The Influence of Socioeconomic and Educational Factors on the Level of Anxiety and Fear of COVID-19.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were reports of heightened levels of anxiety and fear of contagion in the general population. Such psychological responses may be influenced by the socio-environmental context in which individuals reside. This study aimed to examine the relationship between socioeconomic and educational factors and the level of anxiety and fear related to COVID-19. A multicenter, cross-sectional design was used, including patients aged 18 years or older who attended primary care physician consultations at various primary health centers in Toledo, Spain, between October 2020 and January 2021. By means of a non-probabilistic sampling, a total of 150 participants were selected for the study, with 146 of them providing responses to the AMICO questionnaire The level of fear and anxiety associated with COVID-19 was assessed using the validated Anxiety and Fear of COVID-19 Assessment Scale (AMICO). A significant linear relationship was revealed between social class, employment status, and anxiety levels. Specifically, as social class decreased (p = 0.001) and employment situation worsened (unemployment) (p = 0.037), the proportion of participants reporting a high level of anxiety increased. During the second phase of the pandemic, more than half of the patients attending family medicine consultations exhibited a high level of fear and anxiety towards COVID-19, which was significantly associated with lower social class and unemployment.

Telephone Monitoring of Isolated Patients With Suspected COVID-19 Disease in Primary Care: Prospective Cohort Study.

Objective: Isolation of suspected cases of COVID-19 has been shown effective in reducing disease transmission and monitoring these patients from primary care allows to detect complications. The objective of this study is to determine the evolution of a cohort of patients with suspected COVID-19, and to analyse the factors associated with hospital admissions due to their unfavourable evolution. Methods: Prospective cohort study. A cohort of 166 patients with COVID-19 symptoms was selected and was followed-up by telephone calls during 14 days of home isolation. Results: By the end of the follow-up, a hospital admission had taken place in 14.7% of patients. The mean survival time until admission among diabetics was 12.6, 10.9 days for chronic kidney diseases, and 9.3 days in immunocompromised patients. Immunosuppression was a risk factor for admission over 50 years of age. Conclusion: Hospital admissions for suspected cases of COVID-19 are associated with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and immunosuppression. Telephone monitoring of these patients from primary care allows for home isolation and early detection of disease complications.

Evolution of a Cohort of COVID-19 Infection Suspects Followed-Up from Primary Health Care.

Diagnosis and home follow-up of patients affected by COVID-19 is being approached by primary health care professionals through telephone consultations. This modality of teleconsultation allows one to follow the evolution of patients and attend early to possible complications of the disease. The purpose of the study was to analyze the evolution of a cohort of patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 disease followed by primary care professionals and to determine the factors that are associated with hospital admission. A prospective cohort study was carried out on 166 patients selected by consecutive sampling that showed symptoms compatible with COVID-19. The follow-up was approached via telephone for 14 days analyzing hospitalization and comorbidities of the patients. There were 75% of the hospitalized patients that were male (p = 0.002), and 70.8% presented comorbidities (p < 0.001). In patients with diabetes, the risk of hospitalization was 4.6-times larger, in hypertension patients it was 3.3-times, those suffering from renal insufficiency 3.8-times, and immunosuppressed patients 4.8-times (IC 95%: 1.9-11.7). In 86.7% of the cases, clinical deterioration was diagnosed in the first seven days of the infection, and 72% of healing was reached from day seven to fourteen. Monitoring from primary care of patients with COVID-19 allows early diagnosis of clinical deterioration and detection of comorbidities associated with the risk of poor evolution and hospital admission.

Related cardiometabolic factors and prevalence of low HDL-cholesterol levels and atherogenic dyslipidemia. SIMETAP-AD study. / Factores cardiometabólicos asociados y prevalencia de concentraciones bajas de colesterol HDL y de dislipidemia aterogénica. Estudio SIMETAP-DA.

AIM: To determine the crude and sex- and age-adjusted prevalence rates of atherogenic dyslipidemia (AD) and low HDL-cholesterol levels (low-HDLc), and to assess their associations with cardiovascular risk factors, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular and cardiometabolic diseases. METHODS: Population-based cross-sectional study conducted in Primary Care, with randomly selected adult subjects. The AD was considered if the patients had hypertriglyceridemia (triglycerides≥150mg/dL) and low-HDLc (<40mg/dL [men];<50mg/dL [women]). Crude and sex- and age-adjusted prevalence rates were determined, and univariate and multivariate analysis were performed to assess related cardiometabolic factors. RESULTS: Study population with 6,588 adults (55.9% women) with mean age 55.1 (±17.5) years. The mean HDLc levels were 49.2 (±12.6) mg/dL in men and 59.2 (±14.7) mg/dL in women. The crude prevalence rates of low-HDLc and AD were 30.8% (95%CI: 29.7-31.9), and 14.3% (95%CI: 13.5-15.2), respectively. The adjusted prevalence rates of low-HDLc were 28.0% in men and 31.0% in women, and AD were 16.4% in men and 10.6% in women. Seventy-three percent of the population with AD had high or very high cardiovascular risk. The independent factors associated with low HDLc or with AD were diabetes, smoking, abdominal obesity, and obesity. The major factors associated with low HDLc and AD were hypertriglyceridemia and diabetes, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Almost a third of the adult population had low HDL-C and half of them met AD criteria. Cardiometabolic factors were associated with low HDL-C and AD, highlighting hypertriglyceridemia with low HDLc, and DM with AD.