The number of articles submitted to the Journal of the Faculty of Medicine experienced a dramatic increase

The Journal of the Faculty of Medicine of Universidad Nacional de Colombia has undergone important changes in the past years; the amount of articles submitted for initiating the editorial process has increased, in the same manner as the amount of articles received in English language, and the rejection rate, which is now around 40%. The number of international authors has also grown, thus demonstrating that the publication has achieved greater visibility and recognition.

In this context, the following articles have been selected for the first issue of Volume 69 of the Journal of the Faculty of Medicine:

“Is parricide a stable phenomenon? An analysis of parricide offenders in a forensic hospital” (1) is a study written by an important group of Brazilian authors, who demonstrate their expertise in one of the crimes that causes most social upheaval due to its broad implications. Parricide immediately attracts attention as it is easily linked to the presence of a mental disorder, which is actually corroborated by this study, since it shows that most parricides are young adult males, who have a low level of education, are single, with no criminal history and schizophrenic; in addition, few cases show antisocial personality disorders.

The Journal of the Faculty of Medicine of Universidad Nacional de Colombia has undergone important changes in the past years; the amount of articles submitted for initiating the editorial process has increased, in the same manner as the amount of articles received in English language, and the rejection rate, which is now around 40%. The number of international authors has also grown, thus demonstrating that the publication has achieved greater visibility and recognition.

In this context, the following articles have been selected for the first issue of Volume 69 of the Journal of the Faculty of Medicine:

“Is parricide a stable phenomenon? An analysis of parricide offenders in a forensic hospital” (1) is a study written by an important group of Brazilian authors, who demonstrate their expertise in one of the crimes that causes most social upheaval due to its broad implications. Parricide immediately attracts attention as it is easily linked to the presence of a mental disorder, which is actually corroborated by this study, since it shows that most parricides are young adult males, who have a low level of education, are single, with no criminal history and schizophrenic; in addition, few cases show antisocial personality disorders.

Editorial

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15446/revfacmed.v65n1.65643

Almost all victims were seniors, the crime was committed at the attacker’s parents’ house, and a low percentage of murderers tried to escape the crime scene (1). In this sense, forensic psychiatry can develop mental insanity as a defense resource, which in turn can be useful to the approach of justice delivery.

If we consider that lower homicide rates will be seen in Colombia once the peace agreement between the State and different illegal armed groups has been signed, it is to be expected that parricide cases, which were previously unnoticed due to the overwhelming violence experienced in the country for decades, will be more evident.

Furthermore, when homicide rates decline, suicide rates increase. In this respect, the journal presents the article “Suicidal behavior in the indigenous peoples: a review of the state of the art” (2), which concludes, after reviewing 149 published papers on suicidal behavior in indigenous peoples, that this phenomenon is a public health problem (2) that requires greater knowledge and treatment based on its impact.

The article “Alcoholism in women” (3) is also included in this issue; in this case, the authors conducted a literature review, which led to conclude that women have a higher age of onset of alcohol consumption, as well as a shorter history of consumption until the problem is evident (3). The researchers established that a greater frequency of traumatic events and living with an alcoholic partner are risk factors. Women with alcoholism problems have a higher prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms and use health care services with a lower frequency (3). This article draws attention since it reports gender differences when addressing this issue, and proposes the development of screening protocols specifically adapted to detect women with alcoholism problems in primary health care and mental health services, considering that their main complaint and demand is related to anxious or depressive symptoms (3).

Finally, one relevant article is “Study of associated factors and prevalence of illegal psychoactive substance use among students of a university in Colombia”. This is a descriptive study in which the authors state that 31.5% (n=343) of survey respondents have used some illegal psychoactive substance at some point in the past 12 months, mostly marijuana, with an average age of first consumption of 17±2.1 years; this situation is associated with family problems and peer pressure (4). This scenario makes clear that establishing prevention and treatment programs for university students is necessary because the relationship of the use of psychoactive substances with academic failure is widely known.

Franklin Escobar-Córdoba MD. Dr (PhD)

Tenured professor of the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty
of Medicine, Universidad Nacional de Colombia,
Bogotá D.C., Colombia.

Editor of the Journal of the Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota D.C., Colombia.

feescobarc@unal.edu.co

References

1.de Borba-Telles LE, Goldfeld PRM, Soares Barros AJ, Schwengber HE, Peres-Day V, de Moraes-Costa G. Is parricide a stable phenomenon? An analysis of parricide offenders in a forensic hospital. Rev. Fac. Med. 2017;65(1):9-14. https://doi.org/10.15446/revfacmed.v65n1.58829.

2.Vargas-Espíndola A, Villamizar-Guerrero JC, Puerto-López JS, Rojas-Villamizar MR, Ramírez-Montes OS, Urrego-Mendoza ZC. Conducta suicida en pueblos indígenas: una revisión del estado del arte. Rev. Fac. Med. 2017;65(1):129-36. https://doi.org/10.15446/revfacmed.v65n1.54928.

3.Míguez MC, Permuy B. Características del alcoholismo en mujeres. Rev. Fac. Med. 2017;65(1):15-22. https://doi.org/10.15446/revfacmed.v65n1.57482.

4.Castaño-Castrillón JJ, García S, Luna J, Morán M, Ocampo D, Ortíz L. Estudio de factores asociados y prevalencia de consumo de sustancias psicoactivas ilegales en estudiantes de una universidad colombiana. Rev. Fac. Med. 2017;65(1):23-30. https://doi.org/10.15446/revfacmed.v65n1.56471.