Evaluation of occupational therapy in persons with COVID-19: a pre-post observational cohort study

Background
Persons with COVID-19 may experience limitations in daily functioning and can be referred to occupational therapy.

Objectives
To evaluate changes in daily functioning, cognitive complaints, fatigue and self-management of persons with COVID-19 who received occupational therapy in primary care.

To get insights in the volume and duration of occupational therapy.

Design
A pre-post observational cohort study from October 2020 until April 2021.

Setting
Fifty-eight occupational therapy practices in primary care throughout the Netherlands participated with 68 occupational therapists.

Participants
228 adults (≥18 years) with COVID-19, referred to occupational therapy, gave informed consent and participated in the pre-post evaluation. The mean age was 49 years (SD 13) and 79% of the patients was female. The most frequently reported complaints included fatigue and cognitive complaints.

Interventions
Occupational therapy using Dutch guidelines for occupational therapy in clients with COVID-19.

Outcome measures
Performance and satisfaction with performance using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM); the impact of Cognitive Complaints on Participation (CoCo-P); and daily activities, self-management and perceived contribution of occupational therapy using the Patient Reported Outcome Measure for Occupational Therapy (PROM-OT).

Results
COPM-performance score improved with a mean difference of 2.9 points (95% CI 2.7 to 3.2), and COPM-satisfaction score improved with 3.2 points (95% CI 2.9 to 3.5). CoCo-P score improved with a mean difference of 20.9 points (95% CI from 14.4 to 27.4), and PROM-OT improved with 42.8 points (95% CI from 40.2 to 45.4). Participants received a median of seven sessions of occupational therapy (IQR 5–10) with a median duration of 18 weeks (IQR 12–25). They valued the contribution of occupational therapy to their improved functioning with a mean score of 8 (SD 1.4) and recommended this to others with a mean score of 9 (SD 1.2).

Conclusions
Persons with COVID-19 who received occupational therapy in primary care improved significantly in daily functioning and highly valued occupational therapy.

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Novembre 2024

Association between sarcopenia index, intraoperative events and post-discharge mortality in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: a retrospective cohort study in a teaching hospital in Western China

Objectives
To examine the association between the sarcopenia index (SI) and the risk of intraprocedural events and post-discharge death during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Design
A retrospective cohort study.

Setting
The study was conducted at a teaching hospital in Western China.

Participants
The participants were patients aged 45 years and older who underwent PCI at the hospital and had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of ≥15 mL/min/1.73 m2. Patients who died during hospitalisation, as well as those with unknown death dates, those lost to follow-up and those with missing information for the SI calculation, were excluded.

Primary and secondary outcome measures
The SI was calculated as serum creatinine/cystatin C (Cr/CysC) x 100. The high-SI group was defined as the highest quartile, while the remaining participants were included in the low-SI group. Intraprocedural events included intraprocedural coronary slow flow (CSF)/coronary artery no-reflow (CNR) and malignant ventricular arrhythmia (MVA). In the event of death, the date of death was recorded.

Results
The study included 497 patients who underwent PCI in our hospital, of whom 369 (74.25%) were males. A total of 57 (11.47%) patients developed CSF, 100 (20.12%) developed CNR and 4 (0.8%) developed MVA. Forty-four (8.85%) patients died post-discharge. The proportion of patients in the low-SI group who developed CSF was higher than those who did not (16.94% vs 9.65%, p=0.027). In addition, the average SI was lower in patients who developed CSF than in those who did not (81.99 vs 87.11, p=0.043). After adjusting for possible confounding factors, logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of CSF in the low-SI group was higher than that in the high-SI group (OR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.04 to 3.89). In addition, it was found that the lower the SI, the higher the risk of CSF (OR = 0.983, 95% CI: 0.967 to 0.999).

Conclusions
Patients with lower SI had a greater risk of developing CSF, and the lower the SI, the higher the risk of CSF. However, these data suggest that SI is not associated with CNR and the risk of post-discharge death in patients after PCI.

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Novembre 2024

[Articles] Incidence of post-acute COVID-19 symptoms across healthcare settings in seven countries: an international retrospective cohort study using routinely-collected data

Post-acute COVID-19 symptoms, as listed by the WHO, were commonly observed following COVID-19 infection. However, even after standardising research methods, there was significant heterogeneity in the incidence rates from different healthcare settings and geographical locations. This is the first international study of the epidemiology of post-acute COVID-19 symptoms using the WHO-listed symptoms. Its findings contibute to understand the epidemiology of this condition from a multinational approach.

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Ottobre 2024

[Articles] Risk factors associated with post-tuberculosis sequelae: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis found that long-term physical post-TB sequelae including respiratory, hepatic, and hearing impairment were associated with a range of socio-demographic, behavioral, and clinical factors. Identification of these risk factors will help to identify patients who will benefit from interventions to reduce the burden of suffering from post-TB treatment.

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Ottobre 2024

Longitudinal changes in self-reported medication adherence and beliefs about post-stroke medicines in Sweden: a repeated cross-sectional study

Objectives
To explore changes in beliefs about medicines and self-reported medication non-adherence between 3 and 24 months after stroke and to investigate associations between beliefs about medicines and non-adherence at 24 months after stroke.

Design
Longitudinal questionnaire survey.

Setting
Patients treated for acute stroke in 25 Swedish hospitals.

Participants
Only patients living at home were included. Of the 594 individuals who answered the 3 month questionnaire, 401 were included at 24 months; among the remainder, 34 (5.7%) had died, 149 (25,1%) did not respond or had incomplete information on adherence and 10 (1.7%) were not living at home.

Measures
The primary outcome was self-reported medication adherence as measured with the Medication Adherence Report Scale (MARS). The Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaires (BMQ) was used to assess personal beliefs about medicines. Background and clinical data were included from the Swedish national stroke register.

Results
According to dichotomised MARS sum scores, more individuals were classified as non-adherent at 24 months after stroke (n=63, 15.7%) than at 3 months after stroke (n=45, 11.2%) (p=0.030). For BMQ, the only difference over time was an increase in the Necessity subscale (p=0.007). At 24 months, in comparison to adherent patients, non-adherent patients scored statistically significant higher on negative beliefs about medicines, such as Concern (OR 1.17, 95% CI: 1.09 to 1.25), Overuse (OR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.21 to 1.54) and Harm (OR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.11 to 1.39), and lower on positive beliefs about medicines, namely, Necessity (OR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.80 to 0.96) and Benefit (OR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.74 to 0.98).

Conclusions
Stroke patients‘ beliefs about medicines were associated with adherence, and over time beliefs remained stable across all domains, except for an increased perception of medications as being necessary. Despite this, more patients became non-adherent over time. To counteract non-adherence, interventions targeted to improve intentional adherence as well as non-intentional adherence should be investigated and implemented.

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Ottobre 2024