Revista médica de Chile
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Revista médica de Chile · Jan 2021
[Physical inactivity versus sedentariness: analysis of the chilean national health survey 2016-2017].
Physical inactivity and sedentariness are independent risk factors for mortality. Physical inactivity is defined as engaging in insufficient moderate/vigorous physical activity (i.e. not meeting the WHO's recommendations). Sedentariness is defined according to sedentary behavior; evidence suggests that > 8 h/d could serve to consider a person as sedentary. The Chilean National Health Survey 2016-2017 (NHS), using a single question (Question-NHS), considered as "sedentary" those who did not engage in sports or physical activity for ≥ 30 min, ≥ 3 times/wk. Thus, it attempted to estimate sedentariness without considering sedentary behavior. ⋯ One third of adults are inactive, one out of ten is sedentary, and one out of twenty is inactive and sedentary. The Question-NHS overestimates the population at risk.
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Revista médica de Chile · Jan 2021
Review[New perspectives in the management of arterial hypertension].
Arterial hypertension is one of the biggest public health problems. The research in this area has been relentless and productive, allowing to identify new pathophysiological mechanisms from which new therapeutic options are under development. ⋯ The development state of these new medications ranges from a preclinical state to their clinical use in hypertensive patients. Technological strategies aiming at increasing the compliance with anti-hypertensive medications are also mentioned.
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Revista médica de Chile · Jan 2021
Randomized Controlled Trial[The impact on sample sizes of studies if the significance level is changed from an α of 0.05 to 0.005].
The statistical significance α = 0.05 is the cut-off point used to decide whether a hypothesis is statistically significant. When p-value is less than 0.05, we reject the null hypothesis. Although this criterion has been used for almost a century to generate new knowledge, there is currently an international discussion about the need to decrease the significance to α = 0.005. ⋯ Considering the sample size implications, the change in the level of significance would have important effects on the Chilean science. The cost of a randomized clinical trial could increase by at least 27% to 32%. This increase could be similar for cross-sectional studies. With an investment of less than 0.4% of gross domestic product in science and technology, national scientific research would become more expensive, distributing the few available resources among fewer projects. This effect should be considered in any discussion about national budget for science and technology.
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An increasingly large proportion of clinical trials is being conducted at non-traditional geographic regions such as Latin America. However, concerns have been raised that hosting countries may lack adequate research regulations and that clinical trials may not address local health needs. In this context, Chile has been hosting a relatively large proportion of clinical trials and has introduced new regulatory protections. ⋯ Clinical trials conducted in Chile over the last decade are largely funded by external pharmaceutical companies. Their distribution is partially aligned with local disease burden. The introduction of regulatory protections was followed by changes in the distribution of diseases studied.
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Revista médica de Chile · Jan 2021
Nutritional and behavioral factors related to weight gain after bariatric surgery.
Weight regain (WR) after bariatric surgery is common. Several factors involved in WR have been identified, but there has been little research on specific eating habits such as eating snacks rather than regular meals and being a "sweet-eater". ⋯ Eating more daily calories, being a "sweet-eater", a "grazer", and sedentarism were factors related with a greater risk of regaining weight after surgery.