¿Cómo es la calidad de vida reportada por los estudiantes de Medicina? / Quality of life scores among 411 medical students

Background: The high academic burden may hamper the quality of life of medical students. Aim: To evaluate the quality of life (QOL) for medical students attending a Chilean university. Material and Methods: Four hundred eleven medical students aged 22 ± 2 years (51% women), studying in Santiago, Chile, answered online a validated Spanish version of the WHOQOL-BREF quality of life survey (scored from 0 to 100). Overall scores were assessed for the questionnaire domains Physical health, Psychological health, Interpersonal relationships, and Environment. Results: The global scores were 65.1 for Physical health, 63.1 for Psychological health, 61.3 for Interpersonal relationships and 67.2 for Environment. Students in clinical practice, females, those with sedentary behaviors and consuming modafinil had lower Physical health scores. Students coming from outside Santiago, with sedentary behaviors and who consumed modafinil had poorer Psychological health scores. Students coming from outside Santiago, males and those with sedentary behaviors had Lower Interpersonal relationship scores. Environment scores were also lower among students who were sedentary or from outside Santiago. Conclusions: The variables that had a greater negative impact in the quality of life of these students were the transition from theoretical courses to clinical practice, being from outside Santiago, being overweight or obese and consuming modafinil. Students that were physically active had better quality of life scores.

Percepción de la vivencia del acceso oportuno al diagnóstico del VIH, en personas viviendo con VIH/SIDA: Acceso oportuno al test de VIH / Perceptions about the elisa test of people diagnosed at the aids stage

Background: The delay in the diagnosis of AIDS results in higher treatment costs. Aim: To reveal the experiences of people who were diagnosed in the AIDS stage about the access to the ELISA test. Material and Methods: In depth interviews were carried out to 15 participants from public hospitals who were in the AIDS stage at the moment of the diagnosis. The main questions asked were about the motivations to take the test, the barriers found and the help received from the health care personnel. All interviews were recorded and analyzed according to Kripperdorff. Results: The three categories that emerged were the motivations to take the test, the facilitators found and the difficulties to access to the test. The main motivation was a condition of vulnerability due to the suspicion or certainty of being infected. The main facilitator was the sensation of being accepted and not discriminated. The main difficulties were the fear of having a positive test and of being discriminated and the lack of information. Conclusions: Knowing these experiences will help to improve the early detection of HIV infections.