Medical avoidance among marginalized groups: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Holder-Dixon AR
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9186488 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Primary outcome(s): The incidence of obstructive colorectal cancer
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Project description:Despite growing concerns that children (8-13 years old) tend to avoid the news, the reasons why have received little research attention. Therefore, the current study aims to develop and test a model conceptualizing the relations between children's news consumption, news avoidance, emotional responses (negative emotions and anxiety-related behaviors), and parent and child mitigation strategies. The model was tested using data collected during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current, preregistered, survey study was part of a longitudinal project and used data from the second wave. Data were collected in November/December 2020 among 510 children (M age = 10.40; 53.72% girls). Findings showed that children who consumed more news during the pandemic avoided pandemic news less often. Children who experienced more anxiety-related behaviors regarding pandemic news avoided pandemic news more often. The relation between news consumption and emotional responses was stronger for children who experienced restrictive parental mediation more often, indicating that this was not an effective parental mediation strategy for tempering their emotional responses. Children with higher levels of emotional responses used reactive coping strategies more often. However, this did not seem to be an effective strategy against pandemic news avoidance because none of the strategies had a negative relation with pandemic news avoidance. Distancing was even positively related to pandemic news avoidance. Although the current study was not able to fully unravel how news avoidance-related constructs relate to one another, we were able to get some important insights guiding future research. Specifically, it is of crucial importance to unravel the mechanisms that increase the chance of children's news avoidance and those that mitigate it, to build interventions to counteract news avoidance and to protect children from the negative emotional consequences by news consumption.
| S-EPMC9258973 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has spread globally and has been reported in every known country. The effects can be felt in universities and schools, shifting their learning to online platforms. However, medical schools bear the burden of protecting students and ensuring the continuation of the education process. The rapid transition to online learning, coupled with the lack of preparation from the educational system, leads to stresses that affect students' academic performance, mental health and social life. Nevertheless, no review tried to synthesise the complete picture of the pandemic's effects. Therefore, this scoping review aims to identify and explore the available literature on the effects or impacts of the pandemic on medical students without limiting it to specific dimensions.MethodsThis review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews and the Joanna Briggs Institute manual for evidence synthesis. We examine articles reporting data from any country. However, only articles written in English will be included. For studies to be included, they must report any form of impact on medical students, qualitatively or quantitatively. Furthermore, the impact must occur within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Searches will be done on Medline, EMBASE, ERIC, the Cochrane Library, CINAHL and PsycInfo. After data extraction, we will narratively synthesise the data and explore the types of impacts COVID-19 has on medical students.Ethics and disseminationNo formal ethical approval is required. The scoping review will be published in peer-reviewed journals and as conference presentations and summaries, wherever appropriate.
| S-EPMC9393852 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-BSST1055 | biostudies-other
Project description:During the COVID-19 pandemic, physical distancing was one of the more important behaviours for reducing the spread of the virus. The present study investigated the influence on pathogen avoidance of familiarity with other people at private gatherings. Based on the social identity model of risk taking and the theory of the behavioural immune system, we assumed that greater familiarity with others would make people feel more connected with one another and decrease situational pathogen avoidance. This could result in lower perceptions of the risk of contracting COVID-19 and fewer protective behaviours. Two experiments (n1 = 1022, n2 = 994) showed that the negative influence of greater familiarity on the perceived risk of infection and protective behaviour is explained by an increased feeling of connectedness and less feeling of situational pathogen avoidance. In an additional survey, the participants (n = 23,023) rated the quality of their past social contacts. The correlational analyses showed that the familiarity of the other person was more important in explaining variance in protective behaviours than attitudes toward those behaviours or the pandemic situation itself. Understanding the process that result in an explosive increase in infection after social gatherings can improve infection control in the future.
| S-EPMC9912235 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted medical education on multiple levels, and medical students have been forced to adjust to distance learning, altered clinical opportunities, and standardized testing inconsistencies. We sought to identify the effects of these dramatic deviations on medical students' career plans. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of medical students between July 13, 2020, and September 9, 2020 in order to assess the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' career decisions. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all variables. Results: Of the 585 eligible medical students, we had a final sample of 76 responses (n=76) (13% response rate). Students felt neutral regarding having more time to explore research projects (Mean ± SD; 3.06 ± 1.18) and hobbies (3.43 ± 1.28). Most survey respondents somewhat disagreed that they considered quitting medical school during the pandemic (1.55 ± 1.10). Students somewhat agreed that they view the field of medicine more positively since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (3.60 ± 1.09). Respondents somewhat agreed that they would be unable to explore other specialties and find their best fit (3.55 ± 1.32). We found that the minority (4/66, 6%) of students had considered changing their specialty. Students felt neutral in terms of their Step 1 (3.25 ± 1.05) or Step 2 (2.81 ± 1.02) score deterring them from future career opportunities. Conclusions: Most medical students have experienced barriers in their career pathway as a direct cause of COVID-19 restrictions on medical education, including the ability to explore different specialties to discover their best fit or find a chance to network with mentors. However, despite these obstacles, most students remain committed to medicine.
| S-EPMC9989541 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Vitamin D deficiency, which impedes good immune function, is common during winter and spring in regions of high latitude. There is good evidence that vitamin D deficiency contributes to the seasonal increase of virus infections of the respiratory tract, from the common cold to influenza, and now possibly also COVID-19. This communication explores key factors that make it more likely, particularly in combination, that individuals are vitamin D deficient. These factors include old age, obesity, dark skin tone and common genetic variants that impede vitamin D status. Precision nutrition is an approach that aims to consider known personal risk factors and health circumstances to provide more effective nutrition guidance in health and disease. In regard to avoiding vitamin D deficiency, people with excess body fat, a dark skin tone or older age usually need to use a moderately dosed daily vitamin D supplement, particularly those living in a high-latitude region, getting little ultraviolet B exposure due to air pollution or staying mostly indoors. Carriers of the GC (group-specific component) rs4588 AA genotype also are more likely to become deficient. Very high-dosed supplements with more than 4000 IU vitamin D are rarely needed or justified. A state-by-state Mendelian randomisation analysis of excess COVID-19 mortality of African-Americans in the USA shows a greater disparity in northern states than in southern states. It is conceivable that vitamin D adequacy denies the virus easy footholds and thereby slows spreading of the contagion. This finding should drive home the message that vitamin D supplementation is particularly important for individuals with dark skin tones. Vitamin D deficiency, even for a few months during the winter and spring season, must be rigorously remedied because of its many adverse health impacts that include decreased life expectancy and increased mortality. Slowing the spread of COVID-19 would be an added bonus.
| S-EPMC7295862 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, National Taiwan University anatomy teachers adopted asynchronous online video teaching and reduced the size of anatomy laboratory groups in April 2020. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of these changes on medical students' learning. Before Covid-19, the performance of the 2019-2020 cohort was significantly better than that of the 2018-2019 cohort. However, the implementation of modified teaching strategies significantly lowered the laboratory midterm score of the 2019-2020 cohort in the second semester. Conversely, the final laboratory examination score of the 2019-2020 cohort was significantly higher than that of the 2018-2019 cohort. Through correlation analysis, lecture and laboratory examination scores were highly correlated. Additionally, the difference in lecture and laboratory z-scores between two cohorts, the Likert scale survey and free-text feedback of the 2019-2020 cohort, were conducted to show the impact of modified teaching strategies. There were several important findings in this study. First, the change in teaching strategies may temporarily negatively influence medical students to learn anatomy. Besides, analyzing the performance of laboratory assessments could be a complementary strategy to evaluate online assessments. Applying lecture examination scores to predict laboratory performance was a feasible way to identify students who may have difficulty in learning practical dissection. Finally, reducing group size together with reduced peer discussion may have a negative effect on learning cadaver dissection for students with low academic performance. These findings should be taken into consideration when anatomy teachers apply new teaching strategies in anatomy courses.
| S-EPMC9082485 | biostudies-literature
Project description:First humanoid coronavirus was discovered in the middle of 1960s, the class of viruses are considered to be a huge threat. The first onset of human coronavirus, SARS (SARS-CoV) appeared in 2003 which spanned five continents having lethal effects on human population accompanied by The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus in 2012 with a death rate of 35%. The viruses remain a threat till date and are of serious concern since no vaccine or specified drug therapy has been approbated for treating human coronaviruses. The viruses became a pandemic worldwide with the emergence of Wuhan coronavirus (2019-nCoV). SARS-CoV2 viral manifestation poses a serious human life risk by causing acute lung injury and various respiratory outcomes and has become a global concern. High pathogenicity and transmission rate of the viral strain has become the spotlight of research community throughout the world. With the ongoing studies on viral structure and host interactions, the intricacy of the viral proteome structure and replication cycle proposes a need to explore our understanding of host factors playing role in viral multiplication cycle. This review provides insight into our prevalent perception of coronavirus-host interactions, structure of SARS-CoV2, receptor mediated entry of virus inside the human cells, ongoing clinical trials, drug therapies and treatments that are being used to combat COVID-19 targeting viral fusion, replication and its multiplication.
| S-EPMC7237921 | biostudies-literature
Project description:All aspects of medical education were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Several challenges were experienced by trainees and programs alike, including economic repercussions of the pandemic; social distancing affecting the delivery of medical education, testing, and interviewing; the surge of patients affecting redeployment of personnel and potential compromises in core training; and the overall impact on the wellness and mental health of trainees and educators. The ability of medical teams and researchers to peer review, conduct clinical research, and keep up with literature was similarly challenged by the rapid growth in peer-reviewed and preprint literature. This article reviews these challenges and shares strategies that institutions, educators, and learners adopted, adapted, and developed to provide quality education during these unprecedented times.
| S-EPMC7772576 | biostudies-literature