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Elderly people and people with co-morbidities have emerged as the most vulnerable group at risk of developing complications and succumbing to novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection. We recorded the baseline demographic profile, baseline clinical and laboratory parameters, and prevalence of various co-morbidities and their effect on the prognosis of COVID-19 cases. We conducted a prospective observational study and analyzed baseline clinical and laboratory parameters and co-morbidities and their effect on severity and mortality in 710 COVID-19 cases. Seven hundred ten patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 were recruited from the 28 th of March to the 31 st of August 2020. The mean age was 48.4 ± 16.4years. A total of 530 (74.6%) patients were male. Overall, the mean length of hospital stay was 12.7 days. In total, 645 patients(90.8%) were mild to moderate cases and did not require initial ICU care. Sixty-five (9.2%) cases required initial intensive care unit care. Fifty (7%) admitted patients succumbed to the illness. Diabetes mellitus and hypertension increased the risk of death in COVID-19 patients irrespective of age. Increasing age and co-morbidities adversely affect the prognosis of patients of COVID-19. Diabetes mellitus and hypertension increase the risk of death in COVID-19 patients and negate the incremental effect of age on death in these patients.

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This study highlights the need for educational programs and easy to implement screening tools to ensure delirium is not overlooked.

ObjectiveTo determine the feasibility of conducting creative writing workshops (CWW) for patients with cancer to promote improvement in mood.MethodWe piloted a prospective study to determine the feasibility of conducting CWW over a 4-week period. Patients were randomised 2:1 to either an intervention arm (IA) or to standard of care (SOC). Patients in the IA attended four 2-hour long weekly CWW × 4 weeks, whereas those receiving SOC did not participate in the CWW. We used a validated emotion thermometer scale (ETS) to assess changes in patient’s mental health before and after intervention. Patients with metastatic or unresectable cancer were included.Primary endpoint(1) Feasibility and (2) mood scores before and after CWW using ETS.ResultsA total of 16 patients were enrolled: 11 in the IA vs 5 in SOC. Seven out of 11 (63%) patients enrolled in the IA attended at least 75% of classes. Patients in the IA showed a trend towards mood improvement relative to the SOC when comparing initial and final ETS scores. Within the IA group significantly lower postclass total ETS scores were observed relative to preclass ETS scores. Also, a significant decreasing trend over time was observed in the preclass total ETS scores for participants in the IA group.ConclusionsIt is feasible for patients with cancer to attend CWW. Our results also show a positive effect on mood in the CWW arm. Further prospective clinical studies are needed to evaluate the effect of this intervention in patients with cancer.

These data point to the effectiveness of this method to cue supervisors to provide feedback to students.

REFERENCE 1 Wood B, Mandel L, Schaad D et al. Teaching the clinical interpretation of peripheral blood smears to a second-year medical school class using the Peripheral Blood-Tutor computer program.