Mental health interventions for college and university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A critical synthesis of the literature.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study is to compare the emotional effects of COVID-19 among three different groups, namely: health personnel, medical students, and a sample of the general population. METHODS: 375 participants were recruited for this study, of which 125 were medical students (preclinical studies, 59; clinical studies, 66), 125 were health personnel (COVID-19 frontline personnel, 59; personnel not related with COVID-19, 66), and 125 belonged to the general population. The PHQ-9, GAD-7, and CPDI scales were used to assess the emotional impact. A multinomial logistic regression was performed to measure differences between groups, considering potential confounding factors. RESULTS: Regarding CPDI values, all other groups showed reduced values compared to COVID-19 frontline personnel. However, the general population, preclinical and clinical medical students showed increased PHQ-9 values compared to COVID-19 frontline personnel. Finally, confounding factors, gender and age correlated negatively with higher CPDI and PHQ-9 scores. CONCLUSIONS: Being frontline personnel is associated with increased COVID-19-related stress. Depression is associated, however, with other groups not directly involved with the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Female gender and younger age correlated with COVID-19-related depression and stress.

Valoración de las habilidades comunicativas en la entrevista clínica de estudiantes de último año de medicina de la Universidad de Antioquia, por medio de la escala CICAA / Communicational skills assess, through CICAA scale, of final year medicine students' clinical interview of Universidad de Antioquia

Introducción: La comunicación es, en la actualidad, una competencia imprescindible en la formación médica. La escala CICAA, concebida desde una perspectiva multidimensional de acuerdo a los criterios de Kalamazoo, es un instrumento usado para la evaluación de las diversas tareas comunicativas en la entrevista clínica. Sujetos y métodos: Dos observadores, uno con formación en ciencias sociales y el otro, médico, analizaron de manera independiente las entrevistas de los estudiantes de último año de medicina de la Universidad de Antioquia de acuerdo a la escala CICAA. Se midió el acuerdo entre observadores (kappa de Cohen), la consistencia interna de la escala (alfa de Cronbach) y su fiabilidad (coeficiente de correlación intraclase, CCI). Resultados y conclusiones: Los resultados mostraron una puntuación total de las mujeres más alta que la de los hombres (p < 0,05). Aunque se observaron diferencias en las calificaciones dadas a cada ítem entre observadores (kappa de Cohen < 0,20), las propiedades psicométricas de la escala fueron adecuadas (alfa de Cronbach > 0,7; CCI > 0,7). Como fortaleza en la comunicación, se identificó la cordialidad de los estudiantes en los encuentros

Introduction: Currently, communication is an essential competence in medical training. CICAA is a scale conceived from a multidimensional perspective according to Kalamazoo's criteria, this is an instrument used to assess different communicational tasks in clinical interview. Subjects and methods: Two observers, one with a background in social sciences and another physician, independently analyzed clinical interviews of final year medicine students' of the Universidad of Antioquia, according CICAA scale. The raters agreement (Cohen's kappa), internal consistency of the scale (Cronbach's alpha) and reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient, ICC) were measured. Results and conclusions: In the results was displayed that women had a total score higher than men (p < 0. 05). Although differences were observed in the ratings given to each item among observers (Cohen's kappa < 0.20), the psychometric properties of the scale were appropriate (Cronbach's alpha > 0.7; ICC > 0. 7). As a fortress in the students communication, was identified the friendliness of students in the clinical interview