Communication patterns in the doctor–patient relationship: evaluating determinants associated with low paternalism in Mexico

Background: Paternalism/overprotection limits communication between healthcare professionals and patients and does not promote shared therapeutic decision-making. In the global north, communication patterns have been regulated to promote autonomy, whereas in the global south, they refect the physician’s personal choices. The goal of this study was to contribute to knowledge on the communication patterns used in clinical practice in Mexico and to identify the determinants that favour a doctor–patient relationship characterized by low paternalism/autonomy. Methods: A self-report study on communication patterns in a sample of 761 mental healthcare professionals in Cen‑ tral and Western Mexico was conducted. Multiple ordinal logistic regression models were used to analyse paternalism and associated factors. Results: A high prevalence (68.7% [95% CI 60.0–70.5]) of paternalism was observed among mental health profession‑ als in Mexico. The main determinants of low paternalism/autonomy were medical specialty (OR 1.67 [95% CI 1.16– 2.40]) and gender, with female physicians being more likely to explicitly share diagnoses and therapeutic strategies with patients and their families (OR 1.57 [95% CI 1.11–2.22]). A pattern of highly explicit communication was strongly associated with low paternalism/autonomy (OR 12.13 [95% CI 7.71–19.05]). Finally, a modifying efect of age strata on the association between communication pattern or specialty and low paternalism/autonomy was observed. Conclusions: Among mental health professionals in Mexico, high paternalism prevailed. Gender, specialty, and a pattern of open communication were closely associated with low paternalism/autonomy. Strengthening health professionals’ competencies and promoting explicit communication could contribute to the transition towards more autonomist communication in clinical practice in Mexico. The ethical implications will need to be resolved in the near future.This study was conducted with fnancial support from CONACyT-FOSISS 2016 (Project No. 272137) under the title “The burden of intellectual development disorders in Mexico: Situational diagnosis and proposed intervention in public policy

Remote crisis intervention and suicide risk management in COVID-19 frontline healthcare workers

IntroductionDespite the propagation of virtual mental health services for vulnerable groups during COVID-19 pandemic, the implementation and evaluation of remote evidence-based practices (EBP) to manage them in low- and middle-income countries remains scarce. In the current study, we describe and evaluate the implementation process and clinical impact of brief, remote, manualized EBP for crisis intervention and suicide risk management among healthcare workers attending patients with COVID-19 (COVID-19-HCWs) in Mexico.MethodsThe implementation process comprised community engagement of volunteer mental health specialists, creation of new clinical teams with different disciplines and skills, intervention systematization through manuals and education through 4-h remote training as main strategies. Mexican COVID-19-HCWs who had used a free 24-h helpline rated their pre- and post-intervention emotional distress. Therapists recorded patients’ pre-intervention diagnosis, severity, and suicide risk, the techniques used in each case, and their post-treatment perception of COVID-19-HCWs’ improvement at the end of the intervention.ResultsAll techniques included in the intervention manual were employed at least in one case (n = 51). At the beginning of the intervention, 65.9% of the COVID-19-HCWs were considered moderately ill or worse according to Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) scores, whereas at the end, 79.4% of them were perceived as much or very much improved according to CGI-Improvement scores (CGI-I), and their emotional distress had been significantly reduced (p < 0.001).DiscussionThis prospective study provides evidence that implementation of remote EBP is feasible and useful to reduce emotional distress and suicide risk among COVID-19-HCWs from a middle-income country. However, this study was limited by lack of a control group, improvement ratings provided by therapists and non-anonymous satisfaction ratings

Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men

Gender inequality across the world has been associated with a higher risk to mental health problems and lower academic achievement in women compared to men. We also know that the brain is shaped by nurturing and adverse socio-environmental experiences. Therefore, unequal exposure to harsher conditions for women compared to men in gender-unequal countries might be reflected in differences in their brain structure, and this could be the neural mechanism partly explaining women's worse outcomes in gender-unequal countries. We examined this through a random-effects meta-analysis on cortical thickness and surface area differences between adult healthy men and women, including a meta-regression in which country-level gender inequality acted as an explanatory variable for the observed differences. A total of 139 samples from 29 different countries, totaling 7,876 MRI scans, were included. Thickness of the right hemisphere, and particularly the right caudal anterior cingulate, right medial orbitofrontal, and left lateral occipital cortex, presented no differences or even thicker regional cortices in women compared to men in gender-equal countries, reversing to thinner cortices in countries with greater gender inequality. These results point to the potentially hazardous effect of gender inequality on women's brains and provide initial evidence for neuroscience-informed policies for gender equality

Factores Psicológicos y Relacionales Asociados a Episodios de Embriaguez en Adolescentes Escolares de Guadalajara, México

The aim of this study was to identify psychological and related factors linked with drunkenness episodes in 1134 adoles-cent students in Guadalajara, Mexico. The study evaluated ten psychological and related factors. The outcome variable was the number of episodes of drunkenness in the last month. We found 26.5% more episodes of drunkenness in men. A logistic regression analysis indicated that factors associated with drunkenness were smoking, high self-esteem, high impulsiveness, low self-control, presence of daily stress and distant relationship with father. The study concluded that the psychological and related factors associated with drunkenness episodes were related to a highly impressionable omnipo-tence profile and emotional indifference, with excessive consumption of alcohol as a safety strategy.O objetivo deste estudo foi associar fatores psicológico e relações vinculados a episódios de embriaguez em 1134 adolescentes escolares de Guadalajara, México. Avaliaram-se dez fatores psicológicos e relacionais. A variável de desenlace foi episódios de embriaguez de 26.5% com maior consumo em homens. Depois da análise de regressão logística, os fatores associados à embriaguez foram tabaquismo, alta autoestima, alta impulsividade, baixo lócus de controle interno, presença de estresse cotidiano e relação distante com o pai. A pesquisa conclui que os fatores psicológicos e relacionais associados a episódios de embriaguez fizeram referência a um perfil de onipotência altamente influenciável e ao de-sapego emocional; nesse sentido, o consumo excessivo de álcool parece perfilar-se como uma estratégia de segurança.El objetivo de este estudio fue asociar factores psicológicos y relacionales vinculados a episodios de embriaguez en 1134 adolescentes escolares de Guadalajara, México. Se evaluaron diez factores psicológicos y relacionales. La variable de desenlace fue episodios de embriaguez durante el último mes. Se encontró una prevalencia de embriaguez de 26.5% con mayor consumo en hombres. Después del análisis de regresión logística los factores asociados a embriaguez fueron tabaquismo, alta autoestima, alta impulsividad, bajo locus de control interno, la presencia de estrés cotidiano y relación distante con el padre. La investigación concluye que los factores psicológicos y relacionales asociados a episodios de embriaguez hicieron referencia a un perfil de omnipotencia ltamente influenciable, y al desapego emocional, por lo que el consumo excesivo de alcohol parece perfilarse como una estrategia de seguridad

Factores Psicológicos y Relacionales Asociados a Episodios de Embriaguez en Adolescentes Escolares de Guadalajara, México

El objetivo de este estudio fue asociar factores psicológicos y relacionales vinculados a episodios de embriaguez en 1134 adolescentes escolares de Guadalajara, México. Se evaluaron diez factores psicológicos y relacionales. La variable de desenlace fue episodios de embriaguez durante el último mes. Se encontró una prevalencia de embriaguez de 26.5% con mayor consumo en hombres. Después del análisis de regresión logística los factores asociados a embriaguez fueron tabaquismo, alta autoestima, alta impulsividad, bajo locus de control interno, la presencia de estrés cotidiano y relación distante con el padre. La investigación concluye que los factores psicológicos y relacionales asociados a episodios de embriaguez hicieron referencia a un perfil de omnipotencia ltamente influenciable, y al desapego emocional, por lo que el consumo excesivo de alcohol parece perfilarse como una estrategia de seguridad.The aim of this study was to identify psychological and related factors linked with drunkenness episodes in 1134 adoles-cent students in Guadalajara, Mexico. The study evaluated ten psychological and related factors. The outcome variable was the number of episodes of drunkenness in the last month. We found 26.5% more episodes of drunkenness in men. A logistic regression analysis indicated that factors associated with drunkenness were smoking, high self-esteem, high impulsiveness, low self-control, presence of daily stress and distant relationship with father. The study concluded that the psychological and related factors associated with drunkenness episodes were related to a highly impressionable omnipo-tence profile and emotional indifference, with excessive consumption of alcohol as a safety strategy.O objetivo deste estudo foi associar fatores psicológico e relações vinculados a episódios de embriaguez em 1134 adolescentes escolares de Guadalajara, México. Avaliaram-se dez fatores psicológicos e relacionais. A variável de desenlace foi episódios de embriaguez de 26.5% com maior consumo em homens. Depois da análise de regressão logística, os fatores associados à embriaguez foram tabaquismo, alta autoestima, alta impulsividade, baixo lócus de controle interno, presença de estresse cotidiano e relação distante com o pai. A pesquisa conclui que os fatores psicológicos e relacionais associados a episódios de embriaguez fizeram referência a um perfil de onipotência altamente influenciável e ao de-sapego emocional; nesse sentido, o consumo excessivo de álcool parece perfilar-se como uma estratégia de segurança

Developing an App to screen for dual disorders: a tool for improving treatment services in Mexico

Background: previous studies in Mexico undertaken at residential facilities for treating substance use disorders (SUDs) reported that the prevalence of Dual Disorders (DDs) is over 65%. DDs pose a major challenge for the Mexican health system, particularly for community-based residential care facilities for SUDs, due to the shortage of certified professionals to diagnose and treat these patients. Moreover, the lack of standardized algorithms for screening for and evaluating DDs to refer patients to specialized services (whether private or public) hinders timely care, delaying the start of integrated treatment. The use of new technologies provides a strategic opportunity for the timely detection of DDs through the development of standardized digital applications for the timely detection of DDs. Objective: to develop an app to screen for DDs, which will contribute to referral to specialized services in keeping with the level of severity of psychiatric and addictive symptomatology, and be suitable for use by community-based residential care facilities for SUDs. Method: the research project was implemented in two stages. Stage 1 involved obtaining the psychometric properties of the Dual Diagnosis Screening Interview (DDSI). Stage 2 consisted of two steps to test the Beta version of the app and the quality of version 1.0. Results: The DDS obtained sensitivity and specificity scores above 85%. The app and its algorithm to screen for and refer DDs proved to be efficient and easy to apply with satisfactory community acceptance. Conclusion: the app promises to be a useful screening tool at residential addiction treatment centers