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Cardiovascular disease is the primary cause of mortality in the United States, and cardiac arrhythmias are a common cause of hospital admission with significant mortality and morbidity. Cardiovascular diseases significantly burden the healthcare system, with high costs associated with hospitalization, medication, and ongoing management. By finding cost-effective methods to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases, healthcare resources can be allocated more efficiently, ultimately improving health outcomes and reducing the burden on the healthcare system. Exercise therapy is a low-cost intervention that can be done without expensive equipment or medical procedures. Exercise therapy can help decrease risk factors for heart disease, including high blood pressure, obesity, and high cholesterol, by improving overall fitness and reducing chronic inflammation. Over time, there have been concerns about exercise-induced arrhythmia because it can reduce physical activity among patients with arrhythmia. In this review, we emphasized the beneficial effects of physical activity on arrhythmia patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This research discusses the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its link to a financial performance metric called net interest margin (NIM) in the context of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). CSR initiatives can lead to long-term sustainability and improved financial performance, attracting investors seeking to align their investments with their values. Need for the Study: The research composes portfolios based on financial companies' CSR performance and NIM ratios to help investors understand the difference between CSR and financial performance, making investment decisions based on their portfolio goals and values. Striking a balance between sustainability and the financial performance of financial companies, will help investors find a suitable balance between portfolios for investment purposes. Methodology: The authors used data from 55 financial companies for daily returns from 2014–2015 to 2021–2022 and used descriptive statistics to measure the performance of portfolios. Findings: The findings suggest that financial companies in India have improved their CSR scores over time, indicating an increased focus on integrating socially responsible practices into their operations. The data also show that NBFCs are catching up with banks regarding CSR scores, and some NBFC portfolios even outperform banks regarding returns. However, the study also highlights the need for some companies to focus more on CSR and business operations. Practical Implications: The results serve as a benchmark for financial companies to assess their relative CSR performance, highlighting the need for companies to focus on integrating socially responsible practices into their operations and guiding areas where companies can improve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Outcome data of children with heart disease who acquired COVID-19 infection are limited. Aims : We sought to analyze outcome data and identify risk factors associated with mortality in children with heart disease and grown-ups with congenital heart disease (GUCH) who had a laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection. Settings and Design: This is a retrospective, multicentric, observational study. Materials and Methods: The study included children with heart disease and GUCH population, who presented with either symptomatic or asymptomatic COVID-19 infection to any of the participating centers. COVID-19-negative patients admitted to these centers constituted the control group. Results: From 24 pediatric cardiac centers across India, we included 94 patients with a median age of 12.5 (interquartile range 3-96) months and 49 (52.1%) patients were males. Majority (83 patients, 88.3%) were children. One-third of the patients (n = 31, 33.0%) had acyanotic congenital heart disease, and 41.5% (n = 39) were cyanotic, with > 80% of the patients being unoperated. Only 30 (31.9%) patients were symptomatic for COVID-19 infection, while the rest were incidentally detected positive on screening. A total of 13 patients died (case fatality rate: 13.8%). The in-hospital mortality rate among hospitalized patients was significantly higher among COVID-19-positive cases (13 of 48; 27.1%) as compared to COVID-negative admissions (9.2%) during the study period (P < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, the independent predictors of mortality among COVID-19-positive cases were severity of illness at admission (odds ratio [OR]: 535.7, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.9-41,605, P = 0.005) and lower socioeconomic class (OR: 29.5, 95% CI: 1.1-814.7, P = 0.046). Conclusions: Children with heart disease are at a higher risk of death when they acquire COVID-19 infection. Systematic preventive measures and management strategies are needed for improving the outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted pediatric cardiac services across the globe. Limited data are available on the impact of COVID-19 on pediatric cardiac care in India. Aims: The aims are to study the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the care of children with heart disease in India in terms of number of outpatient visits, hospitalizations, catheter-based interventions, and cardiac surgeries. Settings and Design: This is a retrospective, multicentric, observational study. Methods: We collected monthly data on the number and characteristics of outpatient visits, hospitalizations, catheter-based interventions, and cardiac surgeries and major hospital statistics, over a period of 5 months (April to August 2020), which coincided with the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in India and compared it with data from the corresponding months in 2019. Results : The outpatient visits across the 24 participating pediatric cardiac centers decreased by 74.5% in 2020 (n = 13,878) as compared to the corresponding period in 2019 (n = 54,213). The reduction in the number of hospitalizations, cardiac surgeries, and catheterization procedures was 66.8%, 73.0%, and 74.3%, respectively. The reduction in hospitalization was relatively less pronounced among neonates as compared to infants/children (47.6% vs. 70.1% reduction) and for emergency surgeries as compared to elective indications (27.8% vs. 79.2%). The overall in-hospital mortality was higher in 2020 (8.1%) as compared to 2019 (4.8%), with a higher postoperative mortality (9.1% vs. 4.3%). Conclusions: The current COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the delivery of pediatric cardiac care across India with two-third reduction in hospitalizations and cardiac surgeries. In an already resource-constrained environment, the impact of such a massive reduction in the number of surgeries could be significant over the coming years. These findings may prove useful in formulating strategy to manage subsequent waves of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]