ABSTRACT
OBJETIVOS: caracterizar aspectos de la fecundidad de mujeres indígenas Suruí de la Amazonía brasilera. MÉTODOS: se levantaron y sistematizaron 88 historias reproductivas y de nacimientos, obtenidas a través de visitas domiciliarias en dos aldeas, realizadas en 2004. RESULTADOS: el promedio de edad de la menarquía fue 12 años; las edades medias de entrada a la primera unión y del nacimiento del primer hijo fueron, respectivamente, 13,8 y 15,7 años. El parto ocurrió en la aldea en su mayoría. Las mujeres Suruí presentan un intervalo intergenésico promedio próximo a los 22,8 meses. El promedio de amamantación fue 18,4 meses. El uso de contraceptivos es mínimo y el número de años de estudio de las mujeres es bajo. La tasa de fecundidad total fue de 6,3 hijos. CONCLUSIÓN: si se compara con resultados de otros estudios en pueblos indígenas, la demografía Suruí señala niveles de fecundidad entre moderados y elevados. Los autores argumentan que los hallazgos son relevantes para la prestación de servicios de salud culturalmente compatibles con la realidad Suruí.
OBJECTIVES: to analyze female fertility among Suruí Indian women in the Brazilian Amazon. METHODS: a total of 88 reproductive and birth histories were collected by means of household interviews carried out in two Suruí villages in 2004. RESULTS: the average age of menarche was 12 years-old; the average ages of first marriage and of the delivering the first child were, respectively, 13.8 and 15.7 years-old. For most women, delivery took place in their own village. The average time between pregnancies was 22.8 months and the average breast feeding duration was 18.4 months. Very few Suruí women use contraceptives and most have attended school for only a couple of years. On average, the total fertility rate was of 6.3 children per woman. CONCLUSIONS: in comparison with other populations, Suruí's demography shows a moderately high fertility rate. The authors argue that the findings of this study can be of use to better plan health services that are more culturally compatible with the reality of Suruí women.
Subject(s)
Humans , Female , Brazil , Fertility , Indians, South AmericanABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Malaria constitutes a major cause of morbidity in the Brazilian Amazon where an estimated 6 million people are considered at high risk of transmission. Indigenous peoples in the Amazon are particularly vulnerable to potentially epidemic disease such as malaria; notwithstanding, very little is known about the epidemiology of malaria in Indian reservations of the region. The aim of this paper is to present a spatial analysis of malaria cases over a four-year time period (2003-2006) among indigenous peoples of the Brazilian State of Rondônia, southwestern Amazon, by using passive morbidity data (results from Giemsa-stained thick blood smears) gathered from the National Malaria Epidemiologic Surveillance System databank. RESULTS: A total of 4,160 cases of malaria were recorded in 14 Indian reserves in the State of Rondônia between 2003 and 2006. In six reservations no cases of malaria were reported in the period. Overall, P. vivax accounted for 76.18 of malaria cases reported in the indigenous population of Rondônia. The P. vivax/P. falciparum ratio for the period was 3.78. Two reserves accounted for over half of the cases reported for the total indigenous population in the period--Roosevelt and Pacaas Novas--with a total of 1,646 (39.57%) and 1,145 (27.52%) cases, respectively. Kernel mapping of malaria mean Annual Parasite Index--API according to indigenous reserves and environmental zones revealed a heterogeneous pattern of disease distribution, with one clear area of high risk of transmission comprising reservations of west Rondônia along the Guaporé-Madeira River basins, and another high risk area to the east, on the Roosevelt reserve. CONCLUSION: By means of kernel mapping, it was shown that malaria risk varies widely between Indian reserves and environmental zones defined on the basis of predominant ecologic characteristics and land use patterns observed in the southwestern Brazilian Amazon. The geographical approach in this paper helped to determine where the greatest needs lie for more intensively focused malaria control activities in Indian reserves in the region. It also provided a reference to assess the effectiveness of control measures that have been put in place by Brazilian public health authorities.
