Background: Ageism is a growing concern in aging societies and can affect future professionals’ attitudes toward older adults. Objective: To analyze the association between attitudes toward old age, self-perceptions of aging, and contact with older adults in the community among students at a private university in Chile. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted with 515 university students aged 18 to 42 years from 11 campuses of Santo Tomás University in Chile. Attitudes toward older adults were assessed using the Kogan’s Attitudes toward Older People Scale (KAOP), and additional data on self-perceptions of health and aging, and contact with grandparents or older adults, were collected through a self-designed questionnaire. Statistical analyses included chi-square tests, one-way ANOVA, and Bonferroni post hoc comparisons. Results: A majority of students (61.2%) exhibited low-level positive attitudes toward older adults. Female students and those aged 26–42 years had significantly more positive attitudes than male and younger students (p < 0.05). Students with a healthier self-perception of aging (p = 0.011) and those who maintained contact with grandparents or older adults (p = 0.006) showed significantly more favorable attitudes toward aging. Nationality was also associated with attitudes, with Chilean students scoring higher than their foreign counterparts. Conclusions: Positive attitudes toward older adults among university students were associated with gender, age, self-perception of aging, and intergenerational contact. These findings highlight the importance of integrating educational and intergenerational programs in higher education to reduce ageism and promote respectful and inclusive perceptions of aging.

Empathy is considered a key factor in patient satisfaction, treatment adherence, clinical outcomes, and professional fulfillment. Consequently, training health sciences students in empathy has become a priority in universities worldwide. However, empathy-focused interventions have not achieved the desired success due to the complex nature of empathy. Both internal and external factors shape and influence empathy. Resilience has been proposed as one such factor, but the association between these two concepts is poorly understood. This study aims to evaluate the association between different dimensions of resilience and empathy in health science students. A Cross-sectional analysis evaluated the levels of empathy and resilience in 993 Medical, Nursing, and Dentistry students at Universidad del Norte using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Professions Students (JSE-HPS) and the Ecological, Engineering, Adaptation (EEA) Resilience Scale. Data were examined through univariate and multivariate normality analyses and descriptive statistics. To evaluate the theoretical structure of empathy and resilience, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on the three-dimensional models of each construct. Reliability was established using the Omega coefficient. Finally, structural equation modeling (SEM) with a robust maximum likelihood estimator was applied to analyze the association between resilience and empathy. The normal distribution assumptions were largely met for empathy scale data, its respective dimensions, and individual items. The theoretical model was well-supported for both constructs, and the data suggested acceptable reliability. SEM analysis revealed that the association between empathy and resilience dimensions vary. Ecological resilience was positively correlated with all empathy dimensions while engineering and adaptative resilience were negatively correlated with all three dimensions of empathy. There is no universal effect of resilience on empathy. Designers of empathy-focused educational interventions and researchers should consider the potential differential effects of different dimensions of resilience on different aspects of empathy. In particular, focusing on ecological resilience may create the conditions for achieved empathy to be expressed, while strategies to mitigate the potential negative impact of adaptive resilience on empathy should be further explored.

Aunque las investigaciones actuales indican que el modo activo de desplazamiento influye en la salud de los escolares, lo que se sabe sobre la relación entre la condición física autoinformada y su relación con la forma de desplazarse activamente hacia y desde la escuela (ACS, por sus siglas en inglés) se sabe menos. Los objetivos de este estudio fueron a) analizar la aptitud física autoinformada y la ACS, y b) determinar la asociación entre la aptitud física autoinformada con ACS a través de una encuesta realizada en el sur de Chile. Se realizó un diseño analítico transversal. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 733 escolares (de 10 a 16 años, 46,1% niñas) de colegios públicos chilenos. Se utilizó la International Fitness Scale (IFIS) para determinar la aptitud física autoinformada. Se evaluaron los modos de desplazamiento de los estudiantes a la escuela mediante preguntas separadas sobre ACS. Los principales resultados mostraron que los niños presentaron una mejor aptitud física autoinformada que las niñas, excepto en la autopercepción de flexibilidad (p= 0,041). Además, se observó asociación entre el tipo de ACS y la flexibilidad autoinformada (OR:1,53, p=0,022; OR:1,47, p= 0,036), asociación que se mantuvo al ajustar por sexo y la edad (OR:1,55, p=0,020; OR:1,50, p= 0,030), la velocidad y la agilidad autoinformada se asociaron sólo con el desplazamiento activo desde la escuela (OR:1,60, p=0,005), también después del modelo ajustado (OR:1,81, p=0,024). En conclusión, este estudio proporciona evidencia sobre la relación entre la aptitud física autoinformada y las formas de ACS. Para promover la salud en los escolares se deben buscar estrategias que favorezcan los ACS.

Positional cranial deformities are associated with prematurity evolving during the first 2 years of life due to the malleable characteristics of the skull, the first year being the main/primary therapeutic window for intervention. The objectives were (a) to describe health characteristics, peri- and postnatal pathologies, and positional cranial deformities in infants enrolled in an early intervention program and (b) to analyze the effects of a parent education-based intervention program on positional cranial deformity in premature infants. A quantitative, analytical, longitudinal study was conducted. It included 103 premature infants enrolled in an early intervention program (EIP) during the year 2017, all under 4 months of corrected age, to whom a parent education-based intervention program was applied. Cranial circumference, cranial width, diagonals, and anteroposterior diameter were measured, and the cranial asymmetry index (CAI) and cephalic index (CI) were calculated at baseline and during two subsequent evaluations separated by a 3-month period. The main results showed that 75.7% of the infants belonged to a very premature gestational age category, and 57.3% had an adequate weight for gestational age. The most frequent pathologies were premature jaundice, premature anemia, and hyaline membrane disease. The most frequent positional cranial deformity was plagiocephaly. The parent education-based intervention program resulted in (1) a significant decrease in the CAI and a significant increase in the IC, (2) plagiocephalies: an increase in the mild category and a decrease in the moderate + severe categories, (3) brachycephalies: a decrease in the absence category and an increase in the moderate + severe category, and (4) dolichocephalies: an increase in the absence category and a decrease in the mild category. In conclusion, the recommended first line of intervention was not enough for this population, and future studies should support the development of national clinical guidelines, where education is complemented with other therapeutic measures.

Introduction: Intensive care units are highly complex services designed to maintain the vital functions of patients who require specialized care and assistance, so it is necessary to allocate an adequate number of nursing professionals, according to the clinical conditions, to provide a response and continuity of care. In Colombia there is no legislation that quantitatively establishes this ratio, so it is usually determined by the installed capacity and not by the complexity of nursing interventions; therefore, this study becomes an asset to promote public policies for personnel allocation. Objective: To determine the nurse-patient ratio according to clinical severity in two intensive care units in the Colombian Caribbean. Materials and Methods: This is a quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted in two intensive care units (Sincelejo and Barranquilla), for which the TISS-28 (Simplified Therapeutic Intervention Score System) instrument was used for a three-month period. A total of 15 nursing professionals and 469 patients participated. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of the Universidad del Norte. Results: According to the severity of patient conditions, grade III was prevalent, that is, requiring intensive monitoring, with a time for nursing interventions ranging from 201.5–413.4 min (3.3 h – 6.89 h), and the need for a nurse-patient ratio of 1:2. Conclusions: There is a shortage of nursing professionals in the participating units to meet care needs.