Nomophobia is the discomfort caused by not being in contact with a cell phone. Few studies have addressed nomophobia in university students. The study aimed to evaluate nomophobia and its associated factors in Peruvian medical students. We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study on Peruvian medical students between June 2020 and March 2021, using an online survey disseminated through social networks. We analyzed 3139 responses (females: 61.1%, median age: 22 years): 25.7% presented moderate nomophobia and 7.4% severe nomophobia. In the adjusted model, the nomophobia score was lower in students ≥24 years (β: −4.1, 95% CI: −7.2 to −1.0) and was higher in those who had a mobile internet data plan (β: 2.9, 0.8 to 5.0), used the cell phone >4 h (β: 4.5, 2.3 to 6.7), used a smartphone mainly for education (β: 2.5, 0.2 to 4.8), social networks (β: 8.2, 5.8 to 10.6) and entertainment (β: 3.3, 0.5 to 6.1), and those who presented possible anxious (β: 6.6, 4.3 to 8.9) or depressive (β: 19.5, 5.2 to 9.6) symptomatology. In conclusion, nomophobia in university students is a frequent and emerging problem, present mainly at younger ages and associated with symptoms of anxiety or depression. Implementing evaluation and early intervention strategies would favor the mental health of university students.
We evaluated neutralizing antibody (NAbs) levels as a protective factor against vaccine breakthrough infection (VBI) in healthcare workers (HCWs) during the third COVID-19 wave in Peru. This retrospective cohort study employed the information from a private laboratory in Lima (Peru) of HCW who received only two BBIBP-CorV vaccines or (additionally) a heterologous booster with BNT162b2. We evaluated the association between the VBI and the levels of NAbs at 21, 90, 180, and 210 days after the BBIBP-CorV second dose. NAbs were calculated with the cPass™ SARS-CoV-2 Neutralization Antibody Detection kit (surrogate virus neutralization test (sVNT)) and the Elecsys® anti-SARS-CoV-2 S Test. Of the 435 HCW evaluated, 31.72% had an infection previous to vaccination, 68.28% received a booster dose, and 23.21% had a VBI during the third wave. The variables associated with a lower risk of VBI were male sex (aRR: 0.43) and those who had (180 days after BBIBP-CorV inoculation) NAbs levels ≥ 60% (aRR: 0.58) and ≥90% (aRR: 0.59) on cPass™, and ≥500 with Elecsys® (aRR: 0.58). HCW whose NAbs persisted at higher levels six months after the BBIBP-CorV showed a lower risk of suffering from a VBI during the third COVID-19 wave.
Infodemiology has been widely used to assess epidemics. In light of the recent pandemic, we use Google Search data to explore online interest about COVID-19 and related topics in 20 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Data from Google Trends from December 12, 2019, to April 25, 2020, regarding COVID-19 and other related topics were retrieved and correlated with official data on COVID-19 cases and with national epidemiological indicators. The Latin American and Caribbean countries with the most interest for COVID-19 were Peru (100%) and Panama (98.39%). No correlation was found between this interest and national epidemiological indicators. The global and local response time were 20.2 ± 1.2 days and 16.7 ± 15 days, respectively. The duration of public attention was 64.8 ± 12.5 days. The most popular topics related to COVID-19 were: the country’s situation (100 ± 0) and coronavirus symptoms (36.82 ± 16.16). Most countries showed a strong or moderated (r = 0.72) significant correlation between searches related to COVID-19 and daily new cases. In addition, the highest significant lag correlation was found on day 13.35 ± 5.76 (r = 0.79). Interest shown by Latin American and Caribbean countries for COVID-19 was high. The degree of online interest in a country does not clearly reflect the magnitude of their epidemiological indicators. The response time and the lag correlation were greater than in European and Asian countries. Less interest was found for preventive measures. Strong correlation between searches for COVID-19 and daily new cases suggests a predictive utility.
Dear Editor, Digital health applications have demonstrated benefits in several healthcare outcomes therefore it has become a serious alternative to getting Sustainable Development Goals 2030 related to health (1). In recent years, Latin America is creating policies and strategies for digital health. Peru is one of the earliest countries in Latin America that establish policies for eHealth and digital health but its implementation in the real world is limited (2). It is well known that some medical schools have courses related to informatics, Health Informatics (HI), or even medical informatics but there is no evidence about how many of peruvian medical schools teach HI within their curricula or what content or topics are provided.
BACKGROUND Use of Facebook has increased and poses new challenges for adoption of professionalism. In this study we describe the accessibility of Facebook profiles in medical students, the disclosure of personal and professional information, and its association with sex and year of study. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to explore the public accessibility of Facebook profiles of medical students from a Peruvian university and the disclosure of personal and professional information, as well as its association with sex and the year of studies. METHODS Through a systematic search on Facebook, the profiles of medical students from the 2nd to the 7th year were located using fictitious profiles. The presence of different types of information in accessible profiles were evaluated. Furthermore, the proportion of the disclosed content was calculated. The data were compared according to year of study and sex. RESULTS 80% of students (488/611) presented publicly accessible profiles. We did not find a significant difference according year of study (p = 0.098) and sex (p = 0.912). Proportion of disclosed content was greater in higher years: 2nd and 3rd (p = 0.022), 2nd and 6th (p < 0.001), and 2nd and 7th (p = 0.002) and in men (33.25 ± 12.47) compared to women (30.38 ± 11.95) (p = 0.01). Some photos (p = 0.009) and links to other social networking sites (p = 0.036) were more commonly visible in women’s profiles, while showing the university (p = 0.017), medical school (p = 0.043) and sexual orientation (p = 0.001) was more common amongst men. CONCLUSIONS Most of the Facebook profiles of medical students were accessible, the disclosed content was greater in senior and male students. It is necessary to create and implement guidelines on e-professionalism in Latin America.
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