METHODS: A rapid online survey comprising 22 items was administered during the rapid outbreak of COVID-19 in Pakistan. Questions were focused on the prevention, transmission, clinical features, and control of COVID-19. In addition, the attitudes and practices of the participants were explored. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney tests, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and regression analysis were carried out during data analysis.
RESULTS: A total of 1257 respondents participated in this study. Most of the respondents had good knowledge (good = 64.8%, average = 30.5%, poor = 4.7%) of COVID-19. Gender, marital status, education, and residence were observed to have a significant association with the knowledge score. A vast majority of the survey respondents (77.0%) believed that COVID-19 would be controlled successfully in Pakistan. The practices of wearing a mask (85.8%) and handwashing (88.1%) were common among the participants.
CONCLUSION: The participants demonstrated good knowledge and reasonable attitudes and practices toward most aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak. Improvements in certain areas could be made by mass-level education.
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated whether the inclusion of video games in the upper limb amputee rehabilitation protocol could have a beneficial impact for muscle preparation, coordination, and patient motivation among individuals who have undergone transradial upper limb amputation.
METHODS: Ten participants, including five amputee participants and five able-bodied participants, were enrolled in 10 1-hour sessions within a 4-week rehabilitation program. In order to investigate the effects of the rehabilitation protocol used in this study, virtual reality box and block tests and electromyography (EMG) assessments were performed. Maximum voluntary contraction was measured before, immediately after, and 2 days after interacting with four different EMG-controlled video games. Participant motivation was assessed with the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) questionnaire and user evaluation survey.
RESULTS: Survey analysis showed that muscle strength and coordination increased at the end of training for all the participants. The results of Pearson correlation analysis indicated that there was a significant positive association between the training period and the box and block test score (r8=0.95, P
METHODOLOGY: All the subjects who met the inclusion criteria were recruited for this comparative cross-sectional study, which was conducted from May to July 2020 in two hospitals in Kelantan, Malaysia. A self-administered questionnaire, namely, the Malay-version Vicarious Traumatization Questionnaire and the Medical Outcome Study Social Support Survey were utilized. A descriptive analysis, independent t-test, and analysis of covariance were performed using SPSS Statistics version 26.
RESULTS: A total of 160 frontline and 146 non-frontline healthcare providers were recruited. Vicarious traumatization was significantly higher among the non-frontline healthcare providers (estimated marginal mean [95% CI]: 79.7 [75.12, 84.30]) compared to the frontline healthcare providers (estimated marginal mean [95% CI]: 74.3 [68.26, 80.37]) after adjusting for sex, duration of employment, and social support.
CONCLUSION: The level of vicarious traumatization was higher among non-frontline compared to frontline healthcare providers. However, the level of severity may differ from person to person, depending on how they handle their physical, psychological, and mental health. Hence, support from various resources, such as colleagues, family, the general public, and the government, may play an essential role in the mental health of healthcare providers.
METHODS: Parallel epidemiological studies were conducted in areas where the three groups were concentrated in and around Malaysia (response rates: 80-83%).
RESULTS: TE exposure, PMLDs and ASI were significantly associated with CMD prevalence in each group but the Rohingya recorded the highest exposure to all three of these former indices relative to Chin and Kachin (TE: mean = 11.1 v. 8.2 v. 11; PMLD: mean = 13.5 v. 7.4 v. 8.7; ASI: mean = 128.9 v. 32.1 v. 35.5). Multiple logistic regression analyses based on the pooled sample (n = 2058) controlling for gender and age, found that ethnic group membership, premigration TEs (16 or more TEs: OR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.39-2.88; p < 0.001), PMLDs (10-15 PMLDs: OR, 4.19; 95% CI, 3.17-5.54; 16 or more PMLDs: OR, 7.23; 95% CI, 5.24-9.98; p < 0.001) and ASI score (ASI score 100 or greater: OR, 2.19; 95% CI, 1.46-3.30; p < 0.001) contributed to CMD.
CONCLUSIONS: Factors specific to each ethnic group and differences in the quantum of exposure to TEs, PMLDs and psychosocial disruptions appeared to account in large part for differences in prevalence rates of CMDs observed across these three groups.
METHODS: Nineteen units participated with intention of including 100 patients per site as close to a consecutive series as possible in order to minimize selection bias.
RESULTS: There were 2136 patients with a median total number of PCI items selected of 5 (2-10). "Fear of the cancer returning" (39%) and "dry mouth" (37%) were most common. Twenty-five percent (524) reported less than good QOL.
CONCLUSION: There was considerable variation between units in the number of items selected and in overall QOL, even after allowing for case-mix variables. There was a strong progressive association between the number of PCI items and QOL.
PURPOSE: To study the various surgical practices of different surgeons in the Asia-Pacific region.
OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Given the diversity among Asia-Pacific surgeons, there is no clear consensus on the preferred management strategies for cervical myelopathy. In particular, the role of prophylactic decompression for silent cervical spinal stenosis is under constant debate and should be addressed.
METHODS: Surgeons from the Asia-Pacific Spine Society participated in an online questionnaire comprising 50 questions. Data on clinical diagnosis, investigations and outcome measures, approach to asymptomatic and silent cervical spinal stenosis, guidelines for surgical approach, and postoperative immobilization were recorded. All parameters were analyzed by the Mantel-Haenszel test.
RESULTS: A total of 79 surgeons from 16 countries participated. Most surgeons used gait disturbance (60.5%) and dyskinetic hand movement (46.1%) for diagnosis. Up to 5.2% of surgeons would operate on asymptomatic spinal stenosis, and 18.2% would operate on silent spinal stenosis. Among those who would not operate, most (57.1%) advised patients on avoidance behavior and up to 9.5% prescribed neck collars. For ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL), anterior removal was most commonly performed for one-level disease (p<0.001), whereas laminoplasty was most commonly performed for two- to four-level disease (p=0.036). More surgeons considered laminectomy and fusion for multilevel OPLL. Most surgeons generally preferred to use a rigid neck collar for 6 weeks postoperatively (p<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: The pooled recommendations include prophylactic or early decompression surgery for patients with silent cervical spinal stenosis, particularly OPLL. Anterior decompression is primarily suggested for one- or two-level disease, whereas laminoplasty is preferred for multilevel disease.