Teoría de la regulación e influencia de intereses privados en la actividad legislativa : el caso de las sociedades de factoring en Colombia

Aun cuando el postulado según el cual la función pública debe encaminarse a maximizar el bienestar general se encuentra entronizado en nuestro ordenamiento1, el análisis económico del derecho ha sugerido que, al menos en las temáticas relevantes para el mercado, la actividad legislativa y regulatoria del Estado parece responder mayormente a intereses particulares, inobservando (o al menos relegando a un plano secundario) las necesidades de la mayoría de los ciudadanos

Factores condicionantes de la automedicación y su relación con el Covid19 en pobladores del AAHH Los Olivos Pro Lima 2020

La automedicación es una práctica que afecta a la población de diferentes culturas, edades y gira en base al autocuidado, prevención de enfermedades, bienestar de la persona y promoción de la salud. El objetivo fue describir los factores condicionantes de la automedicación y su relación con el COVID19 en pobladores del AAHH Los Olivos PRO Lima julio 2020. Método, el estudio fue de tipo aplicado, enfoque cuantitativo, diseño no experimental, de corte transversal, la muestra fue 217 pobladores, la recolección de datos fue mediante encuesta que incluyó a factores demográficas, sociales, económicos, culturales y automedicación en relación a la enfermedad COVID-19. Resultados. La prevalencia de automedicación respecto a la enfermedad COVID-19 fue 34.5%, los medicamentos de mayor uso fueron ivermectina y azitromicina, los factores condicionantes de mayor prevalencia fueron los medios de comunicación (televisión 48.8%, internet 31.3%), influencia por familiares 41%, 69.6% por falta de dinero, 72.4% por dificultad de acceso a establecimiento de salud, el 56.7% fueron mujeres, 54.4% tenían entre 18 a 40 años de edad, el 72.8% tenían educación básica, el 59% se dedicaba a trabajo independiente, el 23% no estaba afiliado a sistema de seguro de salud, el 64.5% no realizaba lectura de las instrucciones del medicamento, el 63.6% consideró que la automedicación no es buena alternativa para tratar problemas de salud. Conclusión. Existen factores que condicionan la automedicación, sin embargo, no tienen relación significativa con la enfermedad COVID-19 en pobladores del AAHH Los Olivos PRO Lima julio 2020

Reduction of cardiac imaging tests during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of Italy. Findings from the IAEA Non-invasive Cardiology Protocol Survey on COVID-19 (INCAPS COVID)

Background: In early 2020, COVID-19 massively hit Italy, earlier and harder than any other European country. This caused a series of strict containment measures, aimed at blocking the spread of the pandemic. Healthcare delivery was also affected when resources were diverted towards care of COVID-19 patients, including intensive care wards. Aim of the study: The aim is assessing the impact of COVID-19 on cardiac imaging in Italy, compare to the Rest of Europe (RoE) and the World (RoW). Methods: A global survey was conducted in May–June 2020 worldwide, through a questionnaire distributed online. The survey covered three periods: March and April 2020, and March 2019. Data from 52 Italian centres, a subset of the 909 participating centres from 108 countries, were analyzed. Results: In Italy, volumes decreased by 67% in March 2020, compared to March 2019, as opposed to a significantly lower decrease (p < 0.001) in RoE and RoW (41% and 40%, respectively). A further decrease from March 2020 to April 2020 summed up to 76% for the North, 77% for the Centre and 86% for the South. When compared to the RoE and RoW, this further decrease from March 2020 to April 2020 in Italy was significantly less (p = 0.005), most likely reflecting the earlier effects of the containment measures in Italy, taken earlier than anywhere else in the West. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic massively hit Italy and caused a disruption of healthcare services, including cardiac imaging studies. This raises concern about the medium- and long-term consequences for the high number of patients who were denied timely diagnoses and the subsequent lifesaving therapies and procedures

Impact of COVID-19 on Diagnostic Cardiac Procedural Volume in Oceania: The IAEA Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocol Survey on COVID-19 (INCAPS COVID)

Objectives: The INCAPS COVID Oceania study aimed to assess the impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiac procedure volume provided in the Oceania region. Methods: A retrospective survey was performed comparing procedure volumes within March 2019 (pre-COVID-19) with April 2020 (during first wave of COVID-19 pandemic). Sixty-three (63) health care facilities within Oceania that perform cardiac diagnostic procedures were surveyed, including a mixture of metropolitan and regional, hospital and outpatient, public and private sites, and 846 facilities outside of Oceania. The percentage change in procedure volume was measured between March 2019 and April 2020, compared by test type and by facility. Results: In Oceania, the total cardiac diagnostic procedure volume was reduced by 52.2% from March 2019 to April 2020, compared to a reduction of 75.9% seen in the rest of the world (p<0.001). Within Oceania sites, this reduction varied significantly between procedure types, but not between types of health care facility. All procedure types (other than stress cardiac magnetic resonance [CMR] and positron emission tomography [PET]) saw significant reductions in volume over this time period (p<0.001). In Oceania, transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) decreased by 51.6%, transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) by 74.0%, and stress tests by 65% overall, which was more pronounced for stress electrocardiograph (ECG) (81.8%) and stress echocardiography (76.7%) compared to stress single-photon emission computerised tomography (SPECT) (44.3%). Invasive coronary angiography decreased by 36.7% in Oceania. Conclusion: A significant reduction in cardiac diagnostic procedure volume was seen across all facility types in Oceania and was likely a function of recommendations from cardiac societies and directives from government to minimise spread of COVID-19 amongst patients and staff. Longer term evaluation is important to assess for negative patient outcomes which may relate to deferral of usual models of care within cardiology

Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents’ growth and development

Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified