Background: Dental treatments often cause pain and anxiety in patients. Virtual reality (VR) is a novel procedure that can provide distraction during dental procedures or prepare patients to receive such type of treatments. This meta-analysis is the first to gather evidence on the effectiveness of VR on the reduction of pain (P) and dental anxiety (DA) in patients undergoing dental treatment, regardless of age. Methods: MEDLINE, CENTRAL, PubMed, EMBASE, Wiley Library and Web of Science were searched for scientific articles in November 2019. The keywords used were: “virtual reality”, “distraction systems”, “dental anxiety” and “pain”. Studies where VR was used for children and adults as a measure against anxiety and pain during dental treatments were included. VR was defined as a three-dimensional environment that provides patients with a sense of immersion, transporting them to appealing and interactive settings. Anxiety and pain results were assessed during dental treatments where VR was used, and in standard care situations. Results: 31 studies were identified, of which 14 met the inclusion criteria. Pain levels were evaluated in four studies (n = 4), anxiety levels in three (n = 3) and anxiety and pain together in seven (n = 7). Our meta-analysis was based on ten studies (n = 10). The effect of VR was studied mainly in the pediatric population (for pain SMD = −0.82). In the adult population, only two studies (not significant) were considered. Conclusions: The findings of the meta-analysis show that VR is an effective distraction method to reduce pain and anxiety in patients undergoing a variety of dental treatments; however, further research on VR as a tool to prepare patients for dental treatment is required because of the scarcity of studies in this area.

The increasing relevance of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in medical care is indisputable. This evidence makes it necessary to start studies that analyse the scope these new forms of access to information and understanding of medicine have on the professional activity of the physician, on the attitude and on the knowledge of patients or, on the doctor-patient relationship. The purpose of this study is to explore some of these aspects in a group of physicians whose clinical activity is related to one of the greatest social impact health problems which is the treatment of chronic pain. Starting with the completion of a questionnaire, in the study group it is observed that the interaction between social structure, increase of information flows and ICTs generate transformations in social practices and behaviour of the actors of the health system. Internet is confirmed as an information space on the subject, but is shown as an underutilized space of interaction between the doctor and his patient.

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Adequate use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in health has been shown to save the patient and caregiver time, improve access to the health system, improve diagnosis and control of disease or treatment. All this results in cost savings, and more importantly, they help improve the quality of service and the lives of patients. The purpose of this study is to analyse the differences in the uses of this ICTs between those physicians that belong to Pain Treatment Units (PU) and other physicians that work in pain not linked to these PUs. An online survey, generated by Netquest online survey tool, was sent to both groups of professionals and the data collected was statistical analysed through a logistic regression methodology which is the Logit binomial model. Our results show that those physicians that belong to PUs use ICTs more frequently and consider it more relevant to their clinical practice.

La demanda de recursos sanitarios está en continuo crecimiento, lo que determina un incremento del costo global de los Sistemas de Salud. Es fundamental contar con un sistema de información de los distintos recursos empleados que permita a los administradores tomar las decisiones estratégicas. Vemos que se ha producido un continuo incremento en el número de medicamentos disponibles y de su consumo a nivel mundial. En éste trabajo analizamos el costeo de los medicamentos ambulatorios de la Institución de Asistencia Médica Colectiva CUDAM, (Montevideo, Uruguay) con 44.244 afiliados, estratificados por los rangos de edad.Objetivos: a) Calcular el gasto promedio/mensual en medicamentos ambulatorios de la Institución CUDAM del 1/09/08 al 30/06/09. b) Estratificarlos de acuerdo a Rangos de Edad. c) Establecer si existe relación entre el gasto en medicamentos ambulatorios por franja etárea, con la utilización de los servicios ambulatorios en igual período de tiempo. Material y Métodos:Se utilizó el sistema informático de la Institución. Los resultados obtenidos constituyen indicadores de los costos ambulatorios en medicamentos.

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Los médicos que realizan su labor asistencial e investigadora en unidades de dolor en el uso de internet: identifi cación, caracterización y determinantes The medical doctors who perform their care and research work in pain units in the use of the internet: identifi cation, characterization and determinants