Pulmonary complications and mortality among COVID-19 patients undergoing a surgery: a multicentre cohort study

Objectives
Our primary objective was to assess the association between symptoms at the time of surgery and postoperative pulmonary complications and mortality in patients with COVID-19. Our secondary objective was to compare postoperative outcomes between patients who had recovered from COVID-19 and asymptomatic patients and explore the effect of the time elapsed between infection and surgery in the former. Our hypotheses were that symptomatic patients had a higher risk of pulmonary complications, whereas patients who had recovered from the infection would exhibit outcomes similar to those of asymptomatic patients.

Background
Managing COVID-19-positive patients requiring surgery is complex due to perceived heightened perioperative risks. However, Canadian data in this context remains scarce.

Design
To address this gap, we conducted a multicentre observational cohort study.

Setting
Across seven hospitals in the province of Québec, the Canadian province was most affected during the initial waves of the pandemic.

Participants
We included adult surgical patients with either active COVID-19 at the time of surgery or those who had recovered from the disease, from March 22, 2020 to April 30, 2021.

Outcomes
We evaluated the association between symptoms or recovery time and postoperative pulmonary complications and hospital mortality using multivariable logistic regression and Cox models. The primary outcome was a composite of any postoperative pulmonary complication (atelectasis, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and pneumothorax). Our secondary outcome was hospital mortality, assessed from the date of surgery up to hospital discharge.

Results
We included 105 patients with an active infection (47 were symptomatic and 58 were asymptomatic) at the time of surgery and 206 who had recovered from COVID-19 prior to surgery in seven hospitals. Among patients with an active infection, those who were symptomatic had a higher risk of pulmonary complications (OR 3.19, 95% CI 1.12 to 9.68, p=0.03) and hospital mortality (HR 3.67, 95% CI 1.19 to 11.32, p=0.02). We did not observe any significant effect of the duration of recovery prior to surgery on patients who had recovered from their infection. Their postoperative outcomes were also similar to those observed in asymptomatic patients.

Interpretation
Symptomatic status should be considered in the decision to proceed with surgery in COVID-19-positive patients. Our results may help optimise surgical care in this patient population.

Study registration
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04458337 registration date: 7 July 2020.

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Novembre 2024

Accuracy of the Canadian COVID-19 Mortality Score (CCMS) to predict in-hospital mortality among vaccinated and unvaccinated patients infected with Omicron: a cohort study

Objective
The objective is to externally validate and assess the opportunity to update the Canadian COVID-19 Mortality Score (CCMS) to predict in-hospital mortality among consecutive non-palliative COVID-19 patients infected with Omicron subvariants at a time when vaccinations were widespread.

Design
This observational study validated the CCMS in an external cohort at a time when Omicron variants were dominant. We assessed the potential to update the rule and improve its performance by recalibrating and adding vaccination status in a subset of patients from provinces with access to vaccination data and created the adjusted CCMS (CCMSadj). We followed discharged patients for 30 days after their index emergency department visit or for their entire hospital stay if admitted.

Setting
External validation cohort for CCMS: 36 hospitals participating in the Canadian COVID-19 Emergency Department Rapid Response Network (CCEDRRN). Update cohort for CCMSadj: 14 hospitals in CCEDRRN in provinces with vaccination data.

Participants
Consecutive non-palliative COVID-19 patients presenting to emergency departments.

Main outcome measures
In-hospital mortality.

Results
Of 39 682 eligible patients, 1654 (4.2%) patients died. The CCMS included age, sex, residence type, arrival mode, chest pain, severe liver disease, respiratory rate and level of respiratory support and predicted in-hospital mortality with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.88 (95% CI 0.87 to 0.88) in external validation. Updating the rule by recalibrating and adding vaccination status to create the CCMSadj changed the weights for age, respiratory status and homelessness, but only marginally improved its performance, while vaccination status did not. The CCMSadj had an AUC of 0.91 (95% CI 0.89 to 0.92) in validation. CCMSadj scores of 56.8%.

Conclusions
The CCMS remained highly accurate in predicting mortality from Omicron and improved marginally through recalibration. Adding vaccination status did not improve the performance. The CCMS can be used to inform patient prognosis, goals of care conversations and guide clinical decision-making for emergency department patients with COVID-19.

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Novembre 2024

Gender differences in burnout among US nurse leaders during COVID-19 pandemic: an online cross-sectional survey study

Objectives
Among nurse leaders, gender should receive particular attention, because life and work experiences and burnout during COVID-19 pandemic may vary between women and men, potentially requiring different strategies to achieve well-being. Thus, information about gender differences in burnout might be critical to burnout prevention in nurse leaders. Additionally, there has been a substantial call for attention to gender during the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting a concern that responses to the pandemic that fail to consider gender differences and norms will be ineffective. Therefore, the objective of the current study is to examine personal burnout, client burnout and work-related burnout of nurse leaders while considering the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and work-life balance through a gender lens.

Design
A cross-sectional study design was implemented in 2023 using a convenience sampling approach.

Setting
Data on personal burnout, work-related burnout, client burnout, work-life balance and COVID-19 impact were collected electronically and assessed through a gender lens.

Participants
A sample of 210 nurse leaders filled out the online surveys that were posted on the American Organization for Nursing Leadership and on Facebook.

Conclusion
Females had significantly higher personal burnout than males (mean 56.2 vs 49.3, F=5.853, p=0.019). Males had significantly higher client-related burnout than females (mean 45.3 vs 34.8, F=7.014, p=0.008). Findings demonstrate the importance of addressing gender when examining how nurse leaders react to different factors leading to burnout. In employing a gender lens framework, future researchers might study how the pressures that working men and women nurse leaders face were intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. To support nurse leaders in executing their roles, there is a need to widen the scope of conversations about including family-friendly policies and attention to the needs of men and women as nurse leaders. These policies might include but are not limited to paid childcare, flexible time off, access to paid time off and mandatory overtime laws.

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Novembre 2024

Concordance, motivations and associated factors of COVID-19 vaccination among parent-child dyads: a cross-sectional study in Caraga Region, the Philippines

Background
COVID-19 vaccination rates remain low for children aged 11 and below, and understanding the extent to which parental decisions impact their children’s vaccination status remains a challenge. This study aimed to explore the concordance and motivations for vaccination among parent–child dyads and determine the associated factors influencing their children’s vaccination status.

Design
A cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 March 2023 to 30 March 2023, recruiting parents from six representative primary schools across Butuan City, the Philippines. Pilot-tested, self-administered questionnaires were used during the face-to-face surveys with parent participants. To determine the associated factors of parental decisions to vaccinate their children, mixed-effects logistic regression was used, with school districts as a random effect.

Participants
A total of 593 participating parents were included in the study, with the majority being females (n=484, 81.6%) and underserved, characterised by lacking a college degree (n=305, 51.4%) and having low to no income (n=511, 86.1%).

Results
While 80.6% (n=478) of parents reported being vaccinated against COVID-19, only 36.2% (n=215) of them chose to vaccinate their children. A significant number of parents (n=285, 48.1%) reported psychological distress, with higher levels of distress prevalent among those who are indigenous, reside in rural areas and have lower income levels. Parental education and vaccination status emerged as influential factors. Specifically, parents with advanced degrees were 48% less likely to have unvaccinated children (adj OR (AOR)=0.52; 95% CI 0.30, 0.87), while unvaccinated parents had a sixfold increase in the likelihood of having unvaccinated children (AOR 6.1; 95% CI 3.14, 12.02) compared with their counterparts.

Conclusions
Efforts to increase paediatric vaccination rates should focus more on actively engaging parents, educating them about the vaccine’s benefits and necessity, rather than solely relying on mandates to improve paediatric vaccination rates. Further research is needed to understand the reluctance of unvaccinated parents to vaccinate themselves and their children against COVID-19, identifying specific facilitators and barriers to develop more effective communication strategies and bolster vaccine acceptance.

Leggi
Novembre 2024