COVID-19 pandemic | Acta Medica Marisiensis

The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric hospitalizations for type 1 diabetes mellitus

Măriuca Mănescu¹, Ion-Bogdan Mănescu², Alina Grama^1,3

1. Department of Pediatrics, Emergency County Clinical Hospital of Targu Mures, Targu Mures, Romania
2. Department of Laboratory Medicine, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Targu Mures, Romania
3. Department of Pediatrics, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Targu Mures, Romania

DOI: 10.2478/amma-2024-0021

Objective: In this retrospective cohort study, we aimed to provide a snapshot of how the pandemic has affected pediatric type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) admissions in our hospital.
Methods: This study included 117 patients aged 0-18 classified based on period (pre-pandemic vs. pandemic period 2020-2022) and type of diagnosis at admission: new-onset T1D (nT1D) or diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA)-decompensated T1D. We investigated the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of these patients.
Results: Out of all T1D-related admissions, the proportion of admissions for nT1D increased compared to the pre-pandemic period: 71.6% vs 53.4%, p=0.048. Unrelated to the pandemic, the type of diagnosis at admission was associated with 1) the sex distribution (males – more nT1D admissions, females – more frequent DKA admissions, p=0.01), and 2) hospitalization duration (longer for nT1D admissions than for DKA-decompensated T1D admissions, p=0.001). Blood glucose and HbA1c levels were influenced neither by the pandemic period nor by the type of diagnosis. During the pandemic, a change in the T1D seasonality became apparent. A potential association pattern between new COVID-19 cases, number of T1D admissions, and stringency of restrictions was observed.
Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of nT1D admissions increased, as well as the severity of DKA-decompensated T1D cases. In addition, the pandemic period brought about notable shifts in the seasonality of pediatric T1D.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the educational process of Dental Medicine Department students in Oradea University during the lockdown period

Gabriela Ciavoi¹, Catalina Farcasiu², Edwin Sever Bechir³, Magdalena Natalia Dina², Titus Alexandru Farcasiu², Daniela Ioana Tarlungeanu², Oana Cella Andrei²

1. University of Oradea, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Oradea, Romania
2. “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucuresti, Romania
3. George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Faculty of Medicine, Targu Mures,
Romania

DOI: 10.2478/amma-2021-0006

Aim: This cross-sectional study assesses the opinions regarding the abrupt change in dental health education of students from the Department of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Oradea University during the lockdown period.
Materials and methods: An on-line survey was distributed, from 30th of April 2020 until the 2nd of May 2020, collecting data about gender, nationality, year of study, sources of information about the virus, measures taken to avoid contamination, rating online teaching versus face-to face teaching, experiencing anxiety about the future of the profession, perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their life and professional future and possible measures that can be implemented in order to avoid or reduce contamination. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS and Chi-Square test.
Results and discussions: Reopening was associated with anxiety concerning the future of the profession for 44.8% of the respondents; almost half of the students experienced anxiety caused by the possibility of being infected in case of reopening (49.7%), while 62.6% were afraid of the possibility to infect their family, peers or patients. From the total number of students, 12.9% were considering changing their profession. A quarter of respondents (25.2%) declared that they will wait for a decrease in number of cases in order to reevaluate their professional career options.
Conclusions: Government provided data was preferred by the female respondents’ group, versus the men respondents’ group who preferred the information provided by the WHO. The highest percentage of respondents that considered professional psychological support from university during the lockdown period useful were in the first 4 years of study. Most of the foreign students preferred to open their own dental office, while most of the Romanian students opted for being an employee in a big Dental Clinic or for reevaluating their options at a later point.