Frequency and time trend of drug search for COVID-19 in South America

Introduction: A variety of drugs have been used throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but the search trend during the period 2020-2021 is unknown. Objective: To determine the frequency and time trend in the search for drugs to combat COVID-19 in 5 South American countries. Methods: A secondary data analysis study was carried out, obtaining the information through the Google Trends platform, with the search for 4 drugs and 1 substance during the entire period of the pandemic. Descriptive results were obtained. Results: The term "paracetamol" had the highest search trend in April-May in Peru, maintaining high percentages to date in all five countries. For the term "hydroxychloroquine", the search reached 100% on 15 March 2020 in Brazil. For the search term "ivermectin", Peru reached 100% of searches with the appearance of the first case reports, Brazil reached 65% only in the fifth week. In the case of "azithromycin", there was a high search trend in Peru with a peak of 100% in April-May 2020. For "chlorine dioxide", the country with the highest search rate was Argentina, in August 2020 it reached 100%. Conclusions: Some of the drugs had a similar search trend during the beginning of the pandemic, such as paracetamol, but others followed different trends, decreasing in recent months. © 2022, Editorial Ciencias Medicas. All rights reserved.

Mental health of doctors and nurses in health crisis situations

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has generated many repercussions in the mental health of the population, especially in those working in the front line of care. Objective: To characterize front-line health care personnel according to the level of depression, anxiety, and stress in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study. Health professionals involved in the first-line care of COVID-19 patients in critical areas were surveyed between October and December 2020. The Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale was used to measure the dependent variables;in addition, epidemiological variables were collected: sex, age and type of profession. A descriptive analysis of the data was performed using frequency/percentage tables and cross tables. Results: Of the 86 physicians and nurses surveyed, 36.05 % presented depression, predominantly at the moderate level, 55.81 % presented anxiety, predominantly at the mild level, and 53.49 % presented stress, predominantly at the mild level. Higher levels of depression (71 %), anxiety (75 %) and stress were found in female personnel (73.91 %), in the 41-60 age group higher levels of stress (64.52 %), anxiety (64.58 %) and stress (30.43 %) were found, and in the professional group of nurses higher levels of depression (67.71 %), anxiety (72.92 %) and stress (67.39 %) were found. Conclusion: Of the 3 psychopathological disorders studied in the health professionals, the one with the highest percentage is anxiety, followed by stress and depression. Female participants, the 41-60 years age group, and nurses have higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress. © 2022, Editorial Ciencias Medicas. All rights reserved.

Perception of Peruvian university students about the academic repercussions generated by COVID-19

The main objective of the research was to try to see the perception of virtual classes and the possible academic repercussions that university students had in Peru, and their associated factors, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analytical cross-sectional study in Peruvian university students during the first wave of the pandemic, the variable that mediates perception was obtained through a validated scale. In the analytical statistics, it was found that women had a higher frequency of perception of academic repercussions (PRa: 1.37;95% CI: 1.18-1.59;p value <0.001), this adjusted for age, study career and university. Women were the ones who perceived the most repercussions. Although an association was only found with the sex of the respondents, larger studies should be carried out and in more advanced stages of the pandemic, since our results can be taken as baseline, but the influence of others should be followed up and determine the influence of other variables.

Sacrifice of patients with severe COVID-19 during the first weeks of the pandemic in Peru: attitudes and associated factors

There was a lot of confusion and fear when COVD-19 arrived to the country, so much so that some were of the opinion that extreme measures should be taken for confirmed cases, however, this had not been evaluated. The objective of the research was to determine the factors associated with agreement to sacrifice people with severe COVD-19 during the first weeks of the pandemic in Peru. Cross-sectional analytical study, using secondary data, the dependent variable was the perception of agreement that if someone has a severe case of coronavirus they should be sacrificed/euthanized or similar, to avoid contagion;this was crossed with other influential variables. Of the 3331 respondents, 8% (269) strongly agreed and 9% (297) agreed that people with severe COVID-19 should be euthanized. In multivariate analysis, agreeing with culling was associated with sex (women were less in agreement with sacrificing, aPR: 0.73;95%CI: 0.62-0.86;p<0.001), also according to religious orientation (atheists were more in agreement with culling, aPR: 1.40;95%CI: 1.16-1.69;p<0.001), and to the scores they obtained in the fatalism test's (aPR: 1.09;CI95%: 1.07-1.11;p<0.001), level of knowledge (aPR: 0.85;CI95%: 0.81-0.88;p<0.001) and the perception of fear or exaggeration by the media (aPR: 1.02;CI95%: 1.01-1.03;p<0.001). A significant percentage agreed with sacrificing the sick people, being this associated with fear, fatalism and a low level of knowledge.

Fatalities associated with pre and post SARS-CoV-2 infection in Peru

Having been previously infected does not guarantee that one is safe in this pandemic, therefore, it is important to estimate the change in perceptions. The aim was to determine the fatalistic perception of patients recovered from COVID-19 in Peru and to identify the sociodemographic differences that influence the fatalistic perception of recovered and uninfected patients. Observational, retrospective cohort. The exposure variable was whether the patient had already been infected by COVID-19, the dependent variable was the fatalistic perception in the event of becoming ill with COVID-19 (in the case of those who had already been ill, the question was asked in the event of reinfection);this was measured with a validated test and being fatalistic was defined as those who were in the upper third of the scores;analytical statistics were obtained. Of the 8957 respondents, 37% reported that they had already been infected by COVID-19. In bivariate analysis, there was no difference in fatalism according to having been previously infected (p=0.426). In multivariate analysis, there was a lower risk of fatalism among men (aRR: 0.85;95%CI: 0.80-0.90;p-value<0.001), but an increased risk among those who believed they could be reinfected (aRR: 1.39;95%CI: 1.23-1.56;p-value<0.001), adjusted for three variables. Un conclusion, there is no association between fatalistic perception of the pandemic and having been infected with COVID-19 in Peru. However, being a woman and believing in a possible reinfection were risk factors for presenting fatalistic ideas.

Basic knowledge associated with fatalism generated by COVID-19 in Bolivian medical students

Fatalism prevents a person from responding adequately to different stressful life situations, but this has not been assessed in a COVID-19 informed population, such as medical students. The objective was to determine whether basic knowledge is associated with fatalism that was generated by COVID-19 in Bolivian medical students. Analytical cross-sectional study, generated through a virtual survey, with validated scales to measure knowledge and fatalism before the possibility of getting sick by COVID-19, this in 4 medical schools in Bolivia. Descriptive and analytical results were obtained for this association, adjusted for other variables. In the multivariate analysis it was found that there was a higher level of knowledge as the academic year increased (3rd year p=0.012, 4th year p=0.031, 5th year p=0.001 and internship p=0.013;all compared to 1st year), on the other hand, there was more knowledge among students who were less fatalistic (RPa: 0.76;95%CI: 0.68-0.85%;p-value<0.001) and among those who studied at some universities (UNIFRANZ p<0.001 and UNITEPC p<0.001, both as compared to UMSS);adjusted for gender and age of respondents. In conclusion, the fact that students had fatalistic perceptions was inversely associated with the knowledge they had regarding the disease;in addition, there was an association according to the year of studies and the university where they studied.

Impact on the mental health of undergraduate students and their parents at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic

It is very likely that if a child is anxious, stressed or depressed, someone at home is also anxious, stressed or depressed. That is why the objective was to determine the association between the mental health of parents according to that of undergraduated students in a Peruvian population during the first wave of COVID-19. An analytical, multicenter, cross-sectional research was carried out, where parents and children were surveyed with the DASS-21 scale, making crosses and adjusting for some other variables. Of the 1832 students and 1832 heads of family surveyed, according to having a severe presentation, 35% of the parents had stress (p<0.001) and 25% had depression (p<0.001), if their children had severe stress, anxiety or depression, respectively. If the head of the family presented moderate/severe depression it was associated with their children having depression or anxiety;the father of the family having moderate/severe anxiety was associated with the children also having depression or anxiety and the heads of the family presenting moderate/severe stress had an association with the children having anxiety and stress (up to here all values p<0.002);as well as, that the heads of the household were women (p=0.034). An evident association was found between the mental health problems of the children and those of their parents, which should alert us to the fact that there are entire households with mental problems, and that they are related to the pathologies they suffer from.

Acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination among pregnant Peruvian women: attitudes and associated factors

Now that COVID-19 vaccines are available for pregnant women, it is important to know their perception and intention to be vaccinated. The objective was to determine the attitude of pregnant women towards vaccination against COVID-19 in Peru and the factors associated with it. This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in the 24 Peruvian departments during the months of December 2020 and January 2021. Fifty percent of the respondents had not yet decided whether they would be vaccinated, 36% said they would be vaccinated, 8% said they would not be vaccinated under any circumstances, and 6% would only be vaccinated if they were forced to do so. In the multivariate analysis, it was found that they would not be vaccinated because they did not trust the health system (p-value=0.002;more pregnant women did not trust the health sector), on the other hand, in the reasons why they would be vaccinated, it was found that this vaccination would improve the health of their family or loved ones (p-value=0.005;fewer pregnant women would be vaccinated for this reason). It is concluded that the percentage of pregnant women who would get vaccinated is low, being the main reason for the improvement of the health of your family, while distrust in the health system, lack of knowledge of the development of vaccines and not considering themselves a population at risk were the main factors associated with resistance to vaccination.

COVID-19 anxiety, depression and stress in Latin American health professionals: characteristics and associated factors

Due to the pandemic, an increase in mental health problems has been reported in members of the health personnel, with the self-report being an initial way of evaluating it. The objective was to determine the factors associated with the perception of repercussions in the mental sphere in health professionals in Latin America before COVID-19. An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out between June and August 2020 in Latin America. The perception of repercussions was measured through an instrument previously validated in Peru, which was taken virtually from 406 doctors, nurses and others;this was crossed versus other variables. The main concern was returning home and infecting their family (22% strongly agree), followed by feeling the abuse because they do not give them the necessary amount of personal protective equipment (13% strongly agree) and perceiving mental exhaustion for all the activities they did (12% strongly agree). In the multivariate analysis, the older there was a lower perception of mental repercussion (aPR: 0.98;95% CI: 0.97-0.99;p value = 0.012);In addition, those who had a greater perception of repercussions in the mental sphere also had more anxiety at a low level (aPR: 1.84;95% CI: 1.14-2.98;p value = 0.013) and post-traumatic stress (aPR: 2.28;95% CI: 1.61-3.22;p value <0.001), adjusted for depression and stress. Despite being an exploratory analysis, important associations were found in the mental sphere;which should continue to be investigated in larger studies.

Academic repercussions of virtual education on Latin American students: Validation of a scale

Introduction: The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced students to be able to adapt to new means of education. The closure of educational centers has generated a massive migration to virtuality and, often, neither the institutions nor the students were prepared for this modality. Objective: To validate a scale that measures the academic repercussions as a consequence of the measures taken by the pandemic among university students in 13 countries of Latin America. Methodology: Instrumental, analytical and cross-sectional study. The sampling was non-probabilistic and by convenience. Evaluations of form and substance were carried out. The substantive evaluation was carried out by expert judgment, and a small pilot was conducted to evaluate the form of the items. Results: In the substantive analysis, item 1 was the most relevant (V = 0.93;95% CI: 0.82-0.98), as was the case for representativeness and clarity. Furthermore, the preliminary analysis of the items shows that item 6 has the highest mean score (M = 2.67) and item 1 the lowest (M = 2.19). Regarding variability, item 4 (SD = 1.40) shows the greatest dispersion. The relevance of the exploratory factor analysis is justified by the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin coefficient (0.854) and Bartlett's test (17716.5;gl = 15;p = 0.000) being acceptable and significant. Conclusions: The REP-ACAD-COVID-19-LAT scale is a valid and reliable scale to measure the impact of virtuality in times of health emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2022 The Authors

Factors associated with worry and fear during COVID-19 in preprofessional health practitioners

Introduction: Preprofessional health care practitioners were also mentally affected by COVID-19. Objectives: To determine the factors associated with having more worry and fear during COVID-19 in Peruvian pre-professional health care practitioners. Methods: Cross-sectional study with analytical methods, with the participation of 285 students from different health careers in southern Peru, to whom 2 locally validated tests were applied and crossed with different socio-educational variables. Results: The main concerns were that they could not help worrying despite the measures taken, the uncertainty of being an unpredictable disease, the fact that their workplace has many risks and the perception that their ability to work would be affected by being infected. The main fears were the perception that their heart was racing or that their hands were sweating. Those who were in an I-3 facility (without hospitalization) were less worried than those in other facilities (RPa: 0.56;95 % CI: 0.43-0.72;p-value< 0.001), adjusted for sex and educational career. In addition, the older the age, the more fear (RPa: 1.76;95 % CI: 1.46-2.11;p-value< 0.001), adjusted for 4 variables. Conclusions: The practitioners showed concern in relation to the unpredictability of the disease, occupational hazards and the fact that they could be infected;in addition, fear that caused a very strong cardiac acceleration and sweating in the hands. Associated with the concern was the level of the health facility where they worked. Associated with fear was the age of the respondents. © 2022, Editorial Ciencias Medicas. All rights reserved.

First COVID-19 pandemic wave in Peru: Purchase of staple products, knowledge, infodemic and associated factors

At the beginning of the pandemic, an excessive purchase of some products was observed, but this has not been evaluated if it is related to mental health. Therefore, the objective was to determine the factors associated with the purchase of basic necessities in the Peruvian population at the beginning of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out, based on a secondary data analysis. Information from 3379 Peruvians from all regions was used, they were asked about the purchases they made, crossing these with the results of the "KNOW-P-COVID-19", "F-COVID-19" and "MED-COVID-19" scales;obtaining descriptive and analytical results. The most purchased products were disinfectant (43.9%), followed by soap (43.6%) and alcohol (40.8%). In the multivariate analysis, the purchase of disinfectants (p=0.009), soap (p<0.001) and alcohol (p=0.002) was found to be associated with sex;the purchase of personal protective equipment (p=0.027), antibacterial gel (p=0.010) and face masks (p=0.015) was associated with age;to the fatalism score the purchase of food (p=0.005), personal protective equipment (p<0.001), soap (p=0.014), alcohol (p=0.043) and face masks (p<0.001);to the score of fears and concern conveyed by the media the purchase of personal protective equipment (p=0.007), soap (p<0.001) and face masks (p=0.005) and to the score of knowledge of the disease the purchase of soap (p<0.001), antibacterial gel (p=0.011) and toilet paper (p=0.009). Significant associations were found with the purchase of supplies (p<0.011). © 2021 Instituto de Altos Estudios de Salud Publica. All rights reserved.

Socio-occupational factors associated with the possibility of vaccination against COVID-19 if required by work, Peru

In the context of the arrival of vaccines against COVID-19 in Peru, it is important to know which sectors are the most willing to be vaccinated. The objective of this study was to determine the socio-labor factors associated with the possibility of vaccination against COVID-19 if required by work. Analytical cross-sectional study, which had as its main question whether they would be vaccinated if it was a job requirement, this was compared according to work category, sex and age group;descriptive and analytical statistics were obtained. Of the 6628 workers surveyed, 34% and 35% would get vaccinated if required to do so by their job, based on whether they had not yet been sick or had already been sick, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, there was a higher frequency of agreement to be vaccinated among those in the mining sector (aPR: 1.33;95%CI: 1.05-1.69;p-value=0.019), those doing domestic work (aPR: 1.14;95%CI: 1.01-1.29;p-value=0.036) and men (aPR: 1.07;95%CI. 1.01-1.14;p-value=0.029);in contrast, those in the younger age range 40-49 years (aPR: 0.82;95%CI: 0.71-0.95;p-value=0.010) were less likely to be vaccinated than those in the younger age range (aPR: 0.82;95%CI: 0.71-0.95;p-value=0.010). There was a low perception of the possibility of getting vaccinated if asked to do so at work, the main factors associated with the possibility of getting vaccinated being not having been previously infected with COVID-19, belonging to the mining sector, performing domestic work and being male. © 2021 Instituto de Altos Estudios de Salud Publica. All rights reserved.