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BACKGROUND: Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) require intensive monitoring, which was adversely affected during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions. METHODS: We evaluated the management of type 1 DM and the role of telephonic consultation and follow-up in 46 patients (10 on insulin pump) with type 1 DM at our centre from 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2021. Patients were telephonically counselled fortnightly. Web-based diabetes education sessions for the patients and parents were conducted. Finally, change in HbA1c during the period of the study, frequency of severe hypoglycaemia, hospital admissions for hyperglycaemic emergencies and degree of satisfaction with care rendered by the treating team were assessed by ratings scored by the patients. RESULTS: Five episodes of severe hypoglycaemia were noted in three patients. Two patients had diabetic ketoacidosis. Patients on insulin pump showed a mean baseline HbA1c of 7.8%. Nine of these patients (90%) showed an improvement in Hba1c during the study period compared to 64.3% of patients on conventional regimen. There were no episodes of severe hypoglycaemia or hospitalization with DKA noted in these patients. Only two patients had COVID-19 disease with mild manifestations. Overall satisfaction levels with therapy were high. CONCLUSION: This study illustrates the role played by teleconsultation and video conferencing during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic in ensuring optimal healthcare delivery to patients with type 1 DM. Some of these methods can be used even after the pandemic to improve patient convenience and reduce the out-patient burden on the hospitals.
RESUMO
Background Asymptomatic neurocognitive impairment (ANI) in people living with HIV (PLWH) can lower quality of life, reduce drug compliance, increase unemployment, and reduce life expectancy. Objective This study was aimed to identify risk factors of ANI in PLWH in an Indian cohort and explore the usefulness of Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment Score (MoCA) as screening tools. Methods PLWH under follow-up at an antiretroviral treatment center who were 18 to 60 years were included in this study. Patients were excluded if they had any cognitive symptoms, previous history of any central nervous system (CNS) pathology, or any systemic illness. Included patients were subjected to domain wise standardized neuropsychological battery. Six domains were screened including language, attention, speed, memory, sensory motor skills, and executive. Abnormal dysfunctional scores in at least two domains were taken as suggestive of ANI. The two groups thus created, ANI and normal cognition, were evaluated for differences. Variables evaluated as risk factors included age, sex, handedness, education, presence of at least one vascular risk factor, duration of disease, biochemical profile, cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) count (both current and nadir) HIV viral load, and use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and its CNS penetration effectiveness (CPE). MMSE and MoCA were also done in all patients. Statistical Analysis Regression analysis was used to find out significant variables. MMSE and MoCA scores were correlated using Spearman's correlation coefficient. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were also determined Results Three hundred and eighty-four patients were included out of which 185 (48%) had ANI. In the multivariate regression analysis, female sex with odds Ratio (OR) of 1.89 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.21-2.79, p < 0.01), education below 10 years with OR = 2.43 (95% CI: 1.56-3.80, p < 0.01) and presence of at least one vascular risk factor with OR = 2.52 (95% CI: 1.67-3.80, p < 0.01) were found to be significant. Both MMSE and MoCA had a high PPV (0.99 and 0.97, respectively) but poor NPV (0.64 and 0.75) below a score of 25 with MoCA scoring slightly better. Both, MMSE and MoCA correlated well with each other. Conclusion Nearly half of our patients had ANI, despite being on ART. Majority of patients were on ART with CPE > 7 and had relatively preserved immune status. Female HIV patients with at least one vascular risk factor and less than 10 years of formal education were found to be at risk for ANI. MMSE and MoCA are not good screening tools to identify this condition.
