MATERIALS AND METHODS: An audit checklist with 13 criteria for good documentation was adapted from guidelines proposed by the American Association of Orthodontists and British Orthodontic Society. Orthodontic chart documentation in 103 removable appliance therapy patients under 4th and 5th year dental undergraduates' care was retrieved from the electronic record of the University dental clinic and audited. The audit exercise explored in detail the thirteen criteria for good documentation and eight assessment attributes of the first criterion, namely, basic orthodontic examination. The level of compliance was measured as the percentage records meeting the criteria. The data were statistically analysed using SPSS 26.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).
RESULTS: There was no complete compliance for any of the criteria. Thirty-five (33.9%) patient charts reported basic orthodontic examination documentation adequately. Compliance was the highest for documentation of treatment modality (77.6%), appliance delivery encounters (77.6%), and appliance adjustment appointments (83.5%). About 51.4% of the 68 patient charts (treatment of 35 patients of the total 103 were in the progress stage) stated adequately the outcome of treatment. Only 22% of the 68 patient charts had the details for retention protocol. There was statistically significant difference in chart documentation between male and female students for basic orthodontic assessment and appliance delivery and patient instructions attributes.
CONCLUSION: The clinical audit demonstrated poor compliance with the criteria for orthodontic chart documentation. The audit should be repeated after the provision of learning opportunities and self-critical analysis.
METHODS: Records of dengue cases from 2013 to 2016 were obtained from the China Notifiable Disease Surveillance System. Full envelope gene sequences of dengue viruses detected from the high-risk areas of China were collected. Maximum Likelihood tree and haplotype network analyses were conducted to explore the phylogenetic relationship of viruses from high-risk areas of China.
RESULTS: A total of 56,520 cases was reported in China from 2013 to 2016. During this time, Yunnan, Guangdong and Fujian provinces were the high-risk areas. Imported cases occurred almost year-round, and were mainly introduced from Southeast Asia. The first indigenous case usually occurred in June to August, and the last one occurred before December in Yunnan and Fujian provinces but in December in Guangdong Province. Seven genotypes of DENV 1-3 were detected in the high-risk areas, with DENV 1-I the main genotype and DENV 2-Cosmopolitan the secondary one. The Maximum Likelihood trees show that almost all the indigenous viruses separated into different clusters. DENV 1-I viruses were found to be clustered in Guangdong Province, but not in Fujian and Yunnan, from 2013 to 2015. The ancestors of the Guangdong viruses in the cluster in 2013 and 2014 were most closely related to strains from Thailand or Singapore, and the Guangdong virus in 2015 was most closely related to the Guangdong virus of 2014. Based on closest phylogenetic relationships, viruses from Myanmar possibly initiated further indigenous cases in Yunnan, those from Indonesia in Fujian, while viruses from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia were predominant in Guangdong Province.
CONCLUSIONS: Dengue is still an imported disease in China, although some genotypes continued to circulate in successive years. Viral phylogenies based on the envelope gene suggested periodic introductions of dengue strains into China, primarily from Southeast Asia, with occasional sustained, multi-year transmission in some regions of China.
METHODS: A review protocol constructed by a panel of experienced academic reviewers was used to formulate the methodology, research design, search strategy and selection criteria. An extensive literature search was conducted between March-June 2020 in various major electronic biomedical databases including PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE and ScienceDirect. A systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA) were selected as the preferred item reporting method.
RESULTS: Out of a total of 34 peer-reviewed dengue-related KAP studies that were identified, 15 published from 2000 to April 2020 met the inclusion criteria. Based on the meta-analysis, a poor mean score was obtained for each of knowledge (68.89), attitude (49.86) and preventive practice (64.69). Most respondents were equipped with a good knowledge of the major clinical signs of dengue. Worryingly, 95% of respondents showed several negative attitudes towards dengue prevention, claiming that this was not possible and that enacting preventive practices was not their responsibility. Interestingly, television or radio was claimed as the main source of gaining dengue information (range 50-95%). Lastly, only five articles (33.3%) piloted or pretested their questionnaire before surveying, of which three reported Cronbach's alpha coefficient (range 0.70 to 0.90).
CONCLUSION: This review indicates that to combat the growing public health threat of dengue to the Philippines, we need the active participation of resident communities, full engagement of healthcare personnel, promotion of awareness campaigns, and access to safe complementary and alternative medicines. Importantly, the psychometric properties of each questionnaire should be assessed rigorously.
DESIGN: Mixed-methods research.
SETTING: Private university in Malaysia.
PARTICIPANTS: Pharmacy undergraduate students participated in the study. There were 18 students participated in the qualitative study and 272 students responded to the survey questionnaire.
METHODS: A convergent parallel-mixed method design, involving a quantitative survey and qualitative focus group discussions was used among pharmacy students in a private university in Malaysia. Qualitative data of transcribed verbatim texts were then subjected to a thematic content analysis framework. Multiple correlations were undertaken using the quantitative data to examine how the dependent variable (self-reported knowledge) related to the independent variables (attitudes, behavioural intentions, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control.
PRIMARY OUTCOME: Pharmacy students' attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, behavioural intentions constructs led to their behaviour towards patient safety.
SECONDARY OUTCOME: The quantitative study revealed that there was a moderate positive correlation between students' self-reported knowledge and attitudes (r=0.48, p=0.03).
RESULTS: Pharmacy students' attitudes and perceived behavioural control constructs had positive correlations with pharmacy students' self-reported knowledge on patient safety. There was no correlation between students' self-reported knowledge and subjective norms (r=0.27, p=0.23). There was a weak positive correlation between students' self-reported knowledge and perceived behavioural control (r=0.39, p=0.04). There was no correlation between students' self-reported knowledge and behavioural intention (r=0.20, p=0.56).
CONCLUSIONS: Theory of planned behaviour constructs such as attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and behavioural intentions of pharmacy students, defined their behaviour towards patient safety. Pharmacy students' attitudes and perceived behavioural control constructs were correlated with their self-reported knowledge on patient safety.
DESIGN AND METHOD: A cross-sectional, web-based, multi-center study was conducted among HCWs of Philippines from April 20- May 20, 2020. The study instruments used were the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Risk perception scores were analyzed using Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis test. Logistic regression was done to identify factors significantly associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression determined.
RESULTS: A total of 516 HCWs were included in the study. Most of them have anxiety symptoms (70.74%), but only half of them have symptoms of depression (50.97%). In addition, gender, age, marital status, living status, occupation, work premises, and availability of mental health services were significantly associated with the participants' anxiety symptoms. In contrast, gender, marital status, occupation, and work premises were significantly associated with depression symptoms.
CONCLUSION: This study reiterates the fact and demonstrates that COVID-19 has disrupted the mental well-being of HCWs in the Philippines. Majority of HCW was psychologically affected by COVID-19. Therefore, there is a dire need to address mental illness amongst HCWs and frame guidelines based on proven algorithms to overcome these mental illnesses.
METHODS: This study employed a retrospective cohort design utilizing claims data from the Fukuoka Prefecture Wide-Area Association of Latter-Stage Elderly Healthcare Insurance and Long-Term Care Insurance. Patients aged ≥75 years who were newly diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2014 were included in this study, following the onset of Parkinson's disease to March 31, 2019. We calculated the restricted mean survival time to evaluate mortality, focusing on the frequency of physician visits for Parkinson's disease treatment. Inpatient days, outpatient days, and healthcare and long-term care costs per month were calculated using a generalized linear model.
RESULTS: There were 2224 participants, with 46.5% mortality among those with a higher frequency of physician visits and 56.4% among those with a lower frequency of physician visits. A higher frequency of physician visits was associated with a significant increase in survival time (1.57 months at 24 months and 5.00 months at 60 months) after the onset of Parkinson's disease and a decrease in inpatient days and healthcare costs compared to a lower frequency of physician visits.
CONCLUSIONS: A higher frequency of physician visits was significantly associated with longer survival time, fewer inpatient days, and lower healthcare costs. Caregivers should support patients with Parkinson's disease to visit physicians regularly for their treatment.