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Background: Guatemala is currently undergoing an epidemiologic transition. Preventive services are key to reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases, and smoking counseling and cessation are among the most cost-effective and wide-reaching strategies. Internal medicine physicians are fundamental to providing such services, and their knowledge is a cornerstone of non-communicable disease control. Methods: A national cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2011 to evaluate knowledge of clinical preventive services for non-communicable diseases. Interns, residents, and attending physicians of the internal medicine departments of all teaching hospitals in Guatemala completed a self-administered questionnaire. Participants' responses were contrasted with the Guatemalan Ministry of Health (MoH) prevention guidelines and the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations. Analysis compared knowledge of recommendations within and between hospitals. Results: In response to simulated patient scenarios, all services were recommended by more than half of physicians regardless of MoH or USPSTF recommendations. Prioritization was adequate according to the MoH guidelines but not including other potentially effective services (e.g. colorectal cancer and lipid disorder screenings). With the exception of colorectal and prostate cancer screening, less frequently recommended by interns, there was no difference in recommendation rates by level. Conclusion: Guatemalan internal medicine physicians' knowledge on preventive services recommendations for non-communicable diseases is limited, and prioritization did not reflect cost-effectiveness. Based on these data we recommend that preventive medicine training be strengthened and development of evidence-based guidelines for low-middle income countries be a priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about factors affecting implementation of patient safety programmes in low and middle-income countries. The goal of our study was to evaluate the implementation of a patient safety programme for paediatric care in Guatemala., Methods: We used a mixed methods design to examine the implementation of a patient safety programme across 11 paediatric units at the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala. The safety programme included: (1) tools to measure and foster safety culture, (2) education of patient safety, (3) local leadership engagement, (4) safety event reporting systems, and (5) quality improvement interventions. Key informant staff (n=82) participated in qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys to identify implementation challenges early during programme deployment from May to July 2018, with follow-up focus group discussions in two units 1 year later to identify opportunities for programme modification. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, and integrated using triangulation, complementarity and expansion to identify emerging themes using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Salience levels were reported according to coding frequency, with valence levels measured to characterise the degree to which each construct impacted implementation., Results: We found several facilitators to safety programme implementation, including high staff receptivity, orientation towards patient-centredness and a desire for protocols. Key barriers included competing clinical demands, lack of knowledge about patient safety, limited governance, human factors and poor organisational incentives. Modifications included use of tools for staff recognition, integration of education into error reporting mechanisms and designation of trained champions to lead unit-based safety interventions., Conclusion: Implementation of safety programmes in low-resource settings requires recognition of facilitators such as staff receptivity and patient-centredness as well as barriers such as lack of training in patient safety and poor organisational incentives. Embedding an implementation analysis during programme deployment allows for programme modification to enhance successful implementation., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: The implementation of programs to improve patient safety remains challenging in low- and middle-income countries. The goal of our study was to define the barriers and facilitators to implementation of a perioperative patient safety program in Guatemala., Material and Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 staff pre-intervention and a follow-up focus group discussion 1 year later in the perioperative department at the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala. We performed qualitative thematic analysis to identify barriers and facilitators to the implementation process, with analysis guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research., Results: We found several dominant themes affecting implementation of a patient safety program. Implementation facilitators included strong prioritization of patient needs, program compatibility with existing workflow, and staff attributes. Barriers included a lack of knowledge about patient safety, limited resources, limited leadership engagement, and lack of formal implementation leaders. Several program modifications were made to enhance successful implementation iteratively during the implementation process., Discussion: Our analysis highlights several dominant themes which affect the implementation of a perioperative safety program in Guatemala. Understanding the barriers and facilitators to implementation during program deployment allows for program modification and improvement of the implementation process itself.

Purpose: Worldwide cervical and breast cancers are among the most commonly diagnosed cancers and are leading cause of cancer deaths among females in low- and middle-income countries. In Guatemala, breast and cervical cancers are the main cause of cancer-related deaths among women. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the years of potential life lost (YPLL) as an indicator of premature deaths as a result of breast and cervical cancers., Methods: Data on the number of deaths as a result of breast and cervical cancers (International Classification of Diseases [10th revision] codes C50 and C53) between 2012 and 2016 and age composition by quinquennials were retrieved from the Health Information System of the Guatemalan Health Ministry. On the basis of each individual's age at death, YPLL was estimated for females between 20 and 70 years of age., Results: A total of 1,476 deaths related to breast and cervical cancers was reported over the study period. The trend in breast cancer mortality rate and YPLL did not change from 2012 to 2016. The cervical cancer mortality rate has decreased to 10 deaths per 1 million habitants ( P = .046). There has been a reduction in YPLL because of cervical cancer, from 50.18 YPLL in 2012 to 29.19 YPLL by 2016, mainly in women between 30 and 34 years of age, in whom YPLL decreased from 600 to 112.50 ( P = .046)., Conclusion: Cervical cancer screening has significantly reduced the mortality rate of this malignancy, and screening of breast cancer must include creating awareness of the disease and providing access to women at risk.

Background: Despite the inclusion of adolescent health in recent global frameworks, limited data exist on health indicators in low-income countries. Our objective was to identify socioeconomic measures, risk behaviors and health indicators of young people in Guatemala., Methods: We conducted a secondary data analysis of the Pan American Health Organization's Sistema Informático del Adolescente of 2831 participants ages 10-24 y from 2008 to 2014. We examined frequencies for a core set of items, and generalized regression models assessed correlations between age, sex and ethnicity with health outcomes of interest., Results: Fewer than 17% of participants reported a history of chronic illness (16.6%) and severe psychological problems (16.8%). While 66.1% of participants' mothers and 36.6% of fathers reported job instability, far fewer families had housing instability (1.9% with no electricity, 6.3% with no running water). Fewer than one-third (29.1%) were sexually active and the majority (76.0%) routinely used condoms. About one-quarter (22.6%) reported abnormal mood. Indigenous participants were significantly more likely to have experienced psychological problems (odds ratio [OR] 1.75 [confidence interval {CI} 1.65-1.86]) and violence (OR 1.34 [CI 1.27-1.42]) compared with whites., Conclusions: The prevalence of risk behaviors and mental health concerns is low compared with other sources of national and regional data. Further work is needed to examine the benefits and limitations of this system in order to improve health surveillance., (© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Developing countries and Indigenous populations are disproportionately affected by global trends in diabetes (T2DM), but inconsistent data are available to corroborate this pattern in Guatemala and indigenous communities in Central America. Historic estimates of T2DM, using a variety of sampling techniques and diagnostic methods, in Guatemala include a T2DM prevalence of: 4·2% (1970) and 8·4% (2003). Objectives of this geographically randomized, cross-sectional analysis of risk include: (1) use HbA1c to determine prevalence of T2DM and prediabetes in rural Indigenous community of Atitlán (2) identify risk factors for T2DM including age, BMI and gender., Methods: A spatially random sampling method was used to identify 400 subjects. Prevalence was compared using the confidence interval method, and logistic regression and linear regression were used to assess association between diabetes and risk factors., Findings: The overall prevalence of T2DM using HbA1c was 13·81% and prediabetes was also 13·81% in Atitlán, representing a tripling in diabetes from historic estimates and a large population with pre-diabetes. The probability of diabetes increased dramatically with increasing age, however no significant overall relationship existed with gender or BMI., Conclusions: Diabetes is a larger epidemic than previously expected and appears to be related to ageing rather than BMI. Our proposed explanations for these findings include: possible Indigenous unique genetic susceptibility to T2DM, shortcomings in BMI as a metric for adiposity in assessing risk, changes in lifestyle and diet, and an overall aging population. The conclusion of this study suggest that (1) T2DM in rural regions of Guatemala may be of epidemic proportion. With pre-diabetes, more than 25% of the population will be diabetic in the very near future; (2) Age is a significant risk factor in the Indigenous population but BMI is not. This suggests that in some populations diabetes may be a disease of ageing., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.