Objectives. To perform a spatial analysis of arterial hypertension in the Peruvian adult population to identify geographic patterns with a higher concentration of cases. Materials and methods: A spatial analysis was conducted using data from the Demographic and Family Health Survey (ENDES) 2022. A sample of 29,422 adults was included, and the global Moran’s index and Getis-Ord Gi* analysis were used to evaluate spatial autocorrelation and cluster concentration. Results: The age-standardized prevalence of arterial hypertension was 19.2%. Clusters with a high concentration of arterial hypertension were observed in departments along the Peruvian coast such as Tumbes, Piura, Lambayeque, La Libertad, Ancash, and Lima, as well as in the northern regions of the Highlands. Clusters were also found in the regions of Loreto and Madre de Dios in the Peruvian jungle. Conclusions: This study reveal...

ABSTRACT Background. Peru has implemented various strategies seeking to improve nutritional indicators in children under five years old. However, high prevalence of malnutrition in some regions still remains. The aim of this study was to assess changes in regional prevalence and to determine the presence of district conglomerates with a high prevalence of chronic childhood malnutrition (CCM) in 2010 and 2016. Methods. A comparative descriptive analysis by regions and a districtlevel spatial analysis were conducted employing indicators reported by the Nutritional Status Information System. Results. 23.9% (561.090/2.343.806) children under five years evaluated in Peru during 2010 and 18.0% (394.049/2.193.268) evaluated during 2016 were chronic malnutrition (reduction of 5.9 percentage points). We identified a decline of 7.6 percent points in rural areas and the persistence of prevalence ab...

ABSTRACT In this article, we examine the research on sofosbuvir with a bibliometric analysis of global research production. The study of sofosbuvir has been a field of intense research in the past few years, with Latin American contributions playing a modest role. With continued drug development and approval of hepatitis C antivirals, research is expected to increase. Our findings will assist scholars and policy makers in their efforts to improve scientific research policies, with the goal of maximizing the access to treatments, especially in low and middle-income countries.

ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the prevalence of drug abuse before prison admission and to identify associated sociodemographic and family history risk factors, according to gender, in prisons of Peru. Materials and methods: A secondary analysis was carried out with data from the First National Prisoner Census 2016, using a questionnaire of 173 items that was applied to the whole prison population of Peru. The types of drugs used before admission were analyzed according to characteristics of the penitentiary population, and generalized linear models were used to calculate prevalence ratios with 95% confidence intervals to identify possible factors associated with drug use. Results: Out of a population of 76,180 prisoners, 71,184 (93.4%) answered the survey (men 67,071, 94.2%). The overall prevalence of drug consumption before admission was 24.4% (25.3% in men and 9.1% in women), the highe...

“Objectives: This study aimed to geospatially model the level of geographic accessibility to health facilities among Amazonian Indigenous communities in a region of Peru. Methods: Spatial modeling of the physical accessibility of the Indigenous communities to the nearest health facility was performed through cost-distance analysis. The study area was Loreto, the region with the largest territorial area and number of Indigenous communities in Peru. The time required to reach a health facility was determined by cumulatively adding the time needed to cross the grids on the lowest cost route from the Indigenous communities’ locations to the nearest health facility, by considering Amazonian geographical conditions and the main types of transport used. Results: The median time to reach a health facility was 0.96 h (interquartile range: 0.45e2.41). Of the total communities (n ¼ 1043), only...

Alcohol consumption is a public health problem in Peru, fostered by traditional practices,where promoting social interaction in celebrations, facilitating field work as a source of energy andwarmth, and achieving objectives in certain labor negotiations, play an important role. However,research on the risk factors of binge drinking according to gender is limited. The study aim was todetermine the factors associated with binge drinking in the Peruvian adult population by gender.An analytical study of secondary data from the 2018 Peruvian Demographic and Family HealthSurvey was conducted. The dependent variable was binge drinking in the last 30 days. Adjustedprevalence ratios (aPR) were estimated for the association between sociodemographic and health-related variables with binge drinking. A total of 32,020 adults were included. Binge drinking wasfound in 22.4%. Men (32.6%; 95% confidence ...

“We aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with gaming disorder (GD) in the population of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). A systematic review was performed (PROSPERO protocol registration: CRD42021230565). We included studies that identified participants with GD and/or factors associated with this condition, reported the prevalence of GD, or contained data that assisted in its estimation, were published after 2013 (the year of inclusion of GD in the Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and were carried out in a population residing in an LAC country. Evaluation of the quality of the studies was carried out using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical appraisal checklist tool. A qualitative synthesis of the data was performed. Of the total of 1567 records identified, 25 passed the full-text review phase, and 6 met the selectio...

“Objectives: This study aimed to geospatially model the level of geographic accessibility to health facilities among Amazonian Indigenous communities in a region of Peru. Methods: Spatial modeling of the physical accessibility of the Indigenous communities to the nearest health facility was performed through cost-distance analysis. The study area was Loreto, the region with the largest territorial area and number of Indigenous communities in Peru. The time required to reach a health facility was determined by cumulatively adding the time needed to cross the grids on the lowest cost route from the Indigenous communities’ locations to the nearest health facility, by considering Amazonian geographical conditions and the main types of transport used. Results: The median time to reach a health facility was 0.96 h (interquartile range: 0.45e2.41). Of the total communities (n ¼ 1043), only...

Background There is a global concern about the high rates of cesarean birth (CB). This study aimed to investigate the geographic and socioeconomic inequalities in CB rates in the Peruvian population. Methods We conducted a population-based study using the Peruvian Demographic and Family Health Surveys (ENDES, the Spanish acronym for Encuesta Demográfica y de Salud Familiar) between 2009 and 2018. ENDES reported data from births registered in the five years preceding survey execution. For the years 2009 (n = 10 289) and 2018 (n = 23 077), we calculated the weighted rates of CB among variables such as natural geographic domain (Coast, Andean, or Amazon), area of residence (rural or urban), wealth index quintile (quintile 1 is poorest, and quintile 5 is richest), and educational level. To assess inequalities, we calculated the concentration index (CIs), the slope index of inequality (SII),...

“We aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with gaming disorder (GD) in the population of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). A systematic review was performed (PROSPERO protocol registration: CRD42021230565). We included studies that identified participants with GD and/or factors associated with this condition, reported the prevalence of GD, or contained data that assisted in its estimation, were published after 2013 (the year of inclusion of GD in the Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and were carried out in a population residing in an LAC country. Evaluation of the quality of the studies was carried out using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical appraisal checklist tool. A qualitative synthesis of the data was performed. Of the total of 1567 records identified, 25 passed the full-text review phase, and 6 met the selectio...

Abstract Background: Health insurance coverage is expected to protect individuals from out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures, potentially preventing them from falling into poverty. However, to date, the effect of health insurance on OOP spending during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has not been fully explored. This study aimed to estimate differences in the proportion and the amount of OOP expenditures among Peruvians during the pre- and post-mandatory lockdown response to COVID-19 in 2020 according to the health insurance coverage status. Methods: This study utilized repeated cross-sectional data from the National Household Survey on Living and Poverty Conditions (ENAHO) from the first quarter of 2017 until the fourth quarter of 2020. The outcomes were (i) the proportion of individuals who incurred OOP expenditures and (ii) the monetary value of OOP expenditures. An interr...

“Alcohol consumption is a public health problem in Peru, fostered by traditional practices, where promoting social interaction in celebrations, facilitating field work as a source of energy and warmth, and achieving objectives in certain labor negotiations, play an important role. However, research on the risk factors of binge drinking according to gender is limited. The study aim was to determine the factors associated with binge drinking in the Peruvian adult population by gender. An analytical study of secondary data from the 2018 Peruvian Demographic and Family Health Survey was conducted. The dependent variable was binge drinking in the last 30 days. Adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) were estimated for the association between sociodemographic and healthrelated variables with binge drinking. A total of 32,020 adults were included. Binge drinking was found in 22.4%. Men (32.6%; 95% c...

Teniendo en consideración que la educación de pregrado en medicina necesita evolucionar acorde al contexto actual, se propone que los planes de estudios de pregrado incluyan a la salud ocupacional como tema integrado y transversal a cursos obligatorios donde la semiología destaque la importancia de los antecedentes ocupacionales; se estudie la fisiopatología de las enfermedades ocupacionales más frecuentes en el curso de patología; se examine la toxicología ocupacional dentro de la farmacología; que las enfermedades pulmonares, oncológicas y dermatológicas ocupacionales se profundicen en medicina interna y especialidades médicas; los aspectos preventivos y de políticas de salud de los trabajadores se circunscriban en los cursos de salud comunitaria y salud pública, y finalmente, se den a conocer los aspectos normativos en el curso de medicina legal.

Se analizaron geoespacialmente los accidentes, incidentes peligrosos y enfermedades ocupacionales que se reportaron a nivel regional en el Perú (2012-2014). Los eventos que se notificaron fueron 52 887 entre accidentes de trabajo (93%), incidentes peligrosos (5,1%), enfermedades ocupacionales (1%) y accidentes mortales (0,9%). Se evidenciaron altas tasas de accidentes mortales en Pasco, Callao, Lima, Moquegua y Arequipa. Callao y Lima son las regiones con tasas más altas de accidentes de trabajo. Las enfermedades ocupacionales se distribuyeron con altas tasas en Huancavelica, Ancash, Pasco, Callao y Cusco.

Estudio que tuvo como objetivo estimar las prevalencias regionales e identificar los patrones espaciales del grado de sobrepeso y obesidad por distritos, en menores de cinco años en el Perú durante el año 2014. Se analizó de la información reportada por el Sistema de Información del Estado Nutricional (SIEN) del número de casos de sobrepeso y obesidad en menores de cinco años registrados durante el año 2014. Se calcularon prevalencias regionales para sobrepeso y obesidad y sus respectivos intervalos de confianza al 95%. El índice de Moran fue utilizado para determinar los patrones de agrupación de distritos con alta prevalencia de sobrepeso y/o obesidad.

Carta al editor que explican las cifras expuestas dan cuenta de la mala calidad del aire en Lima por las concentraciones elevadas y sostenidas de PM 2.5.

Frente al escenario negativo de las cifras expuestas respecto a la mala calidad del aire en Lima por las concentraciones elevadas y sostenidas de PM 2.5., el artículo pretende llamar la atención para tomar medidas urgentes para reducir la contaminación ambiental y poder enfrentar el impacto que pueda ocasionar en la salud de la población, para lo cual se requiere que se genere información histórica de libre acceso por las instituciones públicas peruanas que facilite la labor de los investigadores, así como también que se amplíe el monitoreo a las principales ciudades, ya que hasta la fecha sólo se monitoriza una única ciudad del país.

Con el objetivo de determinar la potencial vulnerabilidad de los establecimientos de salud públicos de cuatro regiones del norte del Perú ante los posibles efectos del fenómeno El Niño, se realizó un análisis espacial exploratorio con los puntos georreferenciados de las zonas de riesgos por activación de quebradas, reportadas por la Autoridad Nacional del Agua, y los establecimientos de salud públicos del Ministerio de Salud. Se identificaron establecimientos de salud cercanos a puntos de riesgo que podrían ser afectados ante la presencia del fenómeno El Niño.

Se realizó un análisis espacial de las tasas de mortalidad por ECV de los distritos que conforman las provincias de Lima y Callao en donde se concentra el 31,5% de la población del Perú.

Se plantea una reorientación de algunos elementos de la educación médica de pregrado, como son los planes de estudio que favorezcan el desarrollo de competencias para satisfacer y dar respuesta a las necesidades de nuestra sociedad.