[Perceptions of resident physicians on the development of the cardiology resident program during the COVID-19 pandemic in Lima, Peru]. / Percepciones de los médicos residentes sobre el desarrollo del programa de residentado de cardiología durante la pandemia por COVID-19 en Lima, Perú.

Objective: To describe the perceptions of resident doctors about the development of their training program during the pandemic in the city of Lima - Peru. Materials and methods: Through a cross-sectional study, a questionnaire was applied to seventy-eight cardiology residents in the last two years of training in the specialty. The perceptions about the accompaniment and support of the universities in the educational venues, for the development of the training program in cardiology during the pandemic, were evaluated. Results: Regarding the support provided for their training, the items evaluated showed shortcomings above 60%, where permanent supervision was lacking in 90.0% of the residents. Regarding compliance with the rotations, the residents only received supervision in 24.4%, observing that they did not manage to carry out adequate rotations in 80.8% of the cases. The courses of the curricular plan were adequately developed in 92.5% of the cases, and the actions for the health of the resident were very low, highlighting that only in 9.0% of the cases did the university inquire about the state of health of the resident. Conclusions: The development of the cardiology residency training program during the pandemic presented important shortcomings, showing that the deficiencies were accentuated compared to previous studies.

Relationship between depression, anxiety, and perceived stress in health professionals and their perceptions about the quality of the health services in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The health emergency caused by COVID-19 revealed the shortcomings of health services (HS), but little is known about how this has impacted the mental health of health professionals (HP). METHODS: Data were collected through an online survey administered to HP in Lima (Peru) between May and July 2020. Instruments were applied to evaluate anxiety, depression, perceived stress (PS), and perceived quality of health services (PQHS). RESULTS: A total of 507 HP completed the survey. In the multivariate analysis, younger age and female gender were related to anxiety, depression, and PS (all with p < .001). The most relevant unfavorable PQHS associated with anxiety were competence of other HP to care for HP if infected (p = .002) and support for HP or their families in the event of becoming infected (p = .001); the most relevant unfavorable PHQS associated with depression were equipment to care for HP and their families if infected (p = .003); support for HP or their families if infected (p < .001); fear of HP and/or family members being infected or dying (p = .006); and HP' recognition of their competencies (p < .001); and the most relevant unfavorable PHQS associated with PS were support for HP or their families if infected (p < .001) and instability of knowledge (p = .027). CONCLUSIONS: There was an association between impaired mental health and PQHS scores among HP. This study shows the need for HP to express their concerns about how HS are supporting their safety and that of their family during health emergencies.

Depression and anxiety symptoms and perceived stress in health professionals in the context of COVID-19: Do adverse childhood experiences have a modulating effect?

BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) have a great impact on mental health outcomes of adults. However, little is known whether ACE may act as modulators of the mental health of health professionals caring for patients with COVID-19. METHODS: Data were collected through an online cross-sectional survey administered to health professionals in Lima (Peru) between May and July 2020. The survey included standardized self-assessment instruments for anxiety, depression, acute stress (AS) and history of ACE. RESULTS: A total of 542 health professionals completed the survey. Caring for patients with COVID-19 was significantly associated with depression and anxiety and when caring for patients with COVID-19 was combined with a history of early sexual abuse, its effect on the risk of anxiety increased (OR = 7.71, p = .010). Mental health problems were associated with female gender in almost all the analyses and with the majority of ACEs. CONCLUSIONS: Health workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic presented a high risk of mental health disorders. Antecedents of sexual abuse acted as a potentiating factor of anxiety in professionals providing COVID-19 care. These findings suggest that the burden of ACE modulates mental health problems in health professionals during the pandemic.