El impacto de las primeras olas pandémicas de la COVID-19 en las personas mayores con demencia

Patients with dementia are in themselves more vulnerable, and have been especially affected by the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, both directly due to the disease itself, and indirectly due to the deprivation of cognitive stimulation due to isolation social due to confinement.SARS-CoV-2 virus infection has given rise to a wide variety of symptoms, including neurological symptoms and especially delirium in the elderly with dementia. The virus has affected the central nervous system, both directly due to the neurotropism of the virus, and indirectly due to inflammation and tissue hypoxia of vascular origin.The different causes that have been able to lead, in the different waves prior to the omicron variant, to the significant increase in morbidity and mortality in patients with dementia, especially the elderly, are analyzed.     

WebSurvCa: estimación vía web de las probabilidades de fallecimiento y de supervivencia de una cohorte

Relative survival has been used as a measure of the temporal evolution of the excess risk of death of a cohort of patients diagnosed with cancer, taking into account the mortality of a reference population. Once the excess risk of death has been estimated, three probabilities can be computed at time T: 1) the crude probability of death associated with the cause of initial diagnosis (disease under study), 2) the crude probability of death associated with other causes, and 3) the probability of absolute survival in the cohort at time T. This paper presents the WebSurvCa application (https://shiny.snpstats.net/WebSurvCa/), whereby hospital-based and population-based cancer registries and registries of other diseases can estimate such probabilities in their cohorts by selecting the mortality of the relevant region (reference population).     

Implantación de un programa de promoción de la salud de las mujeres en zonas de exclusión social de la ciudad de Sevilla

Health promotion can contribute towards reducing inequality and ensuring equal opportunities, providing the means to enable the entire population to develop its maximum health possibilities. Women living in areas with social transformation needs (ASTN) are an especially vulnerable group due to the situation of material deprivation and social exclusion in which they live. Health promotion programmes for this group can bring about an improvement in their health. This paper describes the health promotion programme Socio-educational Groups of Primary Care for Women (SEGPC-W), and evaluates its implementation in ASTN in the city of Seville (Spain), as well as the benefits and difficulties of its development through a documentary analysis and interviews with participating professionals.     

La competencia de las autoridades sanitarias para restringir derechos en situación de crisis sanitaria

We carry out a brief analysis of the constitutional grounds on health protection (arts. 43 in connection with 15 of the Spanish Constitution [CE]), in the sense that we don’t need to consider exogenous principles to a normative constitution as the Spanish one, such as the known and cited principle of necessity, under the aphorism Salus publica suprema lex esto. We find in the constitutional text itself the attribution to the public powers of the competence to organize and protect public health (art. 43 CE), therefore public powers are able to regulate by law the duties and obligations of citizens «in cases of serious risk, catastrophe or public calamity» (art. 32(4) CE). Moreover, we study the Spanish legal framework on public health, including the General Sanitary Law, the General Public Health Law, with a special attention to the art. 3 of Organic Law 3/1986, 14 April, on special measures in the field of public health, which attributes to the health authorities a huge competence to be able to adopt, in a situation of sanitary crisis such as the current one, decisions that, with the necessary guarantees, suppose a restriction or limitation of rights, including fundamental ones as in the case of confinement. These limitations on fundamental rights require a judicial authorization or ratification. However, we also consider the convenience of a new organic law to regulate in detail the procedure and the legal guarantees to carry out the adoption and development of these measures.     

Los estudiantes de medicina españoles y la medicina de familia. Datos de las 2 fases de una encuesta estatal

ObjectiveTo examine the perceptions and expectations about Family Practice (FP) and Primary Care (PC) in 1st, 3rd and 5th year students in medical schools.DesignAn observational study in two cross sections with intervals of two years.LocationSpanish Medical Schools.Participants1st, 3rd and 5th year students of 22 schools (1st phase) and 15 (second phase).Primary measurementsSelf-report questionnaires completed during the first quarter of the 2009-2010 and 2011-2012 academic years. It had 70 items in three blocks: perceptions of FP (19 items), training in FP (26 items), expectations and preferences (25 items), plus 13 specific items for 3rd and 5th year students. Most of the items were answered in a 6 point Likert scale.ResultsA total of 5299 responses in phase I, and 3869 in phase II were received. Students perceive FP and PC as essential areas of the health system and professional practice, but with little scientific and technical appeal. The large majortiy, 87%, consider training in FP necessary and compulsory, and it should start in third year. They prefer hospital medical specialities (88-89%), followed by surgical and paediatrics. FP is preferred by the 37-39%. Only between 24% and 28% of students have a clear preference for a specialty when they start medical studies.ConclusionsFP and PC are key areas and should be part of the curriculum, but are perceived to be of low scientific appeal.     

Explicaciones de las prácticas sexuales de riesgo en hombres que tienen sexo con hombres

ObjectiveTo explore views about risky sexual behaviors and perceptions of HIV, and to propose interventions for preventing HIV infections in a group of men who have sex with men.MethodsWe performed a qualitative study in a sample of 13 men who have sex with men, who were participating in an HIV-seronegative cohort, and who we contacted via saunas for the gay community in Barcelona (Spain). We performed in-depth semi-structured interviews, followed by content analysis.ResultsRisky sexual behaviors were associated with masculinity related to strong sexual needs, certain sexual exchange venues (such as saunas, private parties and clubs), drug use, and a desire to experiment with risk and one's own sexuality. HIV infection was perceived as a normalized disease, although becoming infected was still associated with shame and guilt. Proposed interventions included raising awareness of what it is like to live with HIV, generating greater social alarm, incorporating new technologies in prevention, and intensifying activity at gay venues.ConclusionsThe concept of masculinity plays a fundamental role in sexual practices among men who have sex with men. We suggest renewed innovation in preventive programs and incorporating the perception of risk and HIV infection from a gender perspective.     

Priorización de intervenciones sanitarias. Revisión de criterios,enfoques y rol de las agencias de evaluación

Objective

This study was carried out to develop an explicit health priority setting methodology to support decision-making regarding the technologies to be assessed for inclusion in the National Health Service service portfolio. The primary objective is to identify and analyse the criteria, approaches and conceptual frameworks used for national/international priority setting.

Impulsando las directrices de la Ley de Calidad del SNS: modelos computacionales de guías de práctica clínica

The Cohesion and Quality Act of the National Health System promotes the use of new technologies to make it possible for health professionals put the scientific evidence into practice. In order to do this, there are technological tools, known as of computer-interpretable guidelines, which can help achieve this goal from an innovation perspective. They can be adopted using an iterative process, having a great initial potential as an educational tool, of quality and safety of the patient, in the decision making and, optionally, can be integrated with the electronic medical history, once they are rigorously validated. This article presents updates on these tools, reviews international projects, and personal experiences in which they have demonstrated their value, and highlights the advantages, risks, and limitations they present from a clinical point of view.     

Evaluación de la calidad de las páginas web sanitarias mediante un cuestionario validado

ObjectiveThe objective of the present study was to evaluate the quality of general health information in Spanish language web pages, and the official Regional Services web pages from the different Autonomous Regions.DesignIt is a cross-sectional study. We have used a previously validated questionnaire to study the present state of the health information on Internet for a lay-user point of view.Participants and interventionsBy mean of PageRank (google^®), we obtained a group of webs, including a total of 65 health web pages. We applied some exclusion criteria, and finally obtained a total of 36 webs. We also analyzed the official web pages from the different Health Services in Spain (19 webs), making a total of 54 health web pages.ResultsIn the light of our data, we observed that, the quality of the general information health web pages was generally rather low, especially regarding the information quality. Not one page reached the maximum score (19 points). The mean score of the web pages was of 9.8±2.8.ConclusionsIn conclusion, to avoid the problems arising from the lack of quality, health professionals should design advertising campaigns and other media to teach the lay-user how to evaluate the information quality.     

Crisis e independencia de las políticas de salud pública. Informe SESPAS 2014

Independence in the formulation of public health policies can be affected by various agents with objectives contrary to population health, such as large corporations. This lack of independence may be exacerbated by the economic crisis due to lower funding for health regulatory bodies or other measures designed to protect health. Large corporations have influenced the formulation of certain policies with an impact on health, such as those related to the tobacco industry, the chemical industry, nutrition, alcohol, pharmaceuticals, and health technology. The main areas in which these companies can influence policies are science, education, politics, and society in general. In this scenario, public health associations should take an active role in ensuring the independence of political decisions via actions such as the following: supporting strategies that guarantee the independence of public health policies and apply criteria of impartiality and transparency; rejecting those public-private partnerships launched to prevent health problems partly caused by these corporations; establishing partnerships to achieve independent training of health professionals and an institution with scientific authority in order to improve public health communication and counteract the lack of sound public health information; promoting a critical analysis of the definition of health problems and their solutions, and establishing related agendas (scientific, political and media) and alliances, so that continuing training for health professionals is independent.     

Información sobre salud en internet y sellos de confianza como indicadores de calidad: el caso de las vacunas

ObjectivesTo find out the prevalence of quality trust marks present in websites and to analyse the quality of these websites displaying trust marks compared with those that do not display them, in order to put forward these trust marks as a quality indicator.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingInternet.ParticipantsWebsites on vaccines.Main measuresUsing “vacunas OR vaccines” as key words, the features of 40 web pages were analysed. These web pages were selected from the page results of two search engines, Google and Yahoo!ResultsBased on a total of 9 criteria, the average score of criteria fulfilled was 7 (95% CI 3.96–10.04) points for the web pages offered by Yahoo! and 7.3 (95% CI 3.86–10.74) offered by Google. Amongst web pages offered by Yahoo!, there were three with clearly inaccurate information, while there were four in the pages offered by Google. Trust marks were displayed in 20% and 30% medical web pages, respectively, and their presence reached statistical significance (P=0.033) when fulfilling the quality criteria compared with web pages where trust marks were not displayed.ConclusionsA wide variety of web pages was obtained by search engines and a large number of them with useless information. Although the websites analysed had a good quality, between 15% and 20% showed inaccurate information. Websites where trust marks were displayed had more quality than those that did not display one and none of them were included amongst those where inaccurate information was found.     

Heterogeneidad en el perfil profesional y las actividades de los registros de mortalidad en España

ObjectiveThe mortality registries (MR) code death causes for the elaboration of the mortality statistics of the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE). Documentary research and medical training can improve this activity. Our objective was to analyse the professional profile and activities of the MR.MethodA survey was designed and distributed in February 2021. Professional profile, quality activities, medical training, and regular publications were the major topics. 16/18 MR participated. A cluster analysis was performed.ResultsEleven registries belong to Public Health. Five have an INE agreement, 39% provided training, and 56% made regular publications. Ten improved the causes of death, and 17% reviewed the automatic coding. The cluster analysis started from 5/16 groups of registries.ConclusionsThe MR were heterogeneous in professionals, quality and publications. Homogeneity implies documentary search, a sole INE agreement, and providing systemic medical training.     

Mapa de las políticas nutricionales escolares en España

ObjectiveTo systematically describe the school nutritional policies of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain.MethodThrough a search of bibliographic databases, web pages and other official information systems, 183 documents of interest were identified. Information was systematically collected with the SNIPE (school nutrition index of programme effectiveness) questionnaire, adapted to Spain, and validated by reference staff of the regional government's health and education ministries.ResultsThe main objective of the policies is to prevent obesity and improve the nutrition of schoolchildren. The 17 autonomous communities cover the school canteen service, 11 cafeteria and vending machines, and 9 the breakfast service. All communities use the Consensus Document on School Food as a reference for the content of the menu and the nutritional quality of the products offered at the school; however, only 4 of them have regulated these aspects. The evaluation of policy objectives ranges from 58.8% of the autonomous communities for food supply to 5.9% for rotation and menu quality.ConclusionAlthough all the autonomous communities have standards for the school menu, the standards for the rest of the food supply vary across them; also, evaluation of objectives is scarce and only 4 communities have approved mandatory regulations. Nutritional standards should be reviewed according to current scientific knowledge and enacted by law, in compliance with the current legislation (Act 17/2011).