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This article analyzes the self-concept about digital competence in university professors of Sciences, Health Sciences and Engineering and the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) use habits of professors in these areas. For this purpose, a survey designed by the authors was completed by 340 university professors in the aforementioned areas. Based on the answers obtained from this survey, a descriptive quantitative analysis of the assessments of the self-concept of digital competence and training of the participants, of the didactic use of ICT and the frequency of their use before and after the pandemic has been carried out. The results showed that the digital competence of the professors is intermediate, but their training is valued as low, especially in Sciences and Health Sciences. The assessment of ICT is very good. The pandemic has caused a generalized increase in the use of ICT, mainly in Health Sciences, which is the area in which university students were most reluctant to use them. In addition, a gender gap which did not exist before the pandemic has been generated favoring females in the use of ICT in Science and Engineering. An age-based digital gap that existed before the pandemic has also been corrected in Health Sciences © Article's contents are provided on an Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 Creative commons International License. Readers are allowed to copy, distribute and communicate article's contents, provided the author's and JOTSE journal's names are included. It must not be used for commercial purposes. To see the complete licence contents, please visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
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Virtual reality (VR) has proven to be an efficient didactic resource in higher education after the pandemic caused by COVID-19, mainly in the Engineering and Health Sciences degrees. In this work, quantitative research is carried out on the assessments made by Latin American professors of Health Sciences and Engineering of the didactic use of VR. Specifically, the gaps by university tenure in the assessments given by the professors of each of the two areas of knowledge analyzed are identified. For this purpose, a validated questionnaire has been used, which has been applied to a sample of 606 professors. As a result, it is shown that the professors of Engineering and Health Sciences have similar self-concepts of their digital competence, but the Engineering professors give higher values to the technical and didactic aspects of VR. Moreover, in both areas, professors from private universities rate VR technologies more highly than those from public universities, this gap being wider in Health Sciences. Finally, some recommendations are offered regarding digital training and the use of VR, derived from the results of this study. © 2023 by the authors.
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This paper analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent migration to digital learning environments on the habits of use of digital teaching tools among university professors in Peru. The existence of gender gaps in this impact has also been studied. For this purpose, quantitative analysis of the answers of 116 professors from different Peruvian universities to a questionnaire designed for this purpose was carried out. As a result, it has been obtained that the pandemic has led to an increase in the use of digital tools in all areas of teaching activity studied, mainly in the evaluation and sharing of teaching materials. In addition, although female professors reported a lower use of digital tools before the pandemic, the increase in their use has been greater than in males in all teaching areas. © 2022 IEEE.
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The importance of soft skills in the professional work of an engineer is becoming increasingly important, even more so since the emergence of Covid-19 boosted the digitization of all professional sectors. In order for future engineers to acquire this type of skills, it is necessary for engineering professors to have an optimal level of technical and transversal skills. This article analyzes the assessment made by a group of engineering professors about their degree of development of soft skills and describes gender gaps in these assessments. Based on a self-created survey to evaluate different families of soft skills relevant to engineering education, a sample of 284 Latin American engineering professors reported: 1) high evaluations of their soft skills and 2) the existence of gender gaps in the families of work behavior and social skills in favor of females. This gap is especially wide among participants younger than 45 and older than 65 in the social skills family. In addition, females also rate their work motivation skills higher, except in the 55–64 age range. IEEE
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BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Little is known regarding the dynamics of antibody and T-cell responses in chronic kidney disease (CKD) following COVID-19 vaccination. METHOD: Prospective observational cohort study including 144 participants on haemodialysis (HD) (n = 52), peritoneal dialysis (PD) (n = 14), kidney transplantation (KT) (n = 30) or advanced chronic kidney disease not on dialysis (ACKD), and healthy controls (n = 18). Anti-Spike(S) antibody and T-cell responses were assessed at 15 days (15D) and 3 months (3M) after vaccination. RESULTS: Anti-S antibodies at 15D and 3M were detectable in 95% (48/50)/98% (49/50) of HD patients, 93% (13/14)/100% of PD patients, 67% (17/26)/75% (21/28) of KT patients and 96% (25/26)/100% (24/24) of ACKD patients. Rates for healthy controls were 81% (13/16)/100% (17/17). Antibody levels decreased at 3M in HD (P = 0.04), PD (P = 0.008) and ACKD patients (P = 0.0009). In KT, patients levels increased (P = 0.04) between 15D and 3M, although they were low at both time points. Detectable T-cell responses notably increased at 3M in HD patients (P < 0.022). In PD, patients response increased by 15D (13/14;93%) and 3M (9/9;100%), while they were present in KT patients at 41% (12/27), 84% (22/26) and 96% (25/26) at baseline. Detectable T-cell responses in ACKD patients reached 80% (20/25) and 89% (17/19) at 15D and 3M, respectively. whereas in healthy controls it was 67% and 89% at 15D and 3M. CONCLUSION: Most HD, PD and ACKD patients develop SARS-CoV-2-S antibody responses comparable to that of healthy controls, in contrast to KT recipients. Antibody waning at 3M was faster in HD, PD, ACKD patients. No differences in SARS-CoV-2 T-cell immunity responses were noticed across study groups.
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OBJECTIVE: To describe the effectiveness and safety of remdesivir in patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia in real-world clinical practice conditions. METHOD: Retrospective observational study that included all adults with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia admitted at the Moises Broggi Hospital and treated with remdesivir between July 1st and November 7th, 2020. Efficacy outcomes were time to recovery, 28-day mortality, length of hospital stay, and the need of mechanical ventilation after treatment. The main safetyrelated endpoint was elevation of transaminases after treatment. RESULTS: A total of 111 patients were included of whom 97 (87.4%) were receiving low-flow oxygen therapy. Median time to recovery was 9 days [6-14]. Seven patients (6.3%) died at 28 days' follow-up. Median length of hospital stay was 12 days [9-22] and 15 patients (13.5%) needed mechanical ventilation after treatment with remdesivir. Severe hypertransaminasemia was observed in 4 patients (4%). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical outcomes of patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia on low-flow oxygen therapy treated with remdesivir were similar to those published in clinical trials, both in terms of time to recovery and 28-day mortality.
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Objective: To determine the association between depression, anxiety, and stress according to sociodemographic and occupational factors in Peruvian health professionals during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: Cross-sectional analytical and multicentre study, based on a virtual survey sent to Peruvian health personnel (from the 25 Peruvian regions) working during the COVID-19 pandemic. The three dependent variables (depression, anxiety, and stress) were measured with the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0.93) and compared with sociodemographic and occupational variables. P-values were obtained through generalized linear models, adjusted for each location where the survey was sent. Results: Of the 550 participants, 2%, 13%, and 3% of them had severe or very severe depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, we observed that professionals with a greater number of children had a lower frequency of severe depression (adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR): 0.37;95% confidence interval (CI): 0.17-0.79;p = 0.010). In addition, physicians had a lower frequency of severe anxiety (aPR: 0.37;95% CI: 0.18-0.75;p = 0.036), and professionals who lived in the Central region (aPR: 0.50;95% CI: 0.25-0.97;p = 0.042) and in the South of the country (aPR: 0.37;95% CI: 0.19-0.71;p = 0.003) had lower anxiety levels compared to those in the Northern region. With regard to severe stress, those who lived in the Central (aPR: 0.15;95% CI: 0.03-0.75;p = 0.021) and South regions (aPR: 0.19;95% CI: 0.04-0.79;p = 0.011) had lower stress levels. Conclusion: There were significant percentages of deteriorating mental health in Peruvian health professionals during the pandemic, which may have negative repercussions in the short-, medium-, and long-term. In this sense, additional governmental actions should be necessary to provide specific psychological and psychiatric support programs to these workers.
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During the state of alert declared in the national territory in March 2020 due to the health crisis caused by SARS-CoV-2, the free movement of the population was restricted in order to prevent the spread of the virus. In the Balearic Islands, access by air and sea was limited and, in addition, health controls were established at the entry points of the islands aimed to detect people with COVID-19. The health check is understood as a Public Health surveillance procedure through which all persons authorised to travel at that time were tested. This procedure, together with the security measures to prevent the spread of the virus, had never before been implemented in the Balearic Islands and required the collaboration of various organizations in order to organise and execute it. This paper shares the experience and analysis of the health control measures implemented in these circumstances. To do so, it describes the procedure carried out, the devices that were developed, the main results and the assessment of the project as a whole. Finally, the positive aspects and possible improvements are considered. The most of people screened upon arrival in Balearics Islands did not register or show clinical symptoms of COVID-19.
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Introduction: COVID-19 is thought to be more frequent and severe in patients with cancer. Lymphoma patients may be especially vulnerable, due to the immunodeficiency and immune dysregulation caused by the lymphoma itself and the antitumor treatments. This study describes the characteristics and outcomes of lymphoma patients after developing COVID-19. Methods: This is a retrospective multicentre study carried out in the hospitals of the GELTAMO group, which included patients with a histological diagnosis of lymphoma and confirmed SARS-COV-2 infection before June 30th, 2020. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS) 60 days after a COVID-19 diagnosis. Results: A total of 218 patients (median sage 69.5 [21-94] years, 54% male) were included;100 patients had an indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), 67 aggressive B-cell NHL, 19 mantlecell lymphoma, 15 peripheral T-cell lymphoma, and 17 Hodgkin's lymphoma. Patients had received a median of 1 line (0-7) of therapy, and 44.9% were on active treatment at the time of COVID-19 diagnosis. Only 6.4%, 1.8% and 0.9% of patients had received previously autologous stem-cell transplantation, allogeneic SCT and CAR-T cell therapy, respectively. 89% of patients were hospitalized, 71% required oxygen, and 15% mechanical ventilation. With a median follow-up of 91.5 days (13-203), 65 patients have died (60 from COVID-19, 4 from lymphoma, 1 due to other causes), with an estimated 60-day OS of 68.6% (95% CI 62.1-75.1) (figure 1A). In univariate analysis, baseline characteristics associated with decreased OS were age ≥70 years, hypertension, diabetes, other cancer, active disease and hypogammaglobulinemia, but only age ≥70 years maintained independent influence in the multivariate analysis (HR 3.29, 95% CI 1.86-5.83, p < 0.001). Active treatment did not significantly impact OS (figure 1B). Univariate analysis revealed different prognostic factors, apart from age, for patients with DLBCL (N = 60) and FL (N = 69). While the presence of active disease had a prognostic impact on DLBCL (60-day OS 56% vs 79%, p = 0.038) but not on FL (60-day OS 65% vs 78%, p = 0.181) patients, the opposite occurred in the case of active treatment, which seemed to have a negative influence only in patients with FL, as shown in figures 1C and 1D. Conclusions: Our results confirm a high mortality in patients with lymphoma and COVID-19, especially in those ≥70 years old. In patients with DLBCL, disease control seems essential to reduce the risk of mortality in the event of contracting the infection. By contrast, in patients with FL, delaying the start of treatment until it is not strictly necessary should be considered, and these patients should be prioritized to be vaccinated before starting antitumor treatment. This study provides initial data to develop recommendations for the management of lymphoma patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Background and importance The activity of pharmacy services increased during the first wave of the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic. An example of this was the activity carried out during the validation of inpatient treatments. Aim and objectives To evaluate pharmaceutical interventions carried out in a second level hospital during the pandemic and compare them with those in the same period of the previous year. Material and methods This was a retrospective study. All pharmaceutical interventions between March and May 2020 (pandemic period: P) and those between March and May 2019 (pre-pandemic period: pre-P) were reviewed. Data collected were: number of interventions, hospital stay, intervention rate (number of interventions × 1000 hospital stays), therapeutic group involved and type of intervention. Data analysis: Stata V.15.1. The χ2 Mantel-Haenszel test was used to compare intervention rates and the χ2 Pearson to compare proportions. Results The number of interventions was 690 versus 115, and the number of hospital stays was 27 415 versus 27 062 for the P and pre-P periods, respectively. The intervention rate (P vs pre-P) was 25.2×1000 stays versus 4.2×1000 stays (χ2 Mantel-Haenszel, p<0.0001). Therapeutic groups involved (P vs pre-P, respectively) were: P01-antiparasitics/hydroxychloroquine (40% vs 0%), J-01-antibiotics and J05-antivirals (17% vs 19%), N05-antipsychotics (7% vs 6%), B01-anticoagulants antiaggregants (6% vs 15%), N-02 analgesics (5% vs 21%) and other groups (25% vs 39%). Statistically significant differences were found between both distributions (χ2 Pearson, p<0,001). Type of interventions (P vs pre-P, respectively): drug interaction monitoring (40% vs 11%), stop treatment (26% vs 17%), dosage change (26% vs 60%) and other interventions (8% vs 12%). Both distributions (P and pre-P) were compared, and there were statistically significant differences between them (χ2 Pearson, p<0,001). Conclusion and relevance During the first wave of the SARSCoV- 2 pandemic, activity related to the validation of inpatients treatments increased significantly in our centre. The acceptance rate of interventions was not collected but it should be considered for future studies. The therapeutic groups involved in the pharmaceutical interventions differed between the P and pre-P periods. In the P period, those related to antiparasitic drugs (which includes hydroxychloroquine) increased significantly. Types of interventions were also different between both periods. In the P period, the interventions related to drug interactions and excessive durations of treatments were the most frequent. Both types were interventions related to the safety of treatments during the pandemic.
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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has generated diverse reactions, but these have not yet been measured in the Latin American population. Objective: To determine the factors associated with the perception of fatalism in the face of COVID-19 infection in inhabitants of 20 cities in Peru. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional, multicenter study with a sample size of 2 466 people from 20 cities of Peru that measured fatalism during the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted through a validated survey (Cronbach's alpha: 0,78) consisting of 7 items. Statistical analysis was conducted in terms of each city, and p < 0,05 was considered significant. Results: Of the 2 466 respondents, 36 % were depressed, 26 % thought that they might die, 17 % say that this was evidence of the end of the world, and 9 % could make a fatal decision. Women were more likely to engage in three of the fatalistic behaviors (becoming infected, p=0,020;infecting others, p = 0,004, and becoming depressed, p = 0,020). At an older age there were 5 perceptions (infecting others, p =0,007;becoming complicated, p < 0,001;becoming depressed, p < 0,001, thinking they would die, p < 0,001;or committing suicide, p = 0,014). Those at risk of complications of COVID-19 had 4 perceptions (infecting others, p = 0,024;becoming complicated, p = 0,002;thinking they would die, p < 0,001;and thinking that this is a sign of the end of the world, p = 0,039). Respondents who were agnostic exhibited a lower frequency in 5 perceptions, while atheist respondents showed a lower frequency in 2 perceptions. Conclusion: Many fatalistic ideas are found among the population in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.