Análisis de las publicaciones biomédicas chilenas indizadas en PubMed, en los años 2008 y 2009 / An analysis of Chilean biomedical publications in PubMed in the years 2008-2009

Background: During the years 2008 and 2009, 1,191 biomedical articles authored by Chilean investigators working in Chile were indexed in PubMed. Aims: To evaluate the potential visibility of those articles, according to scientometric indexes of the journals where they were published. Methods: Those journals where the articles had been published were identified and each journal’s Impact Factor (JIF), 5-year JIF, SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), SCImago Quartiles (Q) for 2010 and the Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) for 2008-2009 were identified. Results: Three hundred and twelve articles (26,2%) were dedicated to experimental studies in animals, tissues or cells and they were classified as “Biomedicine”, while 879 (73,8%) were classified as “Clinical Medicine”; in both areas the main type of articles were original reports (90% and 73.6%, respectively). Revista Médica de Chile and Revista Chilena de Infectología concentrated the greater number of publications. Articles classified in Biomedicine were published more frequently in English and in journals with higher scientometric indexes than those classified in Clinical Medicine. Conclusions: Biomedical articles dealing with clinical topics, particularly case reports, were published mostly in national journals or in foreign journals with low scientometric indexes. It can be partly attributable to the authors’ interest in reaching local readers. The evaluation of research productivity should combine several scientometric indexes, selected according to the field of research, the institution's and investigators’ interests, with a qualitative and multifactorial assessment.

Redes de colaboración y producción científica sudamericana en medicina clínica, ISI Current Contents 2000-2009 / Scientific production in clinical medicine and international collaboration networks in South American countries

Background: International collaboration is increasingly used in biomedical research. Aim: To describe the characteristics of scientific production in Latin America and the main international collaboration networks for the period 2000 to 2009. Material and Methods: Search for papers generated in Latin American countries in the Clinical Medicine database of ISI Web of Knowledge v.4.10 - Current Contents Connect. The country of origin of the corresponding author was considered the producing country of the paper. International collaboration was analyzed calculating the number of countries that contributed to the generation of a particular paper. Collaboration networks were graphed to determine the centrality of each network. Results: Twelve Latin American countries participated in the production of253,362 papers. The corresponding author was South American in 79% of these papers. Sixteen percent of papers were on clinical medicine and 36% of these were carried out in collaboration. Brazil had the highest production (22,442 papers) and the lower percentage of international collaboration (31%). North America accounts for 63% of collaborating countries. Only 8% of collaboration is between South American countries. Brazil has the highest tendency to collaborate with other South American countries. Conclusions: Brazil is the South American country with the highest scientific production and indicators of centrality in South America. The most common collaboration networks are with North American countries.

Os motivos e as expectativas dos pacientes com dispepsia não ulcerosa frente à consulta médica / Reasons and expectations of patients with ulcer-like dyspepsia at the medical visit

O termo dispepsia refere-se a sintomas que se originam no trato gastrintestinal superior, geralmente usado para definir dor ou desconforto abdominal superior. Os critérios de Roma I para o diagnóstico de dispepsia não-ulcerosa são dor ou desconforto abdominal superior crônico ou recorrente, por um período mínimo de um mês, com sintomas presentes em mais de 25por cento do tempo, sem evidências clínicas ou laboratóriais de doença orgânica. Objetivo: avaliar os motivos que trazem os pacientes com dispepsia não-ulcerosa ao médico e identificar suas expectativas frente as possíveis abordagens terapêutica, além de avaliar alguns aspectos psicológicos dos dispépticos e sua relação com a procura dos serviços de saúde. Métodos: Este é um estudo de caso de controles; os casos constituíram-se por 45 pacientes com critérios diagnósticos de dispepsia não-ulcerosa submetidos a endoscopia digestiva alta para excluir doenças orgânicas; os controles foram compostos por 46 pacientes com diversas doenças acompanhados no ambulatório de medicina interna. Os dados foram recolhidos através da aplicação de um questionário padronizado.Resultado: No que se refere aos problemas do cotidiano (estressants ambientais), na época da aconsulta, uma proporção significativa dos casos referiu ter dois (27por cento), o que ocorreu somente em 6 por cento dos controles (OR = 5,2; IC95por cento = 1,22-25,5). Em relação aos motivos que levaram os pacientes a procurar ajuda médica, a exacerbação recente dos sintomas foi mais frequente entre os controles (OR = 0,21;IC95por cento =0,06-0,6) enquanto a "cacerofobia" foi o principal motivo entre os pacientes com dispepsia ( OR = 11,0;IC95por cento = 2,12-76,4), seguido por dúvidas com relação a diagnósticos prévios (OR = 5,5; IC95por cento = 1,03-54,5). Conclusões: A maior prevalência de estressantes ambientais e de comportamento de medo ou dúvida diagnóstica do doente dispéptico sugere a importância dos fatores psicossociais na modulação dos sintomas das doenças funcionais do tubo digestivo, podendo influenciar os objetivos da consulta médica e ter desdobramentos na abordagem terapêutica

Sistema de residencias y relación costo/beneficio con respecto a otros sistemas de atención médica / Residence system and cost/benefit related to other medical assistance systems

Ante el planteo del problema de si la residencia es un adecuado sistema de asistencia, y frente al desconocimiento de la relación costo/beneficio en la atención médica por residentes, y con el objetivo de comparar un grupo de variables (número de diagnósticos, uso de exámenes de laboratorio, mortalidad global y días de estadía) entre pacientes asistidos por la Residencia (1990-1991) y por la Planta (1986-1987), se estudiaron retrospectivamente 609 pacientes, en quienes se registraron sexo, edad, diagnósticos efectuados, días de estadía, uso de métodos complementarios y condiciones de alta. Los resultados arrojaron una estadía por paciente más corta, un mayor número de diagnósticos, mayor índice de sobrevida y menor índice de mortalidad en pacientes asistidos por la Residencia, con un mayor costo en el uso de métodos de laboratorio