Health state perception of people close to retirement age: Relationship with lifestyle habits and subjects’ characteristics

Aim: Societal ageing increases the need for correct and healthy ageing to ensure the well-being of older adults. Practical strategies are needed to acquire healthy habits for the ageing process. This study aims to analyse the lifestyle habits of subjects who are retired or close to retirement and identify factors that could influence their perceived health and that could be related to these habits. Methods: A Spanish observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study of subjects close to retirement-age. Socio-demographic, family, work, leisure, social, and clinical-psychological indicators were evaluated. Results: 1,700 participants (581 employed; 714 retirees; 405 other-status) were included, average age 63 years, 52% women. Most reported a satisfactory social life (90%), were in live-in relationships (74%), non-smoking (80%), followed a Mediterranean diet (73%), and took medicines daily (70%). Perceived health (EQ-VAS) was 75.9/100, with low disability (12-WHODAS) (7.4/ 100) and moderate/severe depression. Women reported higher disability (p < 0.001) and depression (p < 0.001), a better social life, and healthier lifestyle, but lower physical/work activity. Retirees reported less depression, better social life, healthier lifestyle, higher physical/work activity, and better sleeping habits. The multivariate model showed a significant association of health-status with disability level, number of chronic diseases, sleep habits, exercise, diet, and alcohol consumption. When depression level was introduced, age and being a woman were also related. Conclusions: Retirement does not mean worse health but rather an opportunity to reinforce favourable health activities and improve lifestyle factors. Incorporating the differences related to gender and employment status in health-perception will facilitate the design of healthy ageing strategie

Planificación, Desarrollo y Dirección de un Congreso Nacional de Cardiología para Estudiantes de Medicina. ¿Qué se puede aprender?

Some singularities of the medical degree program might alter the development of new training and teaching activities that involve the active participation of undergraduate students. As a result of the initial experience in conducting the first edition of a national congress for medical students in Francisco de Vitoria University (Madrid, Spain), the difficulties encountered during its planning and direction are detailed. The solutions adopted are presented with the aim of facilitating the organization of future similar events.Algunas de las singularidades que presenta el plan de formación del grado en Medicina podrían alterar los planes de desarrollo de nuevas actividades formativas y docentes que impliquen la participación activa de los alumnos de pregrado. Fruto de la experiencia inicial en el organización de la primera edición de un congreso nacional para estudiantes de Medicina en la Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (Madrid, España), se detallan algunas de las dificultades encontradas durante su planificación y dirección, exponiéndose las soluciones tomadas, en un intento de facilitar futuras nuevas convocatorias de eventos similares

Genotype scores in energy and iron-metabolising genes are higher in elite endurance athletes than in nonathlete controls.

Information about the association of energy and iron-metabolising genes with endurance performance is scarce. The objective of this investigation was to compare the frequencies of polymorphic variations of genes involved in energy generation and iron metabolism in elite endurance athletes versus nonathlete controls. Genotype frequencies in 123 male elite endurance athletes (75 professional road cyclists and 48 elite endurance runners) and 122 male nonathlete participants were compared by assessing 4 genetic polymorphisms: AMPD1 c.34C/T (rs17602729), PPARGC1A c.1444G/A (rs8192678) HFEH63D c.187C/G (rs1799945) and HFEC282Y c.845G/A (rs1800562). A weighted genotype score (w-TGS; from 0 to 100 arbitrary units (a.u.)) was calculated by assigning a corresponding weight to each polymorphism. In the nonathlete population, the mean w-TGS value was lower (39.962 ± 14.654 a.u.) than in the group of elite endurance athletes (53.344 ± 17.053 a.u). The binary logistic regression analysis showed that participants with a w-TGS > 38.975 a.u had an odds ratio of 1.481 (95% confidence interval: 1.244–1.762; p < 0.001) for achieving elite athlete status. The genotypic distribution of polymorphic variations involved in energy generation and iron metabolism was different in elite endurance athletes vs. controls. Thus, an optimal genetic profile in these genes might contribute to physical endurance in athlete status.pre-print458 K

Medical students’ perceptions towards learning communication skills: a qualitative study following the 2-year training programme.

Objective: This study aimed to gain an understanding of the perceptions of 4th-year medical students about a training course in communication skills with 'experiential learning' characteristics, completed over the past two years.Methods: Twenty 4th-year medical students were invited to participate in a qualitative study with focus groups. These students were selected randomly, stratifying by gender, from all 4th-year medical students (106) at the Francisco de Vitoria University (Madrid). The students had just completed their communication skills training taught in small groups, with simulated patient interviews and feedback. The focusgroup facilitator used an open-ended discussion guide to explore the students' perceptions. Thematic analysis was used to identify salient themes from these discussions. Results: Sixteen students participated in two focus groups. The discussions revealed two contrasting perceptions: while this learning is considered useful, it nevertheless brings about a great deal of stress, especially regarding student exposure to peers in small-group sessions when interviewing standardised patients, and summative assessment. This generates a range of negative feelings in students that could affect perspective and attitude towards the importance of doctor-patient relationships. Conclusions: Experiential learning is effective in improving students' communication skills. However, these results suggest that use of such strategies requires a strong focus on "student-centred" teaching approaches, in order to minimise some sensitive topics that may arise during the learning. Further research is needed to refine these strategies depending on the teaching situation and to identify different ways of implementing these experiential methods.post-print206 K

Measures to evaluate quality of care in head and neck cancer: Results of a Delphi study.

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Medical students’ attitudes toward communication skills learning: comparison between two groups with and without training.

Objective: The value students give to communication skills (CS), acquiring them, or other related matters can influence the effectiveness of educational programs. In this study, we explored first and fourth year medical students’ attitudes toward CS and their learning, assessing the possible influence they have on programmed experiential training in a medical school. Subjects and methods: Two hundred and twenty first and fourth year medical students completed the Communication Skills Attitudes Scale, analyzing the positive and negative, and affective and cognitive attitude subscales toward learning. Results: Fourth year students trained in CS showed less positive attitudes toward CS than first year untrained students. Cognitive and affective attitudes displayed different patterns in both groups; while affective attitudes decreased in fourth year students, cognitive attitudes did not vary significantly between groups. Accumulated learning experiences seem to be more influential than sex. Conclusion: The findings suggest that students’ attitudes toward CS could decline as a result of CS training. Nevertheless, students’ attitudes at the cognitive and fundamental level stay fairly unchanged. Learning CS with experiential methods seems to be challenging for students at a personal level; so, educators should personalize these methods as much as possible. However, further studies using longitudinal research designs should be performed for exploring students’ attitudes changes over time.post-print182 K

Searching for the erosion of empathy in medical undergraduate students: a longitudinal study.

Objective To analyse the trajectory of empathy throughout the degree programme of medicine in a Spanish school of medicine. Design Longitudinal, prospective 5-year study, between October 2014 and June 2019. Setting Students from a Spanish university of medicine. Participants Two voluntary cohorts of undergraduate medical students from two different school years were invited to participate (n=135 (cohort 1, C1) and 106 (cohort 2, C2) per school year). Finally, a total number of 174 students (102 (C1, 71.6% women) and 72 (C2, 70.8% women) students, respectively) were monitored for 5 years. Each cohort was divided in two subcohorts of paired and unpaired students that were analysed to check possible social desirability bias. Primary outcome measure The Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE). Results The cohort of 102 students (C1) monitored between their first and fifth years of study (71.6% women) showed an improvement among paired women of 2.15 points in total JSE score (p=0.01) and 2.39 points in cognitive empathy (p=0.01); in the unpaired female cohort the increase was of 2.32 points (cognitive empathy) (p=0.02). The cohort of 72 students (C2) monitored between their second and sixth years of study (70.8% women) displayed a cognitive empathy increase of 2.32 points (p=0.04) in the paired group of women. There were no significant differences between paired and unpaired results for either cohort. Empathy scores among men did not decrease. Conclusions The empathy of medical students at our school did not decline along grade years. In fact, it improved slightly, particularly cognitive empathy, among women. This paper contributes to enlarge data from Europe, where longitudinal studies are scarce. It supports the idea that there may be global geo-sociocultural differences; however, more studies comparing different school settings are needed.post-print362 K

A survey of deep learning models in medical therapeutic areas.

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Barriers to teaching communication skills in Spanish medical schools: a qualitative study with academic leaders.

Background: In recent years, Spanish medical schools (MSs) have incorporated training in communication skills (CS), but how this training is being carried out has not yet been evaluated. Objective: To identify the barriers to the introduction and development of CS teaching in Spanish MSs. Methods: In a previous study, 34 MSs (83% of all MSs in Spain) were invited to participate in a study that explored the factual aspects of teaching CS in these schools. The person responsible for teaching CS at each school was contacted again for this study and asked to respond to a single open-ended question. Two researchers independently conducted a thematic analysis of the responses. Results: We received responses from 30 MSs (85.7% of those contacted and 73% of all MSs in Spain). Five main thematic areas were identified, each with different sub-areas: negative attitudes of teachers and academic leaders; organisation, structure and presence of CS training in the curriculum; negative attitudes of students; a lack of trained teachers; and problems linked to teaching methods and necessary educational logistics. Conclusions: The identified barriers and problems indicate that there are areas for improvement in teaching CS in most Spanish MSs. There seems to be a vicious circle based on the dynamic relationship and interdependence of all these problems that should be faced with different strategies and that requires a significant cultural shift as well as decisive institutional support at the local and national levels. The incorporation of CS training into MS curricula represents a major challenge that must be addressed for students to learn CS more effectively and avoid negative attitudes towards learning CS.post-print853 K

Ibero-American consensus on learning outcomes for the acquisition of competencies by medical students through clinical simulation.

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