ABSTRACT
This study was conducted in a rural community, São João dos Queiróz, a township in the county of Quixadá, Ceará, Brazil, using a combination of participatory research and community education in compliance with the health promotion reference and principles of the 1986 Ottawa Charter. The project was joined by representatives of several local government institutions and organizations from the grassroots community movement. The theme generating the research, as defined by an assembly meeting of the community association, was a diagnosis of sanitation conditions in the community. The starting point was the assessment of local conditions. Results showed adverse local conditions in sanitation, literacy, income, and employment. Suggestions for solving the problems were organized so as to be included in the planning agenda for local health policies. Evaluation was procedural and enriched with daily research activities. The problem-solving pedagogical approach developed during the educational process contributed to a critical reconstruction, appropriation, and sharing of the resulting knowledge.
Subject(s)
Health Education , Health Promotion , Sanitation , Adolescent , Adult , Brazil , Child , Child, Preschool , Community Participation , Educational Status , Female , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Middle Aged , Research , Rural Population , Socioeconomic Factors , Water SupplyABSTRACT
Stillbirths are a common event in areas where reproductive health care is poorly delivered, such as the Northeast region of Brazil. This case-control study aimed to identify risk factors associated to foetal deaths occurred in a major obstetric facility of Fortaleza, 1.7 million inhabitants, Northeastern Brazil. 125 stillborn foetus over 20 weeks of gestation (cases) were compared to 250 healthy newborns (controls), in relation to socioeconomic, reproductive, behavioral and morbidity characteristics of their mothers. Crude and adjusted Odds Ratios were then calculated. After adjustment for confounders, the following characteristics of the mother remained as risk factors for stillbirths, with OR statistically significant at the 95% level: attending <5 antenatal consultations during pregnancy (OR=3.30; CI=1.92 - 5.07 ), illiterate mother (OR=3.30; CI=1.84 - 5.92 ), mother's age above 19 (OR=2.73; CI=1.42 - 5.24 ), monthly family income of 1 minimum wage or less (OR=2.12; CI=1.03 - 4.35 ) and severe illnesses or complication during pregnancy (OR=1.75; CI=1.01 - 3.03 ). Inadequate attendance to antenatal care consultations was the risk factor most strongly associated to stillbirths. Similarly, it was the condition most amenable to change in a short term, among those identified as risk factors.
ABSTRACT
The objective of the present paper was to verify the occurrence of senile dementia in the city of Fortaleza, Brazil. A screening test, the Information, Memory and Concentration Test (IMC), was applied to 865 persons (65 years old and older). The Test includes questions on personal identification, recent and remote memory and concentration. Dementia was determined as a function of the total score obtained by the person in the test previously examined as far as sensitivity and specificity are concerned. The results were analysed according to age, sex and social strata. It was demonstrated a prevalence of dementia of 8.4% in the sample studied with no significant difference in the proportions of cases among people 75 years old or older (9.3%) as compared to the group younger, 65 to 74 years old, (7.5%). The percentage of dementia was similar between men (8.7%) and women (8.3%). It was verified a progressive increase in the frequency of dementia ranging from 5.2% for the higher social classes (A/B) to 6.9% and 10.3% for medium (C) and lower (D/E) ones respectively, with a significant difference between the social classes A/B and D/E. These results, however, should be seen with caution because of the percentage of refuse especially in the higher, A/B (19.3%) and lower D/E (9.3%) social classes.
ABSTRACT
O presente trabalho apresenta os resultados da aplicacao do teste IMC, de Informacao, Memoria e Concentracao, em uma amostra de idosos da Lar Torres de Melo em Fortaleza, Ceara. O teste foi adaptado de Hachinski de modo a atender as caracteristicas socio-economico e culturais da populacao testada. Dos 71 pacientes examinados, 37 ou 52,1 por cento foram considerados como dementes pelo exame neurologico. Estas cifras nao indicam risco nem tampouco prevalencia, em virtude de se tratar de amostra nao aleatoria, em populacao de idoso internados. Com a aplicacao do IMC-modificado, objetiva-se dispor de um instrumento dotado de razoavel sensibilidade-especificidade e que podera ser util como metodo auxiliar na deteccao de demencia em grupos especificos.
Subject(s)
Dementia , DementiaSubject(s)
Coronary Disease/mortality , Adolescent , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Blood Pressure , Brazil , Cholesterol/blood , Coronary Disease/blood , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Risk Factors , Sampling Studies , Sex Factors , Smoking/adverse effects , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
Na regiäo oeste do Estado da Bahia habitam caramujos das espécies Biomphalaria glabrata e B. straminea os quais, em geral, näo coexistem no mesmo habitat. No Estado do Ceará os únicos hospedeiros intermediários de Schistosoma mansoni säo da espécie B. straminea. Neste levantamento näo foram detectados B. straminea naturalmente infectados, nem no Ceará e Bahia. Espécimes de B. straminea, tendo B. glabrata como controle, foram utilizados experimentalmente a fim de se determinar sua suscetibilidade frente a amostras portorriquenhas de S. mansoni. Os referidos B. straminea mostraram baixa suscetibilidade apresentando as seguintes taxas de infecçäo: 1,1% dentre os caramujos de Redençäo-Ceará; 2,3% naqueles provenientes de Pentecoste-Ceará e 2,9% dentre os espécimes colectados em S. Desidério na Bahia. O lote controle, B. glabrata amostra NIH, apresentou elevadas taxas de infecçäo frente àquela amostra de S. mansoni. Além desta cepa portorriquenha utilizou-se também uma cepa bahiana de S. mansoni cujo teste experimental com B. straminea de Säo Desidério também demonstrou baixas taxas de infecçäo, numa média de 3,6%. Aparentemente, a baixa suscetibilidade de B. straminea ao S. mansoni, a despeito da elevada densidade destes caramujos, está em correlaçäo com a prevalência de esquistosomose muito elevada no Ceará como mostram os resultados de levantamentos coproscópicos realizados pela SUCAM
