Results and Feasibility of the Virtual Inspection of Clinical Trials During Pandemic of COVID-19 in Peru.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the results of inspection of clinical trials (CTs) and the feasibility of conducting inspections virtually in Peruvian Social Security hospitals during the pandemic of COVID-19. METHODS: This study described 25 CTs that were inspected during August 2021-November 2021. The data for the variables were obtained from the CT inspection database of the Social Security Sub-directorate of Regulation and Management of Health Research which includes minutes and inspection reports. We describe the characteristics of the CT included and findings during the inspections using relative and absolute frequencies. Likewise, we evaluated the feasibility of virtual inspection through a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: According to the findings of the inspection, 60% of CTs were on biological products, and 60% were focused on infectiology. Additionally, 64% of CTs were implemented in Lima, 52% were conducted in level IV health facilities, and 72% were funded by the pharmaceutical sector. The lack of submission of requested documents (16/25) and inadequate access to the internet (9/15) and source documents (4/15) were the primary observations during the inspection. Regarding the feasibility of virtual supervisions, most interviewees rated their understanding of instruction form as "normal" and its content as "adequate." Similarly, in the virtual self-assessment matrix, a large proportion of interviewees rated comprehension as "normal" (7/15) and its content as "adequate" (13/15). The quality of the virtual supervision process was 8.6 ± 1.1 on a scale of 1-10. CONCLUSION: Discrepancies in records and failure to submit requested documents were the main observations. Most interviewees considered the material to be adequate and gave an overall good rating to the virtual inspection process.

Intention to receive the monkeypox vaccine and its psychological and sociodemographic predictors: a cross-sectional survey in the general population of Peru.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to identify predictors of intention to be vaccinated against Monkeypox (Mpox) in a sample of Peruvian citizens.  METHODS: A set of sociodemographic and psychological predictors were used, such as sex, sexual orientation, educational level, previous diagnosis of COVID-19, marital status, complete vaccination against COVID-19, employment status, living with vulnerable people, presence of chronic disease, area of residence, perceived usefulness of COVID-19 vaccines, fear of Mpox, conspiracy beliefs about Mpox, among others. A total of 472 Peruvian adults participated, selected by non-probabilistic snowball convenience sampling. A sociodemographic survey, the Mpox Fear Scale, was used. Conspiracy Beliefs about Mpox was assessed using three questions created specifically for this study. For inferential purposes, simple ordinal regressions ("crude models") were performed between each factor and the outcome.  RESULTS: Regarding their intention to be vaccinated against Mpox, more than 60% expressed clear approval. Being non-heterosexual, having greater emotional fear of Mpox, and perceiving some potential for this disease to become the next pandemic were related to greater intention to vaccinate. On the other hand, being older, having low perceived usefulness of COVID-19 vaccines, and having higher conspiracy beliefs about Mpox were associated with lower intention to vaccinate.  CONCLUSION: The study provides initial information for future research seeking to better analyze Mpox vaccination intention. In addition, cross-sectional data are provided that can be used to develop public health policies that target subgroups with low prevalence of intention to vaccinate against Mpox.

Use of medicinal plants in patients with chronic kidney disease from Peru.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the use of medicinal plants in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in public healthcare centers in Peru. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in patients with CKD in healthcare centers of three Peruvian regions: Lima, Arequipa, and Ucayali. A structured questionnaire which included socio-demographic data, medical antecedents and characteristics of the use of medicinal plants was used. Prevalence ratios (PR) and 95 % confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated using crude Poisson regressions with robust variances. RESULTS: A total of 599 patients with CKD were evaluated, of which 300 (50.1%) reported the use of medicinal plants (160 [30.3%] used these plants for CKD), 379 reported that medicinal plants were not harmful, while 166 (27.8%) stopped using allopathic medicine to use medicinal plants only. In the adjusted analysis, the frequency of the use of medicinal plants for CKD was similar between Lima and Arequipa but was lower in Ucayali than in Lima (PR: 0.32, 95% CI: 0.14 - 0.76). In addition, a higher frequency of the use of medicinal plants for CKD was observed in patients with more advanced stages of CKD (PR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.06-2.26) and in patients who were aware they had CKD (PR: 2.79 95% CI: 1.39-5.63). CONCLUSIONS: Half of the patients used medicinal plants and about one-third used it for CKD. This use was lower in Ucayali and higher in both the patients who knew they had CKD and those with more advanced stages of the disease. Given these results, physicians should ask and inform regarding medicinal plants consumption to their CKD patients.