[Frequency of smoking among hospitalized patients]. / Consumo de tabaco en pacientes hospitalizados en Clínica Alemana de Santiago de Chile.

BACKGROUND: Smoking is one of the most relevant public health problems worldwide and one of the main causes of preventable premature death. In-hospital treatment and subsequent follow-up are effective in terms of cessation. AIM: To determine the frequency of smoking habits among patients hospitalized at a private clinic in Santiago. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Hospitalized patients were invited to answer a structured and adapted questionnaire on smoking habits. RESULTS: The survey was answered by 294 patients (56% women). Twenty three percent of respondents were smokers. Among smokers, 50% indicated a consumption from 1 to 5 cigarettes per day, 19% smoked during the first hour after waking, and 43% lived with another smoker in their home. Eighty three percent thought about quitting and made unsuccessful attempts to quit using different strategies. CONCLUSIONS: The percentage of smokers in this group of patients is lower than that reported in the national health survey. The high proportion of respondent that are attempted to quit and failed, justifies the availability of structured quitting programs at the hospital and follow-up strategies after discharge.

[Prevalence, risk of progression and quality of life assessment in adolescents undergoing school screening for adolescent idopathic scoliosis]. / Prevalencia, riesgo de progresión y calidad de vida en estudiantes tamizados para escoliosis idiopática adolescente.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), progression risk, and quality of life in students aged from 10 to 18 years. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Cross-sectional descriptive study in students 10 - 18 years old from 5 communes in Santiago, Chile, between 2015-2016. Adam's Test was performed and the angle trunk rotation (ATR) at the thoracic, thoracolumbar, and lumbar levels were measured with a scoliometer. If ATR was ≥ 6°, anteroposterior and lateral radiological images of the spine were taken, and Cobb angle was measured. Scoliosis was confirmed if the Cobb angle was ≥ 10° plus vertebral rotation. Progression factor was calculated with Lonstein and Carlson formula. Quality of life was assessed through spinal deformities questionnaires and the trunk appearance perception scale. RESULTS: 1200 students were evaluated, 54.9% were female, and 8.17% had ATR ≥ 6°. We found mild scoliosis in 2.91%, moderate in 0.75% and severe in 0.17%. Total prevalence was 3.83% (CI 95%: 2.74 - 4.92). 82.61% of the cases had a late diagnosis, after their growth spurt. Of the patients with scoliosis, 21.74% had a progression risk ≥ 50%. Quality of life had a positive correlation with scoliosis severity, not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of AIS was 3.83%. Most patients were diagnosed after their growth spurt with high progression risk. Quality of life showed a weak positive correlation with scoliosis severity.

Consumo de tabaco en pacientes hospitalizados en Clínica Alemana de Santiago de Chile / Frequency of smoking among hospitalized patients

Background: Smoking is one of the most relevant public health problems worldwide and one of the main causes of preventable premature death. In-hospital treatment and subsequent follow-up are effective in terms of cessation. Aim: To determine the frequency of smoking habits among patients hospitalized at a private clinic in Santiago. Material and Methods: Hospitalized patients were invited to answer a structured and adapted questionnaire on smoking habits. Results: The survey was answered by 294 patients (56% women). Twenty three percent of respondents were smokers. Among smokers, 50% indicated a consumption from 1 to 5 cigarettes per day, 19% smoked during the first hour after waking, and 43% lived with another smoker in their home. Eighty three percent thought about quitting and made unsuccessful attempts to quit using different strategies. Conclusions: The percentage of smokers in this group of patients is lower than that reported in the national health survey. The high proportion of respondent that are attempted to quit and failed, justifies the availability of structured quitting programs at the hospital and follow-up strategies after discharge.

Exposure of 4-year to 24-year olds to tobacco imagery on prime-time Chilean television.

INTRODUCTION: The extent of the population's exposure to tobacco imagery across all genres of regular TV programming and the contribution of each of these genres is unknown, except for UK broadcast channels. The objective of this study is to estimate the exposure of young people to tobacco imagery on Chilean prime-time television and the programme source contributing to such exposure. METHODS: Programmes aired during 3 weeks in 2019 from the 15 highest audience channels in Chile were content-analysed for the occurrence of tobacco categorised as actual use, implied use, tobacco paraphernalia, tobacco brand appearances and whether they violated Chilean smoke-free law for each 1 min interval (92 639). The exposure of young people to tobacco content was estimated using media viewership figures. RESULTS: Young people received 29, 11 and 4 million tobacco impressions of any type, explicit use and smoke-free violation, respectively, at a rate of 21.8, 8.0 and 2.1 thousand impressions per hour of TV viewing. The main sources of exposure to tobacco impressions were feature films and animated productions, which were almost entirely non-Chilean. Finally, young people were exposed to tobacco brand impressions primarily through films, effectively circumventing the advertising ban in Chile. DISCUSSION: Television programming is a source of significant youth exposure to tobacco imagery, including branding impressions. To conform to the WHO FCTC, Chile should prohibit tobacco branding in any TV programme and require strong anti-tobacco advertisements prior to any TV programme portraying tobacco.

Exposure to tobacco impressions during prime-time TV among Chilean minors by sex and socioeconomic status.

INTRODUCTION: We tested if tobacco impressions were delivered differentially to prime-time TV watching minors by sex and socioeconomic status. METHODS: Programs aired during prime-time for three random weeks in 2019 from the 15 highest audience channels in Chile were content-analyzed for the occurrence of tobacco for each one-minute interval of 92639 recorded. Such occurrences were categorized as actual use and whether they violated Chilean smoke-free law or tobacco brand appearances. We estimated the number of persons per hour (p/h) exposed to tobacco impressions for the 4 to 17 years age group by sex and socioeconomic status (SES). RESULTS: Minors spent over a billion p/h watching TV during the observation period. Minors were exposed to tobacco explicit use, branding and smoke-free violation impressions for 9.7 million, 1.2 million, and 1.0 million p/h, respectively. The odds ratios (OR) of exposure to total tobacco impressions were always greater among boys with higher SES compared to boys with low SES. However, they were greater among girls of low SES compared to those of high SES for all types of impressions. The OR of exposure to tobacco branding was higher among girls of any SES compared to boys of any SES. CONCLUSIONS: Minors need protection from tobacco imagery on television, particularly girls of low SES. To that end, new legislation should implement all measures to counter depictions of tobacco in entertainment media, as recommended in the WHO FCTC Article 13 guidelines. This should require strong anti-tobacco advertisements before any TV program portraying tobacco targeting minor audiences, particularly girls of low SES. Given that Chile has one of the highest prevalences in the world of current cigarette smoking among young females, the potential contribution of tobacco impressions on TV to smoking differentials across female socioeconomic groups should be further studied.

Barriers and Facilitators in Access to Diabetes, Hypertension, and Dyslipidemia Medicines: A Scoping Review.

Objective: Identify barriers and facilitators in access to medicines for diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, considering patient, health provider, and health system perspectives. Methods: Scoping review based on Joanna Briggs methodology. The search considered PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Academic Search Ultimate, Web of Science, SciELO Citation Index, and grey literature. Two researchers conducted screening and eligibility phases. Data were thematically analyzed. Results: The review included 219 documents. Diabetes was the most studied condition; most of the evidence comes from patients and the United States. Affordability and availability of medicines were the most reported dimension and specific barrier respectively, both cross-cutting concerns. Among high- and middle-income countries, identified barriers were cost of medicines, accompaniment by professionals, long distances to facilities, and cultural aspects; cost of transportation emerges in low-income settings. Facilitators reported were financial accessibility, trained health workers, medicines closer to communities, and patients' education. Conclusion: Barriers and facilitators are determined by socioeconomic and cultural conditions, highlighting the role of health systems in regulatory and policy context (assuring financial coverage and free medicines); providers' role bringing medicines closer; and patients' health education and disease management.

Implementation of physiotherapy telerehabilitation before and post Covid-19 outbreak: A comparative narrative between South American countries and Australia.

The continuous development in telecommunication tech-nologies has created opportunities for health professionals to optimise healthcare delivery by adopting digital tools into rehabilitation programs (i.e., telerehabilitation). These tech-nological advances, along with the demographic and social characteristics of each country, have made the implementa-tion of telerehabilitation a disparate process across regions. We have gathered the experience of four countries (Australia, Chile, Brazil, and Colombia) in two different regions (Ocea-nia and South America) to recompile the history pre- and post-Covid-19 outbreak until January of 2021, the barriers to, and facilitators of telerehabilitation, and outline the future challenges for these countries.

Compliance with the smoking ban in urban public transportation in Chile.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study is to assess the national level of compliance with the Chilean smoke-free legislation in the urban public transportation system. METHODS: In this cross-sectional observational study, we studied a national representative sample of 475 vehicles obtained through a two-stage cluster sampling design in 2018. First, 57 municipalities were randomly selected, proportionally to the total number of public transportation vehicles. Second, within each municipality, a convenience sample of up to 4 taxis, 4 buses, and 2 metro coaches was observed. We determined the non-compliance level by systematic direct observation of smoking inside the cabin of the vehicle. We estimated the percentage of the visited vehicles where smoking was observed inside the cabin of the vehicle. RESULTS: The observation of metros, buses and taxis was completed in 24, 52, and 48, of the 57 sampled municipalities, respectively. Smoking was observed inside of about 2% of buses and 7% of taxis. Smoking was not observed in metro carriages. Overall, smoking was observed in almost 3% of the vehicles studied. A 3% noncompliance could expose a significant number of persons in public transportation to secondhand smoke, given that every 100 inhabitants results in about 84 rides a day of almost one hour duration. There are few comparable studies to put in an international context our results. In 2018, the year in which we collected the data, WHO considered that compliance with the law in public transportation was maximum. Our compliance estimate was lower, however WHO used a different methodology and its scope also included the inter-urban mobility, which we did not. CONCLUSIONS: The study highlights the need to improve the enforcement of the smoke-free law in the transportation system in Chile, which presently is almost non-existent.

Caracterización de la atención a distancia, preferencias y utilidad de redes sociales de los usuarios de Teletón Chile, en el período junio-agosto de 2020, con motivo de la contingencia de COVID-19, estudio descriptivo transversal / Characterization of remote care, preferences and usefulness of social networks of Teletón Chile patients, in the period June-August 2020, on COVID-19 contingency, descriptive cross-sectional study

INTRODUCCIÓN: Producto de la pandemia por COVID-19 y para establecer continuidad a los tratamientos de usuarios y familias, Teletón Chile implementó una encuesta para describir las características demográficas, de salud, sociales, ambientales, factores asociados, atención a distancia y problemas asociados por contingencia COVID-19. OBJETIVO: Describir el servicio de atención a distancia (AD) implementado por Teletón Chile, preferencias y utilidad de redes sociales (RR.SS.) de los usuarios. MATERIALES Y MÉTODOS: Estudio descriptivo transversal de tipo censal a usuarios activos de Teletón al 30 de abril de 2020 desarrollado a través de la aplicación de una encuesta para caracterizar el servicio de AD y RR.SS. RESULTADOS: Se presentan resultados obtenidos entre junio y agosto de 2020, que representan al 31,13% (n = 8.202) de la población total atendida; El 74,54% de los participantes de la encuesta señalan haber recibido AD, de los cuales un 82,02% logra el cumplimiento de las indicaciones siendo la principal razón de no cumplimiento no ser contactado para la modalidad AD desde el área médico-terapéutica (36,55%). Los principales beneficios de la AD son: aumento de la accesibilidad en la atención (44,13%) y disminución de las problemáticas del traslado (17,67%). La preocupación principal es la pérdida de la cantidad de atenciones presenciales (34,41%). CONCLUSIONES: La AD es considerada de utilidad para la continuidad de los programas de rehabilitación. Asimismo, toma relevancia el uso de redes sociales para contacto y seguimiento. Finalmente, para implementar este servicio se requiere considerar las necesidades personales de los usuarios para una rehabilitación remota.

INTRODUCTION: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to establish continuity in the treatment of users and families, Teletón Chile implemented a survey to describe the demographic, health, social and environmental characteristics, associated factors, distance care and associated problems due to COVID-19. Objective: To describe stance Attention (DA) service implemented by Teleton Chile, and the preferences and usefulness of users' social networks (RRSS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study of a census type which was developed through the application of a survey to characterize the DA and RRSS service, and includes active Teletón users as of April 30, 2020. RESULTS: Results obtained between June and August 2020 are presented, representing 31.13% (n = 8,202) of the total population served; 74.54% of the survey participants indicated having received of which 82.02% achieved compliance with the prescribed indications, the main reason for non-compliance was not being contacted by the medical-therapeutic area for the DA modality (36.55%). The main benefits of DA are: increased accessibility to care (44.13%) and reduction in transportation problems (17.67%). The main concern is the loss of the amount of face-to-face care (34.41%). CONCLUSIONS: DA is considered useful for the continuity of rehabilitation programs. The use of social networks for contact and follow-up is also relevant. Finally, to implement this service, it is necessary to consider the personal needs of the users for a remote rehabilitation.

[History of child abuse among patients with bipolar disorders]. / El maltrato infantil y su rol en el curso clínico de pacientes con trastorno bipolar.

BACKGROUND: A history of child abuse is common and has a significant impact in the clinical course of patients diagnosed with bipolar disorders (BD). AIMS: To assess the frequency of child abuse experiences in patients BD type I and to evaluate its association with clinical course and cognitive functioning variables. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 117 patients with BD aged 45 ± 14 years (66% women) answered the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). The clinical course (illness onset, history of suicide attempts and number of hospitalizations) was obtained from medical records. Cognitive functioning was evaluated through social and non-social cognition tasks. RESULTS: 64% of participants reported some type of child abuse. This variable was associated with an early onset of the disease (Odds ratio (OR) = 3.3; p < 0.02), increased risk of suicide attempts (OR = 2.4; p < 0.04) and specific disturbances in social cognitive tasks. CONCLUSIONS: Our study supports evidence of a common history of child abuse in patients with BD. Although child abuse predicts a worse clinical course, major clinical practice guidelines, as well as research designs, do not highlight this evidence.

El maltrato infantil y su rol en el curso clínico de pacientes con trastorno bipolar / History of child abuse among patients with bipolar disorders

Background: A history of child abuse is common and has a significant impact in the clinical course of patients diagnosed with bipolar disorders (BD). Aims: To assess the frequency of child abuse experiences in patients BD type I and to evaluate its association with clinical course and cognitive functioning variables. Material and Methods: 117 patients with BD aged 45 ± 14 years (66% women) answered the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). The clinical course (illness onset, history of suicide attempts and number of hospitalizations) was obtained from medical records. Cognitive functioning was evaluated through social and non-social cognition tasks. Results: 64% of participants reported some type of child abuse. This variable was associated with an early onset of the disease (Odds ratio (OR) = 3.3; p < 0.02), increased risk of suicide attempts (OR = 2.4; p < 0.04) and specific disturbances in social cognitive tasks. Conclusions: Our study supports evidence of a common history of child abuse in patients with BD. Although child abuse predicts a worse clinical course, major clinical practice guidelines, as well as research designs, do not highlight this evidence.