Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud

Introduction: Cognitive impairment (CI) is known to be mediated by several risk and protective factors, many of which are potentially modifiable. Therefore, it is important to have up-to-date studies that address a standard assessment of psychosocial, clinical and lifestyle variables. Materials and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study, with a 24-month timeframe, to estimate the relationship between risk and protective factors associated with dementia, according to the A-to-Z Dementia Knowledge. Participants were considered at CI risk if they tested positive for at least one of three validated CI screening tests: TheMemory Impairment Screening, Short Portable Mental State Questionnaire, and Semantic Verbal Fluency. The A-to-Z data Collection included Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener and Geriatric Depression Scale. Results: The estimated prevalence of CI was 22.6% in a sample of 709 patients with an average of 69.3±10.3 years. The risk factors gradually associated with cognitive decline were hypertension, loneliness, and depression. In contrast, the protective factors gradually associated with less cognitive decline were internet use, reading, and intellectually stimulating jobs. Finally, living alone, having diabetes, taking benzodiazepines, and sleeping more than 9 h were statistically significant associated with CI, whereas to do memory training or a family history of dementia was characteristic of patients without CI. Conclusion: A joint assessment of the influence of psychosocial, clinical, and lifestyle-related factors is needed to develop dementia prevention strategies.

Increasing technological advances have generated a digital dependency in the population, resulting in a group of digitally excluded vulnerable people that lack basic digital skills. The aim of this study was to assess the digital divide in patients in relation to the healthcare environment. We explored the extent and effects of the digital health divide by undertaking a systematic review of the academic literature and comparing our findings with the results of a cross-sectional in-person survey answered by 881 people at four community pharmacies. In terms of the sociodemographic profile of the patients, we collected data regarding their gender, age, education level, and location (periphery or urban). The parameters evaluated were use of the internet to search for health information, use of telemedicine, use of different medical/healthcare applications, understanding explanations given by physicians regarding health, and asking pharmacists for help about newly prescribed treatments. Moreover, 168 pharmacists answered an online survey about how often they helped patients to make health center appointments or to download their COVID-19 vaccination certificate. Gender did not influence these results, but age, education level, and population location did. Those with the lowest levels of education required more help to request a health center appointment. People with high education levels and those living in an urban environment more often searched the internet for information about treatments that were new to them. Finally, people living in periphery areas received more help from their pharmacists, 60% of which said they had helped patients to download their COVID-19 vaccination certificate, with 24% of them saying they helped patients with this on a daily basis.

Cognitive impairment (CI), an intermediate phase between the decline in physiological cognition and dementia, is known to be mediated by a variety of risk and protective factors, with age being the most influential of these. The multifactorial nature of CI and the worldwide phenomenon of an aging population makes decoupling old age from disease through the concept of healthy aging (HA) a matter of major interest. Focusing on psychosocial variables and psychological constructs, here we designed and piloted a data collection booklet (DeCo-B) to assess CI and HA from a holistic perspective. The DeCo-B comprises six sections: sociodemographic factors, CI, meaning in life, psychosocial factors, health problems, and lifestyle. The estimated prevalence of CI and HA in our cohort were 24.4% and 6.6%, respectively. Spearman correlations mainly identified pairwise associations between the meaning in life domains and psychosocial variables. Moreover, age, marital status, purpose in life, resilience, chronic pain, cognitive reserve, and obstructive sleep apnea were significantly associated with an increased risk of CI. Our results showed that DeCo-B is a suitable tool for researching how modifiable risk and protective factors influence cognitive status. The complex interrelationships between variables should be further investigated and, for practical reasons, the questionnaire should be optimized in future work.

Subjective memory complaints (SMCs) may be important markers in the prediction of cognitive deterioration. The aim of this study was to find associations between individual lifestyle factors, which may contribute to cognitive impairment (CI) in people with SMCs and to conduct a literature review on the relationship between internet use and CI in subjects over 50 years old, as a related factor. This was a case-controlled study that included 497 subjects aged over 50 years with SMCs who were recruited from 19 community pharmacies. Three screening tests were used to detect possible CIs, and individuals with at least one test result compatible with a CI were referred to primary care for evaluation. Having self-referred SMC increased the odds of obtaining scores compatible with CI and this factor was significantly related to having feelings of depression (OR = 2.24, 95% CI [1.34, 3.90]), taking anxiolytics or antidepressants (OR = 1.93, 95% CI [1.23, 3.05]), and being female (OR = 1.83, 95% CI [1.15, 2.88]). Thirty percent of our sample obtained scores compatible with CI. Age over 70 years increased the odds of obtaining scores compatible with CI. A high-level education, reading, and daily internet use were factors associated with a reduced risk of positive scores compatible with CI (37–91%, 7–18%, and 67–86%, respectively), while one extra hour television per day increased the risk by 8–30%. Among others, modifiable lifestyle factors such as reading, and daily internet usage may slow down cognitive decline in patients over 50 with SMCs. Four longitudinal studies and one quasi-experimental study found internet use to be beneficial against CI in patients over 50 years of age.

Dementia is a neurodegenerative disease with no cure that can begin up to 20 years before its diagnosis. A key priority in patients with dementia is the identification of early modifiable factors that can slow the progression of the disease. Community pharmacies are suitable points for cognitiveimpairment screening because of their proximity to patients. Therefore, the continuous training of professionals working in pharmacies directly impacts the public health of the population. The main purpose of this study was to assess community pharmacists’ knowledge of dementia-related factors. Thus, we conducted a cross-sectional study of 361 pharmacists via an online questionnaire that quizzed their knowledge of a list of dementia-related factors, which we later arranged into the A-to-Z Dementia Knowledge List. We found that younger participants had a better knowledge of risk factors associated with dementia. The risk factors most often identified were a family history of dementia followed by social isolation. More than 40% of the respondents did not identify herpes labialis, sleep more than 9 h per day, and poor hearing as risk factors. A higher percentage of respondents were better able to identify protective factors than risk factors. The least known protective factors were internet use, avoidance of pollution, and the use of anti-inflammatory drugs. Pharmacists’ knowledge of dementia-related factors should be renewed with the aim of enhancing their unique placement to easily implement cognitive-impairment screening.

Introducción: la vacuna antigripal está indicada entre el personal sanitario, aunque la cobertura antigripal en farmacéuticos comunitarios españoles actualmente se desconoce. Este trabajo pretende averiguar esta cobertura, las causas de los farmacéuticos para vacunarse o no de la gripe, el absentismo laboral que les ocasiona, si recomiendan la vacunación antigripal entre los grupos de riesgo y su disposición a administrarla en la farmacia. Métodos: estudio descriptivo transversal mediante un cuestionario online destinado a farmacéuticos comunitarios de toda España. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo de las variables estudiadas y de la asociación entre la vacunación y las variables cualitativas (test Chi-cuadrado y Fisher) y cuantitativas (ANOVA). Resultados: se obtuvo una tasa de respuesta del 9,4 % (n=1.436). Los farmacéuticos refirieron vacunarse en torno al 30 % en las tres temporadas estudiadas (2016- 2019), siendo del 31-35,8 % (IC95 %) en la temporada 2018-2019. Ser titular/cotitular de la farmacia, la experiencia profesional, la edad, vacunarse para evitar la gripe y/o por responsabilidad, y vacunarse en temporadas anteriores son factores asociados a vacunarse (p<0,05). Ser socio de SEFAC también lo es. El absentismo por gripe en la temporada 2018-2019 fue del 9,5 %. Los farmacéuticos que más dijeron vacunarse recomiendan más la vacuna que los que no, y tendrían mayor predisposición a administrarla (p<0,05). Conclusiones: la cobertura vacunal antigripal entre los farmacéuticos comunitarios es baja a pesar del absentismo que les causa. Facilitar la vacunación a los farmacéuticos podría incrementar su cobertura. Los farmacéuticos recomiendan la vacunación contra la gripe a los pacientes de riesgo y estarían dispuestos a vacunar en farmacias autorizadas. / Introduction: while the influenza vaccine is indicated for healthcare personnel, its coverage among Spanish community pharmacists is currently unknown. This study aims to quantify this coverage as well as evaluate the causes leading pharmacists to be inoculated or not, their flu-related absenteeism, whether they recommend the vaccine to risk groups, and their willingness to administer it in the pharmacy. Methods: descriptive cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire aimed at community pharmacists throughout Spain. A descriptive analysis of the variables studied and of the association between vaccination and qualitative (Chi-square and Fisher test) and quantitative (ANOVA) variables was performed. Results: a response rate of 9.4% (n=1,436). Pharmacists reported vaccinating around 30 % in the three seasons under study (2016-2019), being 31-35.8% (IC95%) in the 2018-2019 season. Being a pharmacy owner/co-owner, professional experience, age, being vaccinated to avoid influenza and/or for responsibility, and being vaccinated in previous seasons are factors associated with being vaccinated (p<0.05). Being a member of SEFAC is also a factor. Flu-related absenteeism in the 2018-2019 season was 9.5%. Pharmacists who reported being vaccinated themselves were more likely to recommended the vaccine and more likely to administer it (p<0.05). Conclusions: flu vaccination coverage among community pharmacists is low despite the absenteeism this causes. Making vaccination easier for pharmacists could increase coverage. Pharmacists recommend flu vaccination for at-risk patients and would be willing to vaccinate in licensed pharmacies.

The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of high blood pressure (HBP) in adolescents of the Valencian Autonomous Community (VC) in Spain. Besides, its association with other risk factors related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) or arterial hypertension (AHT) in order to increase our knowledge of public health and to provide advice about healthy diets. We conducted a multicentre, observational, cross-sectional, epidemiological study in a sample of 4402 adolescents from 15 schools during the 2015–2016 school year. The participants were aged between 11 and 18 years, and any individuals already diagnosed with AHT were excluded. In addition to the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A), Evaluation of the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED), a lifestyle habits survey, the waist-to-height ratio (WtHR), and body mass index (BMI) were calculated for each participant. Informed Consent was obtained from Parents of the adolescents involved in the current study. The study received approval from the University ethics committee and all procedures were conducted in accordance with the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. Chi-squared, Student t-tests, and ANOVA statistical analyses showed that 653 (14.8%) adolescents had previously undiagnosed HBP and that was significantly associated with male sex (p < 0.001), age over 15 years (p < 0.05), and height, weight, waist circumference, WtHR, BMI, and skipping breakfast. Based on the data we obtained in this study, the modifiable factors that influence HBP in adolescents were WtHR, BMI, and skipping breakfast.

Community pharmacists and general practitioners have daily contact with patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) but the number of positive cases constantly increases every day. Thus, the aim of this research is to describe the level of AD knowledge among community pharmacists and general practitioners in Spain, in order to see where the biggest gaps in the knowledge are. Therefore, a cross-sectional study has been carried out, using the Alzheimer’s disease knowledge survey (ADKS), among members of the Spanish Society of Primary Care Physicians and the Spanish Society of Family and Community Pharmacy to report the differences in AD knowledge in both professional collectives. The ADKS has been responded by 578 community pharmacists and 104 general practitioners and consists of a battery of 30 questions, whose possible answers are true or false. It assesses the AD knowledge in seven areas (impact on the disease, risk factors, course of the disease, diagnosis, care, treatment and symptoms). Results indicate that Spanish pharmacists and general practitioners have a high personal knowledge of AD, nevertheless, it is not associated with greater awareness. Both scored above 80% at the categories: diagnostic, treatment and symptoms. However, lower knowledge level (60% of correct answers) was found in those related to risk factors, such as the ignorance about hypercholesterolemia or hypertension as risk factors for the disease. Community pharmacists are already acting to control cardiovascular risk factors, but a wider knowledge of the relationship of these factors to AD is needed to act against these silent risk factors. Thus, pharmacists may also be involved in the management of AD that includes recognizing early symptoms for early detection of cognitive impairment. Hence, knowledge about risk factors is very important in developing this expanding role.

Introducción: El deterioro cognitivo (DC) es una enfermedad que aumenta con la edad. Es importante conocer los factores protectores y de riesgo de esta enfermedad. Metodología: Estudio observacional realizado a 729 personas mayores de 65 años en 13 farmacias comunitarias durante dos años. Se recogieron datos demográficos (sexo, edad, nivel de estudios) y de estilos de vida (afición a la lectura, realización de pasatiempos, horas de televisión) y para el cribaje de los pacientes se realizaron los test SPMSQ (Short-Portable Mental State Questionaire) de Pfeiffer y Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) versión NORMADERM. También se realizó una revisión bibliográfica del tema. Resultados: Se detectó un 17,6% de DC. Se encontró una asociación estadísticamente significativa como protección frente al DC con la afición a la lectura y el nivel de estudios. No se encontró asociación con las horas de televisión (TV) ni con la realización de pasatiempos. La revisión bibliográfica aportó más factores protectores y de riesgo. Discusión: Con nuestros datos podemos afirmar que tanto la reserva cognitiva (años de estudio) como la estimulación cognitiva (horas de lectura) protegen del DC. Sobre los demás datos obtenidos no se han encontrado coincidencias, por lo que sería necesario aumentar el tamaño muestral para poder realizar una comparación más eficaz. Conclusiones: El nivel educativo bajo es un factor de riesgo de DC, mientras que estudios superiores serían un factor preventivo. La lectura es un factor protector de DC. / Introduction: Cognitive Dysfunction (CD) is a disease that increases with age. It is important to know the protective and risk factors for this disease. Methodology: Observational study carried out on 729 people over 65 years of age in community 13 pharmacies for two years. Demographic data were collected (sex, age, level of studies) and lifestyles (love of reading, hobbies such as crossword puzzles or sudokus etc, TV hours), and the SPMSQ (Short-Portable Mental State Questionaire) test of Pfeiffer and Mini- Mental State Examination (MMSE) were carried out to check the patient’s CD. A bibliographic review of the subject was also conducted. Results: 17.6% of CD was detected. A statistically significant association was found as a protection against CD with a love of reading and the level of studies. No association was found with TV hours or hobbies. The literature review provided more protective and risk factors. Discussion: With our data we can affirm that both cognitive reserve (years of study) and cognitive stimulation (hours of reading) protect from CD. No coincidences were found on the other data obtained, so it would be necessary to increase the sample size in order to make a more effective comparison. Conclusions: Low educational level is a risk factor for CD while higher education would be a preventive factor. Reading is a protective factor of CD.