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Background: This mixed methods systemic review synthesizes the evidence about nursing home risks for COVID-19 infections. Methods: Four electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Sage Journals Online) were searched between January 2020 and October 2022. Inclusion criteria were studies reported on nursing home COVID-19 infection risks by geography, demography, type of nursing home, staffing and resident's health, and COVID-19 vaccination status. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) was used to assess the levels of evidence for quality, and a narrative synthesis for reporting the findings by theme. Results: Of 579 initial articles, 48 were included in the review. Findings suggest that highly populated counties and urban locations had a higher likelihood of COVID-19 infections. Larger nursing homes with a low percentage of fully vaccinated residents also had increased risks for COVID-19 infections than smaller nursing homes. Residents with advanced age, of racial minority, and those with chronic illnesses were at higher risk for COVID-19 infections. Discussion and implications: Findings suggest that along with known risk factors for COVID-19 infections, geographic and resident demographics are also important preventive care considerations. Access to COVID-19 vaccinations for vulnerable residents should be a priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Sacral ulcers are a serious mortality risk for older adults; thus, we aimed to determine sacral ulcer risk factors among older adults who were recently admitted to rehabilitation hospitals., Method: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Texas Inpatient Discharge database (2021). The study included 1,290 rehabilitation hospital patients aged ≥60 years diagnosed with sacral ulcers. The control group comprised 37,626 rehabilitation hospital patients aged ≥60 years without sacral ulcers. Binary logistic regression was used to identify risks for sacral ulcer development adjusting for patient demographics, insurance type, and lifestyle., Results: Comorbidities of dementia, Parkinson's disease, type 2 diabetes, and cardiac dysrhythmias were significantly associated with increased risk of sacral ulcers. Longer length of stay, Medicare, and Medicare HMO were also associated with sacral ulcers. Demographically, older age, male sex, identifying as African American, and having malnutrition all had a 50% increased prevalence of sacral ulcers., Conclusion: Findings indicate a need to proactively treat chronic comorbidities in vulnerable populations to reduce their possible risk for hospital-acquired infections and excess mortality from sacral ulcers. [ Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 50 (2), 32-41.].

Background: Existing anthropometric studies for respirator designs are based on the head and facial dimensions of Americans and Chinese nationals, with no studies for multi-ethnic countries like Malaysia. This study aimed to create head and facial morphological database for Malaysia, specifically to identify morphological differences between genders, ethnicities, and birthplaces, as well as predictors of the dimensions., Design: A cross-sectional study., Setting: Malaysia., Participants: A nation-wide cross-sectional study using a complex survey design with two stage-stratified random sampling was conducted among 3,324 participants, aged 18 years and above who were also participants of the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2020., Primary and Secondary Outcomes: The study collected data on sociodemographic, measurement of Body Mass Index (BMI) and 10 head and facial dimensions (3 dimensions were measured using direct measurement, and 7 others using Digimizer software for 2-dimension images). Linear regression was performed to determine the association between gender, ethnicity, birthplace, age and BMI and the dimensions., Results: There were significant differences in all the dimensions between sex, birthplace and ethnicity ( p < 0.005). Further analysis using linear regression showed sex, ethnicity, birthplace, age and BMI were significant predictors of the dimensions. In comparison to studies from the United States and China, our study population had a wider interpupillary distance and nose breadth for both male and female participants, but smaller bigonial breadth and smaller minimal frontal breadth., Conclusion: These findings could assist in the design and sizing of respirators that will fit Malaysians and possibly other Southeast Asian population., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Lim, Abdul Shakor, Mohamad, Pahrol, Ismail, Chong, Abdul Mutalip, Omar, Danaee, Wan and Shaharudin.)

Problem: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic adversely affected the preparation of Malaysia's National Health and Morbidity Survey for 2020 because conducting it would expose data collectors and participants to an increased risk of infection., Context: The survey is nationally representative and community based and is conducted by the Institute for Public Health, part of the National Institutes of Health, to generate health-related evidence and to support the Malaysian Ministry of Health in policy-making. Its planned scope for 2020 was the seroprevalence of communicable diseases such as hepatitis B and C., Action: Additional components were added to the survey to increase its usefulness, including COVID-19 seroprevalence and facial anthropometric studies to ensure respirator fit. The survey's scale was reduced, and data collection was changed from including only face-to-face interviews to mainly self-administered and telephone interviews. The transmission risk to participants was reduced by screening data collectors before the survey and fortnightly thereafter, using standard droplet and contact precautions, ensuring proper training and monitoring of data collectors, and implementing other administrative infection prevention measures., Outcome: Data were collected from 7 August to 11 October 2020, with 5957 participants recruited. Only 4 out of 12 components of the survey were conducted via face-to-face interview. No COVID-19 cases were reported among data collectors and participants. All participants were given their hepatitis and COVID-19 laboratory test results; 73 participants with hepatitis B and 14 with hepatitis C who had been previously undiagnosed were referred for further case management., Discussion: Preparing and conducting the National Health and Morbidity Survey during the COVID-19 pandemic required careful consideration of the risks and benefits, multiple infection prevention measures, strong leadership and strong stakeholder support to ensure there were no adverse events., ((c) 2021 The authors; licensee World Health Organization.)

The COVID-19 pandemic that emerged in 2019 has inflicted numerous clinical and public health challenges worldwide. It was declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization and activated response teams at almost all Malaysian healthcare facilities. Upon activation of the National Crisis Preparedness and Response Center in January 2020, the National Institutes of Health Malaysia established a COVID-19 operation room at the facility level to address the rise in COVID-19 infection cases each day. The National Institutes of Health COVID-19 operation room committee formed a workforce mobilization team for an effective and efficient mobilization system to fulfill requests received for human resource aid within the Ministry of Health Malaysia facilities. Selected personnel would be screened for health and availability before mobilization letters and logistics arrangements if necessary. The workforce from the National Institutes of Health, consisting of various job positions, were mobilized every week, with each deployment cycle lasting 2 weeks. A total of 128 personnel from the six institutes under the National Institutes of Health were mobilized: tasks included fever screening, active case detection, health management at quarantine centers, and management of dead bodies. A well-organized data management system with a centralized online system integration could allow more rapid deployment and answer some of the key questions in managing a similar pandemic in the future. With improving infected COVID-19 cases throughout the country, the National Institutes of Health COVID-19 operation room was effectively closed on June 15, 2020, following approval from the Deputy Director-General of Health., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Muhammad Nur Amir, Binti Amer Nordin, Lim, Binti Ahmad Shauki and Binti Ibrahim.)