There is no association between anxiety and lifestyle in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.

Introduction and objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused mental health problems worldwide. Older people have been particularly affected by the lockdown as their health conditions have changed, although they have been kept in isolation to avoid exposure to contagion. We sought to determine the association between lifestyles and anxiety in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: This study was cross-sectional. We enrolled 150 older adults of both sexes and with a history of chronic diseases from the municipality of El Agustino (Lima, Peru). The 20-item Geriatric Anxiety Scale and the 25-item Lifestyle Questionnaire on eating, physical activity, rest, and sleep were administered in Spanish during July-August 2021. Results: The mean age was 70.8 ± 8.1 years, 54.7% were male, and 75.3% practiced exercise. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 99.3% of the elderly had healthy lifestyles and 40% presented anxiety (mild, moderate, and severe anxiety in 26.7%, 8.7%, and 4.7%, respectively). We found no association between anxiety and lifestyle (p = 0.189), physical exercise was a predictor of lifestyle (p < 0.001) and we did not find predictors of anxiety symptoms (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Our results suggest that there was no link between anxiety symptoms and lifestyle in older adults during the lockdown. It is important to conduct in-depth research on factors associated with anxiety symptoms among older residents in other regions, focusing on population groups with the highest rates of infection and death from COVID-19.

Community and hospital academic performance of working nurse interns: A mixed-methods study in Peru.

Introduction and Objective: Nursing is a professional career that requires patient-specialized care. To this end, it requires a high academic performance during undergraduate studies. However, some factors that can influence the academic performance of nursing students have been noticed during the internship. We aimed to determine the hospital and community-academic performance of nurse interns who work. Materials and Methods: We designed a 3-year mixed study carried out with students of the Universidad Norbert Wiener. We interviewed 15 students about their academic performance, the consequences of studying while working, internship, family, and academic activities. Using the quantitative approach, we analyzed the evaluations of 321 students between 2016 and 2018. Results: The qualitative approach showed that students had certain difficulties in their clinical internship because they worked and studied simultaneously. Despite this, their academic performance was remarkable in both internship programs, and 10% of students had an outstanding performance. This performance is subject to personal, economic, and family factors that affect students in their last year of undergraduate studies. Conclusions: Working nursing interns had a remarkable academic performance during community and hospital internships. This performance is influenced by personal, financial, and family factors that affect students in their final year of undergraduate study.

Actitudes del autocuidado de pacientes con tuberculosis en enfermeros peruanos luego de un brote hospitalario

Introducción: La tuberculosis es una de las principales causas de morbimortalidad en todo el mundo. Las medidas de prevención son clave para evitar su propagación y el contagio entre profesionales de salud. Objetivo: Determinar las actitudes del autocuidado sobre la tuberculosis en el personal de enfermería luego de un brote infeccioso hospitalario. Métodos: Estudio transversal, en personal de enfermería (n= 94; personal técnico n= 44; 46,8 %). Se incluyó al personal de enfermería voluntario > 18 años, de ambos sexos, que trabaje en el Departamento de Emergencia. Se usó el cuestionario de 15 ítems de Valle (2017), para estimar los conocimientos y actitudes sobre el autocuidado, 3 dimensiones: prevención, diagnóstico y tratamiento de la tuberculosis. Resultados: El promedio de edad de los participantes fue de 44,7 ± 8,8 años, el 88,3 % mujeres y el tiempo promedio de trabajo fue 11,2 ± 7,8 años. Se hallaron diferencias entre los años de servicio, entre los técnicos (8,55 ± 7,94 años) y profesionales (13,48 ± 6,98 años) (p< 0,001). El 100 % presentaron actitudes de aceptación del autocuidado en todas las dimensiones. El 4,5 % y el 27,3 % de técnicos presentaron actitudes de indiferencia en la dimensión diagnóstico y tratamiento de tuberculosis (p= 0,001). Conclusiones: Existen actitudes favorables en el personal de enfermería sobre autocuidado de la tuberculosis luego de un brote en un hospital de Lima, aunque en técnicos de enfermería se reportan actitudes de indiferencia en el diagnóstico y tratamiento de tuberculosis.

Introduction: Tuberculosis continues to be one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Prevention measures are key to prevent its spread and contagion among health professionals. The objective of the present study was to determine the self-care attitudes about tuberculosis in the nursing staff after a hospital infectious outbreak in Perú. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in nursing staff (n= 94; technical staff n= 44, 46.8%). Volunteer nursing staff > 18 years old, of both sexes, and who work in the Emergency Department were included. The 15-item questionnaire from Valle (2017) was used to estimate knowledge and attitudes about self-care in nursing staff in 3 dimensions: prevention, diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis. Results: The average age of the participants was 44.7±8.8 years, 88.3 % were women, and the average working time was 11.2 ± 7.8 years. Difference was found between the years of service, among technicians (8.55 ± 7.94 years) and nursing professionals (13.48 ± 6.98 years) (p< 0.001). A hundred percent of nurses presented attitudes of acceptance of self-care in all dimensions; 4.5 % and 27.3% of nursing technicians presented attitudes of indifference in the tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment dimension (p= 0.001). Conclusions: There are favorable attitudes in the nursing staff about self-care of tuberculosis after an outbreak in a hospital in Lima, although in nursing technicians we report attitudes of indifference in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis.

The Age of Young Nurses Is a Predictor of Burnout Syndrome during the Care of Patients with COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Burnout Syndrome (BS) is a work fatigue phenomenon that leads to physical exhaustion during care work, and there could be an increase in the proportion of nurses affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in those caring for infected patients. We aimed to determine BS in nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: An observational study was conducted on 100 nurses over the age of 18 and working in COVID-19 medical units in 2021. The 22-item Maslach Burnout Inventory questionnaire was used to estimate BS, and differences between age groups, gender, work time, and previous infection were estimated. RESULTS: The majority of nurses (mean 30 ± 5.5 years) were women (78%), and the most frequent working time was from 1 to 10 years (58%). A total of 88% of the nurses had moderate BS, affecting more males, aged between 20 and 30 years, and without previous infection. The youngest age group, 20-30 years, presented the highest mean BS with 53.8 (SD 4.18) points (95% CI: 52.79 to 54.8), showing differences with older nurses (p < 0.05). Prediction analysis showed that only age was a significant predictor for the development of SB (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: BS negatively impacts young nurses during the care of COVID-19 patients, so strategies should be promoted to ensure a better working environment. Improving the workspace can include self-care strategies, changes in the system and work organization, an improvement of interpersonal relationships, and risk prevention.

COVID-19 may lower quality of life when infections and deaths increase: A longitudinal study in the Peruvian jungle.

Background: Quality of life (QoL) is a multifactorial concept on the perception of the individual's wellbeing underpinned by environmental, psychological, and physical factors. Several studies have shown changes in QoL in the COVID-19 pandemic and may be due to increases in mortality rates, however, no study has investigated this among Peruvian jungle dwellers. Here, we have sought to estimate the QoL of individuals before and after the increase in cases and deaths from COVID-19. Methods: A questionnaire-based longitudinal study was conducted in 102 inhabitants (mean 40.75 ± 7.49 years). The Spanish version of the WHOQOL-BREF was used in two stages: April and June. The first stage was accomplished before the first confirmed case of COVID-19, and the second stage was when the daily mortality rate was 3.5% with an incidence of 87%. Results: Sixty (54.8%) participants were women, 67 (61.9%) were >31 years, and 38 (34.5%) and 32 (29.1%) participants had primary and secondary education, respectively. In the first and second stage we obtained an overall mean QoL of 46.65 ± 23.2 and 35 ± 27.7 points, respectively. Individuals had significantly lower QoL in the face of increased deaths in physical (p = 0.001), mental (p = 0.028) and environmental (p = 0.001) health domains, with the latter having the greatest impact (51.84 ± 5.81 vs. 16.66 ± 5.55 points). Conclusion: Quality of life of Peruvian jungle dwellers is reduced during periods of increased mortality and incidence by COVID-19. Preventive strategies aimed at reducing the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health and global wellbeing of individuals living in the Amazon are recommended to Peruvian authorities.

Alterations in the coagulation markers did not show differences with the severity of COVID-19 in Peruvian patients: A cross-sectional single-center study.

Background and Aims: COVID-19 is a pandemic disease that can lead to altered lung function, systemic inflammatory events, and altered coagulation. During severe stages of the disease, changes in coagulation homeostasis increase, leading to thrombosis, and increased risk of death. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to assess coagulation markers by COVID-19 severity in Peruvian adults. Methods: During the second wave of infections, we included 186 adults diagnosed with COVID-19 (mean age 53.3 ± 16.3 years). Patients were divided into mild, moderate, and severe stages of COVID-19, and coagulation markers included prothrombin time (PT), activated partial prothrombin time (aPTT), fibrinogen, d-dimer, and platelet count. Results: Of the total, 120 (64.5%) were males and 39 (21%) were in the intensive care unit. We determine 104 (55.9%), 43 (24.7%), and 36 (19.4%) patients in mild, moderate, and severe stages of COVID-19, respectively. In the severe stage of COVID-19, patients had an average concentration of PT, aPTT, fibrinogen, d-dimer, and platelets of 13.2 ± 0.9 s, 28.9 ± 4.3 s, 679.4 ± 185.1 mg/dL, 1.9 ± 3.1 µg/mL, and 272.8 ± 88.9 cel/10 mm,3 respectively. We found no differences in the concentration of each marker according to severity (p < 0.05). Patients with severe COVID-19 had altered the aPTT, fibrinogen, d-dimer, and PT in 31 (57.4%), 48 (88.9%), 37 (68.5%), and 15 (27.8%) cases, respectively. Conclusions: Our results showed that although there is an alteration in coagulation markers, mainly fibrinogen and d-fiber, there are no differences in concentration according to the severity of COVID-19.