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Abstract Vitiligo is a dermatological disease characterized by loss of melanocytes, causing non-scaly white macules on the skin. Zinc, copper, and selenium are important micronutrients that play a role in the normal functioning of the body and have been found to potentially aid in vitiligo treatment, although the relationship between their serum levels and vitiligo is not yet fully understood. This is a systematic review aimed at assessing the levels of serum zinc, copper, and selenium and their association with vitiligo. This review was performed following the Preferred Reporting Items of the systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) checklist and Cochrane guidelines. A comprehensive literature search was conducted on PubMed, Google Scholar and 41 studies published between 1970 and 2022 including 3353 vitiligo cases and 10,638 controls were included in the meta-analysis conducted from August 2022 till September 2023. The quality of the studies was assessed using the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute Study Quality Assessment tool, and the risk of bias was represented using the RobVis tool. The statistical analysis was performed using Review Manager (RevMan) Version 5.4. This meta-analysis indicate a significant decline in serum zinc levels (Z = 4.97; P

Backgrounds: Research shows that medical students' knowledge and skills concerning the assessment of cognition in various neuropsychiatric conditions (e.g., Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia) are unsatisfactory. This research aims to conduct a training needs analysis (TNA) for medical students to identify and refer patients with neuropsychiatric conditions. Methods: The study comprised two phases. First, developing a TNA toolkit to assess training needs in clinical tasks related to cognitive function assessment (by adopting the Hennessy–Hicks TNA toolkit); and second, through a self-reported survey, their training needs in cognitive function assessment were assessed. Data analysis involved calculating training gaps, importance scores, performance scores, training scores, and organization scores for various clinical tasks-stratified participants' study year; for training needs and trends, factor analysis and post-hoc analyses were conducted. Results: A total of 153 medical students from a tertiary care center participated in the survey. The participants rated their performance lower than the perceived importance of tasks, indicating a need for improvement in all competencies (P <.01). Pre–final-year students had the highest training needs, particularly in accessing literature, planning, and organizing care for patients with cognitive impairment, performing mental status examination, screening patients for cognitive deficits, and counseling them/caregivers about interventions (P <.01). Factor analysis identified a single dominant factor, suggesting a correlation among these skills. Conclusion: Pre–final-year students require targeted training, whereas students beyond this stage can benefit from special training modules and awareness of available resources for cognitive assessment. The findings also suggest the importance of a hybrid approach involving training and organizational modifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aging process and the pandemic have significantly affected the elderly population, resulting in a wide range of physiological and psychological changes. These changes have created a significant burden for the nation as the elderly is often overlooked. In response to this, the Government of India and AIIMS Bhopal developed a yoga-meditation-based intervention to help improve the mental health of the elderly (>60 years) during the pandemic. Methodology: A retrospective case - control study was conducted on the geriatric population aged over 60 years of both sexes from March 2021 to September 2021 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal. The sample size was calculated to be 690 participants based on the prevalence of depression and anxiety in the elderly population and using the depression, anxiety, and stress scale 21 (DASS)-21. Participants were asked to fill out the DASS questionnaire, and those with mild to moderate depression, anxiety, or stress were randomly divided into two groups. The intervention group received a 6-week yoga-based mobile intervention, and the results were analyzed using the SPSS software version 27. Results: The between group analysis showed that MOMMY intervention was effective in reducing symptoms of depression (t=3.38, df=93, p<0.001), anxiety (t=4.33, df=93, P < 0.001) and stress (t = 1.76, df=93, P < 0.05). Conclusion: Lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the psychological status of individuals. The study found a significant reduction in depression, anxiety, and stress levels after the intervention, indicating the necessity of similar interventions on the geriatric population to alleviate their mental health status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has left an array of direct physical consequences unevenly on the elderly apart from leaving a wide range of indirect consequences of mental health problems on them. This study aims to understand the effect of a Yoga-Meditation based mobile phone application intervention to reduce the duress by mental health issues via a qualitative analysis. Methods: A phenomenological qualitative succession of an explanatory sequential design of a prior quantitative study followed by a Yoga-Meditation mobile phone based intervention, where 30 participants who had mild or moderate Depression, Anxiety or Stress as assessed by DASS-21 were chosen by random sampling and were asked to take part in an interview. The interview was transcribed, coded, patterns identified and themes were created to understand the perceptions. Results: Three major schools of thought were identified and explored to understand the general perception of Mental health, COVID-19 and the intervention: a) Knowledge Axis patterns of COVID-19, which included their prior knowledge about the disease, its consequences and their cues to action based on those beliefs, b) Mental Health and Strategies to Positivity, involves all their actions to promote, restore or propagate a positive mental attitude from religious activities to physical activities and c) Application related thoughts, involved their perceptions of the app, the barriers to use and suggestions to improve. Conclusion: This study gave deeper insight into the schools of thought which will be important in designing future interventions and yoga-meditation based programs in the future, essentially for geriatric populations as it serves as a feasible simple measure for the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Smoking is a major global health issue that is linked to various health conditions, including hearing loss and reduced salivary flow. This study aims to explore the relationship between smoking, hearing loss, and salivary flow rate. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted over two months at a tertiary healthcare institute in Central India, involving 100 participants (50 smokers and 50 non-smokers) aged 18-55 years. Hearing status was assessed using audiometry, and the salivary flow rate was measured. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 21 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, US). Results Smokers had a significantly higher prevalence of hearing loss (40%) compared to non-smokers (10%). The salivary flow rate was significantly lower in smokers (mean 0.5540 ml/min) than in non-smokers (mean 0.9240 ml/min). However, no significant correlation was found between the duration and frequency of smoking with hearing loss or salivary flow rate. Conclusion Smoking significantly impacts both hearing and salivary flow rate, hence smokers show a higher risk of hearing loss and reduced salivary flow rate. Early hearing screenings and preventive measures are recommended for smokers. Further research with larger sample sizes is needed to explore the long-term effects of smoking on these health parameters., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. IHEC AIIMS Bhopal issued approval AIIMS/BPL/IECSR/JAN/23/STS/03. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Meghani et al.)