OBJECTIVES

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the hearWHO application in rapid screening of hearing loss among Philippine Air Force military personnel and verifies its results with Pure Tone Audiometry. It aimed to establish baseline data for future research on technological advancements in otolaryngology

The study employed a cross-sectional design and recruited 44 volunteer subjects from the Philippine Air Force using inclusion criteria. Six participants withdrew due to an urgent mission, leaving 38 subjects who were screened using the hearWHO application and subsequently tested with Pure Tone Audiometry. A statistician analyzed the collected data.

A one-sample t-test revealed negative mean differences between hearWHO and Pure Tone Audiometry results indicating that they were not significant. Confounders such as testing room location, use of adapters and non-purposive sampling may have affected the results.

The results suggested that the hearWHO application was not effective in rapid screening of hearing loss among the military personnel of the Philippine Air Force.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate factors influencing adherence of caregivers to prescribed out-patient management of children with cerebral palsy (CP).

This prospective cohort study enrolled 106 children with CP and their caregivers seen at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) from July 1, 2018 to April 30, 2019 to investigate the association of patient profile, caregiver profile, accessibility of treatment center, and type of therapy, to adherence to out-patient management.

Atotal of 106 pediatric patients with CPand their caregivers participated in the study with no dropouts observed. Adherence to therapy was defined as completion of patient of at least 50% of the prescribed therapy sessions or completion of at least one set of therapy. Adherence was significantly increased when patients were referred to: (1) physical therapy (OR=34.5, CI 7.21 to 167, pCONCLUSION

Caregiver's adherence to out-patient rehabilitation program was seen to be significantly influenced by the type of therapy the patient with CPwas referred to undergo (i.e., PT, OT, SLT).

INTRODUCTION: Postoperative urinary retention (POUR) frequently complicates the course of patients following hip and knee arthroplasty. Intrathecal morphine (ITM) was identified as a significant risk factor for POUR. The objective of this study was to investigate the incidence and risk factors for POUR in fast-track total joint arthroplasty (TJA) under spinal anaesthesia (SA) with ITM. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of our institutional joint registry of patients who underwent primary TJA under SA with ITM between October 2017 and May 2021. Preoperative (baseline demographics) and perioperative data were collected. The primary outcome was the incidence of POUR after 8 h or earlier, either due to lack of voiding or according to patient's complaints of bladder distension. Univariate and adjusted analyses were performed to identify predictors of POUR. RESULTS: Sixty-nine patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and 36 patients who underwent total hip arthroplasty (THA) under SA with ITM were included in the study. POUR requiring bladder catheterisation was diagnosed in 21% of patients. Independent predictors of POUR were age over 65 years and male gender. CONCLUSIONS SA with ITM for TJA is associated with high rates of POUR in males older than 65 years of age. Other previously identified risk factors such as intraoperative fluid administration or comorbidities may not be as influential.
Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Male ; Urinary Retention/epidemiology* ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee/adverse effects* ; Anesthesia, Spinal/adverse effects* ; Female ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip/adverse effects* ; Morphine/adverse effects* ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; Risk Factors ; Postoperative Complications/epidemiology* ; Injections, Spinal ; Incidence ; Analgesics, Opioid/adverse effects* ; Aged, 80 and over

BACKGROUND

During the COVID-19 pandemic, social isolation and quarantine measures set to control the spread of the infection paved for the increased utilization of virtual methods of consultation and follow-up. Telerehabilitation allows access to rehabilitation services despite distance and makes possible the continuation of rehabilitation services despite the lack of face-to-face interaction. This is difficult for pediatric patients who are dependent on their caregivers for understanding and making decisions regarding their health. Loss of continuity of rehabilitation services led to poorer outcomes in children with disabilities. Although advantageous for them, pediatric patients may not benefit from telerehabilitation if caregivers have negative perceptions of the process and are unwilling to utilize the service.

This study determined caregivers’ perceptions and willingness to participate in telerehabilitation as a method of outpatient follow-up for pediatric patients admitted to a COVID-referral center in a developing country.

The study utilized a descriptive cross-sectional design. Respondents were adults (≥19 years old) caring for pediatric patients admitted at non-COVID wards of the Philippine General Hospital and who were referred for rehabilitation services. A survey tool adapted from a previous study on willingness to utilize telemedicine among caregivers of pediatric patients was translated into the Filipino language and used in the study. A dataset from Excel was imported in STATA 16 (StataCorp, Texas, USA) and was exhaustively checked for completeness, accuracy, and consistency before analysis. The association between patient characteristics and willingness to utilize telerehabilitation for any app was determined using Pearson’s chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate. The latter was used when more than 20% of the cells had an expected value of less than or equal to five. A P value of less than 0.05 was considered significant for all tests.

Of 123 respondents, 92 (75%) reported willingness to utilize telerehabilitation for outpatient consultation and therapy using video calls or a customized telerehabilitation app when available. Among 31 (25%) respondents who were not willing or unsure of participation, the main reasons identified were preference for face-to-face, lack of financial resources/load, poor connectivity, and doubt about the effectiveness of telerehabilitation.Patients with younger age (Fisher’s exact test, P=0.023), low usage of video call service (Fisher’s exact test, P=0.020), and lack of available devices (Fisher’s exact test, P=0.015) significantly reduced willingness to utilize telerehabilitation. Caregiver age, sex, educational attainment, estimated monthly income, number of devices used, speed of internet connectivity, and technological behaviors did not show statistical significance in association with willingness to participate in telerehabilitation.Most caregivers recognized the usefulness of a service allowing transmission of health data to and from the hospital, consultation with a doctor in case of an emergency, sending of reminders for medical visits and therapy, and provision of a list of home exercises and nutritional recommendations. Telerehabilitation was perceived advantageous, but concerns regarding privacy, trust, lack of human contact, and technological difficulty were also present.

With high levels of willingness among caregivers, telerehabilitation is a viable method of providing rehabilitation services for the continuation of management after inpatient admission among pediatric patients. Limitations in its utilization include technological issues including the lack of devices, low level of service use, and slow internet connectivity. Although well perceived as advantageous, there are concerns regarding loss of human contact, difficulty in using technological devices, and trust and privacy issues that may affect utilization.

In this report, we sought to demonstrate that freshwater sampling for migrating bird-associated novel respiratory virus incursions is possible and more desirable than the alternative approach of capturing and swabbing wild migrating birds. Freshwater sampling should be considered as an alternative approach for pre-pandemic pathogen surveillance.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical and radiographic success of the Hall technique (HT) and atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) restorations using high-viscosity glass-ionomer cement for the management of occlusal carious lesions in primary molars. Materials and Methods: This randomized clinical study observed 40 children (aged 5–6 years). For each child, one tooth was treated with HT and one with ART. The primary outcome measures for HT restorations were successful, minor, and major failure rates.Clinical evaluations of ART restorations were performed according to the modified United States Public Health Service criteria during 18-month follow-up. McNemar test was used for statistical analysis. Results: Thirty of 40 (75%) participants returned for 18 months of follow-up. In the clinical evaluations of teeth that were treated with HT, the patients did not have complaints of pain or other symptoms, all crowns remained in the oral cavity, the gums were healthy, and the teeth were functional in all evaluations. At the end of the 18-month follow-up, the surface texture and marginal integrity criteria of ART restorations were recorded as 26.7% and 33.3%, respectively. In the radiographic evaluation of 30 patients treated with ART and HT, all restorations were considered successful. Conclusions The 18-month clinical and radiographic results after treatments applied to singlesurface cavities in anxious children showed that both treatment methods were successful.

BACKGROUND

Brugada syndrome is an inheritable syndrome that carries an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. This study aims to delineate the natural history, clinical and electrophysiologic profile, treatment strategies, and outcomes of patients with Brugada pattern electrocardiogram (ECG) and Brugada syndrome in a tertiary care hospital in the Philippines.

This is a retrospective observational study of patients diagnosed with Brugada pattern ECG and Brugada syndrome admitted in a single center from 2004 to 2019.

Twenty-three patients were included in the study. All patients were male. In both groups, the majority were nonsmokers (n = 13) and nonalcoholic beverage drinker (n = 14). In patients with Brugada pattern ECG, all presented as an incidental finding (n = 10; P < 0.001), whereas in Brugada syndrome, six patients presented with out-of-hospital resuscitated cardiac arrest (46.15%, P = 0.019). There were only three patients with a family history of sudden cardiac death. All patients had normal ejection fraction and sinus rhythm. Twenty-one patients had ST elevation (91.30%). Fourteen patients had spontaneous type 1 Brugada pattern ECG, whereas the rest were inducible to type 1 after flecainide test. Seven patients underwent implantable cardioverter defibrillator implantation before discharge; one patient died at the time of diagnosis, and one had recurrent admission for arrhythmia. No single patient received medical management.

Clinical profile, ECG findings, and outcomes were not significantly different between the two groups of patients except for the clinical presentation upon diagnosis. Treatment strategies were guideline-directed.

Purpose: In this study, it was aimed to determine the experiences of male caregivers of people with schizophrenia. Methods: The study had a phenomenological design as a qualitative research method. Using the purposeful sampling method, 19 male caregivers were included in the study. In-depth interviews were conducted with participants using a semi-structured interview form. Results: In the thematic analysis, three categories were identified: “The effect of the disorder on male caregivers”, “male caregivers’ perceptions about the disorder”, and “coping patterns of male caregivers”. In addition, three themes and 15 sub-themes were determined. Conclusion The study has revealed that male caregivers of schizophrenic patients face many problems in their emotional, social, economic, family and work lives; they need support and information in coping with these problems; and they tend to receive institutional and social support and use spiritual coping strategies in their caregiving.

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia consists of a defect in the embryonic development of the diaphragm that allows the passage of the abdominal viscera into the thoracic cavity, its diagnosis during pregnancy is quite rare. We present the case of a 31-year-old woman, with 23 weeks of gestation, who consulted for epigastric pain, nausea, and repetitive emetic episodes, without improvement with the medication provided. Due to the intense abdominal pain, a computed tomography of the abdomen and thorax was performed where the 28 mm defect was found at the left diaphragmatic level with protrusion of the gastric fundus to the thoracic cavity. She was taken to surgical management by laparoscopy with abdominal and thoracic approach, with a successful result and without maternal perinatal complications. Although the integrity of the diaphragmatic suture could be feared in relation to the increase in intraabdominal pressure due to uterine growth, the evolution of our patient and previous reports show that postoperative complications are not frequent. Successful vaginal delivery has even been described in some reports. Diaphragmatic hernias diagnosed during pregnancy are quite rare. We suggest that the optimal management of them during pregnancy is immediate surgical correction in case of persistent symptoms, more studies are needed to establish firm recommendations on the management of this pathology.

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia consists of a defect in the embryonic development of the diaphragm that allows the passage of the abdominal viscera into the thoracic cavity, its diagnosis during pregnancy is quite rare. We present the case of a 31-year-old woman, with 23 weeks of gestation, who consulted for epigastric pain, nausea, and repetitive emetic episodes, without improvement with the medication provided. Due to the intense abdominal pain, a computed tomography of the abdomen and thorax was performed where the 28 mm defect was found at the left diaphragmatic level with protrusion of the gastric fundus to the thoracic cavity. She was taken to surgical management by laparoscopy with abdominal and thoracic approach, with a successful result and without maternal perinatal complications. Although the integrity of the diaphragmatic suture could be feared in relation to the increase in intraabdominal pressure due to uterine growth, the evolution of our patient and previous reports show that postoperative complications are not frequent. Successful vaginal delivery has even been described in some reports. Diaphragmatic hernias diagnosed during pregnancy are quite rare. We suggest that the optimal management of them during pregnancy is immediate surgical correction in case of persistent symptoms, more studies are needed to establish firm recommendations on the management of this pathology.