1,721,016 research outputs found
How do people with long COVID utilize COVID-19 vaccination and rehabilitation services and what are their experiences with these services? results of a qualitative study with 48 participants from Germany
No full textAbstract
Background
Studies estimate that at least 7.5% of adults are affected by long-term symptoms such as fatigue or cognitive impairment after the acute phase of COVID-19. COVID-19 vaccination may reduce the risk of long COVID. Rehabilitation can have a positive impact on recovery. This study aims to present the experiences of people with long COVID with COVID-19 vaccination and rehabilitation. Such research is important because perceptions of these measures can impact healthcare utilization and health status.
Methods
48 adults with long COVID participated in this qualitative study, 25 of them in one-on-one interviews and 23 in focus groups. Participants were recruited via calls for participation on the websites and social media channels of two university hospitals and with the help of respondents’ networks. The conversations were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Subsequently, the results were compared, interpreted, and discussed by scientific literature.
Results
35 study participants reported that they had received a COVID-19 vaccination and 16 of them stated that they had utilized a rehabilitation service. These participants had varying experiences with COVID-19 vaccination and rehabilitation. Nine of them stated that they developed long COVID despite vaccination before COVID-19. Ten participants reported vaccine reactions, and two participants reported severe side effects. Two participants reported persistent deterioration of their long COVID symptoms after vaccination. This led to uncertainty about the safety, benefits, and handling of COVID-19 vaccination. However, most participants perceived the vaccine as effective regarding milder COVID-19 sequelae. Four participants felt their rehabilitation was helpful and four participants felt it was unhelpful. Two persons found the combination of inpatient rehabilitation and rehabilitation sport helpful.
Conclusions
Several implications can be derived from this study: (1) researchers should explore the effects of COVID-19 vaccination on long COVID symptoms; (2) vaccination campaigns should be more responsive to the perspectives of people with long COVID on vaccination; (3) care planners should build rehabilitation facilities specialized in long COVID; (4) rehabilitation providers should train their professionals regarding long COVID and develop rehabilitation programs tailored to different clinical pictures.
Trial registration
German register for clinical trials DRKS00026007, 09 September 2021.Open-Access-Publikationsfonds 202
Evaluating the Feasibility, Acceptance, and Beneficial Effects of Online Occupational Therapy for Post–COVID-19 Condition: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial (ErgoLoCo Study)
No full textBackground Post–COVID-19 syndrome (PCS; also known as “long COVID”) is a relatively novel disease comprising physical, psychological, and cognitive complaints persisting several weeks to months after acute infection with SARS-CoV-2. Approximately 10% of patients with COVID-19 are affected by long-term symptoms. However, effective treatment strategies are lacking. The ErgoLoCo (Occupational Therapy [Ergotherapie] for Long COVID) study was designed to develop and evaluate a novel occupational therapy (OT) concept of online delivery of therapy for long COVID. Objective The primary study objective is to assess the feasibility of the online OT intervention in PCS. Secondary aims include the evaluation of online OT concerning cognitive problems, occupational performance, and social participation. Methods This randomized controlled interventional pilot study involves parallel mixed methods process analyses and a realist evaluation approach. A total of 80 clients with PCS aged at least 16 years will be recruited into two interventional groups. The control cohort (watch and wait) comprises 80 clients with long COVID. Treatment is provided through teletherapy (n=40) or delivery of prerecorded videos (n=40) using the same standardized OT concept twice weekly over 12 weeks. Analyses of quantitative questionnaires and qualitative interviews based on the theoretical framework of acceptability will be performed to assess feasibility. Focus group meetings will be used to assess how acceptable and helpful the intervention was to the participating occupational therapists. Standardized tests will be used to assess the initial efficacy of the intervention on neurocognitive performance; limitations in mobility, self-care, and everyday activities; pain; disabilities; quality of life (QoL); social participation; and anxiety and depression in PCS, and the possible effects of online OT on these complaints. Results The German Ministry of Education and Research provided funding for this research in March 2022. Data collection took place from October 2022 to August 31, 2023. Data analysis will be completed by the end of April 2024. We anticipate publishing the results in the fall of 2024. Conclusions Despite the enormous clinical need, effective and scalable treatment options for OT clients who have PCS remain scarce. The ErgoLoCo study will assess whether online-delivered OT is a feasible treatment approach in PCS. Furthermore, this study will assess the effect of the intervention on cognitive symptoms, QoL, and occupational performance and participation in everyday life. Particular emphasis will be placed on the experiences of clients and occupational therapists with digitally delivered OT. This study will pave the way for novel and effective treatment strategies in PCS. Trial Registration German Clinical Trial Registry DRKS00029990; https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00029990 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/50230Open-Access-Publikationsfonds 202
Navigating uncertainty: occupational therapists’ experiences of Long COVID management in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
No full textLong COVID presents global challenges for healthcare professionals. Occupational therapists responded by seeking effective treatment strategies. The approaches of occupational therapists supporting long-haulers in German-speaking countries remain under-explored. The purpose of this study is to explore how occupational therapists in Germany, Austria and Switzerland navigate and apply profession-specific strategies in the new clinical landscape of Long COVID care
How do people with long COVID cope with their symptoms and everyday limitations? A qualitative study with four focus groups
No full textThe heterogenous and fluctuating intensity of long COVID symptoms poses a challenge to both patients and healthcare providers due to a lack of causal treatment options. The aim of supportive therapies is to help individuals cope with symptoms in daily life and maintain functionality. This study aims to identify coping strategies employed by those affected by long COVID and their perceived benefits
Projektergebnisse einer qualitativen Studie bildhaft interpretiert
No full textDie Auswirkungen der durch den Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 ausgelösten Pandemie sind für alle Menschen spürbar gewesen. Im Rahmen des Forschungsprojekts DEFEAT Corona mit dem Teilprojekt „Zurück ins Leben? Sozial- und Teilhaberekonvaleszenzen in der Vakzinära“ am Institut für Allgemeinmedizin der Universitätsmedizin Göttingen wurden mit Hilfe von Interviews und Gruppengesprächen erforscht, inwieweit sich die COVID-19-Pandemie auf die Teilhabe in wichtigen Lebensbereichen, wie der gesundheitlichen Situation, dem privaten und sozialen Umfeld oder dem beruflichen Kontext auswirkt. Dafür wurden Menschen, die mit SARS-CoV-2 infiziert waren und unter langfristigen Symptomen leiden (Post/Long COVID), befragt. Um die Erkenntnisse aus den 25 Interviews für eine breite Öffentlichkeit nahbar zu machen, wurde eine ungewöhnliches Vorgehen gewählt: neben der wissenschaftlichen Auswertung erschuf der Künstler Christian Bröhenhorst 15 Bilder, welche die unterschiedlich beschriebenen Themen der Betroffenen wie die alltäglichen Belastungen und Hindernissen aufgrund andauernder gesundheitlicher Einschränkungen, aber auch die Hoffnungen und den Willen zur Genesung in kreativer Form aufnehmen. Die mit Collagen-Technik erstellten Werke werden in diesem Katalog einigen Original-Zitaten der befragten Personen gegenübergestellt, umso die Empfindungen und Eindrücke aus dem Alltag der Interviewten im Kontext der Bilder noch einmal zu unterstreichen
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Estimation of raw material sources for biofuels in Croatia
No full textBiomasa se smatra obnovljivim i nekonvencionalnim izvorom energije koji u posljednje vrijeme sve više zamjenjuje fosilna goriva i ostale konvencionalne izvore energije. Cilj smanjenja emisija CO2 sve veću važnost poprima diljem svijeta, uzimajući u obzir trenutno klimatsko stanje te sve prisutnije globalno zatopljenje. Biomasa se dijeli na biomasu uzgajanu za dobivanje energije te na organske ostatke. Biogoriva dobivena iz biomase mogu se razvrstati u tri kategorije, biogoriva prve, druge i treće generacije. Dva najprisutnija oblika biomase u Hrvatskoj su poljoprivredne kulture i ostaci te šumska biomasa koja uključuje i drvodjelnu industriju. Međutim, i dalje je velik broj obradivih poljoprivrednih površina i šumskog zemljišta zapušten ili nedovoljno dobro iskorišten. Strateškim upravljanjem postojećim resursima biomase u Hrvatskoj otvaraju se brojne mogućnosti u sklopu energetskog razvoja. Stoga, otvaranje novih radnih mjesta i doprinos domaćoj industriji koji biomasa može pridonijeti su posebno značajna za Republiku Hrvatsku.Biomass is a renewable and an unconventional source of energy that is lately increasingly replacing fossil fuels and other conventional energy sources. Reducing CO2 emissions has become of great importance worldwide, considering the ongoing climate change and global warming that are happening on Earth. Biomass is divided into two main categories; biomass grown intentionally for generating energy and organic residues. Biofuels obtained from biomass can be classified into three categories: first, second and third generation biofuels. Biofuel production in Croatia is very scarce and relies mainly on the first and second generation of biofuels. Croatia’s diverse vegetation and its abundance in natural resources makes its biomass potential very high. Two of the most prominent forms of biomass in Croatia are agricultural crops and residues as well as forest biomass.If biomass resources in Croatia were used in an optimal way, it will undoubtedly affect the development of most regions, especially agricultural regions that have recently been severely abandoned due to the current economic crisis.Therefore, exploring the potential that can be provided by a strategic use of Croatia’s biomass resources could lead up to new job openings and great contribution to the domestic industry which is particularly important considering the current state the nation is in
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