Crime trends among Italian minors: observed changes during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

The impact of COVID-19 on the molecular epidemiology of seasonal viral respiratory infections, Cyprus

Tourism sector is one of the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic, is also among the sectors that have a high positive impact on national income. Understanding the financial performances of companies in the tourism sector, which is considered as the driving force of economic growth in developed and developing countries, after the COVID-19 pandemic period is important for policy makers, investors, companies in the sector, and managers. This study aims at evaluating financial performance of companies in the tourism sector in the post COVID-19 Pandemic period with Gray Relational Analysis. Grey Relational Analysis conducted with liquidity, financial leverage and profitability ratios. In the post-pandemic period, it has been determined that the tourism companies are in good financial position according to their liquidity, financial leverage and profitability ratios. In the financial performance evaluation, the order of importance among the ratios was realized as liquidity ratios, financial leverage ratios and profitability ratios. The order of importance in the financial performance ranking of the sector before the pandemic and during the pandemic period is financial leverage ratios, profitability ratios and liquidity ratios. It is concluded that the liquidity position has more importance for all companies after the pandemic. In the post-pandemic period, the liquidity ratios of companies are above the optimal value. Leverage and profitability ratios are close to pre-pandemic and pandemic.

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) health care provision may be a good indicator of the recovery of the health care system involved in OHCA care following the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a lack of data regarding outcomes capable of verifying this recovery. To determine whether return to spontaneous circulation, overall survival, and survival with good neurological outcome increased in patients with OHCA since the COVID-19 pandemic was brought under control in 2022 compared with prepandemic and pandemic levels. This observational cohort study was conducted to examine health care response and survival with good neurological outcome at hospital discharge in patients treated following OHCA. A 3-month period, including the first wave of the pandemic (February 1 to April 30, 2020), was compared with 2 periods before (April 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018) and after (January 1 to December 31, 2022) the pandemic. Data analysis was performed in July 2023. Emergency medical services (EMS) serving a population of more than 28 million inhabitants across 10 Spanish regions participated. Patients with OHCA were included if participating EMS initiated resuscitation or continued resuscitation initiated by a first responder. The pandemic was considered to be under control following the official declaration that infection with SARS-CoV-2 was to be considered another acute respiratory infection. The main outcomes were return of spontaneous circulation, overall survival, and survival at hospital discharge with good neurological outcome, expressed as unimpaired or minimally impaired cerebral performance. A total of 14 732 patients (mean [SD] age, 64.2 [17.2] years; 10 451 [71.2%] male) were included, with 6372 OHCAs occurring during the prepandemic period, 1409 OHCAs during the pandemic period, and 6951 OHCAs during the postpandemic period. There was a higher incidence of OHCAs with a resuscitation attempt in the postpandemic period compared with the pandemic period (rate ratio, 4.93; 95% CI, 4.66-5.22; P < .001), with lower incidence of futile resuscitation for OHCAs (2.1 per 100 000 person-years vs 1.3 per 100 000 person-years; rate ratio, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.71-0.92; P < .001). Recovery of spontaneous circulation at hospital admission increased from 20.5% in the pandemic period to 30.5% in the postpandemic period (relative risk [RR], 1.08; 95% CI, 1.06-1.10; P < .001). In the same way, overall survival at discharge increased from 7.6% to 11.2% (RR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.21-1.75; P < .001), with 6.6% of patients being discharged with good neurological status (Cerebral Performance Category Scale categories 1-2) in the pandemic period compared with 9.6% of patients in the postpandemic period (RR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.04-1.10; P < .001). In this cohort study, survival with good neurological outcome at hospital discharge following OHCA increased significantly after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is recognized for its diverse complexity between cases, which profoundly influences perioperative progression and patient outcomes. It is notoriously difficult to accurately predict surgical complexity pre-operatively. The COVID-19 pandemic notably contributed to substantial delays in the definitive management of gallstone disease. The present study aimed to compare the intraoperative complexity grading of LCs performed post-pandemic with data previously reported in the literature. Method A prospectively collected database of all LCs and laparoscopic common bile duct exploration (LCBDE) performed between August 2022 and June 2024 was analysed. The database was populated from a single benign biliary center by two specialized biliary surgeons. The study focused on clinical and intraoperative parameters, with particular emphasis on assessing the cholecystectomy operative difficulty using the Nassar scale. Parameters from the database were compared with previously published data from a single surgeon over a 29-year period (n=5,391 cases). P value was calculated using Pearson uncorrected chi-square test. Results 201 patients were eligible for inclusion. Median age was 54 years (IQR 40-66) and 124 (61.7%) were female. 86 (42.8%) were emergency cases. 118 (58.7%) patients were classed as socially and economically deprived. 80 (39.8%) cases were carried out for acute cholecystitis and 48 (23.9%) were for gallstone pancreatitis. 52 (25.8%) underwent LC alone, 89 (44.3%) also had intra-operative cholangiogram and 60 (29.9%) underwent LCBDE. Grade-1 LC (33.2% vs 8%, p&amp;lt;0.001) were significantly less prevalent than grade-4 LC (14.2% vs 33.8%, p&amp;lt;0.001) in the post pandemic period when compared to the previous published data. Conclusion The present study suggests there has been an increase in the complexity and operative difficulty of LC in the immediate post COVID-19 pandemic period. The reasons are likely multifactorial, however delays in the timely management of gallstone disease, resulting in repeated episodes of acute inflammation is hypothesised to be the key driving factor. Minimising a delay to definitive treatment through the establishment of efficient dedicated biliary care pathways could reduce the incidence of complex LC. Further work is required to determine if reducing the incidence of complex LC has a beneficial impact on complications and length of hospital stay.

Background and Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has had severe and far-reaching repercussions for health systems and societies, creating a global mental health crisis that has persisted after the pandemic. This study examined differences in mental health (i.e., psychological distress and well-being) by gender and pandemic period (i.e., lockdown, second and third pandemic waves, the last year of the pandemic, and the post-pandemic period) among Spanish individuals in two stages of adulthood: established adulthood and midlife. The second objective was to identify the risk and protective factors for psychological distress and well-being during the post-pandemic period. Materials and Methods: The study design was repeated cross-sectionally. The non-probability sample included 3677 people (66.2% women) from the general Spanish population, aged 30 to 59 years. Participants were assessed between 1 June 2020 and 23 May 2024 using the following self-reports: the General Health Questionnaire-12 item version, the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience, the Brief Inventory of Thriving, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Social Support Scale, the Stressful Events Questionnaire, the Brief Resilience Scale, and the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Questionnaire. Results: Although rates of psychological distress varied across pandemic periods, women consistently experienced higher rates than men. During the post-pandemic period, the rates of psychological distress were 47.5% for women in established adulthood and 34.7% for midlife women, compared to 28.6% and 22% for men, respectively. Low self-esteem was the main predictor of greater psychological distress and lower well-being for both genders and age groups in the post-pandemic period. Another significant predictor was lower stress resilience. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic threatened women’s mental health and well-being more than men’s, and this threat persists after the pandemic, especially among women in established adulthood. The study’s findings are relevant for the design of policies, programs, and strategies to achieve better mental health and well-being among citizens and greater gender equality.

Background and Objectives: This study aims to evaluate neurosurgery consultations for elderly patients during and following the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: This study included patients aged 65 and older who were hospitalized in non-neurosurgery departments at Istinye University Gaziosmanpasa Medical Park Hospital and were referred for neurosurgery consultations between 1 April 2020 and 31 May 2024. Patients in the intensive care unit and emergency department were excluded. The period from 1 April 2020 to 30 April 2022 was defined as the pandemic period, and from 1 May 2022 to 31 May 2024 as the post-pandemic period. Results: A total of 123 patients were included in this study, with 57 from the pandemic period and 66 from the post-pandemic period. The average age during the pandemic period was 73.45 years (range: 65-93), compared to 71.09 years (range: 65-94) in the post-pandemic period. During the pandemic, 26.3% of patients were recommended for physical therapy and rehabilitation, 24.6% were advised to undergo surgery, 19.3% received neurology consultations, and 17.5% received medical treatment. In the post-pandemic period, 37.9% were recommended for surgery, 16.7% for neurology, 13.6% for physical therapy and rehabilitation, and 7.6% for medical treatment. Overall, 56.4% of patients accepted surgery. Conclusions: Despite the high prevalence of comorbidities in geriatric patients, appropriate neurosurgical referrals significantly improve treatment success, enhance quality of life and mobility, and reduce mortality. We therefore recommend earlier and more attentive referrals to neurosurgery for elderly patients with relevant symptoms to facilitate timely and effective interventions.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on worldwide trade and human activities extended even to ocean depths, resulting in changes in underwater acoustic environments. This study emphasizes the deep water soundscape of the Laccadive Sea by performing passive acoustic measurements over two distinct periods-November 2020-May 2021 and March 2022-December 2022-to reveal temporal variations and underlying patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic periods. This research focuses on a comprehensive analysis of ambient noise spanning a frequency range from 20 to 2000 Hz. Biophonic sources dominate within the 200-2000 Hz range during the pandemic period. This study emphasizes the increased shipping noise levels at 63 and 125 Hz frequencies during the post-pandemic period. The results indicate an increase in overall ambient noise post-pandemic periods, particularly within low-frequency bands associated with shipping. These findings suggest a temporary decrease in ambient noise in the acoustic environment of the Laccadive Sea during the pandemic, which was likely influenced by human activity restrictions.

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, stratification of patients with chest pain with low-to-moderate probability of CAD (LMCP) became problematic due to fear of infection. We analyzed the impact in volume trends of modalities for stratification in these patients -including stress echocardiography (S-TTE), cardiac computed tomography (CCT), and single-photon emission CT (SPECT)- before, during, and after the pandemic Hypothesis: Usage of CCT increased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the lower exposure of patients, during this test, to healthcare personnel. Methods: R etrospective chart review conducted between 2019 and 2021. We defined 3-time frames: pre-pandemic period (1/1/2019-12/31/2019), pandemic period (1/1/2020-12/31/2020), and post-pandemic period (1/1/2021-12/31/2021). The study included data of all 3 mentioned imaging modalities. Results: Our cohort included 19,637 LMCP patients evaluated using 1,369 CCTs (7%), 2,380 S-TTEs (13.6%) and 15,588 SPECTs (79.4%) -Fig 1a-. During the pre-pandemic period, CCT studies corresponded to 3.0%, while S-TTE and SPECT corresponded to 14.7% and 82.4%, respectively. In the post-pandemic period, CCT studies corresponded to 9.8%, while S-TTE and SPECT corresponded to 12.3% and 77.9%, respectively. An upward variation was observed regarding the utilization of CCT in the post-pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic period (p&lt;0.001), and a downward change was observed in S-TTE when the post-pandemic period was compared with the pre-pandemic period (p&lt;0.001) -Fig 1b-. Conclusions: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the utilization of SPECT and s-TTE in LMCP patients decreased compared to the pre-pandemic period. In the post-pandemic period, both tests increased in use although their volumes are lower compared to the pre-pandemic period. Conversely, CCT had a linear increase since the beginning of the pandemic and this pattern has extended to the post-pandemic period.

Background:The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) has had a significant impact on healthcare organizations, leading to a reduction in screening. The pandemic period has caused important psychological repercussions in the most fragile patients.Objectives:This study aimed to assess the levels of depression, anxiety, peri-traumatic stress, and physical symptoms in patients undergoing colposcopy during the COVID-19 pandemic and to compare these data with the post-pandemic period.Design:This longitudinal study included 96 individuals undergoing colposcopy, aged between 22 and 64, who were examined between March 2020 and December 2023.Methods:Participants were assessed at four distinct time points, referred to as T0, T1, T2, and T3. T0 encompassed the pandemic period, ranging from March 2020 to August 2020, while T1 occurred 1 year later, T2 and T3 correspond to data collected in 2022 and 2023. Statistical analysis was conducted to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on various psychological variables. Descriptive statistics, including means, standard deviations, and frequency distributions, were calculated for each psychological variable within each time period.Results:Our findings revealed a significant reduction in peri-traumatic stress and pain levels in the post-pandemic (from 2021 to 2023) period compared to the pandemic period. Conversely, anxiety and depression levels exhibited a statistically significant increase in the post-pandemic period and then gradually decrease in the subsequent follow-up.Conclusion:This study provides valuable insights into the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological distress experienced during the pandemic period itself, as well as its enduring effects on anxiety and depression in the subsequent period.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown measures have been associated with substantial disruptions to health care services, including screening for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and management of people living with HIV (PLWH). Data from 3265 patients were examined in a retrospective cohort study. We compared outpatient follow-up for PLWH, the number of new patients, treatment adherence, hospitalizations, and deaths during the "pandemic period" (March 2020 to February 2021), the "pre-pandemic period" (the equivalent time frame in 2019), and the "post-pandemic period" (March to September 2021). During the pandemic period, the number of new patients seen at the HIV clinic (116) as well as the requested viral load tests (2414) decreased significantly compared to the pre-pandemic (204 and 2831, respectively) and post-pandemic periods (146 and 2640, respectively) (p < 0.01 for all the comparisons). However, across the three study periods, the number of drug refills (1385, 1330, and 1411, respectively), the number of patients with undetectable viral loads (85%, 90%, and 93%, respectively), and the number of hospital admissions among PLWH remained constant. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic's impact, our findings show stability in the retention of clinical care, adherence to treatment, and viral suppression of PLWH, with no significant impact on hospitalization rates or all-cause mortality.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been a global health problem with high morbidity and mortality. In this study, it was aimed to compare the clinical and laboratory findings of patients diagnosed with type 1 diabetes(T1D) during the pandemic and after the pandemic. Method: This is a 30-month, single-center, cross-sectional study. Between October 2020 and December 2021 was defined as the pandemic period, and between January 2022 and March 2023 as the post-pandemic period. The clinical and laboratory parameters of the newly diagnosed T1D patients who applied in these two time periods were compared. Results: While 87 patients were diagnosed during the pandemic period, 86 patients were diagnosed during the post-pandemic period. The rate of male patients diagnosed during the pandemic period was significantly higher (56%, 36%, respectively, p=0.007). Anti-islet Cell antibody (ICA) positivity was statistically significantly higher in those diagnosed during the pandemic period. (52.6%, 18.6%, respectively, p&amp;lt;0.001). There was no difference between the groups in terms of hemoglobin A1C, thyroid autoantibodies and tissue transglutaminase antibodies (p&amp;gt;0.05).C peptide levels were significantly lower in those diagnosed during the pandemic period (0.39±0.4, 0.63±0.6, respectively, p=0.021). Admissions with severe acidosis were more common during the pandemic than those admitted after the pandemic (29.9%, 16.3%, respectively, p=0.151). Conclusions: The numbers of children with T1D newly diagnosed in a secondary health center were similar during and after the pandemic. In the pandemic period, admissions with autoantibody positivity, low C-peptide and severe acidosis were more common.

ABSTRACTBackgroundManagement of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including hypertension (HT) and diabetes mellitus (DM), was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many institutions adopted alternative care pathways, e.g. pharmacy at home (PAH), and the deferred care (DC). While PAH has been studied for clinical outcomes, evaluation of the DC remains limited. Consequently, this study evaluates both the clinical and economic outcomes of the PAH and DC as alternatives to usual care.MethodA retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Thailand from 1 July 2021, to 30 June 2023. Data from outpatients with HT and DM were classified into PAH, DC, or discharged home with follow-up at the hospital. Clinical outcomes included changes in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and fasting blood sugar (FBS), calculated from baseline to follow-up. Economic outcome was the cost of illness (COI) per patient visit. Multivariate multilevel mixed-effects linear regression assessed clinical outcomes, while log-linear regression evaluated economic outcome.ResultsThere were 3,518 patients in the pandemic period and 4,135 patients in the post pandemic period. There was no statistically significant impact of PAH and DC on changes in SBP, DBP, and FBS. However, both care pathways significantly reduced COI during both periods (p < 0.001). During the pandemic period, COI reductions were 32.3% in PAH and 93.5% in DC compared to usual care. Similar trends were observed in the post pandemic period, with COI reductions of 40.0% for PAH and 96.1% for DC.ConclusionPAH and DC pathways did not worsen the clinical outcomes and reduced costs during and following the pandemic. As a result, these two pathways, developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, can be adapted for regular use. When these pathways are integrated into regular use, they can be promptly and fully reactivated in future emergencies.

The relevance of the article is that according to the Constitution of Ukraine, the main social priorities and the highest social values include a person, his life and health, honor and dignity, inviolability and security. That is why the implementation of state policy in the field of child protection has long been of concern not only to legal scholars and law enforcement practitioners, but also to the general public. In order to implement European standards for the protection of children’s rights in Ukraine, our state has undertaken a number of international legal obligations to ensure the proper mental and physical development of young people, their protection from any deviations from regulatory behavior. The article presents the concept of mercenary violent crimes committed by children and highlights its features as a set of specialized scientific information, which includes the social conditionality of criminal liability for a certain type of mercenary violent crimes; public danger of a certain type of crime; illegality of the act and its place in the system of normative definition of prohibition of selfish violent type of socially dangerous behavior; the composition of a particular type of crime; socially dangerous consequences and other circumstances of committing crimes that are outside the scope of a certain type of crime, but are inherent in their commission; the identity of the offender. Based on the analysis of the materials of criminal proceedings and the practice of police activity, it was found that the characteristic mercenary violent crimes of children are premeditated murder, robbery, burglary, extortion, illegal possession of a vehicle. These crimes combine selfish motives and violence or the threat of their use and encroach on human life and health, property. The system-forming property that combines selfish motive and violent achievement is criminal illegal activity, where selfish motive determines the nature, content and nature, and the violent form of its implementation specifies the direction of this specific criminal activity.

Gaps in psychiatric care before and after the COVID-19 pandemic among patients with depression using electronic health records.

BackgroundThis study aimed to elucidate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) infection in patients with infected pancreatic necrosis (IPN).MethodsThis post-hoc analysis of a prospective cohort included patients with IPN stratified into three phases: pre-pandemic (2016–2019), pandemic period (2020–2022), and post-pandemic period (2023–2024). Logistic regression and interrupted time-series analysis (ITSA) were employed to identify risk factors and longitudinal trends.ResultsMDRO infection decreased significantly during the pandemic period compared to pre-pandemic levels (44.8% vs 81.1%, P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the incidence of MDRO infection between the pandemic and post-pandemic period (44.1% vs 44.8%, P=0.924). During the pandemic, both prophylactic antimicrobial usage (64.8% vs 85.1%, P<0.001) and ICU stays (median: 6.0 vs 15.0 days, P<0.001) were significantly reduced compared to the pre-pandemic period. Logistic regression identified prophylactic antimicrobial usage (OR 17.28, P<0.001), ICU stays (OR 1.07, P<0.001), and the COVID-19 pandemic (OR 0.21, P<0.001) as independent factors associated with MDRO infection. ITSA revealed a significant decrease in the trend of MDRO infection during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period (P=0.006). An immediate level of MDRO infection increased during the post-pandemic period compared to the pandemic (P=0.040). The similar trend variations were observed in the proportion of prophylactic antimicrobial usage.ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic has led to a notable reduction in MDRO infection among IPN patients, likely attributable to stringent infection prevention and control measures which led to reduced prophylactic antimicrobial usage and ICU stays during this period.