Perseverative Cognition as a Mediator Between Personality Traits and Blood Pressure.

Purpose: Several authors link hypertension with psychological dispositions such as stress, personality, and anxiety, some propose that stress is not enough to explain arterial hypertension and others propose the perseverative cognition model to explain. The aim of this study was to relate personality traits and blood pressure profile of a group of workers, examining the results of perseverative cognition as a possible mediating variable concerning blood pressure. Patients and Methods: Cross-sectional design study, with a sample of 76 employees of a Colombian university. The NEO-FFI, RRS, and blood pressure measurement instruments were applied; data were reviewed through correlation and mediation analysis. Results: We found evidence of association between neuroticism and perseverative cognition (rho=0.42 with brooding; rho =0.32 with reflection), but no evidence about mediation of perseverative cognition between personality and blood pressure. Conclusion: It is necessary to keep researching the mechanisms related to the occurrence of hypertension.

HPV-Vaccine Hesitancy in Colombia: A Mixed-Methods Study.

In Colombia, the uptake rate of the HPV vaccine dropped from 96.7% after its introduction in 2013 to 9% in 2020. To identify the behavioural components of HPV-vaccine hesitancy in females aged 15 and under and their families, we conducted a convergent mixed-methods study in which 196 parents/caregivers responded to an online questionnaire and 10 focus groups were held with 13 of these parents/caregivers, and 50 age-eligible girls. The study is novel as it is the first to explore the factors influencing HPV-vaccine hesitancy alongside the COVID vaccine within an integrative model of behaviour change, the capability-opportunity-motivation-behaviour (COM-B) model. We found that COVID-19 has had an impact on the awareness of HPV and HPV vaccination. Lack of information about the vaccination programs, concerns about vaccine safety and the relationship between HPV and sexuality could be related to vaccine hesitancy. Trust in medical recommendations and campaigns focused on the idea that vaccination is a way of protecting daughters from cervical cancer could improve HPV vaccine uptake.

Health-related quality of life of women after HPV testing as triage strategy for an abnormal Pap smear: a nested randomized pragmatic trial in a middle-income country.

BACKGROUND: Information obtained in studies on the impact of human papilloma virus (HPV) testing on health-related quality of life is contradictory. OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact on health-related quality of life of the HPV test, colposcopy, and cytology as triage strategies after a cytology with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) in Medellín, Colombia. METHODS: We carried out a nested analysis on the randomized pragmatic trial (ASCUS-COL). Women with ASCUS were assigned randomly to one of the 3 arms (Pap smear, colposcopy, HPV). Participants completed a questionnaire at baseline, two weeks after receiving the results of the triage tests and one year after the second questionnaire. We used the SF-36 to assess health-related quality of life. RESULTS: The sum score of the physical health component (PHC) and mental health component (MHC) increased significantly over time for the whole sample and there were no statistically significant differences between arms of PHC = survey 1: mean 52.4 (SD 8.21) vs. survey 3: mean 54.4 (SD 8.16) p < 0.0001 and of MHC = survey 1: mean 44.9 (SD 11.72) vs. survey 3: mean 48.1 (SD 11.20) p < 0.0001. A lower MHC occurred in women with lesser schooling, belonging to the public health care regimen, higher number of live births, and separated. A lower PHC was associated with the cytology arm, higher age, lesser schooling, and belonging to the subsidized regime. The risk of having depression went from 42% in the first survey to 26% in the third. CONCLUSION: The triage strategies affected health-related quality of life in the same manner. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02067468.

Psychosocial impact of inclusion of HPV test on the management of women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance: a study within a randomised pragmatic trial in a middle-income country.

Objective: To assess the psychosocial impact of human papillomavirus (HPV) testing, colposcopy, and Pap-smear, as triage strategies after a Pap-smear with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS). We also sought to evaluate the psychosocial impact based on the results of the strategies. Methods: Nested within a randomised pragmatic trial, which compared an immediate colposcopy, repeat Pap-smear, and high risk HPV test, we enrolled 675 women between 2012 and 2014. Participants completed surveys at enrollment, two weeks after triage test results, and 1 year thereafter to assess cervical cancer and HPV knowledge, self-esteem, anxiety and HPV impact (HIP). Results: Knowledge, self-esteem, anxiety and HIP improved with no differences among arms. At the baseline, 31.4% and 32.7% of the participants had state anxiety and trait anxiety, respectively, which decreased to 10.7% and 13.3% in the last survey. Compared to HPV-negative women, HPV-positive women in the second survey had worse HIP scores (HPV-: M 22.9 [SD: 15.20]; HPV+: M 35.9 [SD: 19.91]; p < 0.001), trait anxiety (HPV-: M 15.4 [SD 12.73]; HPV+: M 22.9 [SD 13.29]; p = 0.001), and state anxiety (HPV-: M 10.7 [SD 11.25]; HPV+: M 21.4 [SD 14.81]; p < 0.001). Conclusions: HPV testing as a triage strategy for women with ASCUS does not differ from colposcopies or Pap-smears in terms of psychosocial outcomes.

Perception about barriers and facilitators of the school-based HPV vaccine program of Manizales, Colombia: A qualitative study in school-enrolled girls and their parents.

In 2012, Colombia implemented a school-based HPV vaccination program of a 3-dose series for nine year old girls. Following a mass psychogenic response after vaccination in a Colombian town, vaccination rates dropped from 80% in 2012-2013 to 5% in 2016. The study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators of HPV vaccine uptake among girls eligible for vaccination in the initial years of vaccine implementation from 2012 to 2014, and their parents. We conducted 19 individual qualitative interviews and 18 focus groups with an average of 5 girls, in Manizales, Colombia between 2016 and 2017. In total, 49 girls from six schools and 58 of their parents participated in the study. Participants had some degree of awareness about cervical cancer, especially among those of middle and upper socioeconomic level. However, the vaccine was known as a prevention measure only after pap-smears and condoms. The main facilitator for vaccine uptake for parents was the desire to prevent diseases in general and for girls, it was facilitated by receiving positive information about the vaccine. The main barriers for vaccine uptake or for three doses completion were the event in Carmen de Bolivar, fear of adverse effects and fear of needles. Girls and parents stated that they received little or no information from schools or health care services about the HPV vaccine prior to vaccination. Our results suggest that improving HPV vaccination rates in Colombia will require a comprehensive education program including mass media information about HPV vaccine.

Calidad de las historias clínicas de los practicantes de un consultorio psicológico de una universidad colombiana / Quality of the clinical notes of internship students in a psychology clinic of a Colombian university

INTRODUCCIÓN: Las prácticas académicas en los programas de psicología en Colombia constituyen una parte fundamental del currículo. Los consultorios psicológicos universitarios son un escenario en el cual se desarrolla esta actividad en el campo de la psicología clínica, por lo que se hace necesario revisar la información que se recauda allí, con vistas a supervisar la calidad de dichas prácticas. MÉTODO: Estudio exploratorio retrospectivo en el cual se analizaron los motivos de consulta, los diagnósticos, las estrategias de evaluación e intervención, las metas terapéuticas y los datos sociodemográficos de 708 historias clínicas diligenciadas entre 1999 y 2012 por estudiantes de últimos semestres en periodo de prácticas en una universidad colombiana. RESULTADOS: Se encontró que los diagnósticos están referidos en su mayoría a estresores psicosociales, más que a psicopatologías, y tanto las herramientas de diagnóstico como las estrategias de intervención no son coherentes con el diagnóstico registrado en la historia clínica. CONCLUSIONES: Es evidente la necesidad de fortalecer la formación básica en psicología clínica, en cuanto a sus métodos y alcances, de forma que se brinde una atención a los usuarios que tenga bases científicas, así como establecer protocolos de control para la supervisión de estudiantes en prácticas clínicas en la formación de pregrado

INTRODUCTION: Academic internships in psychology programs in Colombia are a fundamental part of the curriculum. University Psychological Services are a scenario in which this activity is developed in the field of clinical psychology, making it necessary to review the information collected there in order to monitor the quality of such practices. METHOD: A retrospective exploratory study in which the reasons for consultation, diagnoses, strategies of evaluation and intervention, therapeutic goals and sociodemographic data of 708 medical records were analysed, between 1999 and 2012, by students in the final semesters of the internship period in a Colombian university. RESULTS: It was found that the diagnoses mostly referred to psychosocial stressors rather than psychopathologies. The diagnostic tools and intervention strategies are not consistent with the diagnosis recorded in the clinical notes. CONCLUSIONS: The need to strengthen basic training in clinical psychology is evident, in terms of its methods and scope, in order to provide users with a scientific basis, as well as to establish control protocols for the supervision of students in Clinical internships in undergraduate training