Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Introduction: WhatsApp is proposed as an effective support tool to increase access and adaptability as well as create a sense of community in self-management programs. Objective: Evaluate the impact of a face-to-face and remote self-management program using WhatsApp, adapting the program to the patient community. Material and method: During the 7-month intervention, participants received a face-to-face and remote self-management through WhatsApp. The impact of the program was measured through physiological outcomes, behavioral changes, and patients’ perception. Results: From total number of participants registered in the program (N=83), 43 completed the self-management program. Blood pressure shows statistically significant changes while comparing the control group vs intervention. In the self-assessment, more than 85% of patients reported positive dietary changes and increased self-efficacy. Conclusions: The face-to-face and remote self-management program though WhatsApp showed a statistically significant change in blood pressure. Initiatives to manage chronic diseases through social networks can potentially bring improvements in patient outcomes.

Objetivo. Analizar el efecto de la actividad física (AF) sobre la calidad de vida (CV) en personas de 15 años o más, consi­derando características sociodemográficas, epidemiológicas y psicosociales levantadas en una encuesta nacional. Material y métodos. Estudio cuantitativo-analítico-transversal de­sarrollado en Chile 2020, a partir de estadística descriptiva e inferencial. Resultados. Edad promedio de 49 años, 63% de sexo femenino. Un 15% informó practicar algún deporte o entrenar de manera intensa; 75% tiene una buena o muy buena CV y 53% buena o muy buena CV en salud. Quienes practi­caban algún deporte intenso tenían más posibilidad de tener una buena o muy buena CV (RM=1.58; IC95%= 1.28,1.96) y CV asociada a la salud (RM=1.67; IC95%= 1.40,1.99) en comparación con quienes no practicaban. Conclusiones. La AF es un aspecto que impacta positivamente en la CV de las personas y en la salud general de la población, además de que es económica y fácil de instaurar.

Globally, tertiary education has been greatly affected by the Covid-19 crisis. In this essay we explore the impact of the pandemic on this educational sector in an Australian setting; specifically, we discuss how the Research School of Population Health at the Australian National University adjusted and adapted to the changing circumstances arising from the pandemic. In this respect, two adjustments (both described in detail in the text) in the way mental health education was delivered at the School were proposed to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 and enhance the university’s capacity to provide quality public health education to students. Thus, this essay shows that it is possible to design educational interventions that surmount the challenges posed by the pandemic. In addition, educators may use the examples cited in this paper to guide them to respond appropriately to the challenges that have arisen in terms of health education due to Covid-19.

Complex interventions are needed to effectively tackle non-communicable diseases. However, complex interventions can contain a mix of effective and ineffective actions. Process evaluation (PE) in public health research is of great value as it could clarify the mechanisms and contextual factors associ­ated with variation in the outcomes, better identify effective components, and inform adaptation of the intervention. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the value of PE through five case studies that span the research cycle. The interven­tions include using digital health, salt reduction strategies, use of fixed dose combinations, and task shifting. Insights of the methods used, and the implications of the PE findings to the project, were discussed. PE of complex interventions can refute or confirm the hypothesized mechanisms of action, thereby enabling intervention refinement, and identifying implementation strategies that can address local contextual needs, so as to improve service delivery and public health outcomes.

Objetivo. Examinar los cambios en la prevalencia de con­sumo de alcohol y tabaco antes y durante la pandemia de Covid-19 en México. Material y métodos. Se utilizaron datos de las Ensanut 2018 y 2020 para adolescentes y adultos y se obtuvieron prevalencias de consumo actual y excesivo de alcohol y de fumadores actuales y exfumadores. Resul­tados. El consumo de alcohol en mujeres incrementó de 33.5% en 2018 a 42.5% en 2020, mientras que en los hom­bres no hubo cambios significativos. En el mismo periodo, la prevalencia de consumo excesivo de alcohol disminuyó de 11.1 a 5.5% en mujeres y de 36.7 a 18.3% en hombres. La prevalencia de mujeres fumadoras disminuyó de 9.5 a 7.2%. En adolescentes, no se encontraron diferencias significativas en la prevalencia de consumo de alcohol y tabaco. Conclusión. El consumo de alcohol y tabaco continúa siendo elevado en adolescentes y adultos mexicanos. Urge la implementación de las medidas SAFER y MPOWER para abatir sinérgicamente estas epidemias.

Objective. To compare the quality of care for neonates with neonatal sepsis, intrauterine hypoxia, prematurity and perinatal asphyxia in accredited hospitals (HA) and unaccred­ited (HNA). Materials and methods. 28 hospitals of the Ministry of Health were evaluated in 11 states in Mexico; the evaluation included infrastructure, equipment and supplies, quality management processes, and clinical quality indica­tors. LQAS was used, and average fulfillment of criteria and indicators in AH and NAH was estimated. Results. There were significant differences in favor of HA in equipment and supplies and, not significant, in the existence and functioning of hospital committees. There were no consistent or significant differences in compliance with clinical indicators between the AH y NAH. Conclusions. Accreditation for the care of newborns with the selected diagnoses is not associated with differences in the quality of care

Population health is driven by the forces in the world around us. Those forces, in turn, are determined by a national and global conversation about priorities and values.This highlights the challenges public health faces to achieve its broader aspirations. The long-drawn national and global debates about what to prioritize and how collective resources should be invested are influenced, both positively and negatively, by a wide variety of factors. Political considerations about where resources should be deployed and who benefits from them and who does not, are a central part of any national or global conversation. Similarly, commercial stakeholders have a particular and legitimate interest in a broader conversational environment, given the impact this topic can have on their commercial viability. Additionally, broader public conversations depend on the millions of small-scale conversations at the proverbial kitchen table that, together, lead to change and form the national and global consensus. This essay establishes the need to catalize, on small and large scales, the underpinnings of public health on an ongoing basis.  

Objective. To harmonize participants’ information from five epidemiological studies. Materials and methods. The Mexican Consortium of Epidemiological Studies for the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease (RenMex, by its Spanish acronym) was established in 2018. RenMex is a consortium of five studies: The Mexican Teachers Cohort Study; the Mexico City Diabetes Study; the Health Workers Cohort Study; the Comitán Study; and the Salt Consumption in Mexico Study, which assessed baseline serum creatinine, albumin, and C-reactive protein, all performed with standardized techniques. Results. RenMex includes 3 133 participants, with a mean age of 44.8 years, 68.8% women, 10.8% with a previous medical diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, and 24.1% living with obesity. Conclusions. In the future, RenMex will work on more detailed analyses with each cohort allowed to opt in or out for each topic according to their individual data.

Objective. Estimate five-year survival from cervical cancer and associated factors in Mexican patients financed by Se­guro Popular during the period 2006-2014. Materials and methods. We analyzed the database of patients financed by the Catastrophic Expenses Protection Fund and linked it to the Statistical and Epidemiological System of mortality. We performed a five-year survival analysis by clinical stage and associated factors, using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards models. Results. Overall survival for cervical cancer at five years was 68.5%. The associated fac­tors were the clinical stage: locoregional (HR=2.8 CI95% HR: 2.6,3.0) and metastatic (HR=5.4 CI95% HR: 4.9,5.9) compared to early stage and age (HR=1.003 CI95% HR:1.001,1.004). Conclusions. Women who gained access to Catastrophic Expenses Protection Fund cervical cancer care had similar survival than that reported in other studies.

Objective. To describe the Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC) or Cursos en Línea Masivos del IMSS (CLIMSS) platform as a health literacy tool by evaluating the terminal efficiency, the competence gains, and the users’ satisfaction of the massive online courses offered by the Mexican Institute of Social Security, on Covid- 19. Materials and methods. Data from 20 courses offered between March and October 2020 were analyzed. We evaluated scores from the pre and post-tests, the total number of registries, total courses com­pleted, and users’ satisfaction. Results. We registered a total of 4.9 million users and 10 million registrations, in all Mexican states, with a terminal efficiency of 85%, a competence gain of 30%, and a users’ satisfaction of 9.34 (10). Conclusions. The CLIMSS platform has proven to be a tool for health literacy reaching millions of Mexicans on Covid-19 related topics.