Articles: pandemics.
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The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has underscored the need to understand health care in a regional context. However, there are multiple definitions of health care regions available for conducting geospatial analyses. In this study, we compare the novel Pittsburgh Atlas, which defined regions for emergency care, with the existing definitions of regions, counties, and the Dartmouth Atlas, with respect to nonemergent acute medical conditions using pneumonia admissions. ⋯ Because the Pittsburgh Atlas also has the benefit of respecting state and county boundaries, the use of this definition may have improved policy applicability without sacrificing accuracy in defining health care regions for acute medical conditions.
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Preventive medicine · Jun 2022
Increased nicotine vaping due to the COVID-19 pandemic among US young adults: Associations with nicotine dependence, vaping frequency, and reasons for use.
Previous research has not examined increased vaping because of the pandemic using a national sample of young adults (YAs), which is a critical gap because pandemic-related increases in vaping among YAs could have important implications for nicotine dependence, prolonged regular use, and using substances to cope with stress. We examined self-reported increased vaping attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic among YAs, and its associations with outcomes that have important implications for future nicotine use. Data came from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) Vaping Supplement. ⋯ Increased vaping (vs. decreased and/or no change) was significantly associated with nicotine dependence symptoms, current regular nicotine vaping, and vaping to relax, get high, and because of boredom. Self-reported increased vaping because of the pandemic was associated with increased risk for current nicotine dependence and frequent use. Increased vaping may have been a form of coping with pandemic-related stressors, which increases risk for future substance use problems.
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Critical care medicine · Jun 2022
Patient-Centered Outcomes Following COVID-19: Frailty and Disability Transitions in Critical Care Survivors.
As the pandemic advances, the interest in the long-lasting consequences of COVID-19 increases. However, a few studies have explored patient-centered outcomes in critical care survivors. We aimed to investigate frailty and disability transitions in COVID-19 patients admitted to ICUs. ⋯ Frailty and disability were more frequent 90 days after hospital discharge compared with baseline in COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU. Our results show that most COVID-19 critical care survivors transition to poorer health status, highlighting the importance of long-term medical follow-up for this population.
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Critical care nurse · Jun 2022
Rapid Deployment of Team Nursing During a Pandemic: Implementation Strategies and Lessons Learned.
The COVID-19 pandemic increased the number of patients requiring intensive care nation-wide, leading to nurse staffing shortages in many units. ⋯ Team nursing in the intensive care unit is an agile tactic easily replicated in dire staffing situations.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Jun 2022
Neurosurgical emergency management during the lockdown period in health care regions in Spain with different COVID-19 impact: lessons learned to improve outcomes on the future waves.
COVID-19 has overloaded health care systems, testing the capacity and response in every European region. Concerns were raised regarding the impact of resources' reorganization on certain emergency pathology management. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of the outbreak (in terms of reduction of neurosurgical emergencies) during lockdown in different regions of Spain. ⋯ COVID-19 affected dramatically the neurosurgical emergency management. The most significant reduction in neurosurgical emergencies occurred on those regions that were hit unexpectedly by the pandemic, as resources were focused on fighting the virus. As a consequence, life-threating and non-life-threatening conditions' mortality raised. Results in regions who had time to prepare for the hit were congruent with an organized and sensible neurosurgical decision-making.