Statins reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19: an updated meta-analysis of 147 824 patients.

OBJECTIVES: There is conflicting evidence about the efficacy of statin use in regard to clinical outcomes in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to examine the effect of statin use on mortality in COVID-19 patients. METHODS: The electronic databases were searched, from inception to March 3, 2021. Unadjusted and adjusted effect estimates with their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were pooled using random-effects models. RESULTS: Twenty-five cohort studies involving 147 824 patients were included. The mean age of the patients ranged from 44.9 to 70.9 years; 57% of patients were male and 43% were female. The use of statins was not associated with mortality when applying the unadjusted risk ratio (uRR 1.16, 95% CI 0.86-1.57; 19 studies). In contrast, meta-analyses of the adjusted odds ratio (aOR 0.67, 95% CI 0.52-0.86; 11 studies) and adjusted hazard ratio (aHR 0.73, 95% CI 0.58-0.91; 10 studies) showed that statins were independently associated with a significant reduction in mortality. Subgroup analyses showed that only chronic use of statins significantly reduced mortality according to the adjusted models. CONCLUSIONS: The use of statins was found to be associated with a lower risk of mortality in COVID-19 patients based on adjusted effects of cohort studies. However, randomized controlled trials are still needed to confirm these findings.

Exclusive breastfeeding as a protective factor of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. / Lactancia materna exclusiva como factor protector de la leucemia linfoblástica aguda.

INTRODUCTION: Globally, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), represents more than 30% of all types of cancers in children aged between 0 and 9 years. In Peru, it has not been evaluated whether exclusive breastfee ding (EB) is a protective factor for ALL. OBJECTIVE: To identify the protective and risk factors associa ted with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children aged between 0 and 13 years in a national hospital in Lima, Peru. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Observational, analytical study, case-control design. 112 cases diagnosed with ALL and 229 controls were evaluated. The data were collected by interviews with the mothers of both groups. The magnitude of the association between ALL and EB was estimated using the odds ratio (OR) and multivariate logistic regression in Stata v 12. RESULTS: 50.9% (57/112) of the cases and 51.5% (118/229) of the controls were male. The mean age of the cases was 6.7 ± 3.2 years and of the controls 5.7 ± 3.5 years. The mean age of the mothers of the cases was 35.9 ± 6.5 and of the controls was 34.1 ± 7.1 years. EB reduces the risk of ALL by 44% compared with those who did not receive it, OR 0.56, p = 0.017, 95% CI (0.35-0.90). Complete secondary education reduces the risk of ALL by 62%, OR 0.38 CI 95% (0.15-0.61). CONCLUSIONS: Exclusive breastfeeding and the mother's complete secondary education are protective factors for the development of ALL in children and adolescents.

Nivel de ansiedad de estudiantes de medicina de primer año de una universidad privada del Perú en tiempos de Covid-19 / Anxiety Level Of First-Year Medical Students From A Private University In Peru In Times Of Covid-19

Introducción: La actual pandemia por un nuevo coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) ha cobrado la salud y la vida de muchas personas mundialmente. Esto genera un impacto negativo en la salud mental del personal de salud, lo cual incluye a estudiantes de medicina. Objetivo: Determinar el grado de ansiedad presente en estudiantes de medicina del primer año de una universidad privada, Lima-Perú. Métodos: La muestra estuvo conformada por 57 estudiantes de una universidad privada en Lima-Perú. Se aplicó la escala para medir el Desorden de Ansiedad Generalizada-7 (GAD-7). Los datos fueron analizados mediante tablas de frecuencias y de contingencia, además se realizó el análisis bivariado aplicando las pruebas estadísticas X2 y T de Student. Resultados: El 75,4% de los estudiantes de medicina manifestaron algún grado de ansiedad. Se encontró asociación estadísticamente significativa entre el sexo femenino y ansiedad (p = 0,045). Así mismo, no hubo asociación entre las variables edad y ansiedad (p = 0,058). Conclusión: Los estudiantes de medicina de primer año evidenciaron niveles altos de ansiedad durante la actual pandemia, siendo las mujeres entre quienes la ansiedad se presenta con mayor frecuencia. Se hace oportuno el desarrollo de estrategias de intervención en los centros universitarios para el cuidado de la salud mental de los estudiantes de ciencias de la salud.

Introduction: The current pandemic due to a new coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) has claimed the health and lives of many people worldwide. This has a negative impact on the mental health of health personnel, which includes medical students. Objective: To determine the degree of anxiety present in first-year medical students from a private university, Lima-Peru. Methods: The sample consisted of 57 students from private university in Lima Perú. The scale was applied to measure Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). The data were analyzed using frequency and contingency tables, in addition bivariate analysis was performed applying the statistical tests X2 and Student's t. Results: 75.4% of the medical students manifested some degree of anxiety. A statistically significant association was found between female sex and anxiety (p = 0.045). Likewise, there was no association between the variables age and anxiety (p = 0.058). Conclusion: First-year medical students showed high levels of anxiety during the current pandemic, with women being among those who anxiety occurs more frequently. The development of intervention strategies in university centers for the care of mental health of health sciences students is timely.