Final Review Research Articles

Natural language processing in electronic health records: A review

The two fundamental tasks that a physician performs during every interaction with a patient are reading and updating electronic health records (EHRs). Reading the records is necessary to gain better knowledge of a patient’s health status while updating the records is essential for creating a database for future information extraction. If a patient’s history consists of only a few records, manual reading is the best approach. However, this method may lead to overlooking important aspects of the patient’s health, which could be detrimental. Therefore, automation is required to extract important information. Natural language processing (NLP) facilitates information extraction and operates on seven different levels. In our review, we aimed to understand how NLP levels assist in extracting information. We examined articles published in PubMed and, after critical evaluation, selected 65 out of 382 identified articles that met the inclusion criteria for the final review. Among these, 47 articles were included in the final review. We found a higher number of articles on the lexical (7), semantic (30), and morphological (4) levels, while fewer articles focused on the phonetic (1), syntactic (2), discourse (2), and pragmatic (1) levels. This distribution underscores the current emphasis within the literature on the specific aspects of NLP. In conclusion, our review underscores the critical role played by NLP in extracting information from EHR, shedding light on the varied levels at which this technology operates.

Depression and Anxiety Among Children and Adolescents During the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Systematic Review

Context: During the outbreak of COVID-19, mental health problems were increasingly observed in children and adolescents, leading to negative physical and psychological consequences. This pandemic provided a unique opportunity for conducting survey studies on this topic. As there is no comprehensive research in this area, our aim was to provide a concise overview of previous studies on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental well-being of young people. Methods: We performed an electronic search in multiple databases for this systematic review. The quality of the studies was assessed on the basis of a 14-item quality assessment tool proposed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institutes (NHLBI) for observational cohort and cross-sectional studies. The time span encompassed December 2019 to December 2021, and the databases included PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. The search was based on the keywords: COVID-19, depression, anxiety, children, and adolescents. Based on our inclusion criteria, out of the 4516 articles reviewed, only eight papers were included in the final review, and their results were summarized and reported. Results: The negative mental health consequences of children during the coronavirus outbreak included increased anxiety and depression, increased behavioral and emotional problems, experiencing misbehaviors and emotional bullying, and increased anxiety and stress following harm, especially in girls. Conclusions: Considering the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's mental health, it seems necessary to conduct interventional studies to improve and reduce stress and anxiety in children and adolescents during future disease outbreaks.

Utility of ChatGPT for Automated Creation of Patient Education Handouts: An Application in Neuro-Ophthalmology.

Patient education in ophthalmology poses a challenge for physicians because of time and resource limitations. ChatGPT (OpenAI, San Francisco) may assist with automating production of patient handouts on common neuro-ophthalmic diseases. We queried ChatGPT-3.5 to generate 51 patient education handouts across 17 conditions. We devised the "Quality of Generated Language Outputs for Patients" (QGLOP) tool to assess handouts on the domains of accuracy/comprehensiveness, bias, currency, and tone, each scored out of 4 for a total of 16. A fellowship-trained neuro-ophthalmologist scored each passage. Handout readability was assessed using the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), which estimates years of education required to understand a text. The QGLOP scores for accuracy, bias, currency, and tone were found to be 2.43, 3, 3.43, and 3.02 respectively. The mean QGLOP score was 11.9 [95% CI 8.98, 14.8] out of 16 points, indicating a performance of 74.4% [95% CI 56.1%, 92.5%]. The mean SMOG across responses as 10.9 [95% CI 9.36, 12.4] years of education. The mean QGLOP score suggests that a fellowship-trained ophthalmologist may have at-least a moderate level of satisfaction with the write-up quality conferred by ChatGPT. This still requires a final review and editing before dissemination. Comparatively, the rarer 5% of responses collectively on either extreme would require very mild or extensive revision. Also, the mean SMOG score exceeded the accepted upper limits of grade 8 reading level for health-related patient handouts. In its current iteration, ChatGPT should be used as an efficiency tool to generate an initial draft for the neuro-ophthalmologist, who may then refine the accuracy and readability for a lay readership.

Race, sex, and age disparities in death penalty sentencing: a systematic review

Demographic factors can influence death penalty outcomes. This systematic review examines literature regarding intersectionality of race, sex, and age disparities in capital punishment sentencing. Three databases were searched with similar terms, yielding 1,258 articles for review. After evaluating the remaining articles based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 12 articles were included for the final review. Differences in outcomes were reported when evaluating the race, sex, and/or age of both the defendant and the victim. Most studies found disadvantaged death penalty sentencing outcomes for both minority defendants and minority victims. Implications for future research and policy decisions are discussed.

Oral and maxillofacial complications of COVID-19 infection; a Review

Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2 virus is a group of viruses that cause disease in birds and mammals and currently has more than 398.572.320 infected and 5.770.578 victims worldwide. Common clinical symptoms are fever, headache, dyspnea, sore throat, dry cough, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and nausea. On the other hand, the results of various studies related to oral and maxillofacial manifestations in patients with COVID-19 have reported contradictory results in different places, which shows the role of different geographical and individual factors in the occurrence of oral manifestations. The aim of the present study was to review the oral and maxillofacial manifestations in patients with or improved COVID-19 infection.
 Materials and Methods: This study is a narrative review. In this study, research published in Pubmed, Google Scholar and Scopus databases has been reviewed by a review method and with a keyword search strategy.
 Results: 4011 articles were found from the mentioned databases, and after deleting unrelated researches (3607 cases) and duplicate researches (358 cases), 46 articles remained for final review. Then, from this number, those research that were presented in the scientific conference and were in the form of abstracts or did not have a correct statistical population were excluded from the study (10 cases).
 Conclusion: COVID-19 is a new and rapidly evolving disease, and many of its features, including its associated oral manifestations, are still under investigation. No agreement has yet been reached on the nature and classification of oral lesions in COVID-19 and their causal relationship to disease progression. This limitation is reflected in systematic reviews such as the present article. In addition, there is a significant shortage of high-quality studies on the prevalence of these oral manifestations and this limitation affects the prevalence estimates presented in this study.

“Snapping, sharing and receiving blame”: A systematic review on psychosocial factors of victim blaming in non-consensual pornography

Non-consensual pornography has become a growing concern, with potentially negative consequences for the victims. Victims of revenge porn are more likely to be blamed, and understanding why and how blame is attributed toward victims of non-consensual pornography is crucial to support them and reduce the negative consequences. This study aimed to explore and synthesize the existing evidence on victim blaming in non-consensual pornography and the underlying psychosocial factors within the context of attribution framework. A comprehensive systematic review was conducted across four databases namely PubMed, ProQuest, Google Scholar, and Scopus for English-language studies published from April 2012 to June 2022. Data from the selected studies were extracted and collated into the review matrix. Among the 22 full-text reviews, 10 records that met the eligibility criteria were included in the final review. Two themes namely “Culture and morality” and “gendered differences in attributions of blame” were derived from a thematic synthesis of 10 studies and reflected the psychosocial underpinnings of victim blaming. The review highlighted how cultural narratives and perceived immorality play a major role in how attributions are placed on self or others for victim blaming in “non-consensual pornography.” Blame attributions emerging from gender stereotyping and gendered responsibilization within cultural and societal contexts were found to impact self-blame and compound victimization in non-consensual pornography. The study findings implicated that recognizing psychosocial underpinnings of victim blame attribution in revenge porn would allow for evolving suitable legislative and policy responses for designing effective educative and preventative strategies.

Exploring Barriers to and Outcomes of Internet Appropriation Among Households Living in Poverty: A Systematic Literature Review

While poverty can be regarded as an issue with many different causes and dimensions, research indicates that enhancing digital inclusion may positively contribute to alleviating poverty. Therefore, it is of great importance to better understand the factors that may hinder internet appropriation for households facing poverty. However, no clear overview exists of the barriers to and outcomes of internet appropriation for this exact target audience. Therefore, a systematic literature review using framework synthesis was conducted to explore and map these obstacles in different stages of internet appropriation: attitude and motivation, material access, skills, and usage. Respective outcomes were also identified. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol, a total of n = 1,596 unique records were identified after a systematic search in the Scopus, Web of Science, and PsycINFO databases. Of these articles, n = 40 met the selection criteria and were included in the final review. The results underline the interwovenness of barriers in different stages of internet appropriation. The findings also highlight the importance of being sensitive toward one’s living environment in understanding barriers that prevail. In addition to barriers, a multitude of positive outcomes have been identified that highlight the potential benefits the internet can provide to people in situations of financial deprivation. Implications are discussed and future research directions are proposed to assist in enhancing digital inclusion for households facing poverty.

Factors associated with first pass success rate during intubation in the emergency department: a systematic review

Many emergency departments are now evaluating the quality of airway management, with the first-pass success rate being a widely used indicator of competence that has been linked to adverse event rates. The present study aimed to quantify adverse events related to endotracheal intubation in emergency departments, focusing on the first-pass success rate.We conducted a thorough search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PubMed using keywords such as \"multiple intubation attempts,\" \"intubation,\" \"first-pass success,\" and \"learning curve\" to identify relevant research. Our search was further expanded to include references from the identified articles. We collected and assessed citations spanning a twenty-year period from 2000 to 2020, involving emergency airway management by both prehospital and in-hospital clinicians.Eight articles were included in the final review. Among them, three trials evaluated the impact of the number of intubation attempts on the complication rate, yielding odds ratios of 6.7 (n = 2284), 4.7 (n = 1903), and 4.5 (n = 2616). Multiple intubation attempts were found to increase the risk of complications, a finding supported by a 2004 analysis of 2833 airway management incidents. In this analysis, more than one intubation attempt was associated with a fivefold increase in the overall complication rate.First-pass success rates varied between 71% and 87.5% for prehospital physicians and between 60% and 97% for in-hospital physicians. Achieving first-pass success was shown to reduce problems and increase the likelihood of sufficient oxygenation. Conversely, multiple intubation attempts were correlated with a higher rate of unfavorable outcomes.

Chest tube insertion versus Oxygen therapy treatment in spontaneous pneumothorax; systemic review

Abstract Background: conservative management including oxygen therapy and analgesia may safely and effectively manage patients with spontaneous pneumothorax without hemodynamic compromise. The primary objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of conservative versus interventional care in the management of spontaneous pneumothorax. Method: We conducted a comprehensive search of the Cochrane Library, PubMed, and EMBASE databases till 2023 to find cohort studies and randomized controlled trials that compared interventional therapy with conservative care as the first line of treatment for patients experiencing spontaneous pneumothorax. Success and recurrence rates were the main objectives. The rates of complications were the secondary focus. Each reviewer carried out data extraction and quality evaluation individually from papers that qualified. Results: after filtration of duplicated and ineligible articles we included 7 relevant research in the final systematic review. There were two randomized clinical trials, one prospective cohort research, four retrospective cohort studies, and a total of 1071 participants in the seven included investigations. Overall, success rates for 619 patients were reported in 5 included studies. The success rates of the interventional management group and the conservative management group did not differ statistically significantly. Difference in complication rates between the conservative and interventional therapy groups was not statistically significant, the conservative therapy group experienced fewer complications than the interventional treatment group. Conclusion: In contrast to interventional care, conservative therapy provides a secure and efficient first line of treatment for individuals with spontaneous pneumothorax.

Variations in COPD Health Care Access and Outcomes: A Rapid Review.

Health inequities among individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are often associated with differential access to health care and health outcomes. A greater understanding of the literature concerning such variation is necessary to determine where gaps or inequities exist along the continuum of COPD care. A rapid review of the published and grey literature reporting variations in health care access and/or health outcomes for individuals with COPD was completed. Variation was defined as differential patterns in access indicators or outcome measures within sociodemographic categories, including age, ethnicity, geography, race, sex, and socioeconomic status. Emergent themes were identified from the included literature and synthesized narratively. Thirty-five articles were included for final review; the majority were retrospective cohort studies. Twenty-five studies assessed variation in access to health care. Key indicators included: access to spirometry testing, medication adherence, participation in pulmonary rehabilitation, and contact with general practitioners and/or respiratory specialists. Twenty-one studies assessed variation in health outcomes in COPD and key metrics included: hospital-based resource utilization (length of stay and admissions/readmissions), COPD exacerbations, and mortality. Patients who live in rural environments and those of lower socioeconomic status had both poorer access to care and outcomes at the system and patient level. Other sociodemographic variables, including ethnicity, race, age, and sex were associated with variation in health care access and outcomes, although these findings were less consistent. The results of this rapid review suggest that substantial variation in access and outcomes exists for individuals with COPD, highlighting opportunities for targeted interventions and policies.

Disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic on the agri-food sector: A systematic review of its implications in post-pandemic and future of food security

<abstract> <p>The unprecedented challenges posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic have significantly impacted various sectors, with the agri-food system proving especially vulnerable to disruptions. Ensuring food security and bolstering the resilience of agri-food systems in the aftermath of the pandemic has emerged as a crucial concern. Utilizing the PRISMA protocol, this systematic literature review systematically searched relevant databases and repositories using specific keywords related to agri-food security in the pre and post-pandemic context. The final review incorporated 37 articles. The results revealed that the pandemic profoundly impacted all facets of the agri-food sector, particularly agri-food systems. Despite this, we identified several measures that were implemented or recommended to mitigate disruptions caused by the pandemic and ensure the resilience of the agri-food sector for future similar events. Robust policy measures, promotion of urban agriculture, support for small-scale farmers, enhancement of the international market, technological innovations, collaborations, research and development, and the promotion of novel foods were all highlighted as crucial resilience measures. Policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders are urged to adopt a comprehensive approach encompassing these measures to build a resilient and secure food future in the post-pandemic era.</p> </abstract>

Effectiveness of M-Health in Improving Physical Activity: An Indian Perspective

Aims: The aim of the study was to provide an articulated body of literature on assessment and consultative exercises of m-health advances in physical activity from an Indian perspective. Settings and Design: Scoping review was conducted using the Arksey and O’Malley framework (2005) and thereafter consultative exercises were performed. Subjects and methods: We searched the electronic databases and available grey literature from last 10 years. PRISMA flowchart for the study selection process was used to guide reporting. Data extraction included information on study design, authors, year of study, location and key findings on assessment of m-health advances in physical activity from an Indian context. Data were compiled and summarized narratively. Results: Total 9 studies were selected for the final review out of 24 review articles searched. Scoping review revealed that six studies measuring physical activity with an accelerometer or pedometer and three studies used Smartphone applications for physical activity promotion. Actigraph Accelerometer, was the most popular tool and pedometer was considered as feasible and effective tool for monitoring physical activity. Stakeholder consultation exercises have indicated that mobile health apps play a valuable role in enhancing accessibility to physical activity resources, promoting behavior modification, and fostering continued user engagement. However, there is a consensus among stakeholders that these apps would be even more beneficial if they provided users with constructive feedback and personalized recommendations. Conclusion: This review highlights how mobile health interventions promote physical activity. However, limited evidence calls for further research in the Indian context.

Addressing Planetary Health through the Blockchain—Hype or Hope? A Scoping Review

Planetary health is an emergent transdisciplinary field, focused on understanding and addressing the interactions of climate change and human health, which offers interventional challenges given its complexity. While various articles have assessed the use of blockchain (web3) technologies in health, little consideration has been given to the potential use of web3 for addressing planetary health. A scoping review to explore the intersection of web3 and planetary health was conducted. Seven databases (Ovid Medline, Global Health, Web of Science, Scopus, Geobase, ACM Digital Library, and IEEE Xplore) were searched for peer-reviewed literature using key terms relating to planetary health and blockchain. Findings were reported narratively. A total of 3245 articles were identified and screened, with 23 articles included in the final review. The health focus of the articles included pandemics and disease outbreaks, the health of vulnerable groups, population health, health financing, research and medicines use, environmental health, and the negative impacts of blockchain mining on human health. All articles included the use of blockchain technology, with others additionally incorporating smart contracts, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and machine learning. The application of web3 to planetary health can be broadly categorised across data, financing, identity, medicines and devices, and research. Shared values that emerged include equity, decentralisation, transparency and trust, and managing complexity. Web3 has the potential to facilitate approaches towards planetary health, with the use of tools and applications that are underpinned by shared values. Further research, particularly primary research into blockchain for public goods and planetary health, will allow this hypothesis to be better tested.

A Systematic Review of the Role of Learning Analytics in Supporting Personalized Learning

Personalized learning is becoming more important in today’s diverse classrooms. It is a strategy that tailors instruction to each student’s abilities and interests. The benefits of personalized learning include students’ enhanced motivation and academic success. The average teacher-to-student ratio in classes is 1:15.3, making it challenging for teachers to identify each student’s areas of strength (or weakness). Learning analytics (LA), which has recently revolutionized education by making it possible to gather and analyze vast volumes of student data to enhance the learning process, has the potential to fill the need for personalized learning environments. The convergence of these two fields has, therefore, become an important area for research. The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic review to understand the ways in which LA can support personalized learning as well as the challenges involved. A total of 40 articles were included in the final review of this study, and the findings demonstrated that LA could support personalized instruction at the individual, group, and structural levels with or without teacher intervention. It can do so by (1) gathering feedback on students’ development, skill level, learning preferences, and emotions; (2) classifying students; (3) building feedback loops with continuously personalized resources; (4) predicting performance; and (5) offering real-time insights and visualizations of classroom dynamics. As revealed in the findings, the prominent challenges of LA in supporting personalized learning were the accuracy of insights, opportunity costs, and concerns of fairness and privacy. The study could serve as the basis for future research on personalizing learning with LA.

Physical therapy of rotator cuff injuries of olympic weightlifters

From an injury-rate standpoint, Olympic weightlifting is a relatively safe sport. Despite that, a large number of repetitions, the ballistic nature of the lifts and the high forces sustained by the shoulder joint during their execution can lead to shoulder injuries, specifically rotator cuff injuries. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the scientifically proven physiotherapy methods and what their indications are when dealing with rotator cuff injuries of Olympic weightlifters. A qualitative literature review method was used, and the following online databases were included: PubMed, Scopus, Wiley, and PEDro in ResearchGate. The keywords in the literature search were: rotator cuff, shoulder, injury, physiotherapy, sport, weightlifting and Olympic weightlifting. The final analysis included fully published and accessible research papers in English from 2012 onwards, focusing on the physiotherapy of rotator cuff injuries. In total, 16 research papers were included in the final review. Management of rotator cuff injuries is a complex process, especially in sports with overhead movements. We found that the success and effectiveness of the physiotherapy process can be improved through a proper combination of kinesiotherapy, physical agent modalities, manual methods and other forms of therapy. The choice of the specific methods and their duration depends on the pathology of the individual injury. Further research focusing on Olympic weightlifting is needed to create precise and conclusive guidelines for rehabilitation, especially for sport specific phases occurring later in the rehabilitation process.

Systematic Review on Factors Associated with Female Age at Marriage

Background: Female age at marriage is one of the major indicators of population dynamics associated with age at which marriable couples are united and simultaneously acts of giving new childbirth with new family roles. Occurrence of marriage before the body being physically fit and mentally matured results in many adverse consequences. However, less attentions have been given to the variability of female age at marriage which can be influenced by different factors. Objective: This review paper is an attempt to explore significant factors associated with female age at marriage, and to mark those factors as explained by model-based statistical effect size. Materials and Methods: Following the PRISMA- Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guideline, three databases EMBASE, PubMed and Scopus were used to identify relevant articles combining key search terms using Boolean operations. From these databases, a total of 605 eligible articles originally published in English language till the date of 20 November, 2023 were identified. Applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria only 17 papers which had used statistical models were ascertained for final review. Results: The effect size which was found significant at 0.05 level of significance explored that female’s education, place of residence, religion, caste/ethnicity, birth cohort, current age, female’s work status, type of occupation, wealth index, husband’s education are the major determinants, which are observed to be significantly associated with female age at marriage. Conclusion: Female age at marriage is found to be varied from place to place, region to region and country to country. As the level of education increased, the possibility of acquiring early age at marriage has been reduced significantly. The demographic, socio-economic, gender and community factors played significant roles at the timing of females age at marriages. Moreover, female age at marriage has a considerable impact on fertility measures and population structure. Hence, policy relating to improving female age at marriage and its associated effective enforcement of law are required to meet the SDGs targets.

Effect of Benson's relaxation technique on the quality of sleep among patients with chronic diseases: A narrative review

In countries around the world, Chronic diseases (CDs) are always considered to be a major challenge as a result of their high mortality and morbidity. There is evidence that Benson Relaxation Technique (BRT) can benefit CD patients' health conditions. Nevertheless, there is still a dispute regarding the efficacy of BRT in improving sleep quality. Our literature is aimed at providing a better understanding of how BRT impacts the quality of sleep among patients with CDs. We searched for relevant publications in PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, CENTRAL, ProQuest, Science Direct, and Google Scholar from January 1, 2000, to November 24, 2023. In addition, we screened related studies and reference lists of identified studies. We included studies published in Persian and English that assessed the effect of BRT on the quality of sleep among patients with CDs. A review article, an editorial, a letter, a comment, an abstract, and a case report were excluded. Abstracts and full-text articles relevant to the topic were independently reviewed by all three authors. Disagreements were resolved through consensus. 13 studies were included in the final review, out of 407 potential studies identified by the primary search. There were 23 studies included in this review that were published between 2013 and 2023. Studies included in this review indicate that the BRT has a significant statistical difference in sleep quality scores compared to baselines or control groups for patients with CD, whose quality of sleep can be affected by invasive and stressful surgeries. The review advocated routine use of BRT as an alternative therapy in the treatment of CDs to improve sleep quality.

Application of virtual reality and haptics system Simodont in Chinese dental education: A scoping review.

Virtual reality (VR) and haptic simulation technology have been increasingly implemented in dental training. Since the first haptic VR dental simulator (Simodont) was introduced 10 years ago, it has been applied in more than 40 universities in mainland China. This scoping review aimed to review literature, showcasing the teaching reform of dental virtual simulation in mainland China to global dental education peers. This scoping review was conducted using the PRISMA extension for scoping review guidelines. Seven electronic databases were searched, and two reviewers independently performed the selection and characterization of the studies. The final scoping review included 12 studies. Four studies focused on the G. V. Black class II cavity, three on manual dexterity skills training, two on full metal crown preparation, one on pulpal access and coronal cavity preparation, one on flipped classroom teaching, and one on 'doctor-patient communication' skills. The most critical scenarios, self-assessment, working posture, curriculum setting, training and cost are analysed and discussed. Haptic simulation technology is a valuable complementary tool to the phantom head in dental education. The combined utilization of these two training devices has been superior to either in isolation. However, there is a lack of research on the sequencing of the two systems, as well as the appropriate distribution of curriculum between them. It is necessary for educators to organize or engage in experience sharing, collaboration and knowledge dissemination. These actions are essential for promoting effective teaching within dental educational institutions.

Knowledge spillovers and entrepreneurial ecosystem: A systematic literature review

The purpose of this study was to synthesize the literature that has been established on the interrelationship of “knowledge spillovers and entrepreneurial ecosystem” through a systematic literature review. The query strings generated 85 articles, of which 51 were selected for final review. The analysis was performed using MySLR software that uses the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) method, and the effectiveness was measured through the perplexity score and coherence value of the topics. The results reveal that although a plethora of literature is available on these two topics individually, the mutual relationship between these two concepts is understudied. A stronger research interest was observed after 2018 which indicates the infancy of the topic as a whole, which is yet to be explored and empirically tested, specifically in developing economies. Most of the research was focused on the role of universities, innovation, geographic dynamics and policies with respect to entrepreneurial ecosystems. Results reveal the disparity of knowledge spillovers with regard to other contributors; significantly lesser attention was paid to its role in relation to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Along with critical analysis and synthesis of literature, future directions have also been presented in the paper.

An Analysis of Challenges Faced by Academics During the Transition from Contact to Online Learning

The Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic affected many lives and sectors across the world. In the higher education sector, Covid-19 caused a drastic shift from contact learning to multiple forms of online learning. It is in this context that the paper undertook a critical analysis of the challenges experienced by academics because of Covid-19. A comprehensive literature search was conducted on 6 databases (Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Jstor, Academic Search Complete, SpringerLink, and SAGE Journals) for relevant studies published from the year 2019 to 2022. Moreover, further relevant studies were retrieved from the reference list of studies identified from the initial search. The search terms employed by the researchers were COVID-19, remote learning, e-learning, online learning, higher education, information technology and asynchronous learning systems. For the selection of the most relevant articles for the final review, the researchers employed inclusion and exclusion criteria. Studies that addressed higher education online learning and the challenges encountered by higher education due to Covid-19 were eligible for inclusion. The findings revealed that academics encountered multiple challenges during the transition from contact learning to online learning, these include the academic’s limited experience and lack of training in the pedagogy of online learning, challenges related to planning and adaptability, issues of network and connectivity, insufficient teaching and learning resources, workload, and stress along with the unconducive physical spaces and environment. Based on the findings presented, this study recommended that the pedagogical strategies must be revised. Furthermore, necessary adjustments in infrastructure in higher education institutions must also be made. This will ensure the smooth running of the teaching and learning process. Moreover, the systematic flaws and transformation gaps in higher education institutions have been made clear by the shift from contact learning to online learning. Thus, this study concludes that blended learning may emerge as the default teaching mode in higher learning institutions, this ensures the maximisation of efficiency. Keywords: Covid-19, Online Teaching, Contact Or Face-To-Face Education, Higher Education, Technology.