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Authors are the souls of any journal, and deserve much respect. To publish a journal manuscripts are needed from authors. Authors have a great responsibility for producing facts of their work in terms of number and results truthfully and an individual honesty is expected from authors in this regards. Both ways its true "No authors-No manuscripts-No journals" and "No journals–No manuscripts–No authors". Reviewing a manuscript is also a very responsible and important task of any peer-reviewed journal and to be taken seriously. It needs knowledge on the subject, sincerity, honesty and determination. Although the process of reviewing a manuscript is a time consuming task butit is expected to give one's best remarks within the time frame of the journal.
Salient features of the JCDR: It is a biomedical, multidisciplinary (including all medical and dental specialities), e-journal, with wide scope and extensive author support. At the same time, a free text of manuscript is available in HTML and PDF format. There is fast growing authorship and readership with JCDR as this can be judged by the number of articles published in it i e; in Feb 2007 of its first issue, it contained 5 articles only, and now in its recent volume published in April 2011, it contained 67 manuscripts. This e-journal is fulfilling the commitments and objectives sincerely, (as stated by Editor-in-chief in his preface to first edition) i e; to encourage physicians through the internet, especially from the developing countries who witness a spectrum of disease and acquire a wealth of knowledge to publish their experiences to benefit the medical community in patients care. I also feel that many of us have work of substance, newer ideas, adequate clinical materials but poor in medical writing and hesitation to submit the work and need help. JCDR provides authors help in this regards.
Timely publication of journal: Publication of manuscripts and bringing out the issue in time is one of the positive aspects of JCDR and is possible with strong support team in terms of peer reviewers, proof reading, language check, computer operators, etc. This is one of the great reasons for authors to submit their work with JCDR. Another best part of JCDR is "Online first Publications" facilities available for the authors. This facility not only provides the prompt publications of the manuscripts but at the same time also early availability of the manuscripts for the readers.
Indexation and online availability: Indexation transforms the journal in some sense from its local ownership to the worldwide professional community and to the public.JCDR is indexed with Embase & EMbiology, Google Scholar, Index Copernicus, Chemical Abstracts Service, Journal seek Database, Indian Science Abstracts, to name few of them. Manuscriptspublished in JCDR are available on major search engines ie; google, yahoo, msn.
In the era of fast growing newer technologies, and in computer and internet friendly environment the manuscripts preparation, submission, review, revision, etc and all can be done and checked with a click from all corer of the world, at any time. Of course there is always a scope for improvement in every field and none is perfect. To progress, one needs to identify the areas of one's weakness and to strengthen them.
It is well said that "happy beginning is half done" and it fits perfectly with JCDR. It has grown considerably and I feel it has already grown up from its infancy to adolescence, achieving the status of standard online e-journal form Indian continent since its inception in Feb 2007. This had been made possible due to the efforts and the hard work put in it. The way the JCDR is improving with every new volume, with good quality original manuscripts, makes it a quality journal for readers. I must thank and congratulate Dr Hemant Jain, Editor-in-Chief JCDR and his team for their sincere efforts, dedication, and determination for making JCDR a fast growing journal.
Every one of us: authors, reviewers, editors, and publisher are responsible for enhancing the stature of the journal. I wish for a great success for JCDR."
Thanking you
With sincere regards
Dr. Rajendra Kumar Ghritlaharey, M.S., M. Ch., FAIS
Associate Professor,
Department of Paediatric Surgery, Gandhi Medical College & Associated
Kamla Nehru & Hamidia Hospitals Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462 001 (India)
E-mail: drrajendrak1@rediffmail.com
On May 11,2011
Dr. Shankar P.R.
"On looking back through my Gmail archives after being requested by the journal to write a short editorial about my experiences of publishing with the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (JCDR), I came across an e-mail from Dr. Hemant Jain, Editor, in March 2007, which introduced the new electronic journal. The main features of the journal which were outlined in the e-mail were extensive author support, cash rewards, the peer review process, and other salient features of the journal.
Over a span of over four years, we (I and my colleagues) have published around 25 articles in the journal. In this editorial, I plan to briefly discuss my experiences of publishing with JCDR and the strengths of the journal and to finally address the areas for improvement.
My experiences of publishing with JCDR: Overall, my experiences of publishing withJCDR have been positive. The best point about the journal is that it responds to queries from the author. This may seem to be simple and not too much to ask for, but unfortunately, many journals in the subcontinent and from many developing countries do not respond or they respond with a long delay to the queries from the authors 1. The reasons could be many, including lack of optimal secretarial and other support. Another problem with many journals is the slowness of the review process. Editorial processing and peer review can take anywhere between a year to two years with some journals. Also, some journals do not keep the contributors informed about the progress of the review process. Due to the long review process, the articles can lose their relevance and topicality. A major benefit with JCDR is the timeliness and promptness of its response. In Dr Jain's e-mail which was sent to me in 2007, before the introduction of the Pre-publishing system, he had stated that he had received my submission and that he would get back to me within seven days and he did!
Most of the manuscripts are published within 3 to 4 months of their submission if they are found to be suitable after the review process. JCDR is published bimonthly and the accepted articles were usually published in the next issue. Recently, due to the increased volume of the submissions, the review process has become slower and it ?? Section can take from 4 to 6 months for the articles to be reviewed. The journal has an extensive author support system and it has recently introduced a paid expedited review process. The journal also mentions the average time for processing the manuscript under different submission systems - regular submission and expedited review.
Strengths of the journal: The journal has an online first facility in which the accepted manuscripts may be published on the website before being included in a regular issue of the journal. This cuts down the time between their acceptance and the publication. The journal is indexed in many databases, though not in PubMed. The editorial board should now take steps to index the journal in PubMed. The journal has a system of notifying readers through e-mail when a new issue is released. Also, the articles are available in both the HTML and the PDF formats. I especially like the new and colorful page format of the journal. Also, the access statistics of the articles are available. The prepublication and the manuscript tracking system are also helpful for the authors.
Areas for improvement: In certain cases, I felt that the peer review process of the manuscripts was not up to international standards and that it should be strengthened. Also, the number of manuscripts in an issue is high and it may be difficult for readers to go through all of them. The journal can consider tightening of the peer review process and increasing the quality standards for the acceptance of the manuscripts. I faced occasional problems with the online manuscript submission (Pre-publishing) system, which have to be addressed.
Overall, the publishing process with JCDR has been smooth, quick and relatively hassle free and I can recommend other authors to consider the journal as an outlet for their work."
Dr. P. Ravi Shankar
KIST Medical College, P.O. Box 14142, Kathmandu, Nepal.
E-mail: ravi.dr.shankar@gmail.com
On April 2011 Anuradha
Dear team JCDR, I would like to thank you for the very professional and polite service provided by everyone at JCDR. While i have been in the field of writing and editing for sometime, this has been my first attempt in publishing a scientific paper.Thank you for hand-holding me through the process.
Dr. Anuradha
E-mail: anuradha2nittur@gmail.com
On Jan 2020
Original article / research
Full Version
Correlation between Occurrence of Psychosomatic Disorders and Age during COVID-19 Lockdown
Correspondence Address :
Dr. Hetvi Bharatbhai Jethloja,
Rajkot, Gujarat, India.
E-mail: phetvi827@gmail.com
Introduction: The Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) has caused a serious threat to people’s mental health causing psychosomatic disorders such as panic disorder, anxiety, and depression.
Aim: To find out the correlation between the occurrence of psychosomatic disorders and age during the COVID-19 lockdown phase.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, observational study was conducted in Department of Physiotherapy at RK University, Rajkot, Gujarat, India. Males and females of age ≥21 years, with an ability to understand and fill Google form were recruited for the study. The subjects were divided into four groups according to age 21-34 years, 35-54 years, 55-64 years, and 65 years and older. There were 250 participants in each group. The subjects were asked to fill the COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (CPDI). Data were analysed by using software Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 20. The normality of data was checked by the Shapiro Wilk test. Data followed parametric type so; Pearson correlation test was applied to find out the correlation between age and CPDI score.
Results: The mean age of the population was 49.24±18.14 years. The mean CPDI scale scores were 27.572, 31.948, 31.364, and 35.328, respectively from groups 1 to 4. There was a significant positive correlation (p-value=0.031) in group 4, while no significance was found in group 1 (p-value=0.074), group 2 (p-value=0.067), and group 3 (p-value=0.062)
Conclusion: There was a significant positive correlation between age and psychosomatic disorder occurrence in the geriatric age group (65 years and older) in the Rajkot city.
Anxiety, Coronavirus disease-2019, COVID-19 peritraumatic distress index, Depression, Pandemic, Stress
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines mental health as “a state of well-being whereby individuals recognise their abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life; work productively and fruitfully and contribute to their communities (1). COVID-19 pandemic had affected every segment of society; transforming our daily habits, lifestyle, work, and social cultures (2). A wide range of mental health issues like depression, stress, anxiety had been observed during the COVID-19 outbreak among people due to fear of dying, feeling helpless, unemployment, and social isolation which ultimately leads to psychosomatic disorders (3).
Islam MA et al., conducted a study to find out anxiety and depression among university students suffering from mild to severe depression and anxiety due to various factors like online classes which caused a gap in academic teaching and learning, unemployment in part-time jobs and financial insecurity (4). Son C et al., stated that stress, anxiety, and depression has drastically increased among college-going students because of the pandemic (5). Xiong J et al., found that general public exhibit more psychological symptoms during the pandemic (6).
During COVID-19, not only young and middle-aged individuals but geriatric individuals were also suffering from psychosomatic disorders. Richard A et al., emphasised that equal importance should be given to all the age groups while considering loneliness for physical health, mental health and lifestyle factors (7). Mirowsky J and Ross CE, stated that depression was lowest among the middle-aged, higher among younger and older adults. Depression reached its highest level in adults 80-year-old or older (8).
Roy A et al., suggested that the sudden changes in the daily routine can be extremely confusing and difficult to cope up for children, geriatric, and quarantined individuals, school closures, leisure outdoor events. Not being able to interact with their peers can have a negative impact on children’s mental health(9).
Various studies had been reported that show psychosomatic problems in different age groups using different outcome measures (7),(8). However, no study involved all age groups and a single outcome test to identify psychosomatic disorders. So, the present study aimed to find out the occurrence of psychosomatic disorders and to correlate it with different age groups living in a red zone of Rajkot, Gujarat.
A cross-sectional observational study was carried out in the containment area (red zone area) announced by Rajkot Municipal Corporation. This study was affiliated to the Department of Physiotherapy at RK University, Rajkot, Gujarat, India, during the period of July 2020 to August 2020. The Helsinki declaration was followed and from every participant, consent was taken before enrolling in the study.
Sample size calculation: The sample size for the study was calculated using Power formula:
n=4pq/d2
where, p=Prevalence (Prevalence of coronavirus in red alert area as per Rajkot Municipal Corporation Data) (10), q=100-p,d=allowable error (5%) The sample size after calculating power formula was 916.
Inclusion criteria: Age between 21 to 85 years, both male and female subjects, subjects using any social media like WhatsApp, Facebook, or Instagram, and having the ability to understand and fill google forms.
Exclusion criteria: Subjects that were positive for COVID-19, mentally challenged and subjects denied filling Google forms.
Rajkot city became a hotspot during the month of July 2020 to August 2020 as there was an increasing number of COVID-19 cases day-by-day. For the study, the E-consent form was shared via various social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram. One thousand subjects were selected for the study by purposive sampling and the outcome measure CPDI Scale (designed using simple Google Forms) was shared with subjects using the same social media platform (Table/Fig 1).
The 1000 subjects were divided into 4 groups (250 in each group): Group 1 young subjects (21 to 34 years), group 2 middle-aged subjects (35 to 54 years), group 3 older subjects (55 to 64 years), and group 4 geriatric subjects (65 years and older). Keefe FJ and Williams DJ stated that individuals of these four different ages have different perceptions towards depression due to different events of life so this article was taken as a reference (11).
The CPDI is a self-reported questionnaire used for this survey to study psychosomatic disorders, including symptoms such as stress, anxiety, and depression. The Shanghai Mental Health centre checked the validity of the CPDI and found it suitable for use in the collection of COVID-19 distress information (12). The CPDI is graded as follows: a score between 0 to 28 indicates normal levels; a score between 29 to 52 indicates that the participant is mildly distressed and a score between 53 to 100 indicates that the respondent is severely distressed (13). To construct the CPDI, the sum of the codes of the responses to the 24 questions was considered. The total scores could range from 0 to 96. A base count of four was added to all respondents to enable the maximum of the standard 100 for a CPDI (14).
Statistical Analysis
Data were analysed using SPSS software version 20. The normality of data was checked by the Shapiro Wilk test. Data followed parametric type, so Pearson Correlation test was applied to find out the correlation between age and CPDI score. The significant p-value which was taken into consideration for the study was <0.05.
The mean age of the population was 49.24±18.14 years (Table/Fig 2). (Table/Fig 3) shows that there was a significant correlation between age and CPDI score among the geriatrics (Group 4) (p-value=0.031).
The present study concluded that there was a major psychosomatic disorder among geriatric individuals as compared to the young, middle, and adult individuals. Li Y et al., stated that the mental health of elderly population requires special attention, human care, and psychological interventions (15). The same concept was stated by Nadimi that the elderly have a cognitive impairment, dependency on activities of daily living, loneliness, etc., all this leads to sign of depression which increases due to loss of relatives and fading of communication among closed ones (16).
It had been shown that the elderly prefer personal communication and care, rather than virtual interactions (17). Another study also stated that there were already distinct physical, psychosocial, environmental weaknesses in the geriatric age group (18). Anxiety of losing their loved ones and remorse of being the carriers of the infection correlated with age (18). Thus, during the current pandemic situation, staying physically “segregated” adds to their loneliness and social isolation which ultimately led to psychosomatic disorders (17). The same result was found in the index study based on the CPDI scale.
Shrira A et al., studied the association between loneliness and psychiatric symptoms and concluded that it was significant and robust only among participants with older ages rather than those with young ages (19). Girdhar R et al., stated that the elderly population is most vulnerable to the pandemic. Besides the infection, social isolation and quarantine has lead to physical and mental health problems (20).
Not only in this COVID-19 pandemic but other major calamities also brought similar findings. Pistoia F et al., did an extensive work by using many different scales such as {Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale Short Form, Uncertainty Response Scale (URS), Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3), and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Short Form (EPQ-RS)}. The study concluded that disaster had adverse psychological effects on older adults (21). Bei B et al., using the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) concluded that older adults might have increased need during a disaster, such as access to community services, medical care, and are particularly vulnerable to their disruption. Floods have been associated with an adverse effect on older adults’ mental and physical health (22). Thus, it can be concluded that during any kind of pandemic geriatric age group people are more affected as compared to younger ones.
Limitation(s)
Children were not included in the study. The study was constrained to the containment zone of Rajkot. The socio-economic status of subjects was not taken into consideration for the study.
There was no significant correlation between age and psychosomatic disorders in young, middle, and older age groups. Whereas, there was a positive correlation between age and psychosomatic disorders in the geriatric age group, as found in the containment zone of Rajkot city, Gujarat. Such studies can be carried out in different phases i.e., active phase and post COVID-19 phase along with the correlation between other variables like depression and socio-economic status.
Authors express gratitude to their parents and participants.
10.7860/JCDR/2021/46716.15093
Date of Submission: Sep 12, 2020
Date of Peer Review: Oct 20, 2020
Date of Acceptance: Mar 30, 2021
Date of Publishing: Jul 01, 2021
AUTHOR DECLARATION:
• Financial or Other Competing Interests: None
• Was Ethics Committee Approval obtained for this study? NA
• Was informed consent obtained from the subjects involved in the study? Yes
• For any images presented appropriate consent has been obtained from the subjects. NA
PLAGIARISM CHECKING METHODS:
• Plagiarism X-checker: Sep 15, 2021
• Manual Googling: Mar 03, 2021
• iThenticate Software: May 28, 2021 (18%)
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