Prevalence and Correlates of Elder Abuse in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of elder abuse and to investigate potential sociodemographic, health behavior, and medical correlates. DESIGN: Cross-sectional data were collected in face-to-face assessments. SETTING: São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 60 to 75. MEASUREMENTS: Information on elder abuse was obtained using the Brazil-adapted, nine-item Hwalek-Sengstock Elder Abuse Screening Test. Sampling design-adjusted descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used in analyses. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of abuse was 14.4% (n = 46/259, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 9.82-20.61) in São Paulo and 13.3% (n = 27/197, 95% CI = 8.76-19.74) in Rio de Janeiro. Unadjusted analyses indicated that poor education, low physical activity, unemployment, heart disease, and psychiatric problems were associated with abuse, but in adjusted analyses, self-reported elder abuse was significantly associated only with psychiatric problems (São Paulo: OR = 4.48, 95% CI = 1.75-11.45; Rio de Janeiro: OR = 21.61, 95% CI = 6.39-73.14). CONCLUSION: Elder abuse is prevalent in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, but whether concomitants of abuse are cause, effect, or both is unclear because this was a cross-sectional study. These findings highlight the importance of the problem, as well as the need to develop measures to increase awareness, facilitate prevention, and fight against abuse of elderly adults.

Caracterización electrocardiográfica de las ratas Wistar. Normalización técnica en la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas de Granma / Electrocardiographic characterization of Wistar rats. Technical standardization in Granma

Se realizó un estudio, de tipo descriptivo que consistió en la toma de electrocardiogramas bajo anestesia y usando técnicas poligráficas a 15 ratas Wistar, machos, adultas, tomadas aleatoriamente del universo formado por las ratas de estas características del Bioterio de LABEX de Santiago de Cuba. Las derivaciones determinadas fueron DI, DII, DIII, aVR, aVL, y aVF, en cada una de ellas se calculó un rango de normalidad promedio usando la distribución T de Student para las ondas segmentos e intervalos principales, así como para la frecuencioa cardíaca. Se ofrecen los datos que permiten caracterizar los principales eventos electrocardiográficos en este animal de experimentación para ser usadas como valores referenciales poblacionales normales en futuros estudios farmacológicos preclínicos de comprobación de efectos de sustancias sobre el corazón. Se presenta el hallazgo de dobles ondas R (Complejo RS-R'S').(AU)