Showing papers by "Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam published in 2020"

Psychometric Validation of the Bangla Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Rasch Analysis.

Abstract: The recently developed Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) is a seven-item uni-dimensional scale that assesses the severity of fears of COVID-19. Given the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases in Bangladesh, we aimed to translate and validate the FCV-19S in Bangla. The forward-backward translation method was used to translate the English version of the questionnaire into Bangla. The reliability and validity properties of the Bangla FCV-19S were rigorously psychometrically evaluated (utilizing both confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis) in relation to socio-demographic variables, national lockdown variables, and response to the Bangla Health Patient Questionnaire. The sample comprised 8550 Bangladeshi participants. The Cronbach α value for the Bangla FCV-19S was 0.871 indicating very good internal reliability. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that the uni-dimensional factor structure of the FCV-19S fitted well with the data. The FCV-19S was significantly correlated with the nine-item Bangla Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-90) (r = 0.406, p < 0.001). FCV-19S scores were significantly associated with higher worries concerning lockdown. Measurement invariance of the FCV-19S showed no differences with respect to age or gender. The Bangla version of FCV-19S is a valid and reliable tool with robust psychometric properties which will be useful for researchers carrying out studies among the Bangla speaking population in assessing the psychological impact of fear from COVID-19 infection during this pandemic.

Factors associated with psychological distress, fear and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the personal, professional and social life of Australians with some people more impacted than others. This study aimed to identify factors associated with psychological distress, fear and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among residents in Australia, including patients, frontline health and other essential service workers, and community members during June 2020. Psychological distress was assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10); level of fear was assessed using the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S); and coping strategies were assessed using the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS). Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with the extent of psychological distress, level of fear and coping strategies while adjusting for potential confounders. Among 587 participants, the majority (391, 73.2%) were 30–59 years old and female (363, 61.8%). More than half (349, 59.5%) were born outside Australia and two-third (418, 71.5%) completed at least a Bachelor’s degree. The majority (401, 71.5%) had a source of income, 243 (42.3%) self-identified as a frontline worker, and 335 (58.9%) reported financial impact due to COVID-19. Comorbidities such as pre-existing mental health conditions (AOR 3.13, 95% CIs 1.12–8.75), increased smoking (8.66, 1.08–69.1) and alcohol drinking (2.39, 1.05–5.47) over the last four weeks, high levels of fear (2.93, 1.83–4.67) and being female (1.74, 1.15–2.65) were associated with higher levels of psychological distress. Perceived distress due to change of employment status (4.14, 1.39–12.4), alcohol drinking (3.64, 1.54–8.58), providing care to known or suspected cases (3.64, 1.54–8.58), being female (1.56, 1.00–2.45), being 30–59 years old (2.29, 1.21–4.35) and having medium to high levels of psychological distress (2.90, 1.82–5.62) were associated with a higher level of fear; while healthcare service use in the last four weeks was associated with medium to high resilience. This study identified individuals who were at higher risk of distress and fear during the COVID-19 pandemic specifically in the State of Victoria, Australia. Specific interventions to support the mental wellbeing of these individuals should be considered in addition to the existing resources within primary healthcare settings.

Global injury morbidity and mortality from 1990 to 2017: results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Abstract: Background Past research in population health trends has shown that injuries form a substantial burden of population health loss. Regular updates to injury burden assessments are critical. We report Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 Study estimates on morbidity and mortality for all injuries. Methods We reviewed results for injuries from the GBD 2017 study. GBD 2017 measured injury-specific mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) using the Cause of Death Ensemble model. To measure non-fatal injuries, GBD 2017 modelled injury-specific incidence and converted this to prevalence and years lived with disability (YLDs). YLLs and YLDs were summed to calculate disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Findings In 1990, there were 4 260 493 (4 085 700 to 4 396 138) injury deaths, which increased to 4 484 722 (4 332 010 to 4 585 554) deaths in 2017, while age-standardised mortality decreased from 1079 (1073 to 1086) to 738 (730 to 745) per 100 000. In 1990, there were 354 064 302 (95% uncertainty interval: 338 174 876 to 371 610 802) new cases of injury globally, which increased to 520 710 288 (493 430 247 to 547 988 635) new cases in 2017. During this time, agestandardised incidence decreased non-significantly from 6824 (6534 to 7147) to 6763 (6412 to 7118) per 100 000. Between 1990 and 2017, age-standardised DALYs decreased from 4947 (4655 to 5233) per 100 000 to 3267 (3058 to 3505). Interpretation Injuries are an important cause of health loss globally, though mortality has declined between 1990 and 2017. Future research in injury burden should focus on prevention in highburden populations, improving data collection and ensuring access to medical care.

Mapping disparities in education across low- and middle-income countries

Abstract: Educational attainment is an important social determinant of maternal, newborn, and child health. As a tool for promoting gender equity, it has gained increasing traction in popular media, international aid strategies, and global agenda-setting. The global health agenda is increasingly focused on evidence of precision public health, which illustrates the subnational distribution of disease and illness; however, an agenda focused on future equity must integrate comparable evidence on the distribution of social determinants of health. Here we expand on the available precision SDG evidence by estimating the subnational distribution of educational attainment, including the proportions of individuals who have completed key levels of schooling, across all low- and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2017. Previous analyses have focused on geographical disparities in average attainment across Africa or for specific countries, but—to our knowledge—no analysis has examined the subnational proportions of individuals who completed specific levels of education across all low- and middle-income countries. By geolocating subnational data for more than 184 million person-years across 528 data sources, we precisely identify inequalities across geography as well as within populations.

Estimating global injuries morbidity and mortality: methods and data used in the Global Burden of Disease 2017 study

Abstract: BACKGROUND: While there is a long history of measuring death and disability from injuries, modern research methods must account for the wide spectrum of disability that can occur in an injury, and must provide estimates with sufficient demographic, geographical and temporal detail to be useful for policy makers. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study used methods to provide highly detailed estimates of global injury burden that meet these criteria. METHODS: In this study, we report and discuss the methods used in GBD 2017 for injury morbidity and mortality burden estimation. In summary, these methods included estimating cause-specific mortality for every cause of injury, and then estimating incidence for every cause of injury. Non-fatal disability for each cause is then calculated based on the probabilities of suffering from different types of bodily injury experienced. RESULTS: GBD 2017 produced morbidity and mortality estimates for 38 causes of injury. Estimates were produced in terms of incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, cause-specific mortality, years of life lost and disability-adjusted life-years for a 28-year period for 22 age groups, 195 countries and both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: GBD 2017 demonstrated a complex and sophisticated series of analytical steps using the largest known database of morbidity and mortality data on injuries. GBD 2017 results should be used to help inform injury prevention policy making and resource allocation. We also identify important avenues for improving injury burden estimation in the future.

Global and regional burden of disease and injury in 2016 arising from occupational exposures: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

Abstract: Objectives This study provides an overview of the influence of occupational risk factors on the global burden of disease as estimated by the occupational component of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2016 study. Methods The GBD 2016 study estimated the burden in terms of deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) arising from the effects of occupational risk factors (carcinogens; asthmagens; particulate matter, gases and fumes (PMGF); secondhand smoke (SHS); noise; ergonomic risk factors for low back pain; risk factors for injury). A population attributable fraction (PAF) approach was used for most risk factors. Results In 2016, globally, an estimated 1.53 (95% uncertainty interval 1.39–1.68) million deaths and 76.1 (66.3–86.3) million DALYs were attributable to the included occupational risk factors, accounting for 2.8% of deaths and 3.2% of DALYs from all causes. Most deaths were attributable to PMGF, carcinogens (particularly asbestos), injury risk factors and SHS. Most DALYs were attributable to injury risk factors and ergonomic exposures. Men and persons 55 years or older were most affected. PAFs ranged from 26.8% for low back pain from ergonomic risk factors and 19.6% for hearing loss from noise to 3.4% for carcinogens. DALYs per capita were highest in Oceania, Southeast Asia and Central sub-Saharan Africa. On a per capita basis, between 1990 and 2016 there was an overall decrease of about 31% in deaths and 25% in DALYs. Conclusions Occupational exposures continue to cause an important health burden worldwide, justifying the need for ongoing prevention and control initiatives.

Burden of injury along the development spectrum: associations between the Socio-demographic Index and disability-adjusted life year estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Abstract: Background: The epidemiological transition of non-communicable diseases replacing infectious diseases as the main contributors to disease burden has been well documented in global health literature. Less focus, however, has been given to the relationship between sociodemographic changes and injury. The aim of this study was to examine the association between disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from injury for 195 countries and territories at different levels along the development spectrum between 1990 and 2017 based on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 estimates. Methods: Injury mortality was estimated using the GBD mortality database, corrections for garbage coding and CODEm-the cause of death ensemble modelling tool. Morbidity estimation was based on surveys and inpatient and outpatient data sets for 30 cause-of-injury with 47 nature-of-injury categories each. The Socio-demographic Index (SDI) is a composite indicator that includes lagged income per capita, average educational attainment over age 15 years and total fertility rate. Results: For many causes of injury, age-standardised DALY rates declined with increasing SDI, although road injury, interpersonal violence and self-harm did not follow this pattern. Particularly for self-harm opposing patterns were observed in regions with similar SDI levels. For road injuries, this effect was less pronounced. Conclusions: The overall global pattern is that of declining injury burden with increasing SDI. However, not all injuries follow this pattern, which suggests multiple underlying mechanisms influencing injury DALYs. There is a need for a detailed understanding of these patterns to help to inform national and global efforts to address injury-related health outcomes across the development spectrum.

First case of focal epilepsy associated with SARS-coronavirus-2.

Abstract: A healthy patient presented to Klinikum Altmuhlfranken Weisenburg Hospital, Germany, with two morning attacks of painful muscle spasm in the left upper and lower limbs, without altered consciousness. Full examinations, radiological imaging, electroencephalography, lumbar puncture, and autoimmune profile were either normal or not consistent with patient's complaint. Subsequent epileptic episodes were observed on admission day and the following days; thus, the patient was diagnosed with focal epilepsy. The patient started to develop a fever and severe cough on day 4, and SARS-coronavirus-2 was confirmed through a nasopharyngeal swap. She received anticonvulsants and symptomatic treatments and completely recovered. This report emphasizes the potential nervous system involvement in severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 pathogenesis.

Missed nursing care and related factors in Iranian hospitals: A cross-sectional survey.

Abstract: Aim: To determine the prevalence of, and reasons for, missed care by nurses and the factors associated with it in Iranian hospitals. Background: Despite providing high-quality patient care in hospitals, nurses often fail to deliver optimum care, which jeopardizes the safety of patients and increases health care costs. Therefore, identifying missed nursing care is essential if the quality of health services is to be improved. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 215 nurses working in the medical�surgical wards of eight public and private hospitals in Tabriz, Iran. The �MISSCARE� survey tool was used to collect data in relation to the extent of missed care and the related reasons. Logistic regression models were used to assess the association between factors and missed nursing care. Results: Results showed that the mean score of overall missed nursing care was 2.57 and 72.1 of the nurses reported that they missed at least one nursing care item on their last shift. �Patient discharge planning and teaching�, �emotional support to patient and/or family� and �attend interdisciplinary care conferences whenever held� were the most common missed items by nurses in Iran. In a 5-point Likert scale, the most important reasons identified by nurses for missed care were �human resources�, 3.11 (95 CI: 3.03�3.19); �material resources�, 2.7 (95 CI: 2.6�2.8); and �communication�, 2.4 (95 CI: 2.3�2.5), respectively. Missed nursing care was associated with sex (OR for males = 2.83, 95 CI: 1.01�7.89), age (OR = 1.16, 95 CI: 1.01�1.33) and the number of patients under care (OR = 1.11, 95 CI 1.01�1.22). A reverse association was found with the number of patients discharged (OR = 0.89, 95 CI: 0.82�0.96) and satisfaction with teamwork (OR = 0.60, 95 CI: 0.41�0.89). Conclusions: There is a need to identify the factors contributing to the incidence of missed nursing care in hospitals and to develop strategies to address these. Implications for Nursing Management: The results of this study highlighted the importance of addressing missed nursing care in Iranian public and private hospitals. Nursing management should consider improving communication between team members and units. Changes are required regarding task division and payments to the nursing staff. Further research is required to understand the reasons behind missed nursing care, and the development of appropriate policies to address better nursing care in hospitals is recommended. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Early Detection of Coronavirus Cases Using Chest X-ray Images Employing Machine Learning and Deep Learning Approaches

Abstract: This study aims to propose a deep learning model to detect COVID-19 positive cases more precisely utilizing chest X-ray images. We have collected and merged all the publicly available chest X-ray datasets of COVID-19 infected patients from Kaggle and Github, and pre-processed it using random sampling approach. Then, we proposed and applied an enhanced convolutional neural network (CNN) model to this dataset and obtained a 94.03% accuracy, 95.52% AUC and 94.03% f-measure for detecting COVID-19 positive patients. We have also performed a comparative performance between our proposed CNN model with several state-of-the-art machine learning classifiers including support vector machine, random forest, k-nearest neighbor, logistic regression, gaussian naive bayes, bernoulli naive bayes, decision tree, Xgboost, multilayer perceptron, nearest centroid and perceptron as well as deep learning and pre-trained models such as deep neural network, residual neural network, visual geometry group network 16, and inception network V3 were employed, where our model yielded outperforming results compared to all other models. While evaluating the performance of our models, we have emphasized on specificity along with accuracy to identify non-COVID-19 individuals more accurately, which may potentially facilitate the early detection of COVID-19 patients for their preliminary screening, especially in under-resourced health infrastructure with insufficient PCR testing systems and testing facilities. Moreover, this model could also be applicable to the cases of other lung infections.

Web-Based Interventions for Dietary Behavior in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract: Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is among the most prevalent noncommunicable health conditions worldwide, affecting over 500 million people globally. Diet is a key aspect of T2DM management with dietary modification shown to elicit clinically meaningful outcomes such as improved glycemic control, and reductions in weight and cardiovascular disease risk factors. Web-based interventions provide a potentially convenient and accessible method for delivering dietary education, but its effects on dietary behavior in people with T2DM are unknown. Objective: The objective of this review was to determine the effectiveness of web-based interventions on dietary behavior change and glycemic control in people with T2DM. Methods: Per PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, systematic literature searches were performed using Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and CINAHL to retrieve papers from January 2013 to May 2019. Randomized controlled trials of web-based interventions in adults with T2DM with reported dietary assessment were included. Population and intervention characteristics, dietary guidelines and assessments, and significant clinical outcomes were extracted. Differences between groups and within groups were assessed for dietary behavior and clinical outcomes. Results: There were 714 records screened, and five studies comprising 1056 adults were included. Studies measured dietary changes by assessing overall diet quality, changes in specific dietary components, or dietary knowledge scores. Significant improvements in dietary behavior were reported in four out of the five studies, representing healthier food choices, improvements in eating habits, reductions in carbohydrates, added sugar, sodium, saturated fat and overall fat intake, and/or increases in dietary knowledge. Three studies found significant mean reductions for hemoglobin A1c ranging from –0.3% to –0.8%, and/or weight ranging from –2.3 kg to –12.7 kg, fasting blood glucose (–1 mmol/L), waist circumference (–1 cm), and triglycerides (–60.1 mg/dL). These studies provided varied dietary recommendations from standard dietary guidelines, national health program guidelines, and a very low carbohydrate ketogenic diet. Conclusions: This review provided evidence that web-based interventions may be an effective way to support dietary behavior change in people with T2DM, potentially leading to changes in glycemic control and other clinical outcomes. However, the evidence should be viewed as preliminary as there were only five studies included with considerable heterogeneity in terms of the diets recommended, the dietary assessment measures used, the complexity of the interventions, and the modes and methods of delivery. Trial Registration:

Evaluation of the effects of pycnogenol (French maritime pine bark extract) supplementation on inflammatory biomarkers and nutritional and clinical status in traumatic brain injury patients in an intensive care unit: A randomized clinical trial protocol.

Abstract: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the major health and socioeconomic problems in the world. Immune-enhancing enteral formula has been proven to significantly reduce infection rate in TBI patients. One of the ingredients that can be used in immunonutrition formulas to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress is pycnogenol. The objective of this work is to survey the effect of pycnogenol on the clinical, nutritional, and inflammatory status of TBI patients. This is a double-blind, randomized controlled trial. Block randomization will be used. An intervention group will receive pycnogenol supplementation of 150 mg for 10 days and a control group will receive a placebo for the same duration. Inflammatory status (IL-6, IL- 1β, C-reactive protein) and oxidative stress status (malondialdehyde, total antioxidant capacity), at the baseline, at the 5th day, and at the end of the study (10th day) will be measured. Clinical and nutritional status will be assessed three times during the intervention. The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) questionnaire for assessment of organ failure will be filled out every other day. The mortality rate will be calculated within 28 days of the start of the intervention. Weight, body mass index, and body composition will be measured. All analyses will be conducted by an initially assigned study arm in an intention-to-treat analysis. We expect that supplementation of 150 mg pycnogenol for 10 days will improve clinical and nutritional status and reduce the inflammation and oxidative stress of the TBI patients. This trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (ref: NCT03777683) at 12/13/2018.

Physical education class participation is associated with physical activity among adolescents in 65 countries.

Abstract: In this study we examined the associations of physical education class participation with physical activity among adolescents. We analysed the Global School-based Student Health Survey data from 65 countries (N = 206,417; 11–17 years; 49% girls) collected between 2007 and 2016. We defined sufficient physical activity as achieving physical activities ≥ 60 min/day, and grouped physical education classes as ‘0 day/week’, ‘1–2 days/week’, and ‘ ≥ 3 days/week’ participation. We used multivariable logistic regression to obtain country-level estimates, and meta-analysis to obtain pooled estimates. Compared to those who did not take any physical education classes, those who took classes ≥ 3 days/week had double the odds of being sufficiently active (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.84–2.28) with no apparent gender/age group differences. The association estimates decreased with higher levels of country’s income with OR 2.37 (1.51–3.73) for low-income and OR 1.85 (1.52–2.37) for high-income countries. Adolescents who participated in physical education classes 1–2 days/week had 26% higher odds of being sufficiently active with relatively higher odds for boys (30%) than girls (15%). Attending physical education classes was positively associated with physical activity among adolescents regardless of sex or age group. Quality physical education should be encouraged to promote physical activity of children and adolescents.

Cost-effectiveness of a mobile-phone text messaging intervention on type 2 diabetes—A randomized-controlled trial

Abstract: Aims To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a mobile phone text messaging program for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods We performed a generalized cost-effectiveness analysis in a randomized controlled trial in Bangladesh. Patients with type 2 diabetes were randomized (1:1) to a text messaging intervention plus standard-care or standard-care alone. Intervention participants received a text message daily for 6 months encouraging healthy lifestyles. Costs to users and the health systems were measured. The EQ-5D-3L was used to measure improvements in health-related quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). Intervention costs were expressed as average cost-effectiveness ratios (cost-per 1% unit-reduction in glycated haemoglobin HbA1c and cost per QALY gained), based on the World Health Organization cost effectiveness and strategic planning (WHO-CHOICE) method. Results In 236 patients [mean age 48 (SD9.6) years] the adjusted difference in accumulated QALYs between the intervention and the control group over the 6-month period was 0.010 (95%CI: 0.000; 0.021). Additional costs per-patient averaged 24 international dollars (Intl.$), resulting in incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of 38 Intl.$ per % glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) reduction and 2406 Intl.$ per QALY gained. The total intervention costs for the mobile phone text messaging program was 2842 Int.$. Conclusion Text messaging might be a valuable addition to standard treatment for diabetes care in low-resource settings and predicted to lead an overall saving in health systems costs. Studies with longer follow-up and larger samples are needed to draw reliable conclusions.

Risk Factors Prediction, Clinical Outcomes and Mortality of COVID-19 Patients

Abstract: Background Preventing communicable diseases requires understanding the spread, epidemiology, clinical features, progression, and prognosis of the disease. Early identification of risk factors and clinical outcomes might help to identify critically ill patients, provide proper treatment and prevent mortality. Methods We conducted a prospective study in patients with flu-like symptoms referred to the imaging department of a tertiary hospital in IRAN between 3 March 2020 and 8 April 2020. Patients with COVID- 19 were followed up to check their health condition after two months. The categorical data between groups were analyzed by Fisher’s exact test and continuous data by Wilcoxon Rank-Sum Test. Findings 319 patients (mean age 45.48±18.50 years, 177 women) were enrolled. Fever, dyspnea, weakness, shivering, C-reactive protein (CRP), fatigue, dry cough, anorexia, anosmia, ageusia, dizziness, sweating and age were the most important symptoms of COVID-19 infection. Traveling in past three months, asthma, taking corticosteroids, liver disease, rheumatological disease, cough with sputum, eczema, conjunctivitis, tobacco use, and chest pain did not have any relationship with COVID-19. Research in context Evidence before this study We searched Google scholar, PUBMED and Scopus for articles that investigated the recent epidemic of COVID-19, especially those that investigate effective risk factors. We found that there is not enough research in this field, especially the risk factor that is effective in finding the rate of mortality of this disease. Added value of this study We determined some of the most important effective risk factors on prediction, clinical outcome and mortality rate of COVID-19 infection. To the best of our knowledge, some of these risk factors are investigated in this work for the first time. Our findings could provide good insight into the early prediction of the disease, its clinical outcomes, and suggest a cost-effective method for mortality prediction. Implication of all the available evidence COVID-19 can transmit human-to-human and lead to severe symptoms and high mortality. Early prediction of this disease and the risk of mortality can help the physicians to better manage this worldwide health problem. Interpretation Finding clinical symptoms for early diagnosis of COVID-19 is a critical part of prevention. These symptoms can help in the assessment of disease progression. To the best of our knowledge, some of the effective features on the mortality due to COVID-19 are investigated for the first time in this research. Funding None