Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35991340›Full record

ArticleAfrican journal of thoracic and critical care medicine2022

Respiratory technologists in the frontlines against COVID-19.

S D Maasdorp, M Pretorius, P Pienaar, E Rosslee, A Alexander, A van der Linde, C van Rooyen

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in African journal of thoracic and critical care medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact, top 89% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 0 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. COVID-19 brought out the best and worst of us.African journal of thoracic and critical care medicine · 2022
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

S D MaasdorpDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, and Division of Critical Care, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4553-0518
M PretoriusDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State, and Universitas Academic Hospital, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
P PienaarDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State, and Universitas Academic Hospital, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
E RossleeDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State, and Universitas Academic Hospital, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
A AlexanderDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State, and Universitas Academic Hospital, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
A van der LindeDivision of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State, and Universitas Academic Hospital, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
C van RooyenDepartment of Biostatistics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
University of the Free State · ZA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmed healthcare resources globally, but especially those of resource-limited countries. Strategies to supplement the number of healthcare workers attending COVID-19 patients had to be implemented. Several institutions used non-respiratory clinicians to work in COVID-19 wards. At Universitas Academic Hospital (UAH), Bloemfontein, South Africa, respiratory technologists were requested to assist with managing the oxygen supportive care of patients with severe COVID-19 and respiratory failure. Objectives: To highlight the contribution that respiratory technologists made in the management of severe COVID-19 pneumonia patients by describing the baseline characteristics and mortality of patients with COVID-19, whose oxygen supportive care was managed primarily by respiratory technologists at UAH. Methods: This was a retrospective study. The investigators extracted data from the hospital files of all adult patients admitted with severe COVID-19 to UAH and where respiratory technologists were involved in their care between 1 January and 31 December 2020. Results: A total of 781 patients were admitted to UAH, of whom 106 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The majority of the patients were female (n=68; 64.1%), and the median age (interquartile range (IQR)) was 59.5 (51 - 68) years. Hypertension (n=69; 65.1%) and diabetes mellitus (n=39; 36.8%) were the most frequent comorbidities. At the time of admission, the median oxygen saturation was 92% and the median respiratory rate oxygenation (ROX) index was 3.2. The median length of stay was 7 days and the mortality was 41.5%. Conclusion: The clinical characteristics and mortality of patients whose oxygen support was managed by respiratory technologists were similar to those in previously reported studies from resource-limited settings. Respiratory technologists can form a valuable addition to the front-line team when clinicians and nurses are faced with overwhelming patient numbers in subsequent COVID-19 surges and where the mainstay of treatment is oxygen supportive care.

Indexed as

COVID-19FrontlineRespiratory technologist

Identifiers

PMID35991340
PMCPMC9366451
OpenAlexW4292677219

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.