A look through Latin America truck drivers' health, a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Heavy truck drivers represent a social group of great importance to any country's economy. Their professional activity requires a high level of dedication. Due to the irregular hours in their work routine and adopted habits, they mostly predispose them to a diversity of health problems. The purpose of this study is to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis aiming to identify the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and obesity in Latin American Truck Drivers. We searched the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and LILACS databases, for scientific publications articles, as reported by The PRISMA Statement. From 1,382, 7 studies were included according to the established criteria. The hypertension prevalence found was 34.2%, diabetes was of 9.2% and the highest prevalence found was for overweight and obesity (56%). Meta-analysis presented that drivers have a higher prevalence of overweight or obesity when compared to eutrophic individuals and that drivers with diabetes and hyperglycemia have a lower prevalence. Due to their work activity, their access to the health system is compromised limiting any type of monitoring of their health. This study showed that there is, in Latin America, an investment and assistance gap, both in the health sector and in the research section, for this professional category, which is so important to the economy of these countries. These data should help to identify the difficulties faced by this professional in health assistance, road safety, public safety, leisure and social life. This research also highlighted that they are young and already have the first sign of non-transmissible chronic diseases, which is overweight and obesity.

Use of machine learning to identify protective factors for death from COVID-19 in the ICU: a retrospective study.

Background: Patients in serious condition due to COVID-19 often require special care in intensive care units (ICUs). This disease has affected over 758 million people and resulted in 6.8 million deaths worldwide. Additionally, the progression of the disease may vary from individual to individual, that is, it is essential to identify the clinical parameters that indicate a good prognosis for the patient. Machine learning (ML) algorithms have been used for analyzing complex medical data and identifying prognostic indicators. However, there is still an urgent need for a model to elucidate the predictors related to patient outcomes. Therefore, this research aimed to verify, through ML, the variables involved in the discharge of patients admitted to the ICU due to COVID-19. Methods: In this study, 126 variables were collected with information on demography, hospital length stay and outcome, chronic diseases and tumors, comorbidities and risk factors, complications and adverse events, health care, and vital indicators of patients admitted to an ICU in southern Brazil. These variables were filtered and then selected by a ML algorithm known as decision trees to identify the optimal set of variables for predicting patient discharge using logistic regression. Finally, a confusion matrix was performed to evaluate the model's performance for the selected variables. Results: Of the 532 patients evaluated, 180 were discharged: female (16.92%), with a central venous catheter (23.68%), with a bladder catheter (26.13%), and with an average of 8.46- and 23.65-days using bladder catheter and submitted to mechanical ventilation, respectively. In addition, the chances of discharge increase by 14% for each additional day in the hospital, by 136% for female patients, 716% when there is no bladder catheter, and 737% when no central venous catheter is used. However, the chances of discharge decrease by 3% for each additional year of age and by 9% for each other day of mechanical ventilation. The performance of the training data presented a balanced accuracy of 0.81, sensitivity of 0.74, specificity of 0.88, and the kappa value was 0.64. The test performance had a balanced accuracy of 0.85, sensitivity 0.75, specificity 0.95, and kappa value of 0.73. The McNemar test found that there were no significant differences in the error rates in the training and test data, suggesting good classification. This work showed that female, the absence of a central venous catheter and bladder catheter, shorter mechanical ventilation, and bladder catheter duration were associated with a greater chance of hospital discharge. These results may help develop measures that lead to a good prognosis for the patient.

Comparative Analysis of Mortality due to Breast Cancer and Mammography Uptake in the Federative Units of Brazil-2015 to 2021.

Objective: Compare the breast cancer mortality rate and the rate of mammograms with socioeconomic factors, in Brazilian´s Federative Units, during the period of 2015 to 2021. Methods: This is an ecological study, of a descriptive nature, which covers the 27 Brazilian federative units, using secondary data extracted from the DATASUS System. The information analyzed was mammography data, breast cancer mortality, demographic and economic data of the resident population and women over 20 years of age. Results: There is a direct relationship between mortality rate and mammograms rates in the Federative Units. The data obtained for Brazil presents a total of 133,048 deaths from breast cancer and 17,324,526 mammography exams in the period from 2015 to 2021. In other words, Brazil presents a standardized mortality rate value, 19.25 deaths per 100,000 women. Regarding the mammography rate, the value of the exam-specific mammography rate was 2,506.55 per 100,000 women. In relation to socioeconomic data by mortality rate group, higher mortality rates from breast cancer present higher rates in the variables: income rate by State (2,594.86), people with income (63.5), average percentage of women with more over 50 years old (29.5%), women with average years of education (6.64), white population (55.1%) and mammography exam rate (2873.20). When analysing the highest rates of mammography exam rates, higher rates are observed income rate by State (2,161.47), people with income (62.5%), average percentage of women over 50 years old (28.6%), women with an average number of years of education (5.8). Conclusion: Brazil has a high mortality rate due to breast cancer, when compared to other countries. The reasons are diverse, such as the modern, industrialized and populous lifestyle. The Federative Units with the highest mortality rate also have high rates of mammograms, that is, in the Federative Units with "better" sociodemographic conditions, the South and Southeast.

Maternal Risk Factors Associated with Negative COVID-19 Outcomes and Their Relation to Socioeconomic Indicators in Brazil.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to analyze maternal risk factors associated with negative outcomes of COVID-19 and association with socioeconomic indicators in Brazil. METHODS: A cross-sectional study, with data from the Influenza Epidemiological Surveillance Information System (SIVEP-Flu) of pregnant women with COVID-19 and cases of hospitalization and death. For the analysis of risk factors and outcomes, the multiple logistic regression method was used. RESULTS: Pregnant women who had some risk factor represented 47.04%. The chance of death was 2.48 times greater when there was a risk factor, 1.55 for ICU admission and 1.43 for use of ventilatory support. The percentage of cure was 79.64%, 15.46% without any negative outcome, 4.65% death and 0.26% death from other causes. Pregnant women who did not take the vaccine represented 30.08%, 16.74% took it and 53.18% were not specified. The variables HDI, illiteracy, per capita income and urbanization did not influence the cases of COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: Factors such as age, obesity, asthma and pregnancy were responsible for the increase in hospitalizations, respiratory complications and death. Vaccination reduced the risk of negative outcomes by 50%. There were no correlations between socioeconomic indicators and the negative outcomes of COVID-19 in pregnant women.

Prevalence and Impact of Academic Violence in Medical Education.

Situations of mistreatment in the academic environment are prevalent worldwide, but research in this area is scarce in middle-low-income countries. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of mistreatment inflicted against Brazilian medical students. In addition, characterize these situations and analyze their consequences. Cross-sectional study conducted with 831 medical students from public and private institutions. Absolute and relative frequencies of the analyzed variables and possible associations were determined through univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Chi-square test of association with second-order Rao-Scott adjustment was also used. The response rate was 56%. Public institution pointed to a higher prevalence of mistreatment when compared to private (59% versus 43%). Female students were the most affected. Verbal and psychological aggression was more prevalent. The aggressor usually was a faculty member. Mistreatment incidence increased over the years of training, with higher rates in the internship. About 94% of the students felt affected in anyway, with 77% feeling diminished and depressed. More than 50% reported impaired academic performance. Almost 30% sought help from experts. The reporting rate was extremely low. Adequate identification of the situations by the victims, safe reporting mechanisms and, an educational system capable of maintaining an appropriate learning environment are essential to break this destructive cycle.

The Obesity and the Risk of Breast Cancer among Pre and Postmenopausal Women

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide and the obesity is one of the factors related to the risk of breast cancer mainly in postmenopausal women. This study investigated the association between obesity in pre- and postmenopausal women with the development of breast cancer and the expression of estrogen, progesterone, HeR-2 and triple-negative (TN) receptors. Methods: A case-control study was conducted on 100 patients with recently diagnosed breast cancer and 400 age-matched controls. The women were divided into pre- and post-menopausal groups. Results: The multivariate analysis showed that postmenopausal women with a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 at pre-diagnosis and at the most recent measurement were 1.50 (95% CI 1.06-2.13) and 1.56 (95% CI 1.11-2.21) times more likely to develop breast cancer, respectively. These women had a prevalence of obesity of 27.7% when considering pre-diagnosis BMI and 29.4% when analyzing the indicator of recent BMI. When only the cases regarding the presence of obesity with clinicopathological variables were analyzed, a total of 95.2% of the postmenopausal women with pre-diagnostic obesity according to BMI presented the positive estrogen receptor (ER) subtype. Conclusions: In Brazilian women, there is an association between obesity and the risk of breast cancer postmenopause; moreover, there is an association between the occurrence of the positive ER subtype in postmenopausal women and pre-diagnostic obesity according to BMI.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in pre- and postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) and its components among pre- and postmenopausal women, as well as the association between menopausal status and MS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted at a reference cardiology outpatient clinic in a city located in Northwestern Paraná State, Brazil. A total of 958 medical records of symptomatic climacteric women evaluated between 2010 and 2014 were analyzed. The study consisted of two groups: pre- and post-menopausal women. MS was characterized according to the criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel III - NCEP-ATP III-2005. RESULTS: MS was observed in 18.5% of the total study population; 9.4% of the premenopausal women and 22.2% of the postmenopausal women displayed MS, corresponding to a relative risk of 2.75. In addition, the frequency of MS increased with age. Regarding the components of MS, postmenopausal women were more likely to have high density lipoprotein (HDL-C) levels < 50 mg/dL; systolic blood pressure (SBP) values ≥ 130 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) values ≥ 85 mmHg; and fasting glucose levels ≥ 100 mg/dL. CONCLUSION: MS was more prevalent among postmenopausal women than among premenopausal women.

Delay in Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast Cancer among Women Attending a Reference Service in Brazil

Background: Cancer is a major public health problem. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential for reducing mortality. This study aimed to analyze factors associated with delay in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment among women attending a reference cancer service. Methods: This retrospective, cross-sectional study was performed with data collected from medical records and interviews conducted with women diagnosed with breast cancer and treated from October 2013 to October 2014 at a cancer reference hospital in Paraná, Southern Brazil. Results: A total of 82 participants were enrolled during the study period; their average age was 58.2 ± 11.5 years. The average time taken for final diagnosis of breast cancer was 102.5 ± 165.5 days. Treatment onset was delayed in the majority of cases, and the average time elapsing from diagnostic biopsy to onset of primary treatment was 72.3 ± 54.0 days. The odds of treatment delay were higher among the women with a low educational level. Conclusions: The results underline the need for proposals aimed at early detection, identification of risk factors and timely provision of treatment by health managers that focus on this group.

Mammographic Screening of Women Attending a Reference Service Center in Southern Brazil.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the prevalence of and factors associated with performance of annual mammography by women above 40 years of age. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted at an oncology reference service in Southern Brazil from October 2013 to October 2014 with 525 women aged 40 years or older. RESULTS: The prevalence of annual mammography was 54.1%; annual mammographic screening was performed for women without private medical insurance, who were under hormone replacement therapy and who had used contraception in the past. An association was found between non-performance of breast clinical and self-examination and non-performance of mammographic screening. CONCLUSIONS: Use of mammography for breast cancer screening in the public health care setting proved to be accessible; nevertheless, the proportion of screened women was low, and they exhibited poor adherence to the basic measures of care recommended for breast assessment. Thus, control of breast cancer requires implementing actions targeting the population most vulnerable to non-adherence to screening in addition to continuously monitoring and assessing that population to reduce the prevalence of this disease.

Risk Factors for Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women in Brazil.

PURPOSE: To analyze risk factors for postmenopausal breast cancer. METHODS: The present casecontrol study included 600 women treated at a cancer center reference hospital in a municipality in the South of Brazil. RESULTS: Totals of 100 patients and 500 control subjects were evaluated. The mean age of the women was 52.5 ± 11.9 years; the average was 57.4 ± 11.8 years, and the average age of the control subjects was 51.5 ± 11.7 years. The risk factors for breast cancer that were considered included an age ≥ 40 years, postmenopausal status, a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2, and reduced physical activity. Variables like postmenopausal status and an obese BMI were associated with cases of breast cancer. Women who were postmenopausal or obese were 3.80 or 1.80 times more likely to develop breast cancer, respectively, and physically inactive women were 1.72 times more likely to develop breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity and postmenopausal status are associated with the occurrence of breast cancer in this population. Being over 40 years of age was also a statistically significant factor for postmenopausal women.

Variables that affect the satisfaction of Brazilian women with external breast prostheses after mastectomy.

BACKGROUND: : In 2012, the breast cancer estimate worldwide stood at 1.67 million new cases, these accounting for 25% of all types of cancer diagnosed in women. For 2014, 57,120 new cases are expected, with a risk estimated at 56.1 cases for every 100,000 women. The objective of this study was to analyze the satisfaction regarding the use of external breast prostheses by women undergoing mastectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 76 women who used an external breast prosthesis (EBP), registered in the services of the Cuiaba Center for Comprehensive Rehabilitation, Mato Grosso, Brazil, from 2009 to 2012. Data were collected from the records of women who had requested the opening of a process of external breast prosthesis concession. RESULTS: Satisfaction with the EBP was identified in 56.6% of the women. Those satisfied with the EBP reported that its weight was not annoying (p<0.01). Although the women felt body sensations of stitches, pains, pulling, dormancy and phantom limb, they are satisfied with the EBP. The variable related to the displacement of the breast prosthesis during activity of everyday life has demonstrated that even though the women have reported the possibility of displacements, they are satisfied with the EBP. The satisfaction with the use of external breast prosthesis did not affect the sexuality of the women with mastectomy. CONCLUSIONS: Learning the specificities of the EBP, taking into consideration the satisfaction of its use, allows the rehabilitation team, by listening to their clientele more attentively, following up this woman throughout her life journey, supporting and guiding the best way of use, with an eye to her personal, emotional and social life, as well as to her self-esteem.

Years of potential life lost due to breast and cervical cancer: a challenge for Brazilian public policy.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the article was to analyze the years of potential life lost (YPLL) of women who died from breast and cervical cancer in the State of Parana, Southern Brazil. This was a temporal trend study (2000 to 2010) about the coefficients of mortality and the years of potential life lost in women aged 20 to 70 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were obtained through the database of the Department of the Unified Health System (DATASUS) and the National Mortality Information System. RESULTS: There was a loss of 125.075 YPLL due to breast cancer, with an average of 11.370 YPLL. Regarding cervical cancer, the figure obtained was 91.625 YPLL from 2000 to 2010, with an average of 8.329 YPLL. Increased risk of death from breast cancer was observed for women aged 50 to 59 years, with a significant increase among those in the age group from 40 to 49 years. There was an increased rate of cervical cancer among women 40 to 69 years. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of death grows with increasing age, being higher from 40 years. Prevention is paramount for both cancers. Thus, preventive measures are required and a reassessment of political strategies should be adopted.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in pre- and postmenopausal women

ABSTRACT Objective The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) and its components among pre- and postmenopausal women, as well as the association between menopausal status and MS. Materials and methods A retrospective study was conducted at a reference cardiology outpatient clinic in a city located in Northwestern Paraná State, Brazil. A total of 958 medical records of symptomatic climacteric women evaluated between 2010 and 2014 were analyzed. The study consisted of two groups: pre- and post-menopausal women. MS was characterized according to the criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program’s Adult Treatment Panel III – NCEP-ATP III-2005. Results MS was observed in 18.5% of the total study population; 9.4% of the premenopausal women and 22.2% of the postmenopausal women displayed MS, corresponding to a relative risk of 2.75. In addition, the frequency of MS increased with age. Regarding the components of MS, postmenopausal women were more likely to have high density lipoprotein (HDL-C) levels < 50 mg/dL; systolic blood pressure (SBP) values ≥ 130 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) values ≥ 85 mmHg; and fasting glucose levels ≥ 100 mg/dL. Conclusion MS was more prevalent among postmenopausal women than among premenopausal women.

Câncer de mama e fatores associados / Breast cancer and associated factors

O câncer de mama é a maior causa de morte da mulher brasileira, representando aproximadamente 20% dos casos de neoplasias e 15% das mortes. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a existência de fatores de risco associado ao câncer de mama entre as mulheres que realizaram mastectomia. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo-exploratório, com 19 mulheres mastectomizadas que procuraram o serviço de protetização oufisioterapia, no período de março de 2004 a abril de 2005, na Fundação Centro de Reabilitação Dom AquinoCorrea, da cidade de Cuiabá - MT. O instrumento de coleta de dados foi um questionário, contendo questões fechadas. Das 19 mulheres pesquisadas, todas apresentaram pelo menos um dos fatores considerados potencialmente de risco para o câncer de mama. Pode-se constatar que a amostra era composta de mulheres jovens, em fase laborativa, produtiva. A maior incidência do câncer de mama ocorreu na faixa etária de 43 a 53anos. Nesta população, o câncer de mama revelou-se uma doença que acometeu mulheres multíparas e que amamentaram. As mulheres com câncer de mama não tinham história familiar da doença, entretanto, a grande maioria delas apresentava, entre os parentes de primeiro grau, pessoas portadoras de câncer em outros órgãos.

The most prevalent cause of death of Brazilian woman is breast cancer, representing approximately 20% oftumors and 15% of deaths. The aim of this study was to analyze the occurrence of associated risk factors to breast cancer among mastectomized women. It was an exploratory and descriptive study with a sample of 19 women who had under gone mastectomy and later treated with prosthesis or physiotherapy services during the period from March 2004 to April 2005 at the Dom Aquino Correa Rehabilitation Center Foundation in the city of Cuiabá (Mato Grosso State, Brazil). Data was collected through a closed-question questionnaire. All of the 19 researched women presented at least one of the factors potential risk factors for breast cancer. It was possible toverify that the sample was composed of young women of working age. The most frequent incidence of breast cancer occurred between the ages of 43 and 53. Breast cancer revealed itself in this population as a disease that takes place in women with more than one child and who had breastfed their babies. Women with breast cancer did not present family history of this disease, although the majority of them did have close relatives with associated malignancies in other organs.

El cáncer de mama es la mayor causa de muerte de la mujer brasileña, representando aproximadamente 20%de los casos de neoplasias y 15% de las muertes. El objetivo del estudio fue hacer un análisis de la existenciade los factores de riesgo asociados al cáncer de mama, entre las mujeres que realizaron mastectomia. Se tratade un estudio descriptivo y exploratorio y la muestra fue compuesta de 19 mujeres que hicieron mastectomía y que fueron atendidas en el servicio de prótesis o fisioterapia en el período de marzo de 2004 hasta abril de 2005 en la Fundação Centro de Reabilitação Dom Aquino Correa de la ciudad de Cuiabá (Provincia de Mato Grosso,Brasil). Como instrumento de colecta de los datos fue aplicado un cuestionario con preguntas cerradas. De las19 mujeres investigadas, todas presentaron al menos uno de los factores considerados de riesgo en potencial para el cáncer de mama. La observación de la muestra ha noticiado que las mujeres eran jóvenes y estaban en su fase productiva y de trabajo. La mayor incidencia de cáncer de mama ocurrió entre los 43 hasta los 53 años. En esta población, el cáncer de mama se reveló una enfermedad que acometió mujeres multíparas y que amamantaron. Las mujeres con cáncer de mama no presentaron histórico de esta neoplasia en la familia, pero casi todas presentaron entre los parientes mayores, personas que tuvieron cáncer en otros órganos.

Auto-exame das mamas: conhecimento e prática entre profissionais da área da saúde de uma instituição pública / Self-examination of breast: knowledge and practice in government health professionals

O câncer de mama é ainda considerado um problema de saúde pública. No Brasil, é uma das principais causas de morte entre as mulheres. Por sua letalidade e seqüelas físicas e emocionais que acarreta, é de suma importância sua detecção precoce. Os meios eficazes de detecção precoce são a mamografia e o auto-exame de mama. O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar o conhecimento das profissionais da área da saúde de uma instituição pública sobre seu conhecimento em relação ao auto-exame de mama. Caracterizou-se como estudo descritivo-exploratório. Foram entrevistadas 38 mulheres, perfazendo um total de 95,0 por cento das profissionais. Os resultados revelaram que as profissionais, apesar de compreendem a importância do auto-exame, têm muitas dúvidas quanto à técnica. Desconhecem a época de realizá-lo e muitas vezes não o fazem. Recomenda-se curso de capacitação no sentido de envolver essas profissionais em ações preventivas e educativas em saúde