A Study of the Impact of Cannabis on Doses of Discharge Antipsychotic Medication in Individuals with Schizophrenia or Schizoaffective Disorder.

Patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder have a high prevalence of comorbid cannabis use disorder (CUD). CUD has been associated with poorer outcomes in patients. We compared doses of antipsychotic medications at the time of discharge from hospital among inpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder with or without concurrent cannabis use. We reviewed the medical records of patients (N = 8157) with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder discharged from the hospital between 2008 and 2012. The patients were divided into two groups; those with urine drug tests positive for cannabis and those negative for cannabis. Doses of antipsychotic medications were converted to chlorpromazine equivalents. Bivariate analyses were done with Student's t test for continuous variables and χ 2 test for categorical variables. Linear regression was carried out to adjust for potential confounders. Unadjusted analysis revealed that the cannabis positive group was discharged on lower doses of antipsychotic medication compared with the cannabis negative group (geometric mean chlorpromazine equivalent doses 431.22 ± 2.20 vs 485.18 ± 2.21; P < 0.001). However, the difference in geometric mean chlorpromazine equivalent doses between the two groups was no longer significant after adjusting for sex, age, race, and length of stay (geometric mean difference 0.99; 95 % CI 0.92-1.10). Though limited by lack of information on duration, amount and severity of cannabis use, as well as inability to control for other non-antipsychotic medications, our study suggests that cannabis use did not significantly impact on doses of antipsychotics required during the periods of acute exacerbation in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

Impact and perception about distant online medical education (tele-education) on the educational environment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences of medical undergraduate students from India.

INTRODUCTION: The impact of online medical education using videoconferencing platforms on the education environment during the present COVID-19 pandemic is not known. The objectives were to evaluate the impact of online teaching using videoconferencing platforms on the education environment, satisfaction, and perception of the medical undergraduate students to online teaching. METHODS: This prospective observational survey undertaken at a medical college included voluntarily participating medical undergraduate students from first (2nd semester), second (4th semester), and third year MBBS (6th and 8th semesters). The education environment was evaluated using the validated Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM). The perception of the students was evaluated using questionnaire with five point Likert scale response. RESULTS: The response rate in our survey was 77.5% (465 out of 600 students). The mean DREEM score of medical undergraduate students was 132.3 ± 19.8. Domains of DREEM evaluated were students' perception of learning (30.1 ± 6.3), students' perception of teachers (29.7 ± 4.6), students' academic self-perception (21.3 ± 4.9), students' perception of atmosphere (32.5 ± 6.2), and students' social self-perception (18.7 ± 3.5). Two hundred and fifty five students (54.8%) were extremely satisfied and quite satisfied with the online teaching-learning modalities. Two hundred and fifty eight students (55.5%) rated online learning methods to be very useful and quite useful during the lockdown period. CONCLUSION: The educational environment at our medical college was positive and students had a positive perception and attitude toward the role of the videoconferencing platforms for learning (telemedicine) during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Medical faculty perception toward digital teaching methods during COVID-19 pandemic: Experience from India.

BACKGROUND: Videoconferencing has been used as a modality of online medical teaching by various institutes. There is a paucity of studies reporting the perception of medical teachers toward teaching using teleconferencing platforms. The objective of this survey was to evaluate the perception of medical teachers toward teaching using videoconferencing platforms such as Zoom meet, Google meet, and Google classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our hypothesis was teaching faculty would have a positive perception and experience toward web-based teaching modalities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical teachers of a medical college were invited to participate in a prospective observational cross-sectional online survey. The faculty demographic information, perception, experience, and satisfaction were noted. Perception data were presented as proportion and percentage. RESULTS: 104 out of 160 faculty members participated in the study (response rate = 65%). 61 male (58.7%) and 43 female (41.3%) faculty members participated in the study. The mean age of the faculty members was 39.3 years ± 13 (range: 27-69 years). Laptop (n = 73 [70.2%]) was the most commonly used electronic device by the faculty members for conducting e-teaching sessions followed by smartphone (n = 25 [24%]). Google meet was the most preferred videoconference tool for online teaching. Ninety-six faculties (92.2%) were satisfied with the e-teaching method adopted by the institute. Eighty-three faculty (79.8%) perceived the e-teaching method to be very useful and quite useful as a modality for teaching during the lockdown period. CONCLUSIONS: The teaching faculties had a positive perception toward digital education methods adopted for teaching of undergraduate medical students at our institute.