Self-perceived knowledge level of epidemic management in medical residents prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico.

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March 2020, requiring a comprehensive response from all healthcare systems, including Mexico's. As medical residents' training did not involve epidemic response, we decided to evaluate their level of training on this subject, specifically self-perceived knowledge level and capacity to respond to epidemiological crises. METHODOLOGY: Medical residents from two hospitals belonging to PEMEX (Mexico's state-owned petroleum company) were included in a cross-sectional study. All participants answered a modified version of the survey developed by the University of Lovaina's Center for Research and Education in Emergency Care. Participants were analyzed according to their relevant "clinical" or "surgical" residency tracks. Data were analyzed using through Chi-square tests, t-tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients with significance established at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Of a total of 94 resident participants in this study, 56.7% self-perceived themselves as being poorly prepared to confront the pandemic. Only 25.5% of the participants referred previous experience in medical responses to public health emergencies, and only 35.1% reported ever receiving education on this topic. CONCLUSIONS: Medical residents-who have been involved with caring for victims of the pandemic-are under the general perception that they are not prepared, experienced, or educated enough to respond to such a widespread massive public health emergency.

Percepción del paciente ante el acto anestésico: desarrollo de una encuesta breve en español para medir satisfacción / Patient perception of the anesthetic act: development of a brief survey in Spanish to measure satisfaction

Resumen: Introducción: El desarrollo de encuestas representa un proceso complejo que requiere la verificación de su utilidad antes de su aplicación. A nivel internacional existen pocos instrumentos para medir la percepción de la atención anestésica en cirugías electivas, sin olvidar que, en su mayoría, se crearon en inglés; por lo que el propósito de este estudio fue desarrollar una encuesta breve sobre la atención anestésica como un indicador de calidad en la población mexicana. Material y métodos: Se trata de un estudio cualitativo que implica la fase de la construcción de una encuesta en la que se realizó una revisión de la literatura internacional y local de los instrumentos para medir satisfacción en anestesiología. Posteriormente, se realizaron entrevistas informales aleatorias a 82 pacientes sobre temas asociados al acto anestésico para la construcción de ítems. Resultados: La propuesta incluye 16 ítems divididos en tres secciones correspondientes a las tres valoraciones anestésicas básicas en una cirugía electiva y que exploran seis dominios: trato adecuado, comunicación, autonomía, atención oportuna, efectos secundarios y satisfacción. Conclusiones: La propuesta presentada es un potencial instrumento que podría reflejar la calidad percibida de la atención anestésica en nuestra población, por lo que, para fortalecer este proceso, se requerirá continuar con sus respectivas validaciones.

Abstract: Introduction: Survey development represents a complex process that requires verification of its usefulness before its application. At an international level, there are few instruments to measure the perception of anaesthetic care in elective surgeries, without forgetting that most of them were created in English; therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a brief survey on anaesthetic care as an indicator of quality in the Mexican population. Material and methods: This is a qualitative study that involves the construction phase of a survey in which a review of the international and local literature of the instruments to measure satisfaction in anesthesiology was carried out. Subsequently, informal random interviews were conducted with 82 patients on the most sensitive issues associated with the anaesthetic act for the construction of items. Results: The proposal consists of 16 items divided into three sections corresponding to the three basic anaesthetic evaluations in elective surgery and that explore five domains: communication, autonomy, timely care, adequate treatment, and satisfaction. Conclusions: The proposal made in this project is a potential instrument that could reflect the perceived quality of anaesthetic care in our population, so to strengthen this process it will be necessary to continue with their respective validations.