mandana pouladzadeh

Management of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with underlying disorders is a challenging issue at any time.

The present survey investigated the mortality rate of COVID-19 patients with various underlying disorders.

In the present cross-sectional study, patients with COVID-19 who were referred to the Razi Hospital in Ahvaz from Feb 2020 to Oct 2020 were evaluated. Non-probability sampling method was used for sample collection. All documented information, including length of hospitalization, comorbidities, survival, and clinical and laboratory findings, were collected.

In the present study, 500 diabetic patients with COVID-19 infection were included. The mean age of participants was 59.61 ± 14.88 years old. Of the subjects, 192 (38.4%) were female and 308 (61.6%) were male. DM solely was the most frequent underlying disorder (46.2%), followed by co-occurrence of DM and hypertension (HTN) (43%). The mortality rate was 15% and was more frequent in patients with simultaneous DM and HTN (66%) (P-value < 0.001). Also, the mortality rate was significantly higher in males than females (72% vs 28%) (P-value = 0.042). Further analysis indicated that the mean of white blood cells (WBC), neutrophil count, blood urea nitrogen, glucose, creatinine, and aspartate aminotransferase were significantly higher in expired patients (P-value < 0.05). Post Hoc analysis showed the highest pulse rate (PR) and respiratory rate (RR) in patients with DM, HTN, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (P-value < 0.001).

The present investigation showed that comorbidities significantly increase the COVID-19 mortality rate. Our findings revealed that more attention is required for COVID-19 patients with HTN and DM. Due to discrepancies with recent investigations, further studies with more follow-up are recommended.

Hospital service quality is the primary predictor of a hospital's success, and any decrease in patient satisfaction is a cause for concern for the organization.

This study aimed to evaluate the service quality of Golestan Hospital in Ahvaz, Iran, based on patient satisfaction measured using the SERVQUAL questionnaire.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2022 - 2023. Patients over 18 years old who visited the emergency department at Golestan Hospital were evaluated, with the exception of those with mental or multiple chronic disorders. Data collection tools included demographic and SERVQUAL Questionnaires. The data were analyzed using SPSS software, with a significance level set at less than 0.05.

A total of 200 subjects participated in the study, comprising 124 females (62%) and 76 males (38%). The results of the SERVQUAL Questionnaire indicated that the highest score was in the tangibility dimension (4.35), while the lowest score was in the assurance dimension (1.38). Negative gaps between perception and expectation were observed in the responsiveness (-0.99) and empathy (-1.22) dimensions. The mean total scores for expectation and perception were 99.55 ± 5.06 and 92.85 ± 5.5, respectively, with the highest scores observed for reliability. No significant association was found between expectation and perception (P-value > 0.05). However, the reliability of the gap and expectation in males was significantly higher (P-value < 0.05). A direct correlation was found between age and tangibility, Assurance, and total score of gaps (P-value < 0.05). Conversely, a reverse correlation was observed between age and tangibility and the total score in perception (P-value < 0.05). Post-hoc analysis revealed that the Assurance and total score of gaps and expectations were significantly higher in married patients compared to single patients (P-value < 0.05).

This study revealed a negative gap between patients' expectations and perceptions, highlighting the need for adjustments and improvements in hospital service quality by addressing all five dimensions of service quality.

Given the apparent life-threatening nature of COVID-19, finding an effective treatment is under investigation.

We assessed effect of shallomin oral syrup (co IranAmin®) as a complementary treatment to improve the clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Patients in the control group received the approved treatment protocol (lopinavir/ritonavir), while those in the intervention group were treated with the oral syrup shallomin in addition to the approved treatment. Clinical status of treated patients was recorded and compared.

There were meaningful differences between the two groups regarding shortened length of hospital stay and the recovery time for cough, myalgia, sore throat, and shortness of breath. No side effect occurred in the intervention group compared to the control group in terms of biochemical and hematological factors.

It seems that the treatment with shallomin syrup showed remarkable contribution to the recovery of COVID-19 induced symptoms in the patients under lopinavir/ritonavir therapy.

Background and Objectives Considering the importance of pain control in patients, examining pain management awareness among medical students is necessary. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between moral intelligence and pain management awareness among medical interns at Jundishapur Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences. Subjects and Methods This cross-sectional descriptive study included 150 medical interns, who completed demographic information, the Lennik and Keil moral intelligence and Macmillan Pain Management questionnaires. Eventually, data were recorded and analyzed using SPSS software (version 26). Results The moral intelligence score of interns was 144.98 ± 17.18219. a total of 21 (14%) had average moral intelligence, and 129 (86%) cases showed good moral intelligence. The highest mean was related to accepting responsibility to serve others, and the lowest mean was related to the ability to forgive others' mistakes. The mean score for pain management was 73.72 ± 4.96446. Moreover, 30 (20%) cases had moderate pain management, and 120 (80%) cases showed good pain management. A statistically significant relationship was found between the moral intelligence and pain management score (P=0.003). The pain management score in women was significantly higher than that of men (p=0.001). Conclusion The indicators of moral intelligence and pain management in medical interns were at a good level, which indicates the success of general and specific educational programs in the field of developing moral skills in medical students.

Background and Objectives The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of respiratory infections in children admitted to Aboozar Children's Hospital in Ahvaz and the associated risk factors. Subjects and Methods A total of147 children aged 12 years and below admitted to the emergency department were selected for this case-control study, including 96 children with respiratory infections and 51 children without respiratory and/or digestive infections as a control group. Their demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were recorded and statistically compared between the two groups. Results Pneumonia (80.2%), especially pneumonia caused by coronavirus 2019, was the most common type of respiratory infection in children. The prevalence and risk of respiratory complications were significantly higher in boys than in girls (p=0.003). The mean age of children with respiratory infections was also higher than that of the control group (p<0.05). In addition, high body mass index, underlying diseases, low birth weight, reduced or no breastfeeding, a family with many children, parental smoking and air pollution were significantly associated with the high risk of infection (p<0.05). Compared to the control group, the children with respiratory infections had lower levels of red blood cells and lymphocytes, but higher levels of neutrophils (p<0.05). Conclusion Knowledge of diagnostic markers and possible risk factors for respiratory infections in children at the beginning of admission to the ward can play a key role in timely diagnosis and treatment of patients.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its associated morbidities are a great global concern. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with adverse clinical outcomes and high mortality in patients with COVID-19.

This study examined the frequency of DM, newly diagnosed hyperglycemia, and their impacts on hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

This retrospective study examined 810 medical records of PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted to Razi Hospital, Ahvaz, Iran. The clinical presentations, severity, and impacts of COVID-19 were compared between patients with and without DM. Disease severity was determined based on the NEWS2 scoring system.

This study included 810 medical records of COVID-19 patients, of whom 326 had pre-existing DM, and 484 were non-DM. The rates of diabetes and newly diagnosed hyperglycemia were 40.2% and 11.2%, respectively. The most common underlying diseases were hypertension (35.3%), ischemic heart disease (17.9%), and chronic kidney disease (11.9%), which were higher in people with diabetes than non-diabetics. The rate of acute kidney injury was higher in patients with diabetes than in non-diabetics (30.7% vs. 19.2%; P < 0.001) and in patients with severe COVID-19 than in those whose disease was not severe (27.8% vs. 21.5%; P = 0.04). The rates of severe COVID-19 (46.3% vs. 34.7%; P = 0.093), ICU admission (40.7% vs. 27.4%; P = 0.012), and mortality (18.5% vs. 10.5%; P = 0.079) were higher in patients with newly diagnosed hyperglycemia than in euglycemic patients.

This study showed that COVID-19 infection is linked with newly diagnosed hyperglycemia and pre-existing DM, both associated with severe COVID-19, more need for ICU admission, and mortality.

Meningitis can quickly become a life-threatening sickness and therefore is considered a medical emergency. Viruses, after bacteria, are known as main pathogens involved in meningitis; therefore, we investigated the prevalence of viral meningitis worldwide and evaluated the clinical and preclinical features for rapid detection of viral meningitis. The results showed that the most prevalent viruses in viral meningitis are Enterovirus, Coxaci, Tick-borne encephalitis virus, Herpesviridae family; and the most prevalent viruses in aseptic meningitis are Echovirus, Enterovirus, Coxaci and HSV. The findings revealed differences in the prevalence of various viruses in these two types of meningitis, even though there was no significant difference in clinical manifestations between viral and bacterial meningitis. This indicates the importance of laboratory diagnostic methods for discriminating between these two types of meningitis.

Patients with COVID-19 have shown a wide variety of symptoms and mortality rates in different communities.

This study aimed to compare the epidemiological, clinical, and paraclinical features of patients with COVID-19 who have overcome the disease with patients who died.

All hospitalized patients admitted to Special Corona Hospital who had a positive real-time PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 from January to March 2020 were included in the study. Clinical characteristics, date of disease onset, hospital admission date, and the severity of COVID-19 were obtained from each patient’smedical records. Independent sample t-test was used to compare continuous variables between the groups of the discharged and expired patients. The independence between categorical variables and the outcome was assessed by Chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests.

The order of essential variables for admission as the starting time are pH, WBC count, loss of consciousness, neutrophil count, base excess (BE), HCO3, age, BUN, O2 saturation, and lymphocyte count.

In the current study, the mortality rate of COVID-19 was 30% and was significantly associated with critical disease intensity, fever, chills, loss of consciousness, ischemic heart disease (IHD) history, Parkinson’s disease, invasive O2 therapy, and troponin level.