Self-reported perceptions and knowledge of telemedicine in medical students and professionals who enrolled in an online course in Peru.

BACKGROUND: Telemedicine has become more relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, medical students and professionals do not acquire competences in telemedicine during their training. Our objective was to describe the self-reported perception and baseline knowledge of telemedicine among medical students and professionals enrolled in a virtual course. METHODS: Cross-sectional study that included physicians or medical students aged 18 years or older who were interested in a free virtual telemedicine course and who completed the data collection questionnaire. We used a Likert scale to assess the self-reported perceptions of four domains related to telemedicine. The participants were grouped into three levels for each domain: low, medium and high. We also objectively assessed telemedicine knowledge by means of 10 questions, with a cut-off point of 50% of correct answers. The Fisher's exact test, the Chi-square test, and the Mann-Whitney U test were used for the comparison of categorical data. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: We included 161 participants: 118 medical students and 43 physicians. We observed no significant differences between medical students and physicians in self-reported perceptions of knowledge, security, or utility of telemedicine. However, students had a high self-reported perception of the disadvantages of telemedicine especially related to patient security (p = 0.018), efficiency of care (p = 0.040), and the possibility of medical malpractice (p = 0.010) compared to physicians. Nearly half of the students (n = 53,44.9%) and physicians (n = 22,51.7%) answered 50% or more of the questions related to telemedicine knowledge correctly. CONCLUSION: Among the physicians and medical students enrolled in the course, the students perceived the disadvantages of telemedicine more frequently. Although physicians and students have limited knowledge of telemedicine, there appears to be no influence of experience and prior training in telemedicine.

Linfadenitis tuberculosa en niños: Revisión sistemática de reportes de caso

Objetivo: Realizar una revisión sistemática de casos de linfadenitis tuberculosa en niños publicados en la literatura hasta abril de 2022. Materiales y Métodos: Se buscó reportes de casos de linfadenitis tuberculosa por M. tuberculosis en niños, en las bases de datos de Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, LILACs, Ovid MEDLINE, EBSCO y BMJ Case Reports. Resultados: Se seleccionó 41 reportes, que informaron 46 pacientes. La mayoría fueron varones (52,2%), de 8,5 (5-12) años, con tiempo de enfermedad de 2 (1-5) meses. Las manifestaciones clínicas más frecuentes fueron linfadenopatía palpable (60,9%), fiebre (52,2%) y tos (26,1%). También se encontró pérdida de peso (17,4%), escrófula (15,2%), dificultad respiratoria (13%), hiporexia (13%), dolor localizado (13%), exantema cutáneo (13%), sudoración nocturna (4,3%), dolor abdominal (4,3%) e ictericia (2,2%). Los ganglios cervicales fueron los más comprometidos (71,4%). Solo 17,4% tuvo compromiso pulmonar asociado. El PPD fue positivo en 77,1%, la baciloscopia en 17,2%, la histopatología en 94,1% y el cultivo en 58,8%. Conclusiones: La linfadenitis tuberculosa en niños fue más frecuente en varones, entre 5 y 12 años, inmunizados por BCG y sin contacto conocido de tuberculosis. Los síntomas más frecuentes fueron linfadenopatía palpable, fiebre y tos. Además, se presentaron cuadros atípicos con dificultad respiratoria, dolor localizado, exantema cutáneo, dolor abdominal e ictericia. Los ganglios cervicales fueron los más afectados. El estudio histopatológico fue la prueba con mayor sensibilidad diagnóstica detectando el 94,1% de casos.

Objective: To conduct a systematic review of tuberculous lymphadenitis cases in children published until April 2022. Materials and methods: Case reports of tuberculous lymphadenitis by M. tuberculosis in children were searched in Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, LILACs, Ovid MEDLINE, EBSCO, and BMC Case Reports databases. Results: Forty-one reports were selected and a total of 46 patients were included. The majority were males (52,2%) of 8,5 (5-12) years old. The time of disease was 2 (1-5) months. The most frequent clinical manifestations were palpable lymphadenopathy (60,9%), fever (52,2%) and cough (26,1%). Weight loss (17,4%), scrofula (15,2%), respiratory distress (13%), hyporexia (13%), localized pain (13%), skin rash (13%), night sweats (4.3%), abdominal pain (4.3%) and jaundice (2,2%) were also founded. Cervical nodes were most frequently involved (71,4%). Only 17,4% were associated with lung involvement. PPD was positive in 77.1%, bacilloscopy in 17.2%, histopathology in 94,1% and culture in 58,8%. Conclusions: Tuberculous lymphadenitis in children was more frequent in boys, between 5 and 12 years, immunized by BCG and without known contact with tuberculosis. The principal symptoms were palpable lymphadenopathy, fever and cough. However, atypical symptoms were respiratory difficulty, localized pain, skin rash, abdominal pain, and jaundice. Cervical nodes were the most affected. The test with greatest sensitivity was the histopathological study which detected 94,1% of cases.

Self-perceived competencies on evidence-based medicine in medical students and physicians registered in a virtual course: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is defined as the integration of the best available evidence from scientific studies with clinical experience (and context) and with patients' values and preferences. The objective of the present study was to describe self-perceived EBM competencies in physicians and medical students enrolled in a massive virtual EBM course. METHODS: Analytical cross-sectional study. People interested in a free virtual EBM course fulfilled their data in a virtual form for their registration in September 2020. In this form, 22 competencies related to four dimensions of EBM were evaluated: asking a clinical question, search, analysis, and application; using a 5-option Likert scale. The resulting database was analyzed, selecting people who claimed to be physicians or medical students of 18 years or more. RESULTS: 1793 participants were included: 1130 medical students and 663 physicians; more than 80% lived in Peru. The frequency of participants who agreed or strongly agreed with feeling qualified in each competence ranged: from 39.2% to 57.8% for the competencies of the 'Asking a clinical question' dimension, from 39.2% to 56.1% for 'Search,' from 19.9% to 32.0% for 'Analysis,' and from 19.6% to 29.9% for 'Application.' Both in physicians and students, the lowest frequencies were for the competencies of interpretation of impact measures, graphs, and results of systematic reviews; as well as shared decision making and calculation of expected benefit. Physicians who graduated more recently scored better on competencies from search and analysis dimensions. CONCLUSION: Among physicians and medical students enrolled in the course, self-perception of competencies was lower in the dimensions of analysis and application. More recently graduated physicians seem to have a greater self-perception of their research and analysis skills, probably due to curricular updates.List of abbreviations: EBM: Evidence-based medicine; CIMBE, for its acronym in Spanish: International Course on Evidence-Based Medicine; SOCIMEP, for its acronym in Spanish: Peruvian Medical Student Scientific Society.