Introduction This study aimed to identify factors associated with self-medication in patients with COVID-19. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted using medical records of patients with COVID-19 who self-medicated before admission to a hospital in Piura, Peru. Prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using generalized linear models with Poisson distribution family, log link function, and robust variance. Results Out of 301 patients, 165 (54.8%) self-medicated before hospital admission, being more frequent self-medication with ivermectin (85.5%) and azithromycin (71.5%). The frequency of self-medication in those aged between 30-59 years was 2.53-fold higher than in those between 18-29 years. Male patients, dyslipidemia, smoking, and hepatic steatosis were associated with self-medication. Clinical characteristics associated with self-medication were fever, coug...

Introducción: Estudios recientes han identificado reducción de eficacia de terapia triple para la erradicación del H. pylori. En Perú, no existe suficiente evidencia sobre la eficacia de este tipo de terapia. El objetivo fue identificar la asociación entre tipo de terapia y erradicación de H. pylori. Materiales y métodos: Estudio retrospectivo analítico en un hospital privado de Piura, Perú 2017. Se recolectó información de historias clínicas de pacientes con biopsia positiva para H. pylori. Se evaluó la asociación entre tipo de terapia recibida (triple estándar, MOCA y BOTF) y la erradicación de infección por H. pylori. También, se exploró la presencia de comorbilidad, diagnóstico endoscópico antes y después de la terapia recibida,presencia de metaplasia y displasia. Se utilizó la prueba exacta de Fisher y un nivel de significancia al 5 %. Resultados: De 80 pacien...

“: During medical training, students are exposed to stressors that deteriorate mental health. This study determined depression and anxiety prevalence and their associated factors in students from four medical schools in northern Peru. A cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students from Lambayeque, Peru. The Goldberg Anxiety and Zung Depression tests were applied. The dependent variables were depression and anxiety, and their association with covariates (age, sex, type of university, socioeconomic level, experience, family problem, and physical activity) was evaluated. Prevalence ratios were calculated using generalized linear models. Of 482 students, the prevalence of anxiety was 61.8% and depression was 22.0%. A severe level of anxiety was observed in 6.2% in the group between 16 and 20 years old. It was observed that private university students had higher frequencies of...

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the factors associated with the consumption of drugs without scientific evidence in patients with mild COVID-19 infection in Peru. Methods An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out including 372 adult patients with a history of mild COVID-19 disease. Factors associated with drug consumption were evaluated by Poisson regressions with robust variance adjustment using the bootstrapping resampling method. Results Seventy-two percent consumed some medication without scientific evidence, with antibiotics (71%) and ivermectin for human use (68%) being the most commonly used. Factors associated with the consumption of drugs to treat mild COVID-19 infection were thinking that the drugs are not effective (adjusted prevalence ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.41-0.74) and not being informed about the efficacy of the drugs (adjusted prevalence r...

Introducción: La pandemia del coronavirus ha generado que muchos estudiantes teman perder el ciclo. Objetivo: Validar una escala que mida la percepción de posibles repercusiones académicas en estudiantes universitarios en el Perú. Metodología: Se realizó un proceso de validación de un test que mide la percepción acerca de las posibles repercusiones académicas en estudiantes universitarios. La validación se realizó mediante búsqueda de literatura científica, construcción del primer bosquejo, validación del test por expertos (59 expertos: epidemiólogos, investigadores, médicos), análisis factorial exploratorio y estadístico. Resultados: Respecto a la relevancia se observa que el ítem 7 es más esencial o importante que los demás (V = 1,00; IC 95 %: 0,73-0,96). El ítem 8 (M = 3,80; σ = 1,152) presenta la mayor media y, la más baja, el ítem 6 (M = 3,03; DE = 1,342). ...

Objective: To evaluate the factors associated with the intention to participate in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials in the Peruvian population. Methods: Cross-sectional study and secondary analysis of a database that involved Peruvian population during September 2020. The Poisson regression model was used to estimate the associated factors. Results: Data from 3231 individuals were analyzed, 44.1% of whom intended to participate in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials. Factors associated with the outcome were being male (RPa: 1.25; 95% CI: 1.15–1.35), being from the highlands region (RPa: 1.18; 95% CI: 1.09–1.28) or jungle (RPa: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.15–1.47), having a relative that is a healthcare professional (PRa: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.06–1.28), using a medical source of information (PRa: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.17–1.41), and trusting in the possible effectiveness of vaccines (PRa: 1.40; 95% CI: 1.2...

Peru reported the second-highest COVID-19 cases in Latin America, after Brazil. The first COVID-19 wave occurred between March–December 2020, and the second occurred between January–September 2021. The differences between these waves remain largely unknown, and there is no comparison between them in Peru. We evaluated the variation in the clinical and epidemiological components of COVID-19-affected patients in both waves in northern Peru by a retrospective study using the clinical follow-up database of Lambayeque and the epidemiological notification form database of NotiWeb. The COVID-19-associated factors during the two waves were determined using simple and multiple regression analysis, and the prevalence ratio (PR) was estimated. During the second wave of COVID-19, there was an increase in cough symptoms in 12.1%, odynophagia in 5.0%, and chills in 16.0% compared with the first wa...

Peru reported the second-highest COVID-19 cases in Latin America, after Brazil. The first COVID-19 wave occurred between March– December 2020, and the second occurred between January–September 2021. The differences between these waves remain largely unknown, and there is no comparison between them in Peru. We evaluated the variation in the clinical and epidemiological components of COVID-19-affected patients in both waves in northern Peru by a retrospective study using the clinical follow-up database of Lambayeque and the epidemiological notification form database of NotiWeb. The COVID-19-associated factors during the two waves were determined using simple and multiple regression analysis, and the prevalence ratio (PR) was estimated. During the second wave of COVID-19, there was an increase in cough symptoms in 12.1%, odynophagia in 5.0%, and chills in 16.0% compared with the first w...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the knowledge level and perception of dengue fever management among Peruvian physicians and to determine the factors associated with higher knowledge.We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study based on an online survey. To evaluate the factors associated with a high level of knowledge ($70% of correct answers), we used crude (cPR) and adjusted (aPR) prevalence ratios by the Poisson regression model. Of 359 respondents (median age: 33 years; male: 56.5%), 78.8% achieved a high level of knowledge. Multivariable analysis showed an independent association with having read the Peruvian clinical practice guidelines for dengue management (aPR: 1.29; 95% CI: 1.12–1.49), having experience in treating patients (aPR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.03–1.68), and having treated cases frequently (aPR: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.02–1.46). Residing in the eastern macroregio...

Introduction: Due to the high incidence of mpox in Peru and the poor knowledge about this disease among healthcare workers in non-endemic countries, it is crucial to determine the knowledge status of Peruvian physicians. Methodology: We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study based on an online survey from August to September 2022. Physicians who had a medical license and lived and practiced medicine in Peru were included. To evaluate the factors associated with a higher level of knowledge, we used crude (cPR) and adjusted (aPR) prevalence ratios with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) using Poisson regression. Results: We included 463 physicians. The mean age was 36.6 (SD: 10.3) years, and most were male (58.1%). Regarding knowledge, the median knowledge score was 14 [IQR: 13 to 15] out of 17 points. In terms of knowledge gaps, only 60.7% of the participants knew that there was an ...