Characteristics and outcomes of patients with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU in a university hospital in São Paulo, Brazil - study protocol

OBJECTIVES: We designed a cohort study to describe characteristics and outcomes of patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) in the largest public hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as Latin America becomes the epicenter of the pandemic. METHODS: This is the protocol for a study being conducted at an academic hospital in Brazil with 300 adult ICU beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients. We will include adult patients admitted to the ICU with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 during the study period. The main outcome is ICU survival at 28 days. Data will be collected prospectively and retrospectively by trained investigators from the hospital's electronic medical records, using an electronic data capture tool. We will collect data on demographics, comorbidities, severity of disease, and laboratorial test results at admission. Information on the need for advanced life support and ventilator parameters will be collected during ICU stay. Patients will be followed up for 28 days in the ICU and 60 days in the hospital. We will plot Kaplan-Meier curves to estimate ICU and hospital survival and perform survival analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model to identify the main risk factors for mortality. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04378582. RESULTS: We expect to include a large sample of patients with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU and to be able to provide data on admission characteristics, use of advanced life support, ICU survival at 28 days, and hospital survival at 60 days. CONCLUSIONS: This study will provide epidemiological data about critically ill patients with COVID-19 in Brazil, which could inform health policy and resource allocation in low- and middle-income countries.

Fatores de risco cardiovascular em estudantes da Faculdade de Ciências Médicas de Campina Grande / Cardiovascular risk factors in students from the health Sciences Center - Campina Grande - Brazil

Fundamento: Pesquisa relacionada a fatores de risco cardiovascular entre universitários é essencial, considerando seus papéis na sociedade. Objetivos: Avaliar os fatores de risco cardiovascular entre estudantes da área de saúde de uma Universidade de Campina Grande. Materiais e métodos: Foi realizado estudo envolvendo 234 universitários com média das idades de 23,2 ± 3,9 anos. Os estudantes foram entrevistados, foram obtidos os dados antropométricos e aferidaa pressão arterial. As variáveis contínuas foram expressas por suas médias e desvios padrão, enquanto as categóricas por suas freqüências. Foi usado o teste t de Student visando identificar diferenças entre médias. O teste do qui-quadrado foi utilizado para avaliar diferenças entre freqüências. O nível de significância foi p < 0,05. O estudo foi aprovado no Comitê de Ética. Resultados: A maioria (161 - 68,8%) dos universitários foi do sexo feminino. O curso de medicina respondeu pelo maior número (150 - 64,1%) de graduandos pesquisados. Os cursos de fisioterapia e enfermagem responderam respectivamente por 17,9% dos alunos incluídos no estudo. A maioria (53,4%) dos pais dos alunos tinha curso superior completo. Sedentarismo foi relatado por 123 (52,6%) alunos. A prevalência de sobrepeso e obesidade foi de 43,6%. Hipertensão arterial sistêmica (HAS) foi verificadaem 37 (15,8%) estudantes; todavia, em apenas cinco (14,7%) a doença estava sob controle. Conclusão: As prevalências de: sobrepeso/obesidade e sedentarismo foram altos (±40%) estando associados à HAS.

Background: Research related to cardiovascular risk factors among college students is essential, considering their roles in society.Purpose: To assess the cardiovascular risk factors among students of the Health Sciences of a University of Campina Grande. Materials and methods: We conducted a study involving 234 university students with mean age of 23.2± 3.9 years. Students were interviewed, obtained the anthropometric data and measured blood pressure. Continuous variables were expressed as means and standard deviations, while categorical variables by their frequencies. We used the Student t test to identify differences between means. The chi-square test was used to assess differences between frequencies. The level of significance was p <0.05. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee. Results: The majority (161 to 68.8%) of students were female. The medical school accounted for the largest number (150 - 64.1%) of undergraduates surveyed. The courses of physiotherapy and nursing respectively accounted for 17.9% of students enrolled in the study. Most (53.4%) of parents had completed college. Sedentary lifestyle was reported by 123 (52.6%) students. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 43.6%. Hypertension (HBP) was observed in 37 (15.8%) students, however, in only five(14.7%) the disease was under control. Conclusion: The prevalence of: overweight / obesity and physical inactivity were high (± 40%) and areas sociated with hypertension.