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Introduction: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread among the population of Costa Rica and has had a great global impact. However, there are important geographic differences in mortality from COVID-19 among world regions and within Costa Rica.Objective: To explore the effect of some sociodemographic factors on COVID-19 mortality in the small geo-graphic divisions or cantons of Costa Rica.Methods: We used official records and applied a classical epidemiological Poisson regression model and a geographically weighted regression model.Results: We obtained a lower Akaike Information Criterion with the weighted regression (927.1 in Poisson regression versus 358.4 in weighted regression). The cantons with higher risk of mortality from COVID-19 had a denser population;higher material well-being;less population by health service units and are located near the Pacific coast.Conclusions: A specific COVID-19 intervention strategy should concentrate on Pacific coast areas with denser population, higher material well-being and less population by health service units.
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INTRODUCTION: Patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome may present cognitive and emotional symptomatology. This study aims to analyse the results of an outpatient neuropsychological intervention programme for post-COVID-19 syndrome. METHOD: In June 2020 Institut Guttmann started an outpatient post-COVID-19 neurorehabilitation programme, including respiratory therapy, physiotherapy, and neuropsychological rehabilitation. Before and after the programme, the cognitive-emotional state of all participants is assessed. Six months after treatment, a follow-up assessment is administered (which includes a collection of information on various aspects of daily life). RESULTS: The sample analysed consisted of 123 patients (mean age: 51 years, SD: 12.41). Seventy-four per cent (n = 91) had cognitive impairment and underwent cognitive treatment (experimental group); the remaining 26% (n = 32) constituted the control group. After the intervention, the experimental group improved in working memory, verbal memory (learning, recall and recognition), verbal fluency and anxious-depressive symptomatology. The control group showed changes in immediate memory, verbal memory (learning and recognition) and depressive symptomatology, although the effect size in the latter two was smaller than in the experimental group. Six months after treatment, 44.9% of the patients were unable to perform their pre-COVID-19 work activity, and 81.2% reported difficulties in their activities of daily living. CONCLUSIONS: Neuropsychological rehabilitation is an effective tool to treat the cognitive-emotional deficits present in post-COVID-19 syndrome. However, months after the end of treatment, not all patients recover their pre-COVID-19 functional level.
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In a highly globalized world affected by economic policies and a latent COVID-19 pandemic, companies need to organize or reorganize to achieve efficient operations. The correct management of organizations has led their administrators to adopt resourceful management models that guide their activities towards fulfilling their objectives. Thus, management tools have been presented as an effective alternative to control processes and activities. According to a previous study, the main tools that allow process mapping and modeling are Business Process Management (BPM), Business Process Reengineering (BPR), and Event Process Chain (EPC). This article analyzes their characteristics based on compatibility and affinity with four case studies dedicated to the assembly industry using this previous study. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of the three tools related to the possible adaptability in the four companies are studied. This work uses qualitative qualification matrices, which answer specific questions, determine the potential improvement of organizational management, and create a methodology for mapping and modeling processes. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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Introduction Patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome may present cognitive and emotional symptomatology. This study aims to analyse the results of an outpatient neuropsychological intervention program for post-COVID-19 syndrome. Method In June 2020 Institut Guttmann started an outpatient post-COVID-19 neurorehabilitation program, including respiratory therapy, physiotherapy, and neuropsychological rehabilitation. Before and after the program, the cognitive-emotional state of all participants is assessed. Six months after treatment, a follow-up assessment is administered (which includes a collection of information on various aspects of daily life). Results The sample analysed consisted of 123 patients (mean age: 51 years, SD: 12.41). Seventy-four per cent (n = 91) had cognitive impairment and underwent cognitive treatment (experimental group);the remaining 26% (n = 32) constituted the control group. After the intervention, the experimental group improved in working memory, verbal memory (learning, recall and recognition), verbal fluency and anxious-depressive symptomatology. The control group showed changes in immediate memory, verbal memory (learning and recognition) and depressive symptomatology, although the effect size in the latter two was smaller than in the experimental group. Six months after treatment, 44.9% of the patients were unable to perform their pre-COVID-19 work activity, and 81.2% reported difficulties in their activities of daily living. Conclusions Neuropsychological rehabilitation is an effective tool to treat the cognitive-emotional deficits present in post-COVID-19 syndrome. However, months after the end of treatment, not all patients recover their pre-COVID-19 functional level.
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In a highly globalized world affected by economic policies and a latent COVID-19 pandemic, companies need to organize or reorganize to achieve efficient operations. The correct management of organizations has led their administrators to adopt resourceful management models that guide their activities towards fulfilling their objectives. Thus, management tools have been presented as an effective alternative to control processes and activities. According to a previous study, the main tools that allow process mapping and modeling are Business Process Management (BPM), Business Process Reengineering (BPR), and Event Process Chain (EPC). This article analyzes their characteristics based on compatibility and affinity with four case studies dedicated to the assembly industry using this previous study. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of the three tools related to the possible adaptability in the four companies are studied. This work uses qualitative qualification matrices, which answer specific questions, determine the potential improvement of organizational management, and create a methodology for mapping and modeling processes. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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The objective of this paper is to present a series of policies for the control of the COVID-19 pandemic by the Costa Rican authorities. An exhaustive review of the pandemic control policies was made in the official government media, mainly the Ministry of Health and the Costa Rican Social Security Fund and some collective media. The first wave of the pandemic in Costa Rica was quite mild, allowing the government to address it with a series of quite effective suppression and mitigation measures, which had the unrestricted support of the population. The second wave grew aggressively, causing social discontent due to the economic impact. Due to the ineffectiveness of the “hammer and dance” strategy, the Costa Rican government has rethought that strategy, lifting certain restrictions while recognizing the risk involved in terms of the increase in cases of COVID-19 in cases and deaths. © 2020 Academia Nacional de Medicina. All rights reserved.