Perfil de salud del gamín / Health profile of homeless child

En el presente estudio se analizó el perfil de salud del gamín de Medellín en noventa y ocho niños, su situación sociofamiliar, el consumo de sustancias psicoactivas, la morbilidad general y la salud mental y oral.

Prevalences of tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases among people over age 15 in the northeast sector of Medellin, Colombia

A survey was conducted in 1988 to estimate the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and pulmonary tuberculosis in people over age 15 in the Northeast Sector of Medellin, Colombia, an área suffering from severe socioeconomic depression. A cluster sample was selected for this purpose and 3,731 adults were interviewed in their homes. Those classified as respiratory symptomatics (ones reporting a cough lasting two weeks or more) were asked to provide samples from three sputum-smear examinations. The prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis found in this survey was 2.68 cases per 1,000 subjects, a rate substantially greater than the prevalence of tuberculosis cases recorded in the Northeast Sector, and the prevalence of respiratory symptomatics was 70 per 1,000 subjects. Of eight subjects whose cases had been diagnosed previously, three said they had abandoned treatment. The prevalence of respiratory symptomatics was higher among poorly educated subjects and among those sleeping in poorly ventilated and/or overcrowded quarters. Overall, the survey data suggest that the tuberculosis control program in Northeast Medellin confronts a spectrum of problems ranging from low case-detection rates and high rates of abandoned treatment to social conditions and behavior patterns that foster host vulnerability and disease transmission

Prevalencia de epilepsia en Medellin, Colombia, 1983 / Prevalence of epilepsy in Medellin, Colombia, 1982

In 1983 a study was done on the prevalence of epilepsy and some of its associated risk factors using a randon representative sample stratified by economic level. The research was carried our in two stages. The first stage consisted of a survey, conducted in July of that year, during which 4 549 persons responded to a questionnaire containing a series of questions on the signs and symptoms of epilepsy and its associated risk factors. Based on the responses and a set of conventional criteria, 441 individuals were identified as suspected epileptics. In the second stage, diagnosis of the disorder was confirmed in 77 of them: in 21 (27.3 percent), through the clinical record or the report of the attending physician, and in 56 (72.7 percent), through the neurological examination that was done as part of the study. Ninety-two persons (20.9 percent) did not report for the examination. A systematic description was drawn up of the clinical characteristics of epilepsy that were identified in the 56 individuals who underwent the neurological examination. Since the probability of confirming the diagnosis was considered to be the same for the persons who reported for the examination and for those who did not, the calculation of prevalence was designed to compensate for the latter