Metodología de los tipos y diseños de estudio más frecuentemente utilizados en investigación clínica

Socioformative pedagogical practices and academic performance in students: Mediation of socioemotional skills

This study analyzes the mastery level of educators regarding eight socioformative pedagogical practices and their impact on the academic performance of their students, aiming to identify mediating factors within a longitudinal design framework. A total of 282 university teachers from Ecuador participated, with instruments applied at two points in time: during the pandemic and at its end. Convenience sampling was employed. The results indicate an acceptable level in the development of socioformative pedagogical practices among participants, as well as in their socio-emotional skills. Regression analysis revealed the influence of various variables on socioformative pedagogical practices, such as socio-emotional skills, continuous training, academic degree, and economic level. The structural equation model established a positive association between socioformative pedagogical practices assessed during the pandemic and the academic performance of students in terms of achieving learning outcomes evaluated one year after the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also found that socioformative pedagogical practices are influenced by socio-emotional skills. The conclusion is that teachers possess a medium level in the development of their pedagogical practices but need to strengthen them to achieve an advanced level through continuous training and by obtaining higher academic degrees. Moreover, enhancing socio-emotional skills is essential for improved performance.

Accessibility to palliative care services in Colombia: an analysis of geographic disparities

OBJECTIVES

Due to the increase in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases and the Colombian demographic transition, the necessity of palliative care has arisen. This study used accessibility and coverage indicators to measure the geographic barriers to palliative care.

METHODS

Population-based observational study focused on urban areas and adult population from Colombia, which uses three measurements of geographic accessibility to services: a) density of palliative care services per 100,000 inhabitants, b) analysis of geographic distribution by territorial nodes of the country, and c) spatial analysis of palliative care services using Voronoi diagrams. ArcGIS Pro software was used to map services' locations and identify geographic disparities.

RESULTS

A total of 504 palliative care services were identified, of which 77% were primary health care services. The density of palliative care services in Colombia is 1.8 primary care services per 100,000 inhabitants and 0.4 specialized services per 100,000 inhabitants. The average palliative care coverage is 41%, two regions of the country have a coverage below 30%. Twenty-eight percent of the services provide care for a population greater than 50,000 inhabitants within their coverage area, exceeding the acceptable limit by international standards.

CONCLUSIONS

Palliative care services are concentrated in three main regions (Bogotá D.C., the Center, and the Caribbean) and are limited in the Orinoquia and Amazonia nodes. Density of specialized palliative care services is extremely low and there are regions without palliative services for adults with palliative needs.

Funcionalidad Familiar de Adolescentes Asistentes a control prenatal. Cartagena 2021

Introducción: El embarazo en la adolescencia tiende a presentar repercusiones personales, sociales, educativas y psicológicas en la madre y en el hijo. Es por ello por lo que el apoyo de la familia y su funcionalidad resultan cruciales. Objetivo: Determinar el nivel de funcionalidad familiar existente en las familias de las adolescentes gestantes asistentes a controles prenatales en tres instituciones de salud de Cartagena-Colombia durante 2021. Materiales y Métodos: Estudio descriptivo, de corte transversal, y asociación. La población estuvo constituida por 780 adolescentes gestantes que asisten a controles prenatales en dos instituciones. Se determinó una muestra de 185 adolescentes gestantes, seleccionadas mediante muestreo probabilístico. Fue aplicado instrumento sociodemográfico y APGAR familiar. Resultados: Las gestantes participaron de la institución A (50,81%) y de la institución B (44,32%), se trató de adolescentes bachilleres (58,92%), que conviven en unión libre (51,35%), en familias nucleares de origen (32,97%) y sus familias devengan ingresos entre 1 – 2 salarios mínimos (48,11%). El embarazo actual no fue planeado, y a los controles prenatales asisten con la mamá (31,35%), la pareja (27,57%) o solas (22,16%). La funcionalidad normal fue la más frecuente (99,46%), y se presentó asociación (p ≤ 0,05) con las instituciones, con la tipología familiar de naturaleza monoparental conformada y con el acompañamiento a los controles prenatales. Conclusión: Se determinó un nivel de funcionalidad familiar normal en las familias de las adolescentes gestantes asistentes a controles prenatales en dos instituciones de salud de Cartagena.

Perception of Cognitive Functions and Academic Performance in Chilean Public Schools

Understanding the perception that students have about their own cognitive processes is a key aspect that allows for a deeper assimilation of the different factors that affect school performance. However, there is limited evidence explaining the link between students' perception of their own cognitive functions and their academic performance. The objective of this study was to analyze the association between perception of cognitive functions, such as memory, processing speed, attention, execution of complex tasks and nervousness, and academic performance in Chilean schoolchildren from the province of Biobio. A cross-sectional analytic design was conducted. The sample consisted of 590 elementary school students (12 ± 1.3 years old; 48.3% female) from Chilean public schools. The academic performance was measured by means of the accumulated final grades in the language, mathematics, physical education and health subjects, and the grade point average (GPA) of each student. Moreover, a survey to measure the cognitive functions of the participants was applied. The results show that 20.3% of the students perceived themselves as very nervous and 16.8% felt distracted. Differences in marks were observed in all the measured subjects, as well as in GPAs, depending on the perception of cognitive functions. Thus, the students with low to moderate perceptions of their cognitive functions received lower marks than those who reported a high perception. These results were consistent after a multivariate analysis adjusted for a socio-educational variables model. In conclusion, one in five public school students in the Biobío Region of Chile expressed a low perception of their cognitive functions, which is consistent with their weaker school performance. Therefore, it is believed that integrating curricular activity and cognitive work could potentially boost the perception of said functions, and thus reduce the risk of poor academic performance.