas of concerns, our education team implemented a 6-item biannual survey querying potential stressors. We reviewed the initial 5-year experience to assess for trends and improve efforts in maintaining resident well-being. ⋯ Surgery residents generally prioritized time for study and concerns for assessment of clinical performance as highest areas of concern. With the occurrence of a pandemic, increased prioritization of personal well-being was observed. Used routinely with biannual reviews, the survey was able to identify plausible changes in resident concerns. Determination of levels of actual stress and actual association with the pandemic requires additional study.
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Observational Study
Major trauma presentations and patient outcomes in English hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic: An observational cohort study.
Single-centre studies suggest that successive Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related "lockdown" restrictions in England may have led to significant changes in the characteristics of major trauma patients. There is also evidence from other countries that diversion of intensive care capacity and other healthcare resources to treating patients with COVID-19 may have impacted on outcomes for major trauma patients. We aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number, characteristics, care pathways, and outcomes of major trauma patients presenting to hospitals in England. ⋯ This national evaluation of the impact of COVID on major trauma presentations to English hospitals has observed important public health findings: The large reduction in overall numbers injured has been primarily driven by reductions in road traffic collisions, while numbers of older people injured at home increased over the second lockdown. Future research is needed to better understand the initial reduction in likelihood of survival after major trauma observed with the implementation of the first lockdown.