Prevalence and Factors Associated with Insomnia in Military Personnel: A Retrospective Study during the Second COVID-19 Epidemic Wave in Peru

Studies in military personnel are scarce and have reported increased rates of medical con-sultations and insomnia. The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with a number of factors thatincrease the prevalence of insomnia, which has established consequences in the military. However,reported data are from different settings. We aimed to identify the prevalence and factors associatedwith insomnia during the second COVID-19 epidemic wave in Lambayeque, Peru. A retrospectivestudy in 566 participants was conducted face-to-face in November 2021. The dependent variable wasinsomnia, measured with the Insomnia Severity Index. The independent variables were socio-laborvariables, physical activity, food insecurity, eating behavior disorder, fear of COVID-19, and resilience.The prevalence of insomnia was 23% (95% CI: 19.6–26.7%). In multivariate analysis, insomnia wasassociated with a personal history of mental health (PR: 1.71, 95% CI: 1.01–2.93), food insecurity(PR: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.05–1.95), fear of COVID-19 (PR: 2.57, 95%CI: 1.87–3.54), and high resilience(PR: 0.60, 95%CI: 0.42–0.86). Overall, the Peruvian military population presents a high prevalenceof insomnia during the pandemic period. Special attention should be paid to factors that influenceinsomnia. Prevention and promotion programs should be established to reverse this negative trendin the military

Suicide Risk in Military Personnel during the COVID-19 Health Emergency in a Peruvian Region: A Cross-Sectional Study

": Military personnel represent a frontline group exposed to multiple stressors. These factors have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, predisposing to the development of suicidal risk (SR). Given the few studies conducted in this population, we evaluated the prevalence of SR and its associated factors during the health emergency. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted in person among 514 participants in Lambayeque, Peru in 2021. The outcome was SR, and the exposures were depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), PTSD (PCL-C), and other sociodemographic variables. The prevalence of SR was 14.0% (95% CI: 11.12–17.31%) and was significantly higher in people with a family history of mental health (PR: 2.16; 95% CI: 1.13–4.15) and in those with moderate clinical insomnia (PR: 2.21; 95% CI: 1.19–4.12). Military personnel with high resilience had a lower prevalence of SR (PR: 0.54, CI: 0.31–0.95). Anxiety was associated with a higher prevalence of SR (PR: 3.27; 95% CI: 1.76–6.10). Our findings show that at least 1 out of 10 military personnel are at risk of suicide. Special attention should be paid to the associated factors to develop interventions and reverse their consequences. These results may be useful in policy implementation and general statistics of SR in the local and regional context.

A cross-sectional study to assess the level of satisfaction with virtual education in Peruvian medical students

"Objectives: Education has totally changed in the context of the pandemic. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the factors associated with the level of satisfaction with virtual education in Peruvian medical students during COVID-19. Methods: Analytical and cross-sectional study, based on an online survey of students nationwide. We use previously validated instruments to measure the level of satisfaction and stress (EPP-10-c) of students with virtual education. For the associated factors, adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) were estimated using Poisson regression. Results: Of the 1,878 students surveyed, the median age was 21 years, 57.8% (1,086) were women, 34.8% (654) had a high level of satisfaction with virtual education and 10.7% (202) presented high levels of stress. The factors associated with a low level of satisfaction were attending the fifth year of study, the partial and non-virtual adaptation of the university to virtual education, and a high level of stress. On the other hand, the factors associated with a high level of satisfaction were the education platform used and the study method used. Conclusion: Seven out of 10 students presented a low level of satisfaction with virtual education, 1 out of 10 presented a high level of stress. The factors associated with the low level of satisfaction were attending the fifth year of study, the non-virtual and partial adaptation of the university to virtual education, and the high level of stress.

Mental Disorders and Level of Resilience in Eight High-Altitude Cities of Peru during the Second Pandemic Wave: A Multicenter Population-Based Study

COVID-19 has led us to take preventive measures, such as social isolation, to reduce the high transmissibility of the disease. This could have affected the mental health of various population groups and the development of resilience as a mitigator. A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted with 700 participants from eight cities. The dependent variables were depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The independent variable was resilience. Generalized logistic regressions were used to identify the associations between the variables. The population consisted mostly of university students (65.0%); the rest of the population was distributed among workers of public or private institutions, housewives, and others (35.0%). High prevalences of anxiety (72.7%), depression (64.1%), and PTSD (15.1%) were found, as well as a median (interquartile range) resilience score of 24 points was determined. Factors associated with a high prevalence of PTSD were having lost employment and having a family member who died from COVID-19. For depression, associated factors were severe food insecurity and hypersomnia. For anxiety, associated factors were were having a deceased family member with COVID-19 and mild food insecurity. Our results show that, during the pandemic, the general population had a higher prevalence of mental disorders. In addition, anxiety was the most prevalent of the dependent variables. Special attention should be paid to the factors influencing the development of mental disorders and mental health prevention and promotion programs should be established

Mental Health Disturbance after a Major Earthquake in Northern Peru: A Preliminary, Cross-Sectional Study

Little has been studied in Peru on the mental health repercussions after a major earthquake.We aimed to explore the factors associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms in people whoexperienced a 6.1 magnitude earthquake in Piura, Peru, on 30 July 2021. A preliminary cross-sectional study was conducted in the general population between August–September 2021. An onlinequestionnaire was provided using PHQ-9, GAD-7, and other relevant measures. Generalized linearmodels were applied. Of the 177 participants, the median age was 22 years, the majority were female(56%), and many experienced depressive (52%) or anxiety symptoms (52%). Presence of depressivesymptoms was associated with a personal history of mental disorder, moderate housing damage,social/material support from politicians, moderate food insecurity, and insomnia. Presence of anxietysymptoms was associated with physical injury caused by the earthquake, mild food insecurity, andinsomnia. The development of depressive and anxiety symptoms following the 2021 earthquakeexperienced in Piura depended on multiple individual and socioeconomic factors. Additional studiesshould reinforce the factors identified here given the methodological limitations, such as the studydesign, sampling method, and sample size. This would lead to effective intervention measures tomitigate the impact of earthquakes on mental health

Depression, anxiety, and stress in medical students in Peru: a cross-sectional study

ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence and factors associated with depressive, anxious, and stress symptoms in medical students in Peru, during the second pandemic wave of COVID-19.MethodsWe conducted an analytical cross-sectional study in 405 medical students from a university in northern Peru. The DASS-21 instrument was used to evaluate mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, and stress), and to investigate their association with socio-educational characteristics.ResultsWe found a prevalence of depressive, anxious, and stress symptoms of 71.6% (95% CI: 66.94–75.95), 71.9% (95% CI: 67.2–76.2), and 62.7% (95% CI: 57.8–67.4); respectively. Students with eating behavior disorders had a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms (PR: 1.35), anxious symptoms (PR: 1.27), and stress symptoms (PR: 1.31). The prevalence of depressive symptoms (PR: 1.57), anxious symptoms (PR: 1.27), and stress symptoms (PR: 1.24) increased in students who did not report regular physical activity. In addition, having almost always academic exhaustion increased the prevalence of depressive symptoms (PR: 1.46), stress symptoms (PR: 1.72). On the contrary, the prevalence of depressive symptoms (PR: 0.79), anxious symptoms (PR: 0.73) and stress symptoms (PR: 0.82) decreased in male students. Students who reported sleeping 8 or more hours daily had a lower prevalence of stress symptoms (PR: 0.82).ConclusionSymptoms of depression and anxiety occurred in 7 out of 10 students, and stress in 6 out of 10. Among the factors associated with the presence of anxiety, depression, and stress were eating behavior disorder and not regularly exercising. Periodic evaluations of mental symptomatology are required and counseling should be promoted in medical schools

Validation of a Tool to Evaluate Drug Prevention Programs Among Students

Background: School-based prevention programs have been implemented worldwide with the intention of reducing or delaying the onset of alcohol and drug use among adolescents. However, their effects need to be evaluated, being essential to use validated and reliable questionnaires for this purpose. This study aimed to verify the semantic validity and reliability of an instrument developed to evaluate the results of a government drug prevention program for schoolchildren called #Tamojunto2.0.Methods: This is a mixed methods study with quantitative (test-retest, confirmatory factor analysis and non-response evaluation) and qualitative analyses (focus group and field cards). The self-administered questionnaires were used for a sample of 262 eighth-grade students (elementary school II) in 11 classes of four public schools in the city of São Paulo.Results: The level of agreement was substantial (Kappa 0.60–0.79) or almost perfect (Kappa > 0.8) for almost all questions about the use of marijuana, alcohol, cigarettes, cocaine, crack, and binge drinking. The model fit indices, for almost all secondary outcomes, indicated that the modls underlying each scale, constituted by observed and latent variables, had a good fit adjustument. The focus groups and field cards provided high-quality information that helped the researchers identify the main difficulties in applying and understanding the questions.Conclusion: The questionnaire showed high factorial validity, reliability and understanding by adolescents. After the necessary changes, identified in this study, the questionnaire will be suitable to evaluate the results of the #Tamojunto2.0 program in a randomized controlled trial

The use of Open Reading frame ESTs (ORESTES) for analysis of the honey bee transcriptome

BACKGROUND: The ongoing efforts to sequence the honey bee genome require additional initiatives to define its transcriptome. Towards this end, we employed the Open Reading frame ESTs (ORESTES) strategy to generate profiles for the life cycle of Apis mellifera workers. RESULTS: Of the 5,021 ORESTES, 35.2% matched with previously deposited Apis ESTs. The analysis of the remaining sequences defined a set of putative orthologs whose majority had their best-match hits with Anopheles and Drosophila genes. CAP3 assembly of the Apis ORESTES with the already existing 15,500 Apis ESTs generated 3,408 contigs. BLASTX comparison of these contigs with protein sets of organisms representing distinct phylogenetic clades revealed a total of 1,629 contigs that Apis mellifera shares with different taxa. Most (41%) represent genes that are in common to all taxa, another 21% are shared between metazoans (Bilateria), and 16% are shared only within the Insecta clade. A set of 23 putative genes presented a best match with human genes, many of which encode factors related to cell signaling/signal transduction. 1,779 contigs (52%) did not match any known sequence. Applying a correction factor deduced from a parallel analysis performed with Drosophila melanogaster ORESTES, we estimate that approximately half of these no-match ESTs contigs (22%) should represent Apis-specific genes. CONCLUSIONS: The versatile and cost-efficient ORESTES approach produced minilibraries for honey bee life cycle stages. Such information on central gene regions contributes to genome annotation and also lends itself to cross-transcriptome comparisons to reveal evolutionary trends in insect genomes