Personality and early susceptibility to COVID-19 in the United Kingdom.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kanazawa S
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8653120 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic on 11 March 2020; the United Kingdom (UK) implemented quarantine measures shortly afterward, resulting in rapid changes in how owners managed and interacted with their horses. This study provides a rapid analysis of the initial impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the management of UK leisure and competition horses. A 17 question online survey was distributed via equestrian social media sites to ascertain the impact of COVID-19 on horse and yard management and on human-horse interactions. Frequency analysis combined with Chi-squared and thematic analyses identified the impact of COVID-19 on UK horse owners. Major changes within horse management and horse-human interactions were reported for the majority of horse owners (>65%), regardless of the establishment type or region. Social distancing and visiting restrictions were implemented at most yards, but nearly half were not providing hand sanitization or disinfection protocols for the shared areas/equipment to prevent cross-contamination between users. The financial impact of the pandemic combined with restricted access to veterinary professionals resulted in owners expressing concerns that horse health and welfare may be compromised as a result. Horse owners also felt that the reduced opportunities for horse-human interactions were negatively affecting their mental health and wellbeing.
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Project description:The COVID-19 pandemic (including lockdown) is likely to have had profound but diverse implications for mental health and well-being, yet little is known about individual experiences of the pandemic (positive and negative) and how this relates to mental health and well-being, as well as other important contextual variables. Here, we analyse data sampled in a large-scale manner from 379,875 people in the United Kingdom (UK) during 2020 to identify population variables associated with mood and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to investigate self-perceived pandemic impact in relation to those variables. We report that while there are relatively small population-level differences in mood assessment scores pre- to peak-UK lockdown, the size of the differences is larger for people from specific groups, e.g. older adults and people with lower incomes. Multiple dimensions underlie peoples' perceptions, both positive and negative, of the pandemic's impact on daily life. These dimensions explain variance in mental health and can be statistically predicted from age, demographics, home and work circumstances, pre-existing conditions, maladaptive technology use and personality traits (e.g., compulsivity). We conclude that a holistic view, incorporating the broad range of relevant population factors, can better characterise people whose mental health is most at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Project description:The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in December 2019, presumed from the city of Wuhan, Hubei province in China, and the subsequent declaration of the disease as a pandemic by the World Health Organization as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in March 2020, had a significant impact on health care systems globally. Each country responded to this disease in different ways, however this was done broadly by fortifying and prioritizing health care provision as well as introducing social lockdown aiming to contain the infection and minimizing the risk of transmission. In the United Kingdom, a lockdown was introduced by the government on March 23, 2020 and all health care services were focussed to challenge the impact of COVID-19. To do so, the United Kingdom National Health Service had to undergo widespread service reconfigurations and the so-called "Nightingale Hospitals" were created de novo to bolster bed provision, and industries were asked to direct efforts to the production of ventilators. A government-led public health campaign was publicized under the slogan of: "Stay home, Protect the NHS (National Health Service), Save lives." The approach had a significant impact on the delivery of all surgical services but particularly cardiac surgery with its inherent critical care bed capacity. This paper describes the impact on provision for elective and emergency cardiac surgery in the United Kingdom, with a focus on aortovascular disease. We describe our aortovascular activity and outcomes during the period of UK lockdown and present a patient survey of attitudes to aortic surgery during COVID-19 pandemic.
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Project description:ObjectivesTo identify the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on UK herbal medicine practice and how herbal medicine practitioners are supporting people with COVID-19.DesignMixed-methods e-survey.MethodsThe survey link was distributed through professional associations and social media. Quantitative data were descriptively summarised and qualitative data were analysed using content analysis.ResultsResults from 59 responses indicated a profound effect of the pandemic on herbal medicine practice, with a move to remote working and a reduction in client numbers. Practitioners reported prescribing a wide range of medicinal plants, chiefly Glycyrrhiza glabra L. and Echinacea spp. alongside providing information and advice. Few reported inter-professional collaboration.ConclusionsHerbal practitioners need to build on current collaborations, research and experience to develop consistent approaches to support people with mild-moderate COVID-19 symptoms. More systematic exploration of herbal medicine practice during and as a consequence of the pandemic is needed.What is already known about the topic• The COVID-19 pandemic has had a large impact on all types of healthcare• The impact on herbal medicine practice is unclear.What this paper adds• The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially affected UK herbal medicine practice• A wide range of medicinal plants are currently used by herbal practitioners to support people with COVID-19• Herbal practitioners need to develop consistent holistic approaches to support people with mild-moderate symptoms of COVID-19.
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Project description:Background and purposeThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has potentially caused indirect harm to patients with other conditions via reduced access to health care services. We aimed to describe the impact of the initial wave of the pandemic on admissions, care quality, and outcomes in patients with acute stroke in the United Kingdom.MethodsRegistry-based cohort study of patients with acute stroke admitted to hospital in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland between October 1, 2019, and April 30, 2020, and equivalent periods in the 3 prior years.ResultsOne hundred fourteen hospitals provided data for a study cohort of 184 017 patients. During the lockdown period (March 23 to April 30), there was a 12% reduction (6923 versus 7902) in the number of admissions compared with the same period in the 3 previous years. Admissions fell more for ischemic than hemorrhagic stroke, for older patients, and for patients with less severe strokes. Quality of care was preserved for all measures and in some domains improved during lockdown (direct access to stroke unit care, 1-hour brain imaging, and swallow screening). Although there was no change in the proportion of patients discharged with good outcome (modified Rankin Scale score, ≤2; 48% versus 48%), 7-day inpatient case fatality increased from 6.9% to 9.4% (P<0.001) and was 22.0% in patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 (adjusted rate ratio, 1.41 [1.11-1.80]).ConclusionsAssuming that the true incidence of acute stroke did not change markedly during the pandemic, hospital avoidance may have created a cohort of untreated stroke patients at risk of poorer outcomes or recurrent events. Unanticipated improvements in stroke care quality should be used as an opportunity for quality improvement and to learn about how to develop resilient health care systems.
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Project description:The UK implemented a lockdown in Spring (2020) to curtail the person-to-person transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Measures restricted movements to one outing per day for exercise and shopping, otherwise most people were restricted to their dwelling except for key workers (e.g. medical, supermarkets, and transport). In this study, we quantified changes to air quality across the United Kingdom from 30/03/2020 to 03/05/2020 (weeks 14-18), the period of most stringent travel restrictions. Daily pollutant measurements of NO2, O3 and PM2.5 from the national network of monitoring sites during this period were compared with measurements over the same period during 2017-19. Comparisons were also made with predicted concentrations for the 2020 period from business-as-usual (BAU) modelling, where the contributions of normal anthropogenic activities were estimated under the observed meteorological conditions. During the lockdown study period there was a 69% reduction in traffic overall (74% reduction in light and 35% in heavy vehicles). Measurements from 129 monitoring stations, identified mean reductions in NO2 of 38.3% (-8.8 μg/m3) and PM2.5 of 16.5% (-2.2 μg/m3). Improvements in NO2 and PM2.5 were largest at urban traffic sites and more modest at background locations where a large proportion of the population live. In contrast, O3 concentrations on average increased by 7.6% (+4.8 μg/m3) with the largest increases at roadside sites due to reductions in local emissions of NO. A lack of VOC monitoring limited our capacity to interpret changes in O3 at urban background locations. BAU models predicted comparable NO2 reductions and O3 gains, although PM2.5 episodes would have been more prominent without lockdown. Results demonstrate the relatively modest contribution of traffic to air quality, suggesting that sustained improvements in air quality require actions across various sectors, including working with international and European initiatives on long-range transport air pollutants, especially PM2.5 and O3.
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