Use and Cost-Effectiveness of a Telehealth Service at a Centralized COVID-19 Quarantine Center in Taiwan: Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Telehealth is a recommended method for monitoring the progression of nonsevere infections in patients with COVID-19. However, telehealth has not been widely implemented to monitor SARS-CoV-2 infection in quarantined individuals. Moreover, studies on the cost-effectiveness of quarantine measures during the COVID-19 pandemic are scarce. OBJECTIVE: In this cohort study, we aimed to use telehealth to monitor COVID-19 infections in 217 quarantined Taiwanese travelers and to analyze the cost-effectiveness of the quarantine program. METHODS: Travelers were quarantined for 14 days at the Taiwan Yangmingshan quarantine center and monitored until they were discharged. The travelers' clinical symptoms were evaluated twice daily. A multidisciplinary medical team used the telehealth system to provide timely assistance for ill travelers. The cost of the mandatory quarantine was calculated according to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Taiwan. RESULTS: All 217 quarantined travelers tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 upon admission to the quarantine center. During the quarantine, 28/217 travelers (12.9%) became ill and were evaluated via telehealth. Three travelers with fever were hospitalized after telehealth assessment, and subsequent tests for COVID-19 were negative for all three patients. The total cost incurred during the quarantine was US $193,938, which equated to US $894 per individual. CONCLUSIONS: Telehealth is an effective instrument for monitoring COVID-19 infection in quarantined travelers and could help provide timely disease management for people who are ill. It is imperative to screen and quarantine international travelers for SARS-CoV-2 infection to reduce the nationwide spread of COVID-19.

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and in-hospital mortality among COVID-19 patients: A population-based retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Predictors for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in COVID-19 patients remain unclear. We identified the predictors for OHCA and in-hospital mortality among such patients in community isolation centers. METHODS: From May 15 to June 20, 2021, this cohort study recruited 2555 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted to isolation centers in Taiwan. All patients were followed up until death, discharge from the isolation center or hospital, or July 16, 2021. OHCA was defined as cardiac arrest confirmed by the absence of circulation signs and occurring outside the hospital. Multinomial logistic regressions were used to determine factors associated with OHCA and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: Of the 37 deceased patients, 7 (18.9%) had OHCA and 30 (81.1%) showed in-hospital mortality. The mean (SD) time to OHCA was 6.6 (3.3) days from the symptom onset. After adjusting for demographics and comorbidities, independent predictors for OHCA included age ≥65 years (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 13.24, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.85-94.82), fever on admission to the isolation center (AOR: 12.53, 95% CI: 1.68-93.34), and hypoxemia (an oxygen saturation level below 95% on room air) (AOR: 26.54, 95% CI: 3.18-221.73). Predictors for in-hospital mortality included age ≥65 years (AOR: 10.28, 95% CI: 2.95-35.90), fever on admission to the isolation centers (AOR: 7.27, 95% CI: 1.90-27.83), and hypoxemia (AOR: 29.87, 95% CI: 10.17-87.76). CONCLUSIONS: Time to OHCA occurrence is rapid in COVID-19 patients. Close monitoring of patients' vital signs and disease severity during isolation is important, particularly for those with older age, fever, and hypoxemia.

A cross-sectional study about the relationship between physical activity and sarcopenia in Taiwanese older adults.

To the best of our knowledge, none of Taiwanese studies on the relationship between physical activity (PA) and sarcopenia by the latest 2019 Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) cutoff points of sarcopenia has been published. We used the Taiwan version of international physical activity questionnaire-short version and the 2019 AWGS diagnostic criteria of sarcopenia to examine the relationship between PA and sarcopenia in older adults. Volunteers in this cross-sectional study were recruited from those attending senior health checkup program held at a regional hospital in Taipei City from May 2019 to Sep 2019. Muscle strength was assessed by grip strength, physical performance was assessed by usual gait speed on a 6-m course, and muscle mass was measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Multiple logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between PA and sarcopenia. Odds ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals were calculated. 565 participants were recruited and data from 500 participants were used. The study participants had a mean age of 73.87 years old, with 47% men and 53% women. 138 (27.6%) participants were classified as having sarcopenia, among which 48 (45.3%) in low PA participants and 90 (22.8%) in moderate to high PA participants. Compared with those with low PA, moderate to high PA protected against the risk of sarcopenia with the odds ratio (OR) 0.46 (95% CI 0.27-0.79, p-value = 0.005). A significant protective effect of PA on sarcopenia was found among the older adults after adjusting for sex, institutionalization, age, BMI, albumin, hemoglobin, HDL-C levels, history of cardiovascular disease, education level and alcohol drinking.

Enhancing elderly health examination effectiveness by adding physical function evaluations and interventions.

This study aimed to assess the benefit of adding physical function evaluations and interventions to routine elderly health examination. This is a Quasi-experimental controlled trial. 404 elderly adults (aged 70 and over) scoring 3-6 on the Canadian Study of Health and Aging Clinical Frailty Scale Chinese In-Person Interview Version (CSHA-CFS) in a 2012 annual elderly health examination were enrolled. Both the control and experimental groups received the routine annual health examination with the latter further provided with functional evaluations, exercise instruction, and nutrition education. 112 (84.8%) persons in the experiment group and 267 (98.2%) in the control group completed the study. CSHA-CFS performance of the experimental group was more likely to improve (odds ratio=9.50, 95% confidence interval (CI)=4.62-19.56) and less likely to deteriorate (OR=0.04, 95% CI=0.01-0.31) one year after intervention. Within the experimental group, Fried Frailty Index improvement percentage surpassed the deterioration percentage (29.5% vs. 0.9%, p<0.001), five-meter walk speed rose from 1.0±0.2 to 1.2±0.2m/s (p<0.001), grip strength escalated from 22.3±7.1 to 24.8±6.7kg (p<0.001), Short-form Physical Performance Battery increased from 10.0±1.6 to 11.6±0.9 (p<0.001), and timed up and go test decreased from 10.9±2.9 to 8.9±2.7s (p<0.001). However, no statistical difference was detected in composite adverse endpoints, including hospitalization, emergency department visit and falls, between the two groups, though the incidence was higher in the control group. Adding functional evaluations, exercise and nutrition interventions to the annual elderly health examination appeared to benefit the health of adults aged 70 years and older.