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Purpose: The present study identifies the professional skills profile that a Public Affairs (PA) practitioner of a major company or an organization representing the interests of various economic sectors should have in Spain. Design/methodology: The study uses a mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology. The initial identification of the competences, as well as the general functions of the profile to be evaluated, has been carried out using the in-depth interview technique with the directors of APRI (Association of Professionals of Institutional Relations of Spain), who defined these competencies from their expert perspective. Subsequently, through a survey of seventy-two managers, sufficient data were obtained to statistically process the information and obtain significant results in the identification of such competences. This information has been processed, firstly, through factorial analysis, which has made it possible to synthesize these competences. Once the analysis of factors was carried out, a cluster analysis is added for the classification of the respondents or managers. Findings: The perception of the interviewed executives has been determined regarding the functions that an institutional relations practitioner must fulfill. It should be noted that this is a profession for which there is no clarity about the role and the legitimacy of its members, particularly in Spain. In fact, it is associated with a function that is seen as exerting undue pressure on political power. A field study was conducted to determine the opinion of these managers on the competences that a professional in institutional relations should have. Originality/value: This study provides a description of the job position of a person responsible for institutional relations in Spain. Moreover, it adds a typology of managers, according to the competences defined for the person responsible for institutional relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial configuration of entrepreneurship in Spain is heterogeneous and quality entrepreneurship is generated in 'creative' regions characterized by high levels of human capital, internationalization, and exposure to enhanced managerial practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Economics of Happiness is one of the research areas of greatest growth in recent years. Throughout this work, a venture based model in which satisfaction of Spanish entrepreneurs with their professional life is performed. We analyze the responses of 9,989 entrepreneurs using data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), and six hypothesis are discussed. The results show that, for the Spanish case, there is a strong consistency in the results the opportunity entrepreneurs present greater satisfaction than necessity entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we analyzed the economic impact of one-year healthcare and non-healthcare resources utilization by patients with dementia of Alzheimer's disease (AD) under usual medical practice in Spain. A one-year, prospective, naturalistic, multicenter cohort study was designed to recruit patients with mild, moderate to severe, and severe AD according to Clinical Dementia Rating scale: the ECO study. Healthcare resources (medical visits, drugs and concomitant treatments, complementary and diagnostic tests, institutionalization and use of home-nursing facilities) and non-healthcare resources (inventory materials, consumables, professional and non-professional caregivers' time for care and supervision) were recorded and valued at 2006 prices. A total of 560 patients with possible/probable AD by DSM-IV-NINCDS-ADRDA criteria were included in the study: 68% women, 77 ± 6 years old, 29% treatment naïve. Monthly average cost per patient was EURO1,425.73, and increased 10.08% at the end of the study (baseline monthly cost; EURO1,316.22). Non-healthcare costs EURO1059.00, 74.30% of total cost) decreased EURO4.30/month (0.40%) at the end of the year, while healthcare costs, which presented a total average of EURO366.66, grew by EURO136.94 in the period (54.06%), mainly due to cost of drugs, nursing home utilization, and institutionalization. The 87.26% of the overall cost (EURO1,244.22) was not financed by National Health Service (NHS), and the majority of this cost corresponded to caregiver-associated cost. The caregiver's total burden represented 70.86% of the overall cost-of-illness. In conclusion, monthly overall mean cost of dementia of AD type was high in Spain (EURO1,412.73). Almost 88% of the cost-of-illness is funded by the patient's own family, adding a financial burden to the suffering of these families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this research is to analyse the statistical relationship between entrepreneurship university support and the level of entrepreneurial activity in Spain. Concerning the methodology, data has been provided by the National Spanish GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor). Different statistical methods have been used in this research (descriptive statistics, anova, correlation, linear regression and non linear regression and logit). The main findings of the study demonstrate that there is not a significant statistical relation between entrepreneurship universities support and the entrepreneurial level of activity in Spain. Moreover, it has been found that entrepreneurial intention is statistically related with universities support, showing the improvement of the influence of high education in Spanish entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: A decrease in blood cell counts, especially lymphocytes and eosinophils, has been described in patients with serious Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), but there is no knowledge of their potential role of the recovery in these patients' prognosis. This article aims to analyse the effect of blood cell depletion and blood cell recovery on mortality due to COVID-19. Design: This work was a retrospective, multicentre cohort study of 9644 hospitalised patients with confirmed COVID-19 from the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine's SEMI-COVID-19 Registry. Setting: This study examined patients hospitalised in 147 hospitals throughout Spain. Participants: This work analysed 9644 patients (57.12% male) out of a cohort of 12,826 patients ≥18 years of age hospitalised with COVID-19 in Spain included in the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry as of 29 May 2020. Main outcome measures: The main outcome measure of this work is the effect of blood cell depletion and blood cell recovery on mortality due to COVID-19. Univariate analysis was performed to determine possible predictors of death, and then multivariate analysis was carried out to control for potential confounders. Results: An increase in the eosinophil count on the seventh day of hospitalisation was associated with a better prognosis, including lower mortality rates (5.2% vs. 22.6% in non-recoverers, OR 0.234; 95% CI, 0.154 to 0.354) and lower complication rates, especially regarding the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (8% vs. 20.1%, p = 0.000) and ICU admission (5.4% vs. 10.8%, p = 0.000). Lymphocyte recovery was found to have no effect on prognosis. Treatment with inhaled or systemic glucocorticoids was not found to be a confounding factor. Conclusion: Eosinophil recovery in patients with COVID-19 who required hospitalisation had an independent prognostic value for all-cause mortality and a milder course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: To know the durability of consecutive regimens of antiretroviral treatment is important to design a long-term therapy, but there is not much information about this subject., Patients and Method: Retrospective epidemiological study of a sample of 401 patients who began antiretroviral treatment between January 1997 and April 2000 at ten Spanish hospitals. The duration of each consecutive antiretroviral regimen was calculated and the reasons for modification and discontinuation were described., Results: In the 3 years and 3 months covered by the study, 48.6% of the patients received more than one regimen of therapy. Seventy five of the initial prescribed combinations included protease inhibitors. Median duration of consecutive lines of therapy was decreasing: 560, 360, 330 and 202 days for the first, second, third and fourth regimens, respectively. The main reason to modification was intolerance or toxicity (46.2, 49.1 and 47.1% for the first, second and third modification). A fifth of changes was originated by difficulties to follow the therapy. Virological failure was the reason for modification in 21.8, 24.5 and 26.5% of first, second and third changes., Conclusions: Duration of consecutive antiretroviral regimens progressively decreases. Intolerance or drug toxicity were the main reasons conditioning the change of treatment.