Introduction
There is growing evidence on the prevalence of neuropsychiatric disorders in patients suffering from COVID-19. On Hospital del Mar, a multidisciplinary post-COVID unit was created in May ...2020 for COVID-19 patients.
Objectives
Explain the functioning of the Post-COVID Psychiatry Functional Unit and the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of treated patients.
Methods
The Post-COVID Unit assessed all patients treated for COVID at Hospital del Mar. Patients referred by their primary care center for persistent post-COVID symptoms were also treated.
During a telephone interview, they received the PHQ-4 questionnaire to identify psychiatric symptoms. If the score was => 3, the patient was referred to the Post-COVID Psychiatry Unit.
Initial contact was established by a mental health nurse, who collected a clinical history and administered three scales: PHQ-9, GAD-7 and PCL-5. A descriptive sociodemographic and clinical data analysis of patients treated by the Post-COVID Psychiatry Unit is carried out.
Results
The sample consists of 149 patients who have been treated for positive PHQ-4 from July 2020 to April 2021. The majority were women (71%) and averaged 50.2 years old (SD = 12.3). In terms of the severity of COVID-19 infection, 45.6% needed hospitalization.
The mean score of the psychiatric symptom scales was 11.12 points on the PHQ-9 (SD=5.4) (1-4: minimal depression, 5-9: mild, 10-14: moderate, 15.19: moderately severe, 20-27: severe), 9.43 (SD=5.1) points in the GAD7 (cutoff point>=10) and 2.99 (SD=4) in the PCL5 (cutoff point>6).
39.5% patients of the sample were visited by psychiatry/psychology, of these 33.6% met psychiatric diagnostic criteria, the most frequent being an Adjustment disorder (15.40%), followed by Major Depressive Disorder (8.7%), Anxiety Disorder (4.7%) and other diagnoses (4.7%).
Conclusions
Patients treated in the Post-COVID Unit were mainly middle-aged women, the most common symptomatology being mild depressive symptoms.
Disclosure of Interest
None Declared
IntroductionThere is increasing interest in the association between neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with COVID-19 and the proinflammatory status of the disease. Hospital del Mar Post-Covid ...Psychiatry Unit carried out a descriptive study to analyze the link between inflammation and mental health symptoms in COVID-19 patients.ObjectivesRelate inflammation parameters to the presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in COVID-19 patients treated at the Hospital del Mar Post-Covid Psychiatry Unit.MethodsA database of patients evaluated by the Post-covid Psychiatry unit was developed. Clinical variables, whether hospitalization is required and inflammation indicators during COVID-19 infection (PCR and IL-6 analytical values) were recorded.Three screening scales for psychiatric symptoms were given to the patients: PHQ-9 for depression (1-4: minimal depression, 5-9: mild, 10-14: moderate, 15-19: moderately severe, 20-27: severe), GAD-7 for anxiety (cutoff point >=6) and PCL-5 for post-traumatic stress symptoms (cutoff point >6).T-student statistics for independent samples and the pearson correlation were used to relate inflammation parameters to depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress symptoms obtained from the scales.Results149 patients were attended between may 2020 and april 2021. 78 patients had PCR value and 52 had IL-6 value. There is no correlation between the score obtained on the PHQ-9, GAD-7 and PCL-5 scales and PCR or IL-6 value.There is no relation between being hospitalized for covid infection and the values of PHQ9 and GAD7. Patients hospitalized had lower scores in PCL-5 scale (t=2.67, p=0.009). There are no differences in the scale scores among patients requiring orotracheal intubation or not.ConclusionsIn this descriptive study, inflammation parameters were not related with psychiatric symptoms in COVID-19 patients. Neither association was found between the inflammation parameters and the severity of COVID-19 symptoms, measured in terms of hospitalization requirement.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared
Surface chemistry of mineral phases in aqueous environments generates the electrostatic forces involved in particle-particle interactions. However, few models directly take into account the influence ...of surface speciation and changes in solution speciation when the diffuse layer potential profiles of approaching particles overlap and affect each other. These electrostatic interactions can be quantified, ideally, through charge regulation, considering solution and surface speciation changes upon particle approach by coupling state-of-the-art surface complexation models for the two particle surfaces with a Poisson-Boltzmann type distribution of electrostatic potential and ions in the inter-particle space. These models greatly improve the accuracy of inter-particle force calculations at small inter-particle separations compared to constant charge and constant potential approaches. This work aims at advancing charge regulation calculations by including full chemical speciation and advanced surface complexation models (Basic Stern-, three-, or four plane models and charge distribution concepts), for cases of similar and dissimilar surfaces involving the numerical solution of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation for arbitrary electrolytes. The concept was implemented as a Python-based code and in COMSOL. The flexibility and precision of both, concept and implementations are demonstrated in several benchmark calculations testing the new codes against published results or simulations using established speciation codes, including aqueous speciation, surface complexation and various interaction force examples. Due to the flexibility in terms of aqueous chemistry and surface complexation models for various geometries, a large variety of potential applications can be tackled with the developed codes including industrial, biological, and environmental systems, from colloidal suspensions to gas bubbles, emulsions, slurries like cement paste, as well as new possibilities to assess the chemistry in nano-confined systems.
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•Surface electrostatic interactions are considered via charge regulation (CR)•CR allows precise assessment of inter particle forces on the nanoscale•CR allows precise assessment of surface and aqueous speciation in nanopores•A multipurpose CR code (SINFONIA) is implemented and benchmarked•The python implementation of SINFONIA is for free and open source available
The assessment of the acquisition of clinical competencies is a critical issue for nursing students. 360-degree evaluations are a widespread practice in professional competency assessment and can be ...applied to the learning/teaching process of future nurses.
To determine the effectiveness of the implementation of a 360-degree evaluation proposal for assessing the competencies acquired by third-year nursing students during their clinical placements.
A mixed-methods design was used with a primary component (a cross-sectional descriptive observational design) and a parallel qualitative component.
Sixty-seven third-year nursing students from a public university in Madrid, Spain, who were undertaking their clinical placements during seven weeks in medical/surgical units in hospital settings.
This study was conducted between September 2017 and May 2018. Quantitative data were obtained using assessment tools specifically developed for this 360-degree evaluation proposal. Qualitative information was collected from two focus groups, one with students and one with teaching staff. A descriptive analysis of the quantitative data was conducted. Qualitative data were studied using a thematic analysis.
The mean scores for each of the items in the 360-degree evaluation were high, with the highest grades being observed in the evaluations made by peers and patients (a mean of 9.1 out of 10.0). On average, the 360-degree evaluation method yielded grades 0.067 percentage points higher than did the previous evaluation method (p ≤ 0.001). Students and teaching staff encountered difficulties in the evaluations made by users/families and other members of the healthcare team (nursing assistants and physicians), although they rated the overall proposal as being very powerful in terms of educational value.
The 360-degree evaluation method is an innovative, motivating, and integrating approach to the acquisition of competencies with a focus on excellence.
•360 Degree Evaluation sets up an integral an integrative students´ traineeship monitoring.•Further than an evaluation proposal, 360 Degree Evaluation constitutes a learning framework itself.•Health team evaluation promotes team-working and collaborative leadership skills.•Peers evaluation encourages students to gain responsibility of their own learning process.•Patient participation in student's evaluation sets the focus on patient centred care philosophy.
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