The effect of the attitude towards risk/ambiguity on examination grades: cross-sectional study in a Portuguese medical school.

Given the high prevalence of multiple-choice examinations with formula scoring in medical training, several studies have tried to identify other factors in addition to the degree of knowledge of students which influence their response patterns. This study aims to measure the effect of students' attitude towards risk and ambiguity on their number of correct, wrong, and blank answers. In October 2018, 233 3rd year medical students from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, in Porto, Portugal, completed a questionnaire which assessed the student's attitudes towards risk and ambiguity, and aversion to ambiguity in medicine. Simple and multiple regression models and the respective regression coefficients were used to measure the association between the students' attitudes, and their answers in two examinations that they had taken in June 2018. Having an intermediate level of ambiguity aversion in medicine (as opposed to a very high or low level) was associated with a significant increase in the number of correct answers and decrease in the number of blank answers in the first examination. In the second examination, high levels of ambiguity aversion in medicine were associated with a decrease in the number of wrong answers. Attitude towards risk, tolerance for ambiguity, and gender did not show significant association with the number of correct, wrong, and blank answers for either examination. Students' ambiguity aversion in medicine is correlated with their performance in multiple-choice examinations with negative marking. Therefore, it is suggested the planning and implementation of counselling sessions with medical students regarding the possible impact of ambiguity aversion on their performance in multiple-choice questions with negative marking.

Retrospective Survey and Analysis of Anaesthesia and Outcomes in Paediatric Cleft Lip or Palate Surgery in a Tertiary Care Center, Portugal.

INTRODUCTION: Orofacial clefts are the most common craniofacial abnormalities, affecting approximately one in 700 newborns each year. The anaesthetic management of these patients is challenging, including difficulties in airway approach and respiratory complications that have direct implications in the final outcome. AIM: The present study aimed to characterize the anesthetic approach to paediatric patients undergoing cleft palate or lip surgical repair and review the perioperative anesthetic complications in a tertiary Portuguese hospital. METHODS: Data were collected from a retrospective review of the patient records which included anaesthesia perioperative notes of paediatric patients submitted to cleft surgery repair during a five-year period (2016 to 2021). Demographic, pre-anaesthetic characteristics, anaesthetic management and perioperative complications were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 102 patients were included, with a median age of 1.5 years. Congenital syndromes were present in 14 (13.7%) of the children included. Inhalational induction of anaesthesia with sevoflurane was the preferred approach in 86 cases (84.3%), with neuromuscular blockade being used in 59 cases (57.8%). Intubation was achieved at first attempt in 91 (89.2%) cases with four (3.9%) patients needing three or more attempts. Intraoperative respiratory-related complications were the most frequent, occurring in 22 (21.6%) cases. These include multiple attempts to intubation, desaturation due to bronchospasm or laryngospasm. The average length of stay was two days. Postoperative complications were recorded in 17 (16.7%) of patients. DISCUSSION: The predominance of airway and respiratory complications occurring in cleft is consistent with previous studies. Care must be taken in order to avoid such complications in the perioperative period by following protocols, having skilled personnel, appropriate monitoring equipment and airway devices available during cleft surgeries to minimise morbidity.

Anaesthetic Management in Mucopolysaccharidoses Patients: Clinical Experience in a Tertiary Hospital.

INTRODUCTION: Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) are a group of rare inherited metabolic diseases caused by the deficiency of enzymes required to degrade glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the lysosome with progressive and multiorgan involvement. Due to its progressive nature, a large number of patients need surgical intervention, which is associated with higher perioperative morbidity. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 29 medical records regarding the peri and post-operative anaesthetic care of 10 children with mucopolysaccharidoses at a tertiary hospital in Northern Portugal between 2010 and 2021. A comprehensive review of the literature is also included. RESULTS: Twenty-nine medical records of 10 patients with a mean age of 8.8 years old were included. At the time of the procedure, 65.5% of patients were under enzymatic replacement and all had some type of organ involvement.Each patient was subjected to 2.9 elective procedures on average, with the lowest age of two years at the first procedure. Regarding surgical specialties, 41.4% of interventions were orthopaedic. Balanced anaesthesia with inhalational induction and spontaneous breathing was performed in 48.3% of cases, with no reports of difficult bag-mask ventilation. Endotracheal intubation in the operating room was performed in nine cases. Direct laryngoscopy with a Macintosh blade was the first option in seven patients. Success was achieved only in three cases. Failed intubation was managed with a paediatric C-MAC® video laryngoscope (VLG; one case) and fiberoptic bronchoscopy (two cases). Video laryngoscopy and fibroscopy were the first choices in one case each. Post-operative complications were registered in 10 procedures (34.5%), with airway and pulmonary complications in 17.2%. All complications occurred in different patients except for post-operative nausea and vomiting, which were registered in three cases, two of them in the same patient at different orthopaedic surgical interventions. DISCUSSION: The high percentage of direct laryngoscopy could be related to the greater number of interventions performed in a period when indirect methods were not so widely used in anaesthetic practice, and the high rate of failure highlights the importance of transitioning to indirect techniques upon the first attempt. The high percentage of patients under enzymatic treatment can explain the low number of adverse airway events. High-quality evidence regarding MPS is lacking in the literature. Prospective studies would improve the perioperative care of this particular subset of patients. CONCLUSION:  Patients with MPS represent a huge challenge for the anaesthesiologist, mainly in view of airway management. The integration of all available data in clinical practice is essential to optimize perioperative management of mucopolysaccharidoses patients' management and improve clinical outcomes.

Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Portuguese Version of the CANHELP Lite Bereavement Questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: Satisfaction with care is an important outcome measure in end-of-life care. Validated instruments are necessary to evaluate and disseminate interventions that improve satisfaction with care at the end of life, contributing to improving the quality of care offered at the end of life to the Portuguese population. The purpose of this study was to perform a cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric analysis of the Portuguese version of the CANHELP Lite Bereavement Questionnaire. METHODS: Methodological research with an analytical approach that includes translation, semantic, and cultural adaptation. RESULTS: The Portuguese version comprised 24 items. A panel of experts and bereaved family members found it acceptable and that it had face and content validity. A total of 269 caregivers across several care settings in the northern region of Portugal were recruited for further testing. The internal consistency analysis of the adapted instrument resulted in a global alpha value of 0.950. The correlation between the adapted CANHELP questionnaire and a global rating of satisfaction was of 0.886 (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The instrument has good psychometric properties. It was reliable and valid in assessing caregivers' satisfaction with end-of-life care and can be used in both clinical and research settings.

Tradução para portuguêse validação cultural da Empowerment Assessment Rating Scale / Translation to Portuguese and cultural validation of the Empowerment Assessment Rating Scale

Introduction: To assess the level of community empowerment, Laverack proposes an instrument called the Empowerment Assessment Rating Scale (EARS), which has nine assessment domains related to community empowerment. Objectives: Translate to Portuguese and culturally validate the EARS for an ACeS community, a hospital community, a business community, and a school community. A review of the Portuguese translation was developed, a review group was set up to analyze the resulting document, by consensus a new scale called the Escala de Avaliação do Empoderamento Comunitário (EAvEC) was developed, and the retroversion was developed. Same review group conducted a new evaluation of the resulting version, comparing them with the original in English. The study was carried out at a Hospital in the Azores Archipelago, three Health Centers Organizations in the North of Portugal, an Education-oriented Company in Greater Porto and a School Community in Mozambique, where the focus group scale was applied based on a problematic chosen for intervention. Results: EVaEC retained the nine evaluation domains of the original scale and its translated version did not change after its cultural adaptation. The level of community empowerment was identified in each of the communities, analyzed in the form of a radar chart, with the clustered image of all domains. Discussion / Conclusions: EVaEC is a useful tool for community intervention and is being used to assess community empowerment in the MAIEC project of theCentre for Interdisciplinary Research in Health at Universidade Católica Portuguesa

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Healthcare Received in the Last Months of Life in Portugal: A Systematic Review.

Background: While evidence demonstrates that end-of-life care practices vary across countries, there is still a lack of evidence regarding the healthcare that is received by adult individuals in the last months of life in Portugal. Methods: This is a systematic review that aims to examine the evidence published until 2019 regarding the healthcare received by adult individuals in the last months of life in Portugal. Results: Nine studies were included in this review. All of these were quantitative and retrospective studies, used patient records as the source of information, and were conducted in hospital settings. The time frame analysis before death ranged from 48 h to 3 months. The majority of the studies focused on the physical aspects of care, such as physical needs assessment and symptom management, prescribed medication, and invasive interventions. No evidence was found regarding spiritual, psychological, social or cultural needs. Conclusion: Although using patient records as a source of information may introduce a bias, this study indicates that there is a greater emphasis on the physical aspects of care and less on the psychological, spiritual or social aspects of care received by adult individuals in their last months of life in Portugal.

[Medical Student Secrecy, its Link to the Duty of Confidentiality and the Right to Access and Reuse Health Information]. / O Segredo do Estudante de Medicina, a Sua Vinculação ao Dever de Sigilo e o Direito em Aceder e Reutilizar Informação de Saúde.

The authors address the legal void that exists regarding medical student access to clinical records and health information that local healthcare organizations hold under legal and institutional custody. They develop a legal thesis that configures the creation of medical student professional secrecy and its connection with the duty of confidentiality as assumptions that underlie the medical student's right to access and reuse health information. Medical students have the legitimacy to access health information and clinical records, as they bear an unequivocal informational, legitimate, constitutionally protected and sufficiently relevant need. They conclude that the legislature must work together with universities and hospital institutions to legally establish the concept of Medical Student Professional Secrecy, its link to the duty of confidentiality and the right of the medical student to access and reuse health information. Furthermore, it must do so in a specific legal act and in the precise terms of the text approved unanimously by the Council of Portuguese Medical Schools, by the National Council of Medical Ethics and Deontology, by the National Council of the Portuguese Medical Association and by its President.

Os autores abordam o vazio legal que existe, no acesso, por parte de estudantes de medicina, aos registos clínicos, à informação de saúde, na posse e à guarda legal e institucional das unidades de saúde. Por outro lado, desenvolvem uma tese jurídica que configura a criação do segredo do estudante de medicina e a sua vinculação ao dever de sigilo, como pressupostos que fundamentam o direito do estudante de medicina em aceder e reutilizar informação de saúde. O estudante de medicina tem legitimidade para aceder a informação de saúde, a registos clínicos, já que é inequívoco ser portador de uma necessidade informacional, legítima, constitucionalmente protegida e suficientemente relevante. Concluem, que o poder legislativo se associe às instituições, universitárias e hospitalares, instituindo, por diploma legal, o Segredo do Estudante de Medicina, a sua vinculação ao dever de sigilo e o direito do estudante de medicina em aceder e reutilizar informação de saúde. E deve fazê-lo, em diploma específico, nos precisos termos do texto aprovado, por unanimidade, pelo Conselho das Escolas Médicas Portuguesas, pelo Conselho Nacional de Ética e Deontologia Médicas, pelo Conselho Nacional da Ordem dos Médicos e pelo Bastonário da referida Ordem.

Academic Palliative Care Research in Portugal: Are We on the Right Track?

BACKGROUND: The narrow link between practice, education, and research is essential to palliative care development. In Portugal, academic postgraduate publications are the main booster for palliative care research. METHODS: This is a bibliometric study that aims to identify Portuguese palliative care postgraduate academic work published in electronic academic repositories between 2000 and 2015. RESULTS: 488 publications were identified. The number of publications has increased, especially in the last five years. The most frequently used method was quantitative, healthcare professionals were the most studied participants, and psychological and psychiatric aspects of care comprised the most current theme. Practice-based priorities are financial costs and benefits of palliative care, awareness and understanding of palliative care, underserved populations, best practices, communication, and palliative care in nonhospital settings. CONCLUSION: The number of palliative care postgraduate academic publications has increased in Portugal in the past few years. There is academic production in the eight domains of quality palliative care and on the three levels of recommendation for practice-based research priorities. The major research gaps in Portugal are at the system and societal context levels.

Falha na ativação da equipe de emergência intra-hospitalar: causas e consequências / Failure to activate the in-hospital emergency team: causes and outcomes

RESUMO Objetivo: Determinar a incidência de falha na ativação da via aferente da Equipe de Emergência Médica intra-hospitalar, caraterizando-a e comparando a mortalidade dessa população com a da população em que não se verificou falha na ativação da via aferente. Métodos: Entre janeiro de 2013 e julho de 2015, ocorreram 478 ativações da Equipe de Emergência Médica do Hospital Pedro Hispano. Após a exclusão de registos incompletos e ativações para doentes com menos de 6 horas de internamento hospitalar, obtivemos uma amostra de 285 ativações. A amostra foi dividida em dois grupos: o grupo com falha na ativação da via aferente e o grupo em que não ocorreu falha na ativação da via aferente da Equipe de Emergência Médica. As duas populações foram caracterizadas e comparadas. A significância estatística foi considerada para p ≤ 0,05. Resultado: Em 22,1% das ativações, verificou-se falha na ativação da via aferente. Relativamente ao estudo causal, verificamos existir diferença estatisticamente significativa quanto aos critérios de ativação da Equipe de Emergência Médica (p = 0,003) no grupo com falha na ativação da via aferente, encontrando taxa mais elevada de ativação da Equipe de Emergência Médica por paragem cardiorrespiratória e disfunção cardiovascular. Em relação às consequências, no grupo em que ocorreu falha na ativação da via aferente houve uma maior taxa de mortalidade imediata e à data de alta hospitalar, sem significado estatístico. Não encontramos diferenças significativas com relação aos outros parâmetros. Conclusão: Nos doentes em que houve falha da ativação da via aferente da Equipe de Emergência Médica, a incidência de paragem cardiorrespiratória e a taxa de mortalidade foram maiores. Este estudo reforça a necessidade de as unidades de saúde investirem na formação de todos os profissionais de saúde sobre os critérios de ativação da Equipe de Emergência Médica e o funcionamento do sistema de resposta a emergência médica.

ABSTRACT Objective: To determine the incidence of afferent limb failure of the in-hospital Medical Emergency Team, characterizing it and comparing the mortality between the population experiencing afferent limb failure and the population not experiencing afferent limb failure. Methods: A total of 478 activations of the Medical Emergency Team of Hospital Pedro Hispano occurred from January 2013 to July 2015. A sample of 285 activations was obtained after excluding incomplete records and activations for patients with less than 6 hours of hospitalization. The sample was divided into two groups: the group experiencing afferent limb failure and the group not experiencing afferent limb failure of the Medical Emergency Team. Both populations were characterized and compared. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Result: Afferent limb failure was observed in 22.1% of activations. The causal analysis revealed significant differences in Medical Emergency Team activation criteria (p = 0.003) in the group experiencing afferent limb failure, with higher rates of Medical Emergency Team activation for cardiac arrest and cardiovascular dysfunction. Regarding patient outcomes, the group experiencing afferent limb failure had higher immediate mortality rates and higher mortality rates at hospital discharge, with no significant differences. No significant differences were found for the other parameters. Conclusion: The incidence of cardiac arrest and the mortality rate were higher in patients experiencing failure of the afferent limb of the Medical Emergency Team. This study highlights the need for health units to invest in the training of all healthcare professionals regarding the Medical Emergency Team activation criteria and emergency medical response system operations.

Failure to activate the in-hospital emergency team: causes and outcomes. / Falha na ativação da equipe de emergência intra-hospitalar: causas e consequências.

OBJECTIVE:: To determine the incidence of afferent limb failure of the in-hospital Medical Emergency Team, characterizing it and comparing the mortality between the population experiencing afferent limb failure and the population not experiencing afferent limb failure. METHODS:: A total of 478 activations of the Medical Emergency Team of Hospital Pedro Hispano occurred from January 2013 to July 2015. A sample of 285 activations was obtained after excluding incomplete records and activations for patients with less than 6 hours of hospitalization. The sample was divided into two groups: the group experiencing afferent limb failure and the group not experiencing afferent limb failure of the Medical Emergency Team. Both populations were characterized and compared. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. RESULT:: Afferent limb failure was observed in 22.1% of activations. The causal analysis revealed significant differences in Medical Emergency Team activation criteria (p = 0.003) in the group experiencing afferent limb failure, with higher rates of Medical Emergency Team activation for cardiac arrest and cardiovascular dysfunction. Regarding patient outcomes, the group experiencing afferent limb failure had higher immediate mortality rates and higher mortality rates at hospital discharge, with no significant differences. No significant differences were found for the other parameters. CONCLUSION:: The incidence of cardiac arrest and the mortality rate were higher in patients experiencing failure of the afferent limb of the Medical Emergency Team. This study highlights the need for health units to invest in the training of all healthcare professionals regarding the Medical Emergency Team activation criteria and emergency medical response system operations.