Open Access
Normative misperceptions of tobacco use among university students in seven European countries: baseline findings of the 'Social Norms Intervention for the prevention of Polydrug usE' study
(Elsevier, 2015) Pischke, Claudia R.; Helmer, Stefanie M.; McAlaney, John; Bewick, Bridgette M.; Guillén Grima, Francisco; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
Introduction: Research conducted in North America suggests that students tend to overestimate tobacco use among their peers. This perceived norm may impact personal tobacco use. It remains unclear how these perceptions influence tobacco use among European students. The two aims were to investigate possible self-other discrepancies regarding personal use and attitudes towards use and to evaluate if perceptions of peer use and peer approval of use are associated with personal use and approval of tobacco use. Methods: The EU-funded 'Social Norms Intervention for the prevention of Polydrug usE' study was conducted in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Slovak Republic, Spain, Turkey and United Kingdom. In total, 4482 students (71% female) answered an online survey including questions on personal and perceived tobacco use and personal and perceived attitudes towards tobacco use. Results: Across all countries, the majority of students perceived tobacco use of their peers to be higher than their own use. The perception that the majority (> 50%) of peers used tobacco regularly in the past two months was significantly associated with higher odds for personal regular use (OR: 2.66, 95% CI: 1.90–3.73). The perception that the majority of peers approve of tobacco use was significantly associated with higher odds for personal approval of tobacco use (OR: 6.49, 95% CI: 4.54–9.28). Conclusions: Perceived norms are an important predictor of personal tobacco use and attitudes towards use. Interventions addressing perceived norms may be a viable method to change attitudes and tobacco use among European students, and may be a component of future tobacco control policy.
Open Access
Efectividad de la atención primaria de salud en el diagnóstico y tratamiento de la hipertensión arterial
(Gobierno de Navarra, 2008) Brugos Larumbe, Antonio; Guillén Grima, Francisco; Díez, J.; Buil, P.; Ciaurriz, M.; Fernández Valdivielso, Carlos; Cenoz, J. C.; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
La hipertensión arterial (HTA) es un importante problema de salud pública, por su elevada morbimortalidad cardiovascular y sus costes económicos y sociales. Fundamento. Identificar la prevalencia de HTA detectada en atención primaria y su grado de control; conocer los tipos de tratamientos utilizados y factores asociados a su control. Pacientes y métodos. Estudio transversal comparativo de dos años en el Centro de Salud de Villava. Se analizan los datos de la historia clínica informatizada en los años 2003 y 2006. Se estudian las variables: edad, género, pensión arterial sistólica y diastólica, colesterol total, HDL, LDL, triglicéridos, tabaquismo, índice de masa corporal en ambos años. Tratamiento hipotensor en el año 2006. Mediante regresión logística se identifican las variables del año 2006 asociadas a buen control. Resultados. Prevalencia detectada de HTA en ≥18 años: 2003: 11,6% (IC:10,9-12,3); 2006: 16,6% (IC:15,8-17,4) (p<0,001). En hipertensos con registro de presión arterial estaban controlados (PA:<140/90) en 2003: 45,1% (IC: 41,0- 48,0) y en 2006: 40,4% (IC: 37,7-43,2) (p<0,05). Variables asociadas a buen control: ser varón [OR 1,60 (IC: 1,26-2,03)] tratamiento con ARA II [OR 2,16 (IC: 1,50-3,09)] y ser diabético [OR 1,50 (IC: 1,10-2,03]. Se asocian a mal control: presentar enfermedad vascular cerebral, vasculopatía periférica y el tratamiento con IECA. Conclusiones. La prevalencia de HTA detectada es baja. El nivel de control es superior para la PAD que para la PAS. El tratamiento con ARA II, ser varón o ser diabético se asocia a mejor control. La vasculopatía periférica, la cardiopatía isquémica, la enfermedad vascular cerebral, el tratamiento con IECA y edad se asocian a peor control.
Open Access
Trends in hospital morbidity from Alzheimer's disease in the European Union, 2000-2014
(SAGE, 2018) Niu, Hao; Álvarez Álvarez, Ismael; Aguinaga Ontoso, Inés; Guillén Grima, Francisco; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has become a concerning public health issue. We aimed to analyse the trends of hospital morbidity from AD in the European Union (EU) in the period 2000-2014. Methods: Data from hospital discharges of men and women over 50 years old hospitalised from AD in the EU were extracted from Eurostat database. We tested for secular trends computing the annual percent change, and identifying significant changes in the linear slope of the trend. Results: Hospital morbidity from AD showed a 0.8% (95% confidence intervals -2.2, 0.6) slight declining trend in the EU. In men and women, we recorded a -0.5% and -1.0% decrease in hospital morbidity rates, respectively. Several countries showed changing trends during the study period. Conclusion: AD hospital morbidity has slightly declined in the entire EU in the past years. Eastern European countries showed steadily increasing trends, whereas in western and Mediterranean countries rates decreased or levelled off.
Open Access
Evaluating the efficacy of ChatGPT in navigating the spanish medical residency entrance examination (MIR): promising horizons for AI in clinical medicine
(MDPI, 2023) Guillén Grima, Francisco; Guillén Aguinaga, Sara; Guillén Aguinaga, Laura; Alas Brun, Rosa María; Onambele, Luc; Ortega-Leon, Wilfrido; Montejo, Rocío; Aguinaga Ontoso, Enrique; Barach, Paul; Aguinaga Ontoso, Inés; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
The rapid progress in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing has led to increasingly sophisticated large language models (LLMs) for use in healthcare. This study assesses the performance of two LLMs, the GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 models, in passing the MIR medical examination for access to medical specialist training in Spain. Our objectives included gauging the model’s overall performance, analyzing discrepancies across different medical specialties, discerning between theoretical and practical questions, estimating error proportions, and assessing the hypothetical severity of errors committed by a physician. Material and methods: We studied the 2022 Spanish MIR examination results after excluding those questions requiring image evaluations or having acknowledged errors. The remaining 182 questions were presented to the LLM GPT-4 and GPT-3.5 in Spanish and English. Logistic regression models analyzed the relationships between question length, sequence, and performance. We also analyzed the 23 questions with images, using GPT-4’s new image analysis capability. Results: GPT-4 outperformed GPT-3.5, scoring 86.81% in Spanish (p < 0.001). English translations had a slightly enhanced performance. GPT-4 scored 26.1% of the questions with images in English. The results were worse when the questions were in Spanish, 13.0%, although the differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.250). Among medical specialties, GPT-4 achieved a 100% correct response rate in several areas, and the Pharmacology, Critical Care, and Infectious Diseases specialties showed lower performance. The error analysis revealed that while a 13.2% error rate existed, the gravest categories, such as “error requiring intervention to sustain life” and “error resulting in death”, had a 0% rate. Conclusions: GPT-4 performs robustly on the Spanish MIR examination, with varying capabilities to discriminate knowledge across specialties. While the model’s high success rate is commendable, understanding the error severity is critical, especially when considering AI’s potential role in real-world medical practice and its implications for patient safety.
Open Access
Factores de riesgo cardiovascular en universitarios de primer y tercer año
(Sociedad Médica de Santiago, 2017) Morales Illanes, Gladys; Guillén Grima, Francisco; Muñoz Navarro, Sergio; Belmar, Carlos; Schifferli, Ingrid; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
Background: College students are in a critical stage in their life style due to the transition between high school and university and they may be prone to develop cardiovascular diseases. Aim: To compare the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in students from first and third year at the University of La Frontera, Temuco-Chile, according to faculty, gender and socioeconomic status (SES). Material and Methods: Cross-sectional study. Anthropometry, blood pressure, lipid profile, blood glucose, insulin resistance (IR), sedentary lifestyle, tobacco and alcohol consumption were evaluated during 2014 in randomly selected 163 freshmen aged 19.2 ± 1.8 years and 163 third year students aged 21.7 ± 2.5 years (49% females), stratified by faculty, career and gender. Results: 32.4% of students had prehypertension, 30.6% abdominal obesity, 26.3% insulin resistance, 25.7% dyslipidemia and 8.9% metabolic syndrome. Third grade students had higher prevalence of elevated total and LDL cholesterol and higher alcohol consumption, especially among students of middle and high socioeconomic level. Compared with students from the School of Medicine, students from the Education Faculty had 3.9, 3.3 and 2.7 times greater likelihood of being obese, having elevated LDLcholesterol and being smokers, respectively. Women had the highest prevalence of sedentary lifestyles and dyslipidemia. Men had the highest prevalence of prehypertension and smoking. Conclusions: Educational programs are required to promote healthy lifestyles among these students.
Open Access
Meta-analysis of prevalence of wheezing and recurrent wheezing in infants
(Elsevier, 2016) Álvarez Álvarez, Ismael; Niu, Hao; Guillén Grima, Francisco; Aguinaga Ontoso, Inés; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
Background: Wheezing affects children’s quality of life, and is related with asthma in childhood. Although prevalence of wheezing has been previously studied in several countries, there are no reference of worldwide prevalence in infants. The aim of this meta-analysis is to estimate the prevalence of wheezing and recurrent wheezing in infants aged up to two years, and compare the prevalence across world regions. Methods: Literature search was conducted in MEDLINE and SCOPUS databases, looking for observational studies published up to June 2016, including as keywords “prevalence” or “epidemiology” combined with “wheeze”, “wheezing” or “asthma symptoms” and “infant” or “preschool”. Fast*Pro software and random effects Bayesian model were used. Heterogeneity was estimated using I2 statistic, and sensitivity analyses were performed. Results: We identified 109 studies after duplicates were removed. After exclusions, 14 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Prevalence of wheezing and recurrent wheezing were 36.06% (95% CI 35.17-36.96), and 17.41% (95% CI 16.74-18.09), respectively. In European countries, prevalence of wheezing was 30.68% (95% CI 28.97-32.45), and 12.35% (95% CI 11.27-13.47) for recurrent wheezing. Prevalence of wheezing and recurrent wheezing in Latin America were higher, 40.55% (95% CI 39.40-41.71), and 19.27% (95% CI 18.44-20.11), respectively. In Africa, prevalence of wheezing was 15.97% (95% CI 14.05-18.00). Low or no heterogeneity was found in all cases. Conclusions: More than one third of infants suffer from wheezing and almost one fifth from recurrent wheezing, being these illnesses especially prevalent in Latin American countries, pointing out an important public health problem.
Open Access
Valoración de la repercusión del dolor sobre la productividad laboral: validación del cuestionario WPAI:Pain
(Gobierno de Navarra. Departamento de Salud, 2016) Varela, N.; Guillén Grima, Francisco; Pérez-Cajaraville, J. J.; Pérez Hernández, C.; Monedero, P.; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
Fundamento. Los instrumentos de medida de salud son esenciales en la actividad clínica diaria. Sin embargo, es necesario un proceso de validación para poder certificar la validez y fiabilidad de los mismos. En la actualidad no existe ninguno que permita evaluar la repercusión del dolor en la productividad laboral de los pacientes. El objetivo de nuestro estudio es validar un cuestionario para evaluar las consecuencias del dolor en dicha productividad. Método. En base al Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire – General Health hemos creado una versión modificada denominada WPAI: Pain con el fin obtener un cuestionario que pudiera medir las consecuencias del dolor en la productividad laboral. El estudio se realizó siguiendo las pautas habituales de validación de pruebas, omitiéndose las fases de redacción y validez de contenido ya que se modificaba un cuestionario existente. Resultados. Se obtuvieron 577 cuestionarios en dos hospitales universitarios españoles. Se comprobó la capacidad discriminante del cuestionario mediante prueba de U de Mann-Whitney. Se realizaron los test de fiabilidad obteniéndose un alfa de Cronbach de 0,896 con un test de dos mitades de Guttman de 0,921. Se comprobó la estabilidad con un test-retest estadísticamente significativo. La validez de constructo se estableció mediante correlación de Pearson comparando los resultados del cuestionario con el dolor en escala visual analógica, que resultó estadísticamente significativa para todos los valores. Conclusiones. El cuestionario WPAI: Pain es un instrumento de medida válido para determinar las consecuencias del dolor en la productividad laboral de los pacientes, siendo el único validado en español. Sin embargo, se requieren estudios de mayor envergadura para poder confirmar una validez universal.
Open Access
Schizophrenia and hospital admissions for cardiovascular events in a large population: the APNA study
(MDPI, 2022) Guillén Aguinaga, Sara; Brugos Larumbe, Antonio; Guillén Aguinaga, Laura; Ortuño, Felipe; Guillén Grima, Francisco; Forga, Lluís; Aguinaga Ontoso, Inés; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
(1) Background: patients with schizophrenia have higher mortality, with cardiovascular diseases being the first cause of mortality. This study aims to estimate the excess risk of hospital admission for cardiovascular events in schizophrenic patients, adjusting for comorbidity and risk factors. (2) Methods: the APNA study is a dynamic prospective cohort of all residents in Navarra, Spain. A total of 505,889 people over 18 years old were followed for five years. The endpoint was hospital admissions for a cardiovascular event. Direct Acyclic Graphs (DAG) and Cox regression were used. (3) Results: schizophrenic patients had a Hazard Ratio (HR) of 1.414 (95% CI 1.031–1.938) of hospital admission for a cardiovascular event after adjusting for age, sex, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, smoking, low income, obesity, antecedents of cardiovascular disease, and smoking. In non-adherent to antipsychotic treatment schizophrenia patients, the HR was 2.232 (95% CI 1.267–3.933). (4) Conclusions: patients with schizophrenia have a higher risk of hospital admission for cardiovascular events than persons with the same risk factors without schizophrenia. Primary care nursing interventions should monitor these patients and reduce cardiovascular risk factors.
Open Access
Incidence and risk factors of the COVID-19 pandemic: an epidemiological approach
(MDPI, 2023) Arnedo-Pena, Alberto; Guillén Grima, Francisco; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
After three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, its significant impact on global health is evident, with varying mortality, incidence, and fatality rates across different regions. Studies estimate over 40% of the world's population has been infected. The pandemic has disproportionately affected low-income countries and vulnerable groups. A Special Issue in Epidemiologia focused on the epidemiology of COVID-19, examining high-risk groups, including long-term care home residents and staff, healthcare workers, and patients with chronic mental illness. Findings highlighted factors influencing COVID-19 incidence and mortality, such as facility conditions and staff ratios. Despite vaccination efforts reducing the severity of infections, transmission remains high, and ongoing research is crucial to manage new variants and future pandemics.
Open Access
Prevalencia de actividad física y su relación con variables sociodemográficas y estilos de vida en la población de 18 a 65 años de Pamplona
(Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad, 2005) Elizondo Armendáriz, José Javier; Guillén Grima, Francisco; Aguinaga Ontoso, Inés; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
Fundamento: los conocimientos actuales permiten considerar que existe una asociación de tipo causal entre el nivel de actividad física y la aparición de diversas enfermedades. A pesar de ello, la actividad física es una práctica poco arraigada en la población, que cada vez se está haciendo más sedentaria. El objetivo de este estudio es describir la prevalencia de sedentarismo en la población de Pamplona, así como conocer cuáles son los factores que más influyen en él. Métodos: se llevó a cabo un estudio transversal mediante encuesta postal en una muestra significativa de la población de Pamplona de 18 a 65 años. La encuesta utilizada incluía una evaluación de la actividad física realizada, basada en el cuestionario de actividad física de Paffenbarger. Se realizó un análisis bivariado y multivariado con aplicación de regresión logística. Resultados: un 76,6% de las mujeres tienen un estilo de vida sedentario, mientras que en los varones este porcentaje se reduce hasta un 56,7%. El sedentarismo se incrementa con la edad, existiendo hasta un 80,3% de varones sedentarios en el grupo de mayor edad, y un 86,3% entre las mujeres, respectivamente. Conclusiones: los factores sociodemográficos como sexo, edad, estudios, profesión y estado civil parecen ser determinantes del estilo de vida sedentario, mientras el consumo de tabaco y la existencia de sobrepeso y obesidad no lo son. Entre las personas jóvenes, las mujeres sin estudios universitarios y los varones casados y fumadores parecen ser poblaciones diana para la promoción de la actividad física.