Caregiver's perspective on psychosocial issues of paediatric cancer patients during COVID 19 pandemic lockdown.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Gopalakrishnan V
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9348374 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Caregiver's perspective on psychosocial issues of paediatric cancer patients during COVID 19 pandemic lockdown.
Gopalakrishnan Vidhya V Veeraiah Surendran S Chidambaram Sundaramoorthy S Sudhakar Revathy R Radhakrishnan Venkatraman V
Psycho-oncology 20220524 6
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Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic lockdown has posed numerous unique challenges for cancer patients, families and healthcare workers. However, the reports on psychosocial issues associated with such situations are scarce. This study aims to determine the psychosocial issues faced by cancer patients during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.MethodsCancer patients irrespective of diagnosis and treatment status were assessed for fear of progression (FOP), distress and quality of life (QOL) using Fear of Progression- Short Form, Distress Thermometer and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ C30) 30, respectively. The demographics, disease and treatment related details were obtained from case record form. Psychological issues and concerns were collected using a structured interview. Descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney U-test and Linear Regression were performed using SPSS ver 20.0.ResultsAmong the 219 patients, 118 (52.5%) had either interruption in their on-going cancer treatment or the initiation of cancer treatment was delayed as a result of COVID-19 lockdown. Overall, 74% of the patients experienced distress, 55.3% experienced FOP and 58% had low global health status. Pain followed by fatigue remained as major issues among patients during lockdown. Interruption in treatment and logistical issues were strongly associated with increased distress (p = 0.026) and FOP (p = 0.004). Global health status (p = 0.037), emotional functioning (p = 0.000), social functioning (p = 0.000) and financial concerns (p = 0.046) differed significantly between patients with and without treatment interruption. Age (β = -0.159), mode of transport (β = -0.135), challenges in meeting daily needs (β = -0.245) and being out-casted by the society (β = -0.227) predicted distress.ConclusionMore than half of the patients had interruptions in their treatment as a result of COVID-19 lockdown. Cancer patients have had increased physical and psychological concerns as a result of the pandemic situation and its associated changes. Specific guidelines ought to be framed for providing continued and holistic cancer care for patients during such lockdown.
| S-EPMC10021520 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundLockdown during the pandemic has had significant impacts on public mental health. Previous studies suggest an increase in self-harm and suicide in children and adolescents. There has been little research on the roles of stringent lockdown.AimsTo investigate the mediating and predictive roles of lockdown policy stringency measures in self-harm and emergency psychiatric presentations.MethodThis was a retrospective cohort study. We analysed data of 2073 psychiatric emergency presentations of children and adolescents from 23 hospital catchment areas in ten countries, in March to April 2019 and 2020.ResultsLockdown measure stringency mediated the reduction in psychiatric emergency presentations (incidence rate ratio of the natural indirect effect [IRRNIE] = 0.41, 95% CI [0.35, 0.48]) and self-harm presentations (IRRNIE = 0.49, 95% CI [0.39, 0.60]) in 2020 compared with 2019. Self-harm presentations among male and looked after children were likely to increase in parallel with lockdown stringency. Self-harm presentations precipitated by social isolation increased with stringency, whereas school pressure and rows with a friend became less likely precipitants. Children from more deprived neighbourhoods were less likely to present to emergency departments when lockdown became more stringent.ConclusionsLockdown may produce differential effects among children and adolescents who self-harm. Development in community or remote mental health services is crucial to offset potential barriers to access to emergency psychiatric care, especially for the most deprived youths. Governments should aim to reduce unnecessary fear of help-seeking and keep lockdown as short as possible. Underlying mediation mechanisms of stringent measures and potential psychosocial inequalities warrant further research.
| S-EPMC8963968 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundSince the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019, many countries around the world have imposed lockdown measures in order to reduce virus spread. Social isolation is known to have a significant psychological impact, potentially triggering alcohol misuse in adults. In our study, we aimed to investigate the effect of COVID-19 lockdown measures on alcohol consumption in adults in Bavaria.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 2067 participants, with 1961 young adults (mean age 23.3 ± 4.1) and 106 mature adults (mean age 66.7 ± 9.7). Participants were asked to complete a standardized questionnaire, semi-quantitatively evaluating the alcohol drinking behaviour before and during the pandemic lockdown.ResultsAfter implementation of lockdown, the alteration of alcohol consumption was significantly different between young and mature adults (p < 0.001). Among young adults, 42% reported unchanged drinking behaviour compared to 76% in the mature adult group; 44% of young adults reported to drink less compared to only 7% of mature adults. An increase in alcohol consumption was only reported by 14% of young adults and 17% of mature adults. Interestingly, in the entire cohort, the change of alcohol intake was most pronounced among moderate drinkers (> 0 to < 5 drinks/week) in both age groups (p < 0.001). Ordinal logistic regression revealed female sex, low BMI and younger age to be associated with a decrease in number of self-reported drinks/week.ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic lockdown significantly affected alcohol drinking behaviour. Further studies exploring long-term effects on potential alcohol misuse and the relevance on public health are warranted.Trial registrationThe study was retrospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT04361877 ) on April 24, 2020.
| S-EPMC8112739 | biostudies-literature
Project description:AimTo describe the variation in volumes and types of paediatric presentations to a tertiary emergency department in New Zealand during the national level 4 lockdown for COVID-19.MethodsA retrospective, comparative cohort study in Christchurch Hospital Emergency Department, New Zealand.ResultsThere was a 37% reduction in all emergency presentations during the 33-day lockdown period. Paediatric presentations reduced significantly more than non-paediatric presentations (53% paediatric vs. 34% non-paediatric, P < 0.00001). The decrease in both overall and paediatric presentations was significantly different than similar periods in 2019 and 2018 (P < 0.00001). The proportion of New Zealand European paediatric presentations during lockdown increased by 6.09% (P = 0.01), while Pacific peoples decreased by 3.36% (P = 0.005). The proportion of <1-year-old presentations increased by 5.56% (P = 0.001), while 11-15 years decreased by 7.91% (P = 0.0001). Respiratory-related paediatric presentations decreased by 30% and proportional decreased by 4.92% (P = 0.001).ConclusionThis study has identified a significant reduction in paediatric presentations to a tertiary emergency department in New Zealand during the national Alert Level 4 Lockdown for COVID-19. The proportional increase in the <1-year-old group may suggest a greater need for community-based child health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health support services may also need to adapt and expand to provide adequate psychological support for children during this crisis. Recognising the needs of these vulnerable groups will be critical during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in addition to informing response plans for similar events in the future.
| S-EPMC8014123 | biostudies-literature
Project description:As the COVID-19 spreads across the world, many nations impose lockdown measures at the early stage of the pandemic to prevent the spread of the disease. Controversy surrounds the lockdown as it is a choice between economic freedom and public health. The ultimate solution to a pandemic is to vaccinate a massive population to achieve herd immunity. However, the whole vaccination programme is a long and complicated process. The virus and the vaccine will coexist for quite a long time. How to gradually ease the lockdown based on vaccination progress is an important question, as both economic and epidemiological issues are involved. In this paper, we extend the classic SIR model to find optimal decision to balance between economy and public health in the process of vaccination rollout. The model provides an approach of vaccine value estimation. Our results provide scientific suggestion for policymakers to make important decisions on how to gradually relax the strength for the lockdown over the entire vaccination cycle.
| S-EPMC8119293 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe lockdown imposed due to novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in adopting electronic learning (e-learning) as the means of education in various institutions all over India. This study aimed to collect the experiences of faculty and students regarding e-learning in medical colleges during COVID-19 and to analyse the likely perceived benefits and problems to choose blended learning activities after the COVID crisis.MethodsA survey-based study was conducted among undergraduate students and faculty members in medical colleges of Delhi-NCR.ResultTwo hundred forty-eight medical students and 23 faculty members participated in the study. Two hundred twelve (85.4%) students considered medical education to be severely affected during the lockdown and 219 (88.3%) students found the online classes to be useful. Poor connectivity followed by lack of human interface and poor sound or acoustics were the major hindering factors, whereas convenience and access were reported as important facilitating factors. In the postlockdown phase, 135 (54.4%) students want online classes to be continued in addition to classroom teaching for the cognitive domain, 42 (16.9%) students want it for both cognitive and psychomotor domain and 60 (24.1%) do not want online classes. The majority of the faculty members (65.2%) were in favour of including online teaching modules in routine curriculum and 69.6% suggested a 70%:30% distribution of traditional and online classes after the COVID lockdown.ConclusionImplementation of e-learning within the existing curriculum is bound to be challenging; however, it remains the only solution during COVID-19 imposed lockdown for maintaining the chain of learning.
| S-EPMC7873682 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-BSST1055 | biostudies-other
Project description:To understand and analyse the global impact of COVID-19 on outpatient services, inpatient care, elective surgery, and perioperative colorectal cancer care, a DElayed COloRectal cancer surgery (DECOR-19) survey was conducted in collaboration with numerous international colorectal societies with the objective of obtaining several learning points from the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on our colorectal cancer patients which will assist us in the ongoing management of our colorectal cancer patients and to provide us safe oncological pathways for future outbreaks.
| 2346925 | ecrin-mdr-crc
Project description:As a public health measure during the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world instituted a variety of interventions to 'flatten the curve'. The government of Maryland instituted similar measures. We observed a striking decline in paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admissions during that period, mostly due to a decease in respiratory infections. We believe this decline is multifactorial: less person-to-person contact, better air quality and perhaps 'fear' of going to a hospital during the pandemic. We report an analysis of our PICU admissions during the lockdown period and compared them with the same time period during the four previous years.
| S-EPMC7640529 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundIsrael hosts nearly 70,000 migrant careworkers. Migrant careworkers work and live with populations extremely vulnerable to the novel Coronavirus, including the elderly and people with pre-existing physical conditions. This rapid assessment aimed to explore psychosocial status and mental wellbeing of migrant careworkers in Israel during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and determine risk and protective factors associated with mental distress, anxiety, and depression.MethodsThis quantitative study was conducted via an online survey. The online survey collected social and demographic data, including country of origin, residence, age, sex, and time in Israel. In addition, questions were asked about knowledge of COVID-19 guidelines, access to supplies, and COVID-related racism. Respondents also completed a psychosocial screening tools, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-10 (HSCL-10), which was used to screen for depression and anxiety.ResultsAs of May 3rd, 2020, 307 careworkers responded to the online survey, of whom 120 (39.1%) were found symptomatic using the HSCL-10. Separating the HSCL-10 into subscales, 28.0% were symptomatically anxious, and 38.1% were symptomatic for depression. In multivariate regression, emotional distress was associated with household food insecurity (OR: 5.85; p < 0.001), lack of confidence to care for oneself and employer during the pandemic (OR: 3.85; p < 0.001), poorer general health (OR: 2.98; p < 0.003), non-Philippine country of origin (OR: 2.83; p < 0.01), female sex (OR: 2.34; p < 0.04),, and inversely associated with age (p < 0.03). While 87.6% of careworkers reported having access to hand sanitization materials regularly, only 58.0% had regular access to a medical grade mask, and 21.5% reported household food insecurity. Moreover, 40.0% of careworkers claimed to lack confidence to care for themselves and their employer during the COVID-19 pandemic.ConclusionsMigrant careworkers exhibited high levels of mental distress during the COVID-19 lockdown, associated with lack of confidence or resources to properly care for themselves and their employer. Guidelines and support programs specific to the carework sector, that respect their rights and guard their health, must be developed as part of a coordinated COVID-19 response.
| S-EPMC7605873 | biostudies-literature