Background: An estimated 10–30% of people with COVID-19 experience debilitating long-term symptoms or long covid. Underlying health conditions associated with chronic inflammation may increase the risk of long covid. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine whether long covid risk was altered by pre-existing asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adults. We identified studies by searching the PubMed and Embase databases from inception to 13 September 2024. We excluded studies that focused on children or defined long covid only in terms of respiratory symptoms. We used random-effects, restricted maximum likelihood models to analyse data pooled from 51 studies, which included 43 analyses of asthma and 30 analyses of COPD. The risk of bias was assessed using a ROBINS-E table. Results: We found 41% increased odds of long covid with pre-existing asthma (95% CI 1.29 to 1.54); pre-existing COPD was associated with 32% increased odds (95% CI 1.16 to 1.51). Pre-existing asthma, but not COPD, was associated with increased odds of long covid-associated fatigue. We observed heterogeneity in the results of studies of asthma related to hospitalisation status. Potential confounding and inconsistent measurement of exposure and outcome variables were among the identified limitations. Conclusions: Our findings support the hypothesis that pre-existing asthma and COPD increase the risk of long covid, including chronic fatigue outcomes in patients with asthma. Because COVID-19 targets the respiratory tract, these inflammatory conditions of the lower respiratory tract could provide mechanistic clues to a common pathway for the development of long-term sequelae in patients with long covid.

The current literature demonstrates that not only is exercise during pregnancy safe, but it has substantial maternal and infant benefits and appears to influence infant growth/size throughout pregnancy and at birth. However, many existing studies have investigated only the effects of prenatal exercise on birth weight. The purpose of this review was to determine the impact or association of maternal physical activity during pregnancy on neonatal body composition assessed between birth and two weeks of age. Electronic database searches were conducted on 29 July 2019 for randomized control trials and cohort studies, with an updated search completed on 8 January 2021. A total of 32 articles that met eligibility criteria were selected for review. Overall, prenatal exercise was not associated with infant body composition at birth. Yet, five of the studies identified suggest that infant body composition could be influenced by higher volumes of mid-to-late term prenatal physical activity. This systematic review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and registered in PROSPERO (Registration No. CRD42020160138).

About 45:000 cancers are linked to HPV each year in the United States alone. The HPV vaccine prevents cancer and is highly effective, yet vaccination coverage remains low. Pharmacies can play a meaningful role in increasing HPV vaccination access due to their availability and convenience. However, little is known about pharmacists’ perceived barriers to HPV vaccination. The objective of this systematic review was to summarize existing literature on perceived barriers to administering HPV vaccination reported by pharmacists. Barriers identified from selected studies were synthesized and further grouped into patient, parental, (pharmacist’s) personal, and system/organization barrier groups. Six studies were included in this review. The cost of the HPV vaccine, insurance coverage and reimbursement were commonly reported perceived barriers. Adolescent HPV vaccination barriers related to parental concerns, beliefs, and inadequate knowledge about the HPV vaccine. Perceived (pharmacist’s) personal barriers were related to lack of information and knowledge about HPV vaccine and recommendations. At the system/organization level, barriers reported included lack of time/staff/space; difficulty in series completion; tracking and recall of patient; perceived competition with providers; and other responsibilities/vaccines taking precedence. Future strategies involving pharmacy settings in HPV-related cancer prevention efforts should consider research on multilevel pharmacy-driven interventions addressing barriers.

Librarians at an academic medical center library gathered data to determine if library services and resources impacted scholarly activity. A survey was developed and sent out to faculty and residents asking how they used the library during scholarly activity. Sixty-five faculty members and residents responded to the survey. The majority of respondents involved with scholarly activity use the library’s services and resources. PubMed is the most frequently used database. The positive results show the library impacts the scholarly activity of medical faculty and residents.

Low health literacy continues to be a barrier in patient education. One solution to low health literacy is creating or providing patient education materials written in plain language. Plain language follows guidelines created for federal agencies to ensure that documents are written in clear and accessible language for all audiences. Health care professionals and librarians can locate or recommend plain language health information from many reputable consumer health websites.

The ability to be flexible and adapt quickly to changing circumstances is a crucial skill for librarians to develop in a world increasingly characterized by rapid change. It can take a crisis to learn how effective librarians have become in developing the needed adaptive behaviors, including a willingness to change workstyles, experiment with new technologies and readily move on from failed experiments. In this paper, librarians from the Preston Medical Library at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, prompted by the crisis of COVID-19, present their response. Beginning with a description of how services were provided prior to the pandemic, librarians detail their response in several key areas and show how they implemented new approaches to teaching, collaboration, and mutual support, working together to handle patron issues and pursue scholarly activities.