Determinants of psychological well-being during the Covid-19 pandemic among "people living with HIV/AIDS" in India.

Using survey data on 647 "people living with HIV/AIDS" (PLHIV) respondents from India, we examine the association between human, economic, and social capital and psychological well-being during the Covid-19 pandemic, and whether pandemic-induced job and financial insecurity are significant stressors. We find that among human capital indicators, family health status results in a more positive mental state and fewer personal conflicts among PLHIV while having more working-age adults in the household results in more conflict. With regards to economic capital, PLHIV in salaried jobs and self-employment have a less positive mental state compared to those in daily wage work. Compared to daily wage workers, those in salaried jobs and self-employment exhibit lower addictive behavior. Self-employed PLHIV respondents also engage in fewer conflicts with their significant other. We do not find any correlation between social capital and psychological well-being. Job and financial insecurity are negatively associated with psychological well-being. While job insecurity is associated with an increase in addictive behavior, financial insecurity increases the likelihood of more frequent personal conflicts. We conclude that there is a need for greater economic and psychological support from institutions, community, and family to assuage the pandemic-induced psychological distress among PLHIV.ABBREVIATIONS: ART: antiretroviral treatment; GSNP+: Gujarat State Network of Positive People; MHI: mental health inventory; OBC: other backward castes; PLHIV: people living with HIV/AIDS; SC: scheduled castes; SD: standard deviation; ST: scheduled tribes.

Predicting the Severity of Acute Appendicitis in Children Using Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) and Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (PLR).

Introduction The ability to predict risk of perforation in acute appendicitis (AA) could direct timely management and reduce morbidity. Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) are surrogate severity markers in infections. This study investigates the use of PLR and NLR as a marker for distinguishing uncomplicated (UA) and complicated appendicitis (CA) in children. Materials and methods This retrospective single-center study collected data between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2020. Children between five and 17 years of age with histologically confirmed appendicitis were included. Cut-off values for NLR and PLR were determined by employing the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve with sensitivity and specificity in addition to regression analysis. Results A total of 701 patients were included with a median age of 13 years. Out of which 52% of the cohort was female. The difference between the NLR and PLR ratios between UA and CA was significant (p=0.05, Kruskal-Wallis). For UA, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) and cut-off for NLR and PLR were 0.741, 3.80 with 95% CI of 0.701-0.781 and 0.660, 149.25 with 95% CI of 0.618-0.703, respectively. In CA, using NLR and PLR, AUC and cut-off were 0.776, 8.86 with 95%CI of 0.730-0.822 and 0.694, 193.67 with 95%CI of 0.634-0.755, respectively. All were significant with p<0.001. Conclusions NLR and PLR are reliable, synergistic markers predicting complicated appendicitis which can guide non-operative management in children.