Capacidade vital forçada e pressões respiratórias máximas de cantores populares profissionais / Forced vital capacity and maximal respiratory pressure of popular professional singers

Objetivo: Descrever valores de Capacidade Vital Forçada (CVF), Pressão Inspiratória Máxima (PImáx) e Pressão Expiratória Máxima (PEmáx) em cantores profissionais populares de um município de interior de estado e compará-los com os valores preditos pela literatura. Métodos: Pesquisa quantitativa e retrospectiva, com 18 cantores profissionais populares, com média de idade de 36,6 anos. Foi medida a CVF por meio de espirômetro portátil digital e as pressões respiratórias máximas com manovacuômetro digital. Resultados: Não houve significância estatística entre os três grupos, quanto aos valores preditos, medidos e as diferenças de CVF. Quanto à Pimáx, apenas houve significância entre valores preditos e medidos no grupo de cantoras (p = 0,026); nos grupos masculinos não houve significância (p = 0,121; p = 0,715); e também não houve nas diferenças entre valores preditos e medidos. Nas PEmáx, não houve significância estatística entre valores preditos e medidos nos três grupos e nas diferenças entre os três grupos. Conclusão: A CVF e PEmáx se apresentaram dentro da normalidade prevista nos três grupos estudados, com exceção do grupo de cantoras, em que os valores medidos de PImáx foram menores do que os valores preditos. (AU)

Objective: To describe the values of Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Maximal Inspiratory Pressure (MIP) and Maximal Expiratory Pressure (MEP) in popular professional singers of a country town of a state; and to compare them with values predicted by literature. Methods: Quantitative and retrospective research, with 18 popular professional singers, average of 36.61 years old. The FVC was collected using a portable digital spirometer and the maximal respiratory pressure with a digital manovacuometer. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the three groups, for predicted, measured values and differences for FVC. Concerning MIP, there was only significance between predicted and measured values in the singer group (p = 0.026); in the male groups there was no significance (p = 0.121, p = 0.715); and there were no differences between predicted and measured values. In the MEP, there was no statistical significance between predicted and measured values in the three groups and in the differences between the three groups. Conclusion: The FVC and MEP presented within expected normality in the three groups studied, except for the group of female singers, in which the measured values of MIP were lower than the predicted values. (AU)

[Survival study of breast cancer patients treated at the hospital of the Federal University in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil]. / Estudo da sobrevida de pacientes com câncer de mama atendidas no hospital da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil.

This retrospective hospital-based study aimed to describe health conditions and to estimate the survival of 252 patients diagnosed with breast cancer and treated at the Mastology Outpatient Clinic at the University Hospital of the Federal University in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, from 1980 to 2000. Analysis followed the Kaplan-Meier and Cox model. Mean age was 54, and 73.4% of the patients had a histological diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma, 63.9% showed no lymph node involvement, and 57.6% were clinical stage II. At the end of the study, 64.7% were alive and free of breast cancer and 5.1% had died of other causes. Five-year survival was 87.7% for all women, and prognostic factors associated with survival were tumor size (HR = 12.03; > 5cm), lymph node involvement (HR = 3.08; N1) and number (HR = 4.66; None), and estrogen (HR = 0.34) and c-erbB-2 (HR = 2.51) receptors. Based on the results, intensive awareness-raising campaigns are vitally important for implementing breast cancer screening to achieve early diagnosis.

[Smoking prevalence and associated factors among public high school students in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 2002]. / Prevalência e fatores associados ao consumo de cigarros entre estudantes de escolas estaduais do ensino médio de Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil, 2002.

Smoking is the second cause of death in the world. It currently accounts for one out of ten deaths in adults worldwide (5 million per year). If current patterns persist, smoking will cause 10 million deaths a year by 2020 according to the World Health Organization. A prevalence study on smoking habits was conducted in 2002 among 459 students from eight public high schools in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. This study aimed to measure smoking prevalence and related factors by multivariate logistic regression. The overall smoking prevalence rate in the sample was 18% (95%CI: 14.6-21.7), and the students had begun smoking at a mean age of 14 years. Students from public high schools had begun smoking early, influenced by friends who smoked (OR = 4.37; p = 0.000), family income (OR = 2.04; p = 0.013), and age (OR = 1.86; p = 0.031). It is thus crucial to adopt measures to prevent adolescents' access to smoking.