Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health最新文献

{"title":"Risk of musculoskeletal disorders in female farmers and its socioeconomic determinants in Kashmir valley","authors":"Aisha Dev,&nbsp;M. Imran Ganaie,&nbsp;Ishtiaq A. Mayer,&nbsp;Harmeet Singh","doi":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101871","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101871","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background/aims</h3><div>This study investigates the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among female farmers, both perennial and non-perennial, in the Kashmir Valley, India. Given the manual labour intensive nature of agriculture in India, MSDs are a significant concern, often stemming from repetitive and constrained postures adopted during farming activities.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Utilizing a cross-sectional design, data was collected through a questionnaire comprising two parts: the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) for self-reporting MSDs and the second part dealing with socio-economic parameters. Participants were recruited randomly using a three-stage sampling technique from the working age group of 18 years to up to 60 years, resulting in 293 respondents (comprising 66.14 % perennial and 33.86 % non-perennial farmers).</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The overall prevalence of MSDs was found to be 74.74 %, with a notable majority of perennial cultivators (95.3 %) reporting MSDs. Activities performed by female farmers were frequently characterized by repetitive and constrained postures, with the lower back being the most commonly affected site (68.78 %), followed by the neck/shoulders (62.94 %) and elbows/hands (13.54 %). Multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed age and marital status as significant risk factors for lower back disorders, neck/shoulders, and elbows/hands (p &lt; 0.05), with workplace environment emerging as an additional risk factor for elbows/hands.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The high prevalence of MSDs amongst the respondents establishes the urgent need for preventive strategies and educational programs aimed at promoting ergonomics awareness among female farmers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46404,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article 101871"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143102939","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The relationship between fatigue, quality of life, and performance status among cancer patients with anemia","authors":"Aditi Sawant Dessai ,&nbsp;Jyothi Chakrabarty ,&nbsp;B. Sulochana","doi":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101899","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101899","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Cancer-related fatigue is defined as “a distressing, persistent, subjective sense of physical, emotional, and cognitive tiredness or exhaustion related to cancer or cancer treatment that is not proportional to recent activity and interferes with usual functioning”. It is distinct from regular tiredness and is a pervasive and disruptive symptom for many patients, impacting daily life and work.</div></div><div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>This paper aims to assess fatigue and performance status experienced by cancer patients with anemia, and to determine the correlation between fatigue, quality of life, and performance status at a selected tertiary care hospital in Udupi district, Karnataka.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This study, conducted from April 2, 2022, to December 25, 2022, represents a descriptive correlational investigation involving 231 cancer patients experiencing anemia. The participants, aged 21–82 years, were selected using a purposive sampling technique and recruited from a designated tertiary care hospital in the Udupi district of Karnataka.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The mean fatigue score was 23.93 ± 5.39 whereas the mean Health-related Quality of life and anemia symptoms scores were 62.09 ± 14.19, and 4.28 ± 3.05 respectively. The main variables' linear correlations were evaluated using Spearman's rank correlation. A very strong negative relationship was noted between fatigue and performance status, i.e., (<em>r</em> = −0.796, p = 0.01), a moderate negative relationship existed between anemia symptoms and performance status (<em>r</em> = −0.297, p = 0.01), a strong positive relationship was observed between quality-of-life domains and performance status (<em>r</em> = 0.685, p = 0.01).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Anaemia causes low-performance status and fatigue among cancer patients. As a result, fatigue lowers quality of life, particularly in terms of physical and mental health. Medical facilities should implement a self-management education program to diagnose and treat fatigue, which is associated with anaemia, low performance status, and a reduction in cancer patients' quality of life.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46404,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article 101899"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143102941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prevalence, predictors and perception of loneliness among medical undergraduates","authors":"Bindu Krishnan ,&nbsp;Manish Kumar ,&nbsp;Gaurav Kumar","doi":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101882","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101882","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Transition from high school to a medical school can be a challenging period for students.Life in a medical school can be very demanding with high academic pressures along with the risk of getting isolated in the new environment. As loneliness can lead to psychiatric ailments and physical disorders,identifying and addressing the problem among medical students is the need of the hour. The authors aim was to find out the prevalence of loneliness and its various predictors among medical undergraduates.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This cross-sectional study was conducted among 500 medical undergraduates in a private university in Maharashtra. Prevalence of loneliness was assessed using 11 item De Jong Gierveld Loneliness scale. A structured questionnaire was used to find out the demographic and social variables, health and study variables.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Among the 500 medical undergraduates, 450 students willingly participated. After excluding 30 students who were part of the pilot study, a total of 407 responses were taken for analysis and the rest not considered due to missing data. Sixty one percent of participants reported feeling moderately lonely, and 23.6 % reported feeling severely lonely. Having financial insecurities (p = 0.030),being a female student(p = 0.01), struggling childhood experience (p = 0.003) being an introvert (p = 0.006) with low self-esteem (p = 0.005) and language barrier (p = 0.009) less physical activity (p = 0.004) more social anxiety (p = 0.00) were all associated with loneliness in our study. More number of female participants perceived loneliness as a problem when compared to males (p = 0.004).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Prevalence of loneliness is very high among medical undergraduates. They are more vulnerable, so various remedial measures to help reduce loneliness among them need to be addressed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46404,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article 101882"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143103506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mean arterial pressure may be a valuable tool for classifying blood pressure in physically actives: A cross-sectional study among females from North India","authors":"Monika Kulshreshtha ,&nbsp;Shivani Chandel","doi":"10.1016/j.cegh.2025.101912","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cegh.2025.101912","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Hypertension is a leading global health issue. Prevention, identification, and treatment of hypertension are crucial. Recent studies found that mean arterial pressure (MAP) is better for predicting hypertension than systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Thus, this cross-sectional study compared the prevalence of hypertension among Kathak dancers and physically active non-dancers in North India as per the American Heart Association (AHA) 2017, Indian Guidelines on Hypertension (IGH) 2019, and MAP.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Data on blood pressure were collected using a standardized procedure from 441 Delhi-National Capital Region females (206 Kathak dancers; 235 age-matched non-dancers). We calculated MAP using Diastolic Blood Pressure + (0.33 ∗ Pulse Pressure). The prevalence of hypertension was estimated using AHA 2017, IGH-IV 2019, and MAP.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The present study revealed that hypertension prevalence varies significantly as per the three guidelines in Kathak dancers and non-dancers. The highest prevalence of hypertension was found with the AHA 2017 criteria, with 13.1 % in Kathak dancers and 31.1 % in non-dancers. This prevalence was reduced to 4.9 % (Kathak dancers) and 6.4 % (non-dancers) as per IGH 2019. When MAP was used, it drastically reduced the prevalence calculated by AHA 2017 (7.2 % Kathak dancers; 17 % non-dancers) and IGH-IV 2019 (.5 % Kathak dancers; 4.3 % non-dancers). Kathak dancers had a lower prevalence of hypertension than non-dancers.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>MAP may be a more effective tool for classifying blood pressure than other methods, particularly in physically active populations. Furthermore, the therapeutic movements of Kathak dance may offer a potential preventive strategy for hypertension in the general population.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46404,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article 101912"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143165024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trends of needle stick injuries among health care workers in a tertiary care center in South India","authors":"Suchitra Shenoy M ,&nbsp;Harika Vangara ,&nbsp;Joyce Emilda Rego ,&nbsp;Irene Saldanha ,&nbsp;Gracy Lobo ,&nbsp;Shafir Kassim ,&nbsp;Shrikala Baliga ,&nbsp;Pavan M. R ,&nbsp;Pooja Rao","doi":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101903","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101903","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>Occupation blood exposures can happen in any health care facility. This usually happens due to needle or sharp injuries. The risk of transmission of blood borne pathogens is higher when the injury is due to hollow needle stick injuries. As a protocol the data regarding needle stick injuries in the hospital is captured. This study was taken to analyze the needle stick injuries over the past eleven years.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A retrospective study was conducted from January 2012 to December 2022 to capture the needle stick injuries that took place in tertiary care hospital in Mangalore, Karnataka over the past 11 years. Data was entered and analyzed on Microsoft excel sheet 2021 (Redmond, Washington).</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The trend showed that the incidence of needle stick injury was highest in the years 2013 and 2017. After the year 2013 the incidence drops slightly year after year due to the education and when retraining was reduced the incidence increased in 2017. The 11 years trend showed that doctors had the highest needle stick injury compared to nurses, housekeeping, and technician groups.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The data suggests that the training can reduce the occurrence of needle stick injuries. The proper usage of personal protective equipment should be reinforced at all levels of the health care personnel.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46404,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article 101903"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143103092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Epidemiological changes of common respiratory viruses in Shanghai, during 2021–2023","authors":"Sihao Mi ,&nbsp;Yuying Yang ,&nbsp;Tianming Li","doi":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101905","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101905","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><div>The impact of influenza on disease burden is a matter of substantial attention. The influenza viruses (types A and B) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are common causes of influenza-like illness (ILI). The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemic changes of common respiratory viruses in Renji Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in Shanghai, from 2021 to 2023.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A retrospective analysis was conducted on the nasopharyngeal swab samples of ILI patients from the fever clinic of Renji Hospital from January of 2021 to December of 2023. A thorough analysis was conducted on the epidemiological characteristics across various years and age demographics. Real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect three common respiratory viruses: influenza A virus (FluA), influenza B virus (FluB), and RSV.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>From 2021 to 2023, PCR testing of 125,409 nasopharyngeal samples from patients with ILI revealed an overall positivity rate of 44.65 %, with 38.82 % positive for FluA, 4.02 % for FluB, and 1.81 % for RSV. Age-specific analysis indicated the highest viral positivity rate in the 21–30 age group, with FluA and FluB predominating, while RSV positivity was highest among those aged 0–10 and lower in older age groups. Gender differences in positivity rates were observed across all viruses (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.001), although no significant gender differences were found for FluA and FluB in the 56–65 and 66+ age groups, nor for RSV in those under 18. Seasonal trends showed FluA peaking in summer and winter of 2022 and maintaining high levels throughout 2023, with a slight dip in January and summer. FluB peaked from autumn 2021 to spring 2022 and showed a rising trend in winter 2023, while RSV peaked in early summer of 2023. The interrupted time series analysis showed a significant upward trend in the positivity rate of FluA before the policy change (P &lt; 0.05), but both the immediate impact and the trend change after the policy implementation were not significant (P &gt; 0.05). However, no significant changes were found in the positivity rates of FluB or RSV following the policy change (<em>P</em> &gt; 0.05).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>From 2021 to 2023, the influenza outbreak in Shanghai was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic and health interventions to some extent. The influenza outbreak in Shanghai may become more pronounced after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, it is essential to rapidly appraise the influenza epidemiological trends and the positivity rate of influenza virus tests.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46404,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article 101905"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143103097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Association between age and patients’ perceptions of safety in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study","authors":"Ana Lúcia Schaefer Ferreira de Mello ,&nbsp;Franciely Daiana Engel ,&nbsp;Gabriela Marcellino de Melo Lanzoni ,&nbsp;Caroline Cechinel-Peiter ,&nbsp;Diovane Ghignatti Costa ,&nbsp;José Luis Guedes dos Santos ,&nbsp;Alacoque Lorenzini Erdmann ,&nbsp;Chantal Backman","doi":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101869","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101869","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Aim</h3><div>This study aimed to explore patients' perceptions of factors contributing to patient safety during hospitalization for COVID-19, with a focus on differences among three distinct adult age groups.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A cross-sectional study was conducted. Data were collected from 533 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in nine Brazilian university hospitals between April and December 2021. Sociodemographics, health conditions, and the Patient Measure of Safety (PMOS) data were gathered via telephone interviews. Descriptive statistics and ANOVA were used to compare the mean scores across PMOS items, domains, and total scores by age groups (18–44; 45–64; and 65+ years).</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Patients aged 45–64 years reported the highest perception of safety, while those aged between 18 and 44 years reported the lowest. Statistically significant differences in safety perceptions were observed across age groups. The younger adult group (18–44 years) reported lower overall PMOS scores, particularly in areas such as equipment, access to resources, and organization and care planning, compared to the middle-aged group. Younger adults were more critical of aspects including attentiveness to patient concerns, availability of health professionals, space, and equipment, teamwork skills, and information sharing between the healthcare team and patients.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Perception of factors contributing to patient safety during the COVID-19 pandemic varied across different age groups. Understanding these differences can inform the development of targeted strategies to incorporate patient perspectives into hospital safety initiatives, indicators development, and research to improve patient safety in hospital settings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46404,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article 101869"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143103446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of sodium-glucose Co-transporter 2 inhibitors on MCP-1 and uromodulin levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus","authors":"Mani Pathak ,&nbsp;Haya Majid ,&nbsp;Parvej Khan ,&nbsp;Md Masoom ,&nbsp;Rizwana Parveen ,&nbsp;Prem Kapur ,&nbsp;Sunil Kohli ,&nbsp;Nidhi","doi":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101888","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101888","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background and aim</h3><div>A class of anti-diabetic medications, namely Sodium Glucose Co-Transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, has shown their potential effects beyond glucose tolerance in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients. These inhibitors may affect inflammatory indicators, including monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), which contributes to insulin resistance and vascular inflammation. Furthermore, uromodulin levels, a kidney-specific protein linked to renal function and tubular health, may be impacted by SGLT2 inhibitors. The study aimed to assess the role of inflammatory biomarkers in patients with renal dysfunction and T2DM who were receiving SGLT2 inhibitors compared to those receiving antidiabetic medications other than SGLT2 inhibitors.</div></div><div><h3>Methodology</h3><div>It was a cross-sectional, observational, prospective, and single-centric study that was done to assess serum MCP-1 and uromodulin levels in T2DM patients with early renal dysfunction on SGLT2 inhibitors (n = 28), other antidiabetic medications (n = 28), and healthy controls (n = 30). The study also evaluated associations with glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), serum creatinine, serum urea, serum uric acid, body mass index (BMI), and age.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Serum MCP-1 and uromodulin levels were considerably lower in T2DM patients with early renal impairment who were on SGLT2 inhibitors than in those taking other antidiabetic drugs. Serum uromodulin was found to be negatively correlated with both serum urea and FPG in patients using SGLT2 inhibitors. FPG and serum MCP-1 were significantly correlated negatively in these patients. However, no significant correlation was observed between serum MCP-1 and HbA1c, eGFR, serum creatinine, or serum uric acid.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>It has been concluded that patients taking SGLT2 inhibitors are at lower risk of inflammation and renal dysfunction. However, further research is needed to strengthen the evidence of the associations between SGLT2 inhibitors and inflammation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46404,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article 101888"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143103448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Economic burden analysis of nosocomial infections in tertiary care hospital in western India: A prospective evidence-based study","authors":"Pranali Patil ,&nbsp;Jignesh Shah ,&nbsp;Amol Muthal ,&nbsp;Asavari Raut","doi":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101907","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101907","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>To evaluate the costs associated with nosocomial infections in a tertiary care hospital in western India.</div></div><div><h3>Materials and methods</h3><div>This prospective observational study was carried out in a 1000 bedded tertiary care teaching hospital with 100 bedded capacities of interdisciplinary ICUs for a period of 6 months. The costs of illness considered in the study included direct as well as indirect costs.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The most commonly occurring infection among the four categories of HAIs was ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) (54.16 %). The direct total costs associated with infected group (752,859 ± 92,233) was found to be significantly higher than uninfected group (290,500 ± 92,233) (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.0001). The direct total costs incurred by VAP (803,605 ± 92,233) was found to be significantly higher followed by CAUTI, SSI and CRBSI. Similarly, the indirect cost was also found to be significant for VAP compared to other types of infections. It was observed that Length of ICU stay 0.997 (31,646–32,767) was significant factor which is responsible for the increase cost of treatment among patients with HAIs (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.0001).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The study highlights that hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) place a substantial financial strain on India's healthcare system<strong>.</strong> The findings emphasize the necessity for robust infection prevention strategies in hospitals to reduce the incidence of HAIs which could lead to significant cost savings and improved patient outcomes. Future studies could aim to calculate the full economic burden of HAIs, covering not only loss of productivity cost but also mortality and long-term morbidity costs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46404,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article 101907"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143165025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Identifying accurate methods of assessing blood pressure and health information by lay volunteers in the Philippines: Adapting a Canadian cardiometabolic health program to LMICs","authors":"Ricardo Angeles ,&nbsp;Floro Dave Arnuco ,&nbsp;Fortunato Cristobal ,&nbsp;Lisa Dolovich ,&nbsp;Janusz Kaczorowski ,&nbsp;Dale Guenter ,&nbsp;Kasthuri Selvarajah ,&nbsp;Fiona Parascandalo ,&nbsp;Jessica Gaber ,&nbsp;Gina Agarwal","doi":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101832","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101832","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Hypertension is a leading cause of mortality worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In Canada, the Cardiovascular Health Awareness Program (CHAP) was proven effective in reducing cardiovascular hospitalizations. The next research will evaluate an adapted version of CHAP in the southern Philippines (Community Health Assessment Program in the Philippines (CHAP-P)).</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Prior to full program adaptation, this two-phase study was conducted to evaluate the most appropriate methods locally for 1) assessing blood pressure (BP) readings and 2) collecting CHAP-P participant information. Phase 1 compared the correlation (Pearson's <em>r</em>) of BP readings of three automated BP monitoring devices (WatchBP Office Target, Omron HEM-7130, Microlife 3QA1); manual measurement by a health care professional; and the gold standard (trained observers using a mercury sphygmomanometer). Phase 2 compared three data collection methods (tablet, cell phone, and paper) used by Barangay Health Workers (BHWs), the local volunteers who will implement the intervention. Errors, missed data, and BHW experiences were explored during each phase.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Phase 1: the device most highly correlated with the gold standard for systolic BP was the WatchBP Office Target (<em>r</em> = 0.84). For diastolic BP, the WatchBP Office Target produced the same result as the Omron HEM-7130 (<em>r</em> = 0.67). Manual BP measurement showed a very poor correlation (<em>r</em> &lt; 0.60) with the gold standard. Phase 2: BHWs found cell phones and tablets more accurate and easier than paper. They preferred tablets due to the larger screen.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The WatchBP Office target and tablet will be used in the next phase of the project.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46404,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article 101832"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143102940","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}