Prevalence and Associations between Anxiety, Depression, and Stress among Peruvian University Students during the covid-19 Pandemic / Prevalencia y asociaciones de ansiedad, depresión y estrés en estudiantes universitarios peruanos durante la pandemia de covid-19 / Prevalência e associações de ansiedade, depressão e estresse em estudantes universitários peruanos durante a pandemia de covid-19

The pandemic has brought about social changes, which may have affected mental health.The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of and associations between anxiety, depression, and stress among Peruvian university students during the covid-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: This was an analytical, multi-centered, cross-sectional study conducted with 2,572 university students from 16 Peruvian cities. Depression, anxiety, and stress diagnoses were obtained with the dass-21 scale (stress alpha: 0.85; anx-iety alpha: 0.84; and depression alpha: 0.87). The values were crossed with significant social and educational variables. Results: Anxiety was the most common condition (extremely severe in 4 %, severe in 3 %, and mod-erate in 10 %). Whereas stress and depression were not associated with the course of studies (p > 0.330 and p > 0.440, respectively), anxiety was lower among students pursuing health-related degrees (p = 0.011). Women showed higher levels of stress (p = 0.040) and anxiety (p = 0.017). Older participants had relatively lower stress (p = 0.002), depression (p = 0.006), and anxiety (p = 0.044) levels. Third-year students had higher depression levels than first-year students (p = 0.011). Conclusions: Significant prevalence levels and associations were identified for the three conditions, which should be monitored to determine their current status, given the possible future occurrence of panic attacks or post-traumatic stress, among other complications.

la pandemia vivida obligó a cambios sociales que pudieron influir en la salud mental. El objetivo fue determinar la prevalencia y asociaciones de ansiedad, depresión y estrés en estudiantes universitarios peruanos durante la pandemia por covid-19. Materiales y métodos: estudio transversal analítico y multicéntrico, en 2572 estudiantes universitarios de 16 ciudades de Perú. Los diagnósticos de depresión, ansiedad y estrés se obtuvieron con la escala dass-21 (alfa estrés: 0.85; alfa ansiedad: 0.84 y alfa depresión: 0.87). A estos se los cruzó con importantes variables socioeducativas. Resultados: la ansiedad fue la patología más frecuente (4 % de forma extrema severa, 3 % de forma severa y 10 % de forma mode-rada); el estrés y la depresión no tienen asociación con la carrera profesional (p > 0.330 y p > 0.440, res-pectivamente); en cambio, la ansiedad fue menor en los estudiantes de carreras de salud (p = 0.011). Las mujeres tuvieron más estrés (p = 0.040) y ansiedad (p = 0.017). A mayor edad, hubo menos estrés (p = 0.002), depresión (p = 0.006) y ansiedad (p = 0.044). Los de tercer año tuvieron más depresión en comparación con los de primer año (p = 0.011). Conclusiones: existen importantes prevalencias y asociaciones de las tres patologías evaluadas, lo que debe ser monitorizado según como están actualmente. Esto por las posibles futuras manifestaciones de crisis de pánico, estrés postraumático, entre otras.

a pandemia que estamos vivenciando forçou mudanças sociais, que podem influenciar na saúde mental. O objetivo do estudo é determinar a prevalência e associações de ansiedade, depressão e estresse em estudantes universitários peruanos durante a pandemia de covid-19. Materiais e métodos:estudo transversal analítico e multicêntrico, com 2572 estudantes universitários provenientes de 16 cidades do Peru. Os diagnósticos de depressão, ansiedade e estresse foram obtidos com a escala dass-21 (Alpha para estresse: 0,85; Alpha para ansiedade: 0,84 e Alpha para depressão: 0,87), estes foram cruza-dos com importantes variáveis socioeducativas. Resultados: a ansiedade foi a patologia mais frequente (4 % em sua forma extremamente grave, 3 % forma grave e 10 % forma moderada); estresse e depressão não foram associados à carreira profissional (p > 0,330 e p > 0,440, respectivamente); por outro lado, a ansiedade foi menor nos estudantes da carreira da saúde (p = 0,011). As mulheres apresentaram mais estresse (p = 0,040) e ansiedade (p = 0,017); quanto maior a idade houve menos estresse (p = 0,002), depressão (p = 0,006) e ansiedade (p = 0,044). Estudantes do 3º ano apresentaram mais depressão em comparação aos do 1º ano (p = 0,011). Conclusões: existem prevalências e associações importantes entre as três patologias avaliadas, que devem ser monitoradas de acordo com a forma como se encontram atualmente. Isso se deve às possíveis manifestações futuras de ataques de pânico, estresse pós-traumá-tico, entre outras complicações.

Female participation in the editorial committees of medical journals in Latin America / Participación femenina en los comités editoriales de revistas médicas en Latinoamérica

Introduction: Female participation in the field of medicine and research has increased in recent years; however, there are still inequities in the proportion of men and women in medical leadership, especially in management positions and editorial committees of scientific journals. Objective: To identify female participation in the editorial committees of medical journals in Latin America and explore the association with editorial positions and impact indicators. Materials and methods: We conducted a descriptive bibliometric study to determine female participation in the editorial committees of medical & journals in Latin America. We included 113 medical journals published in Latin America and indexed in Scopus, updated and current in 2020, selected from the Scimago Journal Country Rank portal. The gender of editorial committee members was identified on the web pages of each magazine. Results: Regarding editorial leadership in the 113 journals included, women represented 12.9% of 264 members; as for the functions within the editorial committee, of 1,449 members, 28.9% were women while in advisory committees, of 4,575 members 19.0% were women. The presence of women in editorial committees was higher in journals from Chile, Brazil, and Venezuela in specialties such as public health, pediatrics, and anesthesiology. Conclusions: Female participation in the editorial committees of medical journals in Latin America is low.

Introducción. La participación femenina en el campo de la medicina y la investigación se ha incrementado en los últimos años; sin embargo, aún existen inequidades en la proporción de hombres y mujeres, especialmente en los cargos directivos y la participación en los comités editoriales de revistas científicas. Objetivo. Establecer la participación femenina en los comités editoriales de revistas médicas en Latinoamérica, y explorar su asociación con los cargos editoriales y los indicadores de impacto. Materiales y métodos. Se hizo un estudio descriptivo de tipo bibliométrico de revistas médicas de Latinoamérica indizadas en Scopus, actualizadas y vigentes en el 2020, las cuales se seleccionaron del portal de Scimago & Journal Country Rank. Los equipos editoriales se categorizaron en tres grupos según sus funciones y, posteriormente, se registró el sexo de sus miembros a partir de sus nombres. Resultados. Se incluyeron 113 revistas. En cuanto al liderazgo editorial, entre los 264 directores de comités editoriales, las mujeres representaban el 12,9 %. En lo concerniente a las diferentes funciones, de 1.449 miembros, las mujeres eran el 28,9 %, en tanto que, de los 4.575 miembros de comités consultivos, el 19,0 % correspondía a mujeres. Se observó una mayor presencia de mujeres en los comités editoriales de revistas de Chile, Brasil y Venezuela, y en las especialidades de salud pública, pediatría y anestesiología. Conclusiones. La participación femenina en los comités editoriales de revistas médicas de Latinoamérica es escasa.

Self-medication practices to prevent or manage COVID-19: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have assessed the prevalence and characteristics of self-medication in COVID-19. However, no systematic review has summarized their findings. OBJECTIVE: We conducted a systematic review to assess the prevalence of self-medication to prevent or manage COVID-19. METHODS: We used different keywords and searched studies published in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, two preprint repositories, Google, and Google Scholar. We included studies that reported original data and assessed self-medication to prevent or manage COVID-19. The risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) modified for cross-sectional studies. RESULTS: We identified eight studies, all studies were cross-sectional, and only one detailed the question used to assess self-medication. The recall period was heterogeneous across studies. Of the eight studies, seven assessed self-medication without focusing on a specific symptom: four performed in the general population (self-medication prevalence ranged between <4% to 88.3%) and three in specific populations (range: 33.9% to 51.3%). In these seven studies, the most used medications varied widely, including antibiotics, chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine, acetaminophen, vitamins or supplements, ivermectin, and ibuprofen. The last study only assessed self-medication for fever due to COVID-19. Most studies had a risk of bias in the "representativeness of the sample" and "assessment of outcome" items of the NOS. CONCLUSIONS: Studies that assessed self-medication for COVID-19 found heterogeneous results regarding self-medication prevalence and medications used. More well-designed and adequately reported studies are warranted to assess this topic.

Repercusión académica de la COVID-19 en universitarios peruanos / Academic impact of COVID-19 on Peruvian university students

Introducción: La pandemia del coronavirus ha generado que muchos estudiantes teman perder el ciclo. Objetivo: Validar una escala que mida la percepción de posibles repercusiones académicas en estudiantes universitarios en el Perú. Metodología: Se realizó un proceso de validación de un test que mide la percepción acerca de las posibles repercusiones académicas en estudiantes universitarios. La validación se realizó mediante búsqueda de literatura científica, construcción del primer bosquejo, validación del test por expertos (59 expertos: epidemiólogos, investigadores, médicos), análisis factorial exploratorio y estadístico. Resultados: Respecto a la relevancia se observa que el ítem 7 es más esencial o importante que los demás (V = 1,00; IC 95 por ciento: 0,73-0,96). El ítem 8 (M = 3,80; /= 1,152) presenta la mayor media y, la más baja, el ítem 6 (M = 3,03; DE = 1,342). La pertinencia del AFE se justifica con el índice KMO (0,85) y la prueba de Bartlett (12577,0; gl = 28; p = / 0,001) siendo aceptables y significativos. Se obtuvo un coeficiente α de Cronbach de 0,899 con un intervalo de confianza del 95 por ciento de 0,882-0,898; indicando que la consistencia del instrumento es buena. Conclusiones: Se validó una escala de factor único que mide la percepción que tienen los estudiantes universitarios acerca de las posibles repercusiones de la pandemia del coronavirus en sus estudios. Es necesario evaluar cada realidad y el instrumento puede servir como una escala base para ello(AU)

Introduction: As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, many students are worried that they may lose their academic term. Objective: Validate a scale to measure the perception of possible academic impacts among Peruvian university students. Method: A validation process was conducted of a test measuring the perception of university students about possible academic impacts. The validation was based on a scientific bibliography search, development of a preliminary overview, validation of the test by 59 experts: epidemiologists, researchers and physicians, exploratory factor analysis, and statistical analysis. Results: In terms of relevance, item 7 was found to be more essential or important than the others (V = 1.00; CI 95 percent: 0.73-0.96). Item 8 (M = 3.80; /= 1.152) exhibits the highest mean, and item 6 the lowest (M = 3.03; SD = 1.342). AFE relevance is justified by the KMO index (0.85) and Bartlett's test (12577.0; gl = 28; p = / 0.001), both of which were found to be acceptable and significant. A Cronbach's α coefficient of 0.899 was obtained, with a confidence interval of 95 percent, SD 0.882-0.898, indicating a good consistency level. Conclusions: A single factor scale was validated which measures the perception of university students about the possible impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on their studies. It is necessary to evaluate each reality, and the tool may serve as a base scale for that purpose(AU)