ABSTRACT
Objective: To determine the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with COVID-19 at a high-altitude hospital. Materials and methods: An observational, cross-sectional and analytical study carried out at the Hospital Daniel Alcides Carrión in Huancayo, Peru, located at 3,250 m a.s.l. The population consisted of 2,248 people. COVID-19 was diagnosed through serology testing and/or reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing. Data were recorded in a questionnaire. For the statistical analysis, the X2 test, Student's t-test, and bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used. A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The study population with a diagnosis of COVID-19 accounted for 760 patients (100 %), most of whom were males (474 individuals;62.36 %). The average age was 49 years (range: 15 to 95). Most cases were found in the age group of 40 to 59 years (38.82 %), particularly among housewives (21.44 %) and traders (19.21 %). The most common COVID-19 symptoms were cough (70.26 %), malaise (57.63 %), respiratory distress (48.81 %), fever (48.15 %) and sore throat (44.21 %). The most frequent comorbidities were obesity (4.47 %), diabetes mellitus (2.76 %) and arterial hypertension (1.31 %). Fifty-one point seven one percent (51.71 %) of the patients required hospitalization and the mortality rate was 14.21 %. The risk factors for mortality were age 60 years or older (OR = 4.74;95 % CI: 2.94 - 7.65;p = 0.000), respiratory distress (OR = 2.38;95 % CI: 1.42 - 3.99;p = 0.001) and use of mechanical ventilation (OR = 8.75;95 % CI: 4.45 - 17.22;p = 0.000). Conclusions: COVID-19 most frequently affects the adult population. Cough and malaise were the most common symptoms, while older age, dyspnea and use of mechanical ventilation were associated with a higher risk of mortality.
ABSTRACT
The anxiety levels of young Mexican university students were analyzed regarding the #Quedateencasa (#Stayhome) recommendation during phase 3 of the Covid-19 epidemic. For this, the Beck anxiety test was applied, obtaining a reliability of .931.709 students from public and private universities in southeast Mexico participated. The mean age was 21 years, 62.7% women and 37.3% men. Student's "t" and Spearman's Rho tests were used with the SPSS software for data analysis. It was found that 37.7% of the participants were located at the high level of anxiety, 30.3% were located at low levels, which means that more than half of the university students in the sample (62.3%) are located at moderate or high levels of anxiety. anxiety. There are significant differences by gender (p <0.05), with women having a higher average. It is concluded that university students in conditions of confinement and social distancing present high levels of anxiety, it is essential to translate scientific knowledge into pragmatic public health measures in a timely manner, anticipating a second outbreak or epidemic on people's mental health.
ABSTRACT
During the coronavirus pandemic, there have been significant challenges in the remote teaching and demonstration of experiments, especially those that require laboratory testing equipment. With a desire to give students a feel for our materials laboratory on open days and allow them to gain a deeper understanding of what materials science and engineering is about, we have designed an experiment focused on composite materials that can be performed remotely and without specialist equipment. This enabled students to experience a bend test sensorily through seeing, hearing and feeling it, creating a strong link to then being able to relate it to the pre-prepared experimental data taken in the laboratory. This fun, easy-to-run and engaging experiment allowed a shared experience and encouraged a discussion about students' observations, differences in results and implications of the bend strength of sandwich composites. We have found it not only works well universally by all ages but can be used with younger children to think about words such as 'stronger', 'stiffer' and 'flexible' and how materials can be different in different directions. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.