Las TIC y el desarrollo de la capacidad emprendedora. El Boletín de Emprendedor@s

En los últimos años en Europa existe un interés creciente sobre el fomento del espíritu empresarial en el ámbito del sistema educativo. Así en octubre del 2000, el Foro sobre formación en el espíritu empresarial de Niza/Sofía Antípolis, coorganizado por la Comisión Europea y las autoridades francesas, abordó este tema. En otros documentos, como el Libro Verde sobre el espíritu empresarial de la Comisión Europea, o la Carta Europea da Pequeña Empresa adoptada por el Consejo Europeo de Lisboa del año 2000, se insta a la UE a que se eduque en estas nuevas habilidades desde una edad temprana, además de fomentar los empeños empresariales de nuestros jóvenes. Por su parte, en febrero de 2001, el Consejo de Educación, adoptó un informe sobre los objetivos futuros de los sistemas educativos. De las necesidades más destacadas identificadas en dicho informe, destaca el desarrollo del espíritu empresarial mediante los sistemas educativos y de formación. La experiencia que aquí se describe trabaja en esta línea de acción. Consiste en la elaboración y difusión de un “Boletín Mensual de Ideas Emprendedoras”, utilizando para ello herramientas de autoedición.There has been an increasing interest on the promotion of the entrepreneurship in the educational system area in Europe within recent years. So, in October 2000, the Forum on entrepreneurship of Nice / Sophia Antipolis, organized by the European Commission and the French authorities, approached this topic. In other documents, such as the Green Paper on the managerial spirit of the European Commission, or the European Charter for Small Enterprises adopted by the European Council of Lisbon in 2000, the EU is urged to educate on these new skills from an early age, as well as encourage the managerial determinations of our youth people. On the other hand, the Council of Education adopted a report on the future aims of the educational systems. The development of the entrepreneurial spirit by means of the educational and training systems stands out of the most emphasized needs identified in the above mentioned report. The experience described here works in this way consists on the elaboration and spreading of a ʺMonthly Bulletin of Enterprising Ideasʺ, by using desktop publishing

Healthcare data for achieving a more personalized treatment of chronic kidney disease

Producción CientíficaThe current concept of healthcare incites a more personalized treatment of diseases. To this aim, biomarkers are needed to improve decision-making facing chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Prognostic markers provided by real-world (observational) evidence are proposed in this Special Issue entitled “Biomarkers in Chronic Kidney Disease”, with the intention to identify high-risk patients. These markers do not target measurable parameters in patients but clinical endpoints that may be in turn transformed to benefits under the effect of future interventions

Road traffic accidents among alcohol-dependent patients: The effect of treatment

Producción CientíficaIt is well known that driving under the influence of alcohol increases the risk of traffic accidents. Alcohol-dependent patients are responsible for two-thirds of motor vehicle crashes involving alcohol. Studies carried out on the general population have shown a relation between alcohol dependence and traffic accidents. The aim of the study is to analyse the effect on traffic accidents of treatment of patients with alcohol-related problems. To do so, the prevalence of traffic problems in a sample of patients with a diagnosed dependence on alcohol was assessed for three periods: during their lifetime, in the year preceding the start of treatment and over the year of treatment. A prospective study was carried out of 176 patients (147 males, 29 females; mean age 42.9 years) diagnosed as alcohol dependent according to the DSM-IV criteria in three alcoholic treatment centres in Castilla y León, Spain. 36.9% of the alcohol-dependent patients had had some kind of traffic problem during their life and 8.5% in the year prior to starting treatment. The most frequent problem was positive breath tests, followed by accidents with damage to the vehicle. Sixty-nine of the 176 patients were still receiving treatment after a year. The prevalence of traffic problems among those patients who followed treatment for 1 year (4.3%) was lower than in the year before treatment (15.9%). The study showed that the treatment is also effective in reducing traffic problems

Older drivers, medical condition, medical impairment and crash risk

Producción CientíficaNew evidence has appeared to support the fact that the over-involvement of older drivers in traffic accidents disappears when the low mileage bias is taken into account. As a group, older drivers are as safe as or safer than other age groups, and only low mileage older drivers have a high crash rate. Furthermore, the role of the medical condition of older drivers in traffic accidents, as well as the fitness to drive evaluation, are objects of controversy.We examined all this with a cohort of 4316 drivers attending Medical Driving Test Centres for a mandatory fitness to drive evaluation. Our data shows that older drivers (≥75) have a lower crash rate. Medical conditions that impair fitness to drive, as a tendency, increased with advanced age and with lower mileage group. The multivariate analysis of variance showed that there is an effect (p < 0.0001) of age-range and mileage on the annual crash rate per million kilometres driven, while a medical restriction (“fit to drive with restriction”) has no effect (p > 0.05). Our data suggests that health status is not associated with increased crash risk for the low mileage group, although further studies are needed

Drugs, Substance Use Disorder and Driving: Intervention of Health Professionals in the Treatment of Addictions

Producción CientíficaWithout a doubt, driving with the presence of drugs in the body is a real problem associated with a higher risk of being involved in road traffic collisions. Thus, intervention aimed at preventing drug driving is a top priority (Álvarez & González-Luque, 2010; DRUID, 2012; Schulze et al., 2012). In this article, we use the concept injuries due to road traffic collisions and not the inadequate term, traffic accidents. Most injuries resulting from road traffic collisions are preventable (Álvarez, 2005; Redelmeier & McLellan, 2013), hence the aim of this article: making professionals aware of the fact that these injuries are avoidable, particularly professionals who treat patients for any Substance Use Disorder (SUD), and that they can and should intervene in the prevention of injuries due to road traffic collisions. Like the slogan of the 2004 World Health Day: “Road safety is no accident

Retos asistenciales en la atención al paciente traumatizado en España. La necesidad de implementación de la evidencia científica incluyendo la prevención secundaria

Producción CientíficaThe mortality of trauma patients has improved significantly in recent decades due to a combination of factors: medical care, educational campaigns and structural changes. Generalization of both out-of hospital emergence medical services and the hospital care in specific centers for traumatized has undoubtedly contributed to this decline, but other factors such as periodic campaigns to prevent workplace and traffic accidents, as well as improvements in the road network have played a key role. The challenge now is to contain mortality, for which is essential an analysis of the situation to detect potential areas of improvement. The application of diagnostic or therapeutic actions with scientific evidence is associated with lower mortality, but as in other areas of medicine, the application of scientific evidence in trauma patients is barely 50%. Moreover, nearly 90% of trauma deaths occur in the crash site or during the first 72 h of hospitalization, the vast majority as a result of injuries incompatible with life. In these circumstances it is clear that prevention is the most cost-effective activity. As medical practitioners, our role in prevention is mainly focused on the secondary prevention to avoid recidivism, for which it is necessary to identify the possible risk factors (frequently alcohol, illegal drugs, psychotropic medication, etc.) and implement a brief motivational intervention. This activity can reduce recidivism by nearly 50%. In Spain, the activity in this field is negligible; therefore, measures should be implemented for dissemination of secondary prevention in trauma

Presence of illegal drugs in drivers involved in fatal road traffic accidents in Spain

Producción CientíficaThis study investigated the presence of illegal drugs in the blood of 285 fatally injured drivers in Spain. Illegal drugs were detected in 10.2% of all samples. Illicit drugs alone were detected in 2.5% and together with other substances in 7.7%. Cocaine was the most common drug detected. The mean number (9S.D.) of substances detected was 2.691.2: consisting of 46 illegal drugs, 14 alcohol cases and 16 medicines. Three concentration levels of the different substances have been established: low, medium and high-toxic. In 68.9% of the samples in which an illegal drug was detected, a substance was also found at the high-toxic level. The results show that illegal drugs are commonly detected in road accident victims

Alcohol use among fatally injured drivers in Spain

Producción CientíficaBlood from 285 fatally injured drivers in Northern Spain was collected and tested for the presence of alcohol and drugs. Alcohol was detected in 50.5% of all fatalities. Alcohol alone was detected in 44.2% of all samples and in the remaining 6.3% another substance was found together with alcohol. Blood alcohol concentration was classified in different levels. It has been observed that in 35.4% of the cases the blood alcohol level was≥0.8 g/l, the legal limit in Spain for car drivers. Alcohol together with other substances was encountered in 18 cases, with medication in 22.2% (4 out of 18), alcohol with illegal drugs in 66.6% of the cases (12 out of 18), and alcohol with medicines and illegal drugs in 11.1% (2 out of 18). Cocaine was the most commonly detected drug. The study shows how widespread the incidence of a high level of alcohol concentration among drivers involved in fatal accidents in Spain

Medication and fitness to drive

Producción CientíficaPurpose The aim of this study is to analyze the consumption patterns of medicaments among motor vehicle drivers who attend ‘Medical Driving Test Centres’ and the relation between habitual consumption of medicaments and fitness to drive. Methods The study was carried out on 8043 drivers who attended 25 Medical Driving Test Centres. Results 24.7% of drivers chronically consume medicaments while 6.8% consume medicaments along with alcohol every day. Of those who chronically consume medicaments with a warning about the medications on driving, 65.8% were considered ‘fit’ to drive, 27.3% ‘fit with restrictions’, 5.1% ‘suspended’ and 0.4% ‘unfit’. Conclusions The results show how frequent the consumption of medicaments along with alcohol is and that the great majority of drivers who take medicaments are considered fit to drive

Medication use by the driving population

Producción CientíficaThis study investigated patterns of medicine use among Spanish drivers. The study was conducted in the fall of 1993 on 1500 drivers aged over 16, all of whom completed accordingly and then returned the questionnaires. Among those surveyed, 45.1% had used drugs at least once in the previous year, while 17.3% of drivers surveyed were using medicines chronically. Chronic users, the majority of whom were female and belonging to the older age group, were using an average of two drugs. Central nervous system drugs (21.7%), respiratory system drugs (19.2%), cardiovascular system drugs (14.9%) and alimentary tract drugs (14.3%) were the most frequent groups of medication used, Of those surveyed 76.5% who took drugs regularly had never been warned by health professionals about the effects of the medication use on driving skills. The study shows both how often drivers use medication as well as the need to inform patients and drivers about the effect of medication on driving performance