Perspectivas de la educación superior durante la pandemia COVID-19: un reto para el cambio

In the face of the pandemic produced by COVID-19, the University of El Salvador forced to adapt teaching, research, and social projection, using computer technology. Teachers assumed a transition to modify the classes and, make the adjustments that must be achieved from the planning, design, and preparation of the program and evaluations. The objective of the study was to establish the perception of teachers about the transition from face-to-face education to virtual education. The methodology used the qualitative approach, the participant observation tools, and the semi-structured interview was used. The results evidenced the search for interactive content and virtual assessment alternatives as the main perception. The development of content, evaluations and improvement of teaching practices from the different virtual environments established.     Ante la pandemia producida por el COVID-19, la Universidad de El Salvador se obliga a adaptar la docencia, investigación y proyección social al utilizar la tecnología informática. El personal docente asume una transición para modificar las clases, realizan los ajustes que se deben alcanzar desde la planificación, el diseño y la elaboración del programa y evaluaciones.    El objetivo del estudio es establecer la percepción del personal docente sobre la transición de la educación presencial a la educación virtual. La metodología empleada es con un enfoque cualitativo. Se utilizaron como herramientas   la observación participante y la entrevista semiestructurada. Los resultados evidencian como principal percepción la búsqueda de contenidos interactivos y alternativas de evaluación virtual. Se establece el desarrollo de contenidos, evaluaciones y mejora de las prácticas docente desde los distintos ambientes virtuales

Staging Parkinson’s disease according to the MNCD classification correlates with caregiver burden

Malaltia de Parkinson; Cuidador; Símptomes no motorsParkinson's disease; Caregiver; Non-motor symptomsEnfermedad de Parkinson; Cuidador; Síntomas no motoresBackground and objective: Recently, we demonstrated that staging Parkinson's disease (PD) with a novel simple classification called MNCD, based on four axes (motor, non-motor, cognition, and dependency) and five stages, correlated with disease severity and patients’ quality of life. Here, we analyzed the correlation of MNCD staging with PD caregiver's status. Patients and methods: Data from the baseline visit of PD patients and their principal caregiver recruited from 35 centers in Spain from the COPPADIS cohort from January 2016 to November 2017 were used to apply the MNCD total score (from 0 to 12) and MNCD stages (from 1 to 5) in this cross-sectional analysis. Caregivers completed the Zarit Caregiver Burden Inventory (ZCBI), Caregiver Strain Index (CSI), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), PQ-10, and EUROHIS-QOL 8-item index (EUROHIS-QOL8). Results: Two hundred and twenty-four PD patients (63 ± 9.6 years old; 61.2% males) and their caregivers (58.5 ± 12.1 years old; 67.9% females) were included. The frequency of MNCD stages was 1, 7.6%; 2, 58.9%; 3, 31.3%; and 4–5, 2.2%. A more advanced MNCD stage was associated with a higher score on the ZCBI (p < .0001) and CSI (p < .0001), and a lower score on the PQ-10 (p = .001), but no significant differences were observed in the BDI-II (p = .310) and EUROHIS-QOL8 (p = .133). Moderate correlations were observed between the MNCD total score and the ZCBI (r = .496; p < .0001), CSI (r = .433; p < .0001), and BDI-II (r = .306; p < .0001) in caregivers.Conclusion: Staging PD according to the MNCD classification is correlated with caregivers’ strain and burden.Fundación Española de Ayuda a la Investigación en Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas y/o de Origen Genético; Alpha Bioresearch; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Grant/Award Number: PI16/0157