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Author(s): S Pramod Kumar [1]; S Haritha (corresponding author) [1]; PR Sowmini [1]; S Lakshmanan [1]; S Sakthi Velayutham [1]; K Malcolm Jeyaraj [1]; V Kannan [1]; R Viveka Saravanan [...]

Introduction: Research conducted during the first wave of COVID-19 in India and world over has highlighted its psychological impact among health-care workers (HCWs), which kindled the current study of the aftermath of the second wave among HCWs. Objectives: The objective was to study the correlation between demographic factors, resilience, burnout, and stress among doctors and nurses working at a dedicated COVID-19 hospital (DCH) during the second wave. Methodology: The DCH doctors (residents and faculty) and nurses willing to participate in the online survey using Google forms were assessed cross-sectionally using a semi-structured questionnaire for demographic factors and psychometric scales – abbreviated Nicholson McBride Resilience Questionnaire, abbreviated Maslach Burnout Inventory, and Perceived Stress Scale-10 to measure resilience, burnout, and stress, respectively. The data were analyzed using Chi-square test and Pearson’s coefficient for correlation. Results: Out of 169 voluntary participants, 24.9% had severe perceived stress, 21% had moderate-to-severe burnout, and 49.7% had exceptional level of resilience. Severe perceived stress was seen in the lower age group (P = 0.018) and more in graduates than in postgraduates (P = 0.044). Moderate-to-severe burnout was seen in unmarried (P = 0.02), in junior doctors (P = 0.021), in those working in intensive care unit, fever clinic, and triage area (P = 0.038), and in those living away from family (P = 0.014). Exceptional level of resilience was statistically significant in nursing staff (P = 0.026). There was a statistically significant correlation between perceived stress and burnout (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The psychological impact of second wave was less among HCWs as compared to the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: The US Food and Drug Administration's Sentinel Innovation Center aimed to establish a query‐ready, quality‐checked distributed data network containing electronic health records (EHRs) linked with insurance claims data for at least 10 million individuals to expand the utility of real‐world data for regulatory decision‐making. Methods: In this report, we describe the resulting network, the Real‐World Evidence Data Enterprise (RWE‐DE), including data from two commercial EHR‐claims linked assets collectively termed the Commercial Network covering 21 million lives, and four academic partner institutions collectively termed the Development Network covering 4.5 million lives. Results: We discuss provenance and completeness of the data converted in the Sentinel Common Data Model (SCDM), describe patient populations, and report on EHR‐claims linkage characterization for all contributing data sources. Further, we introduce a standardized process to store free‐text notes in the Development Network for efficient retrieval as needed. Conclusions: Finally, we outline typical use cases for the RWE‐DE where it can broaden the reach of the types of questions that can be addressed by the Sentinel system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telepractice has emerged as a form of service delivery to assess and treat individuals with communication disorders. The present study surveyed speech-language pathologists and audiologists in India about the use of telepractice. Two hundred and five (N=205) speech-language pathologists and audiologists responded to a questionnaire, with 12.19% reporting their use of telepractice to deliver clinical services. Respondents also indicated an urgent shortage of professionals in India to deliver clinical services in speech-language pathology and audiology, and opined that these needs can be met via the use of telepractice. India is well known throughout the world for the advanced application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), with 931.95 million telephone subscribers, over 900 million mobile phone users, and the second-largest mobile phone usage in the world. India has also experienced a tremendous rise in the number of internet users. Therefore, India is well poised to fully develop telepractice to overcome the barriers of distance and amplify the availability of speech-language pathology, audiology and other healthcare services. But first, the widespread use of telepractice throughout the nation will require an improved infrastructure (e.g., to uphold privacy and security); training for professionals; and telepractice policies. While very promising, the deployment of telepractice throughout India will require the attention of policy makers and government organizations. Keywords: Audiology, India, Speech Language Pathology, Telehealth, Telepractice

Context: Chronic non healing leg ulcers cause psychological, social, and financial burden to the patient. Platelet rich fibrin (PRF), a biological membrane with plethora of growth factors acts as a cheaper and simpler option for the management of non-healing leg ulcers. Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness of PRF in the treatment of chronic nonhealing leg ulcers of varying etiologies. Material and Methods: It was a prospective study conducted in 30 patients in a tertiary care center. PRF dressing was done weekly for the chronic non healings ulcers of various etiologies for 6 weeks. Response to therapy was assessed by calculation of wound area and volume and digital photographs before each treatment session. Statistical analysis was done using Chi-square test, paired t -test and ANOVA test to get P values. Results: In our study, the mean age of subjects was 55.9 ± 14.08. 21 (70%) subjects were male and 9 (30%) were female. Majority of the ulcers were trophic ulcers due to hansen's disease (n = 11, 36.7%), followed by diabetic ulcers (n = 9, 30%), venous ulcers (n = 6, 20%) and traumatic ulcers (n = 4, 13.3%). Percentage decrease of mean ulcer area and volume were 92.3% and 97.6%, respectively. There was significant decrease in the mean area and volume (P < 0.0001) of the ulcer from 2nd week onwards till the end of 6th week. Conclusions: PRF can be used as an adjuvant along with standard treatment in the management of chronic non healing ulcers to reduce the duration of healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term diabetes is associated with diabetic retinopathy (DR), an eye disorder. DR is the main reason behind blindness in persons of working age globally, affecting an estimated 93 million individuals. If DR is detected early enough, it may be possible to treat or slow the course of vision impairment. However, this can be challenging because the condition usually doesn't manifest until it's too late for effective treatment. To diagnose DR based on the occurrence of lesions connected to the disease's vascular abnormalities, an ophthalmologist or other qualified medical practitioner must view and assess digital colour fundus photographs of the retina. This arduous manual process is being employed today. The automated DR screening technique, which will quicken the detection and decision-making processes, will aid in the management or control of DR advancement. Using machine learning models like CNN (Convolutional Neural Network), VGG-16, and VGG-19, this study provides an automated classification system that evaluates fundus images with various lighting and fields of view and provides a diabetic retinopathy severity score (DR). The dataset contains five criteria, with values ranging from 0 to 4, where 0 denotes an absence of DR and 4 denotes proliferative DR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]