Systematic review of cancer research treatments

:ntroduction. Given the prevalence and socioeconomic impact of cancer, research in all its aspects is of vital importance, and it requires a prior evaluation of the available scientific information. Methods. A systematic review of information on investigational cancer treatments in Europe over the last ten years was carried out. Results. The investigations included can be classified and analyzed according to the type of study, type of cancer, type of treatment, aspects evaluated, geographic location and language of publication. The methodological quality of the included CTs was assessed according to the Jadad scale. Conclusions. Seven types of scientific investigations were analyzed. The majority were CT with a score ≥3 (out of 5) on the Jadad scale. Most referred to breast and prostate cancers, and pharmacological and immunological treatments. Safety and efficacy were preferably studied. They were carried out mainly in regions of Central, Western and Southern Europe, and they were published in EnglishIntroducción. Dada la prevalencia y el impacto socioeconómico del cáncer, es de vital importancia la investigación en todas sus vertientes, que requiere una evaluación previa de la información científica disponible. Métodos. Se realizó una revisión sistemática de la información referente a tratamientos en investigación sobre el cáncer en Europa en los últimos diez años. Resultados. Las investigaciones incluidas pueden clasificarse y analizarse según tipo de estudio, tipo de cáncer, tipo de tratamiento, aspectos evaluados, localización geográfica e idioma de publicación. Se evaluó la calidad metodológica de los EC incluidos de acuerdo con la escala de Jadad. Conclusiones. Se analizaron siete tipos de investigaciones científicas. La mayoría fueron EC con una puntuación ≥3 (sobre 5) en la escala de Jadad. Mayormente se referían a cánceres de mama y próstata, y tratamientos de tipo farmacológico e inmunológico. Se estudió preferentemente seguridad y eficacia. Se llevaron a cabo sobre todo en regiones del centro, oeste y sur de Europa, y se publicaron en inglés

Habits of physical activity and related factors in teenagers

The relationship between the practice of physical activity and eating habits in adolescents allow to establish healthy life patterns that improve health in adulthood./nThis study describes the physical activity habits of a group of adolescents divided by age, to whom a questionnaire of 19 questions was applied to determine the intensity, frequency and type of physical activity, evaluate the sedentary life levels, and assess the food pattern./nThere are significant differences in the frequency and intensity of physical exercise, boys perform a vigorous-energetic exercise, while girls carry out moderate exercise./nDuring free time, a small group of boys perform sports and the girls take a walk, however, most prefer to use their mobile./nA significant proportion of adolescents do not have breakfast in the morning, mainly girls. There are differences in the eating pattern in the consumption of meat, fruit, cookies or buns./nAlthough most adolescents practice physical activity, they are not active enough and, with age, habits worsen, so they must be aware of maintaining a daily practice, reducing hours with their mobile phones and improving their eating habits./n La relación entre la práctica de actividad física y la alimentación en adolescentes permite establecer patrones de vida saludables que mejoran la salud en la edad adulta./nEste estudio describe los hábitos de actividad física de un grupo de adolescentes divididos por la edad, a los que se aplicó una encuesta de 19 preguntas para determinar intensidad, frecuencia y tipo de actividad física; evaluar los niveles de vida sedentaria, y valorar el patrón alimentario./nExisten diferencias significativas en la frecuencia e intensidad del ejercicio físico, los chicos realizan un ejercicio vigoroso-enérgico, mientras que las chicas realizan un ejercicio moderado. /nDurante el tiempo libre, un pequeño grupo de chicos realizan deporte y las chicas dan un paseo, sin embargo, la mayoría prefiere usar su móvil./nUna significativa proporción de adolescentes no desayunan por la mañana, principalmente chicas. Existen diferencias en el patrón alimentario en el consumo de carne, fruta, galletas o bollos./nAunque la mayoría de adolescentes practican actividad física, no son suficientemente activos y, con la edad, empeoran los hábitos, por lo que se debe concienciar de mantener una práctica diaria, disminuir las horas con el móvil y mejorar los hábitos alimentarios./n

Outpatient Profile in Anxiolytic and/or Antidepressant Treatment

Tanto los fármacos ansiolíticos, benzodiacepinas hipnóticas como antidepresivos han experimentado un notable aumento en su consumo durante los últimos años. Debido a su actividad a nivel central son ampliamente utilizados en el tratamiento de patologías como insomnio, ansiedad o depresión. El objetivo de este trabajo es conocer el perfil del paciente ambulatorio en tratamiento con alguno de estos principios activos. Para ello se ha llevado a cabo un estudio epidemiológico descriptivo transversal, para el que fue necesaria la resolución de un cuestionario por parte de aquellos pacientes que cumplieran los criterios de inclusión del estudio. Para su elaboración se consultaron las fichas técnicas de todos los principios activos comercializados en España pertenecientes al grupo de ansiolíticos, benzodiacepinas hipnóticas o antidepresivos. Se recogieron un total de 104 cuestionarios cuyos datos fueron almacenados y analizados en una base de datos. Se observó como el consumo de ansiolíticos y antidepresivos es más frecuente en mujeres y aumenta con la edad, siendo mayor el consumo de ansiolíticos en personas jubiladas y el de antidepresivos en trabajadoras en activo, y, en general, los tratamientos son de larga duración. Lorazepam es el fármaco ansiolítico más prescrito, mientras que Escitalopram lo es para el grupo de antidepresivos.Prescription of anxiolytic, hypnotic benzodiazepines and antidepressant drugs has experienced a remarkable increase during recent years. Due to their central effects, these drugs are currently being widley used in the treatment of pathologies such as insomnia, anxiety or depression. The object of this study is to draw the profile of outpatients undergoing treatment with any of the aforementioned active principles. Thus, a cross-sectional descriptive epidemiological study was carried out. In this context, patients meeting the study’s inclusión criteria were invited to fill in a questionnaire. During the questionnaire design phase, all technical specifications of the active principles being commercialised in Spain wich fall within the anxiolytic, hypnotic benzodizepines or antidepressant groups were consulted. A total of 104 questionnaires were collected and data compiled and analyzed using a database system.It was noted that the consumption of anxiolytic and antidepressant drugs is more frequent among female patients and that it increases with patients age. Retired people are the greatest consumers of anxiolytic drugs and so are active workers for the antidepressant group. In general, they are long-term treatments. Lorazepam is the anxiolytic drug most frequently prescribed, while Escitalopram is the top one within the antidepressant group

Perfiles de pacientes diabéticos que sufren reacciones adversas a medicamentos. Identificación y caracterización a través de minería de datos

The traditional statistical analysis of notifications of adverse drug reactions in diabetic patients was complex and sparse. The data mining techniques –web graph and Kohonen networks model- allow us to identify drug-treated diabetic patients who suffer adverse reactions. Nonfatal severe metabolic disorders due to insulin glargine in women in Catalonia, and non-serious gastrointestinal metformin disorders in women between 65 and 74 years in Aragon are two characteristics profiles. Patients treated with three or more oral agents are at increased risk of suffering an adverse reaction.El análisis estadístico tradicional de las notificaciones de reacciones adversas a medicamentos en pacientes diabéticos ha sido complejo y escaso. Las técnicas de minería de datos –modelo de red de enlaces, modelo de redes de Kohonen- permiten identificar perfiles de pacientes diabéticos tratados con fármacos que sufren reacciones adversas. Son perfiles característicos los trastornos del metabolismo graves no mortales por insulina glargina en mujeres en Cataluña; y los trastornos gastrointestinales no graves por metformina en mujeres de 65-74 años en Aragón. Los pacientes en tratamiento con tres o más agentes orales presentan mayor riesgo de sufrir una reacción adversa

Effectiveness of Interventions to Reduce Potentially Inappropriate Medication in Older Patients: A Systematic Review

Background: Age-related multiple comorbidities cause older adults to be prone to the use of potentially inappropriate medicines (PIM) resulting in an increased risk of adverse events. Several strategies have emerged to support PIM prescription, and a huge number of interventions to reduce PIM have been proposed. This work aims to analyze the effectiveness of PIM interventions directed to older adults. Methods: A systematic review was performed searching the literature in the MEDLINE PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane scientific databases for interventional studies that assessed the PIM interventions in older adults (≥65 years). Results: Forty-seven articles were included, involving 52 to 124,802 patients. Various types of interventions were analyzed such as medication review, educational strategies, clinical decision support system, and organizational and multifaceted approaches. In the hospital, the most successful intervention was medication review (75.0%), while in primary care, the analysis of all included studies revealed that educational strategies were the most effective. However, the analysis of interventions that have greater evidence by its design was inconclusive. Conclusion: The results obtained in this work suggested that PIM-setting-directed interventions should be developed to promote the wellbeing of the patients through PIM reduction. Although the data obtained suggested that medication review was the most assertive strategy to decrease the number of PIM in the hospital setting, more studies are necessary

Potentially Inappropriate Medication Prescribing in Older Adults According to EU(7)-Potentially Inappropriate Medication List: A Nationwide Study in Portugal

Background: Portugal has among the highest rates of dependency among older adults in Europe. Older adults with aging-related comorbidities are prone to the use of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM). Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze PIM prescriptions in older Portuguese adults, as well as the change rate of PIM prescriptions over time, and assess the geographical variability between the different regions of mainland Portugal. Methods: Using a national database, PIM prescriptions were analyzed for older adults (aged 65 years and older) between 2019 and 2021 from 2 perspectives: PIM-defined daily dose (DDD) frequency (%) and DDD per 1000 inhabitants per day (DID). Results: Overall, mainland Portugal presented a PIM DDD frequency of 9.20%, which was relatively higher in Alentejo and Centro and lower in the North. Alprazolam, fluoxetine, and rivaroxaban were PIM with higher DDD frequency values. Over the years, the DID change rates for these three PIM were -3.80%, -14.86%, and +18.54%, respectively, depending on the geographic region. Alprazolam and fluoxetine were mostly prescribed to older women, whereas rivaroxaban was mostly prescribed to older men. Conclusions: These results emphasize the need to implement initiatives and interventions to decrease PIM prescriptions in older adults

Transformación de materiales para la impartición del Máster de Enfermedades Tropicales a la modalidad semipresencial

Memoria ID-0055. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2016-2017

Ampliación de los estudios de Máster de Enfermedades Tropicales a la modalidad semipresencial en el marco del EEES

Memoria ID-0189. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2015-2016

Excess weight in relation to lifestyle habits in spanish first-year university students: differences between pre- and post-COVID-19—a serial cross-sectional study based on uniHcos project

The objective of this research was to study the relationship between the body weight and diet, physical activity, and other habits among freshmen students by sex, and to determine whether these habits have changed during the post-era of the COVID-19 pandemic. A serial cross-sectional study with data from 11 Spanish universities was carried out. In total, 10,096 first-year university students (73.2% female, mean age = 19.0 ± 1.5 years) completed an online self-administered questionnaire between 2012 and 2022. For some analyses, questionnaires were categorized by the year in which the survey was filled out as Before COVID-19, Lockdown, and New Normal. In total, 72.9% of participants were within the normal weight range, and 17.7% of men and 11.8% of women were overweight (p < 0.001). The students who did not meet the WHO criteria of physical activity, spent more than 7 h per day sitting, and skipped breakfast had a higher prevalence of obesity (p < 0.05). According to the period of study, the prevalence of overweight/obesity Before COVID-19 was 16.1% (95% CI: 15.4–16.9%), while in Lockdown the prevalence was significantly higher (20.2, 95% CI: 17.1–23.8) and in New Normal it was 18.9% (CI: 15.7–22.5). Moreover, the study suggests that during the Lockdown period, there was a reduction in the practice of physical activity and an increase in the prevalence of a healthy diet. For all these, it is necessary to propose public health interventions that improve the lifestyles of university students.Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad | Ref. 2010|145Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad | Ref. 2013|034Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad | Ref. 2020|030Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad | Ref. PI16/0194

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Evolution of Prevalence and Patterns of Cannabis Use among First-Year University Students in Spain—UniHcos Project

Among university students there has been evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic increased their psychological distress, exacerbated by social restrictions. The main objective of this study was to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence and patterns of cannabis use among university students, in contrast to previous trends since 2012. Data from 10,522 first-year university students (73.3% female, Mage 19 (SD = 1.6)) from eleven Spanish universities collected between 2012 and May 2022 was analysed. Prevalences of cannabis use and their differences by sex were studied, as well as changes in patterns of use and its use for coping during the pandemic. It was found that during lockdown, all prevalence rates of cannabis use decreased in both sexes, showing no statistically significant differences and increasing again in the new normal period in both. Among regular cannabis users, 79.7% reported maintaining or increasing their cannabis use during the pandemic, and of these, half reported using cannabis to cope. Moreover, cannabis use in the usual household increased during the lockdown. These results show that although the overall prevalence of cannabis use was reduced during the lockdown, regular users tended to maintain or increase cannabis use. This could imply two different patterns of use among students, one social and occasional versus the other regular, providing new lines of research for prevention and the implementation of social policies.This research was funded by the National Drug Plan from the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality of Spain (Grant numbers: 2010|145, 2013|034 and 2020|030) and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Grant number: PI16/01947)