16 factores de personalidad en estudiantes universitarios de la carrera de psicología en una Universidad del occidente de México, y su relación con el sexo y cohorte generacional / 16 personality factors in university students of the psychology career at a University in western Mexico, and their relationship with sex and generational cohort

La personalidad ha sido objeto de estudio y el abordaje más socorrido a través del uso de pruebas psicológicas debido a sus importantes aportaciones a la comprensión de las diferencias individuales. En estudios previos, se ha reportado la presencia de factores psicológicos característicos en alumnos de psicología, mismos que tienen un valor predictivo en su comportamiento. Objetivos: El primer objetivo del estudio fue explorar la existencia de factores diferenciados en estudiantes de psicología y el segundo objetivo fue explorar si existen diferencias por edad y cohorte semestral. Método: Participaron en el estudio un total de 141 estudiantes (82 mujeres) de los 8 semestres de la carrera de psicología en una universidad pública del occidente de México. Se utilizó la prueba de 16 factores de personalidad (16FP) y se compararon los perfiles promedio resultantes contra los valores poblacionales de referencia, por género, además, se realizó un análisis entre los primeros semestres y los últimos. Resultados: Se identificó la presencia de factores de personalidad distintivos de los alumnos de psicología, además, pudieron observarse diferencias significativas por sexo pero no por cohorte generacional. Conclusiones: La presencia de factores de la personalidad relacionados a las normas sociales y la inestabilidad afectiva son comunes en estudiantes de psicología

Personality has been object of study and the most assisted approach through the use of psychological tests due to its important contributions to the understanding of individual differences. In previous studies, the presence of characteristic psychological factors has been reported in psychology students, which have a predictive value in their behavior. Objectives: The first objective of the study was to explore the existence of differentiated factors in psychology students and the second objective was to explore whether there are differences by age and semester cohort. Method: A total of 141 students (82 women) from the 8 semesters of the psychology degree at a public university in western Mexico participated in the study. The 16 personality factors test (16FP) was considered and the resulting average profiles were compared against the reference population values, by gender, in addition, an analysis was performed between the first semesters and the last. Results: The presence of distinctive personality factors of the psychology students was identified, in addition, there was observed differences determined by sex but not by generational cohort. Conclusions: The presence of personality factors related to social norms and affective instability are common in psychology students.

Efficacy and safety profile of fluticasone furoate administered once daily in the morning or evening: a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled trial in adult and adolescent patients with persistent bronchial asthma.

BACKGROUND: Fluticasone furoate (FF) is an inhaled corticosteroid that is structurally and functionally distinct from fluticasone propionate and is under development as a once-daily therapy for asthma. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to estimate the treatment differences (with 95% CI) in efficacy and safety profile between FF administered once daily in the morning and evening via Rotadisk Diskhaler (see text) in patients with persistent asthma. No hypothesis testing was performed for this comparison. METHODS: This was a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study. Patients (ages 16-55 years; peak expiratory flow [PEF] 50%-90% predicted) were randomized to receive 1 of 3 doses of FF Rotadisk or placebo daily for 4 weeks. The sponsor, GlaxoSmithKline, designed the study and selected the study sites. The primary end point was change from baseline in daily trough (pretreatment, prebronchodilator) PEF during the treatment period with FF Rotadisk 100 µg once daily in the morning compared with 100 µg once daily in the evening. Other end points included change from baseline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second, asthma symptom score, adverse events (AEs), 24-hour urinary cortisol excretion, and FF pharmacokinetics. RESULTS: Five hundred and seventy-five patients (mean age 36.6 years, 56.9% female) formed the intent-to-treat population and were randomly allocated to FF Rotadisk 100 µg once daily in the morning (n = 144), FF Rotadisk 100 µg once daily in the evening (n = 146), FF Rotadisk 250 µg once daily in the evening (n = 142), or placebo (n = 143). Of these patients, 526 (91.5%) completed the study. A smaller proportion of patients in the placebo group (86.7%) than in the active treatment groups completed the study. Mean difference in PEF change from baseline with FF Rotadisk 100 µg once daily in the morning relative to evening was +13.4 L/min (95% CI, 2.3-24.4). However, morning trough values might have been affected by higher placebo response after morning dosing (18.8 vs 8.8 L/min). Trough PEF improved relative to placebo (P ≤ 0.005), with little difference between FF Rotadisk 100 µg morning (19 L/min) and evening (16 L/min) dosing, as with other efficacy measures. Frequencies of all-cause AEs were similar with FF Rotadisk (32%-39%, 2 serious AEs) and placebo (37%, 1 serious AE). No serious AEs were deemed by the investigator to be related to study treatment. Twenty-four-hour urinary cortisol increased from baseline in all groups, but the increase was significantly lower with FF Rotadisk 250 µg group than placebo. CONCLUSION: FF Rotadisk administered once daily in the morning or evening was well tolerated and associated with improvements in lung function and asthma symptoms compared with placebo. Improvements seen for FF Rotadisk 100 µg appear to be comparable for morning and evening dosing. Clinical.trials.govNCT01499446.

[Effect of transfer factor on treatment with glucocorticoids in a group of pediatric patients with persistent moderate allergic asthma]. / Efecto del factor de transferencia en el tratamiento con glucocorticoides en un grupo de pacientes pediátricos con asma alérgica moderada persistente.

BACKGROUND: Inhaled glucocorticoids are the most effective and potent drugs used to control the inflammatory bronchial reaction in patients with asthma. There are several research projects evaluating the use of immune modulators in the treatment of the asthma related inflammatory process. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of transfer factor in the treatment of pediatric patients with moderate persistent allergic asthma in terms of inhaled glucocorticoid dosing and time of using. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Randomized, double blind, placebo controlled pilot clinical trial in a cohort of pediatric patients (6-17 years old) with moderate persistent allergic asthma. Two groups were formed. Group one received transfer factor and group two was given placebo. Both groups received conventional therapy with inhaled budesonide and formoterol. Daily respiratory symptoms (cough during day, or at night, and wheezing episodes) were recorded in a personal diary. Spirometric evaluations were performed before enrolling patients, and at 1, 3 and 6 months after. RESULTS: Eleven patients were enrolled in each group. Patients in the transfer factor group showed a statistical significant reduction in the inhaled glucocorticoid doping since month 3, and this difference was maintained until the end of study. Patients on TF group showed also a non statistical significant improvement in spirometrical findings and also showed a better asthma control. CONCLUSIONS: Transfer factor helps to reduce inhaled glucocorticoids dose in patients with allergic rhinitis; however, studies with a larger number of patients should be done in order to obtain better results.

Metaanalysis of the efficacy of sublingual immunotherapy in the treatment of allergic asthma in pediatric patients, 3 to 18 years of age.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have documented the efficacy and safety of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) in patients with rhinitis, but the value of this treatment in those with asthma is still debated. We evaluated the efficacy of SLIT in the treatment of allergic asthma in children by a metaanalysis of randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled (DBPC) clinical trials. METHODS: Electronic databases were searched up to May 31, 2006, for randomized DBPC trials assessing SLIT in pediatric cases of asthma. Effects on primary outcomes (ie, symptom scores and concomitant use of rescue medication) were calculated with standardized mean differences (SMDs) using the random-effects model. We performed the metaanalysis using a statistical software package (RevMan, 4.2.8; The Cochrane Collaboration; Oxford, UK), and we followed the recommendations of the Cochrane Collaboration and the Quality of Reporting of Metaanalyses guidelines. RESULTS: Seventy-three articles were identified and reviewed. Nine studies, all published after 1990, fulfilled the selection criteria. A total of 441 patients had a final assessment and were included in the analysis. Two hundred thirty-two patients received SLIT, and 209 patients received placebo. The results of the present analysis demonstrated a relevant heterogeneity due to widely differing scoring systems. Overall, there was a significant reduction in both symptoms (SMD - 1.14; 95% confidence interval [CI], - 2.10 to - 0.18; p = 0.02) and medication use (SMD, - 1.63; 95% CI, - 2.83 to - 0.44; p = 0.007) following SLIT. CONCLUSION: SLIT with standardized extracts reduces both symptom scores and rescue medication use in children with allergic asthma compared with placebo.