Articles: pandemics.
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Southern medical journal · Apr 2022
Disruption of Pediatric Emergency Department Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
There is evidence of substantial declines in pediatric emergency department (ED) utilization in the United States in the first several months of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Less is known about whether utilization changed differentially for socioeconomically disadvantaged children. This study examined how changes in pediatric ED visits during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic differed by two markers of socioeconomic disadvantage: minoritized race (MR) (compared with non-Hispanic White [NHW]), and publicly insured (compared with privately insured). ⋯ The role of socioeconomic disadvantage and the potential effects on pediatric ED visits during COVID-19 is understudied. Because disadvantaged children sometimes lack access to a usual source of health care, this raises concerns about unmet health needs and worsening health disparities.
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Annals of family medicine · Apr 2022
Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on gamblers in Canada: qualitative analysis of responses to an open-ended question.
draw up a portrait of the experience of gamblers regarding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their gambling practices. STUDY DESIGN: Qualitative analysis. SETTING: Content analysis of responses to a single open-ended question placed at the end of a cross-sectional survey which was online from February 16 to March 15 2021 in Quebec (Canada). Participants were recruited by a non-randomised online sampling. POPULATION STUDIED: 1529 individuals participated in the study, of whom 724 answered the open-ended question. Inclusion criteria were: (1) 18 years and older (2) living in the province of Quebec, Canada (3) has gambled at least once in the past year. ⋯ The pandemic has created space to fill into many individuals' lives as usual leisure activities, hobbies and spending habits became out of reach. It led to increased gambling for many participants. While many did not report deleterious effects of this increase, others expressed being at great risk and therefore need primary care professionals to be equipped to support them.
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Annals of family medicine · Apr 2022
COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy among southern rural veterans with cancer in the arkansas-louisiana-texas (ArkLATX) region.
Context: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a major socioeconomic disruptor in the U. S. and around the globe. The only intervention that has a far-reaching impact is the adoption of an efficient large-scale vaccination campaign with the highly effective COVID-19 vaccines. ⋯ Conclusions: This survey indicates that the majority of ArkLATX veterans with cancer are willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The major reasons behind vaccine hesitancy seem to be information problems consisting of questions about safety, inadequate information, and seeing no reason for the vaccine. Such barriers can be potentially circumvented by providing the appropriate information and counseling.
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The effects of the opioid crisis have varied across diverse and socioeconomically defined urban communities, due in part to widening health disparities. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has coincided with a spike in drug overdose deaths in the USA. However, the extent to which the impact of the pandemic on overdose deaths has varied across different demographics in urban neighborhoods is unclear. ⋯ The worst effects were seen in the poor, urban neighborhoods, affecting Black and Hispanic communities. However, more affluent, suburban White communities also experienced a rise in overdose deaths. A better understanding of contributing factors is needed to guide interventions at the local, regional, and national scales.
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Revista médica de Chile · Apr 2022
[Description of the operation of a home hospitalization unit in a public hospital at Santiago, Chile].
This article briefly discloses what home hospitalization consists of, its different models of care, and the benefits and difficulties associated with it. We also describe the operation of the home hospitalization unit of the Padre Hurtado Hospital in Santiago de Chile and the role it took in the context of the first wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic, specifically between March and August of the year 2020. We aim to share our experience with this emerging form of hospitalization that is already working in Chilean public hospitals. We also hope that this hospitalization modality will continue to grow over the years.