RESUMO
Background: India is the epicenter of diabetes mellitus (DM). The relationship between COVID and DM in age/gender-matched non-diabetics has not been studied yet. The role of DM in predicting the disease severity and outcome in COVID patients might provide new insight for effective management. Methods: We conducted a prospective comparative study at a COVID care center from 25th April-31st May 2021. Among 357 severe-COVID patients screened, all consecutive diabetes (n-113) and age/gender-matched non-diabetes (n-113) patients were recruited. All diabetics and non-diabetics at admission were subjected to high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) chest and inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, ferritin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR)) before starting anti- COVID therapy. Statistical analysis was done using JMP 15·0 ver·3·0·0. Results: The prevalence of DM among the screened population (n-357) was 38·37%. The mean age of the study population was 61y with male preponderance (57%). There was no statistical difference in the HRCT-score or inflammatory markers in the two groups except for higher NLR (p-0·0283) in diabetics. Diabetics had significantly inferior overall survival (OS) (p-0·0251) with a 15d-OS of diabetics vs. non-diabetics being 58·87%, 72·67%, and 30d-OS of diabetics vs. non-diabetics being 46·76%, 64·61%, respectively. The duration of the hospital stay was not statistically different in the two groups (p-0·2). Conclusion: The mortality is significantly higher in severe-COVID patients with DM when compared to age/gender-matched non-diabetics. There was no significant difference in most inflammatory markers/CT at admission between the two groups.
RESUMO
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has put the entire medical fraternity into a very challenging and demanding situation. Along with always being at the risk of COVID infection, healthcare workers (HCWs) are also facing neurological problems due to long working hours in personal protective equipment (PPE). These symptoms and their characteristics need to be observed and studied in-depth to understand the problems experienced by HCWs and to design new solutions to overcome such problems. Objectives: This study intends to evaluate the various neurological manifestations among the HCWs wearing PPE for prolonged periods. Materials and Methods: We conducted a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study at a Covid care center from western India from April 20 to June 01, 2021 by using a self-administered web-based questionnaire. A total of 256 HCWs were surveyed. The de-identified data were analyzed using JMP 15.0.0. Results: Among a total of 256 HCWs surveyed for this study, the majority (58.6%) were aged 24-35 years, with a male preponderance (65.62%, n = 168). Participants included doctors (41%), nurses (35%), paramedical staff (22%), and housekeeping staff (1%). The symptoms encountered among the HCWs wearing the PPE were headache, classified further as donning headache in 112 (44.98%), doffing headache in 56 (26.24%), slowed mentation in 48 (21.05%), and excessive sleepiness in 86 (38.74%), which affected their work performance. The age of the HCWs had a significant correlation with all the symptoms. Conclusion: Headache, slowed mentation, and excessive sleepiness was encountered among the HCWs wearing PPE, which depended upon the duration of PPE usage. The most common symptom was headache, which was of moderate to severe intensity.
