Contribution of chronic conditions to gender disparities in disability in the older population in Brazil, 2013.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the contribution of chronic conditions to the disability burden in the older men and women in Brazil. METHODS: Data from 10,290 participants of the Brazilian National Health Survey in 2013 aged 60 years or older were used. Disability was defined based on limitations in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Binomial additive hazards models were fitted to assess the contribution of chronic conditions to the disability prevalence. RESULTS: Back pain was the most common condition, followed by diabetes and heart diseases in men and arthritis and diabetes in women. Stroke and mental disorders were by far the most disabling conditions in men and women. A higher disability prevalence was observed in women (34.4 %, CI 32.4; 36.2 %) compared to men (28.4 %; CI 25.9; 30.8 %). The most important contributors to the disability prevalence were stroke, back pain, and arthritis among men, and diabetes, heart diseases, and arthritis in women. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to reduce disability in the older population in Brazil should take into account the gender gap in the occurrence of chronic conditions, focusing on the main contributors to the disability burden.

Hospitalizations due to self-inflicted injuries - Brazil, 2002 to 2013.

The scope of this article is to describe hospitalizations resulting from intentionally self-inflicted injuries attended by the Unified Health System (SUS) for the 2002-2013 period. It is an observational, descriptive study of hospital admissions in the SUS arising from intentionally self-inflicted injuries in Brazil between 2002 and 2013. A decreasing trend was observed for the rate of hospitalization in individuals aged 10 and above. Hospitalizations were concentrated between 30 to 49 years of age for men, while for women it was between 20 to 29 years of age. The highest rates of hospitalization and hospital deaths were in the Southeast. The main cause of hospitalization was intentional intoxication with medication and unspecified biological substances. Studies of this type provide input for defining prevention strategies taking into consideration the most vulnerable groups and the complexity of factors associated with suicidal behavior.

Trend of the risk and protective factors of chronic diseases in adolescents, National Adolescent School-based Health Survey (PeNSE 2009 e 2012).

OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of major risk and protection factors for chronic non-communicable diseases in school-aged children in Brazilian capitals surveyed in the National Adolescent School-based Health Survey in its two editions, 2009 and 2012. METHODS: The frequencies, with Confidence Interval of 95%, of the following demographic variables were compared: food intake, body image, physical activity, smoking, alcohol and other drugs. Prevalence was compared in the two editions of the survey. RESULTS: The proportion of students who attend two physical education classes a week was maintained at 49% between 2009 and 2012, increasing in public schools from 50.6% (95%CI 49.8 - 51.4) to 52.5% (95%CI 49.2 - 55.7), and decreasing in private schools. There was no change in the proportion of students who watch two hours or more of television daily, about 80%. As for body image, there was no change between the two editions, and about 60% considered themselves being of normal weight. There was a reduction in the percentage of adolescents who experienced cigarettes, from 24.2% (95%CI 23.6 - 24.8) to 22.3% (95%CI 21.4 - 23.2), and the prevalence of smoking was maintained at about 6% (there was no statistical difference between 2009 and 2012). The consumption of beans, fruits, sweets and soft drinks also decreased. Frequency of drug experimentation was of 8.7% (95%CI 8.3 - 9.1) in 2009, and 9.6% (95%CI 9.0 - 10.3) in 2012, with no difference between confidence intervals, and the frequency of alcohol experimentation was maintained at about 70%; the percentage of use in the past 30 days was also maintained at around 27%. CONCLUSION: In the Brazilian capitals, the vast majority of prevalence of risk factors were kept stable in the two editions of the National Survey of School. These data generate evidence to guide the implementation of public policies to minimize the exposure of adolescents to risk factors.

[Protection from chronic diseases and the prevalence of risk factors in Brazilian state capitals--main results from Vigitel 2010]. / Prevalência de fatores de risco e proteção para doenças crônicas nas capitais do Brasil - principais resultados do Vigitel 2010.

PURPOSE: To describe protection from chronic diseases and the prevalence of risk factors with data from a telephone survey in 2010. METHODS: Telephone interviews in a random sample of adults living in Brazilian state capitals and the Federal District with residential landline telephones. The prevalence of these factors was stratified by sex, age and level of education. RESULTS: High prevalence of soft drink consumption (28.1%), fatty meat consumption (34.2%), and alcohol abuse (18%) and low fruit and vegetable intake (18%) and leisure time physical activity (15%) was verified. Approximately half the population was overweight and reported no sun protection practices. Physical inactivity and smoking afflicted almost 15% of adults. In general, risk factors were more prevalent in men, predominantly young adults with lower education levels. CONCLUSION: The results revealed differing health behavior according to socio-demographic variables. These variables should be taken into consideration in health promotion campaigns.

[Accidents and violence in childhood: survey evidence of emergency care for external causes--Brazil, 2009]. / Acidentes e violência na infância: evidências do inquérito sobre atendimentos de emergência por causas externas - Brasil, 2009.

Understanding the characteristics and magnitude of accidents and violence due to external causes in children from 0 to 9 years of age is becoming ever more important in Public Health. The scope of this paper was to analyze emergency care for accidents due to external causes in children. The Sentinel Urgency and Emergency Services of the Violence and Accident Vigilance System (VIVA Survey), performed in 74 urgency services in the Federal District and 23 State capitals in 2009 was used. Data of 7,123 children were analyzed: 6,897 (96.7%) victims of accidents and 226 (3.3%) of violence. In comparison with victims of violence, the visits for accidents were more frequent among white children from 2 to 5 years old occurring in the home (p < 0.05). Among the accidents, falls and burns predominated in the 0 to 1group, while traffic accidents were most frequent in the 6 to 9-year-old age group (p < 0.001). With respect to violence, the visits for neglect and physical assault predominated, respectively, in extreme age groups, with someone in the family being the perpetrator (p < 0.001). Information on the occurrence of external causes in children may support health promotion policies, besides guiding health professionals, teachers and families in the prevention of such causes.

Validity and reliability of foods and beverages intake obtained by telephone survey in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the validity and reproducibility markers of food and beverage intake obtained by means of a telephone-based surveillance system. METHODS: Reproducibility was assessed by means of repeated interviews with a 7-15 day interval after the first interview of the system (n=258). Validity was analyzed based on three interviews corresponding to the 24 hour recall method, used as gold standard, 3 days a week, 7 to 15 days after the original telephone interview (n=217). In the study of reproducibility, kappa statistics was used to measure the similarity between the results of the proportions obtained in the first and second interviews. For validation, the proportion of positive reports regarding foods and beverages at the original telephone interview was compared to that obtained by the 24 hour recall method, and the results was analyzed by calculating sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value. RESULTS: In the reproducibility study, the agreement was almost perfect for the marker milk consumption (0.86), substantial for fruit consumption (0.67), intake of fruits and vegetables, intake of meat with fat and alcohol abuse. The agreement was moderate for the intake of soft drink, and fair for the consumption of vegetables. Regarding the validity, there was an underestimation of fruit, vegetable and milk consumption, except for meat and alcohol when compared with the consumption frequency estimated from the three 24-hours recalls, differences related to soft drink consumption was inexpressive. CONCLUSION: The instruments enabled the surveillance of factors which were potentially associated with chronic diseases, however, it is a priority to continue with validation studies in other populations to provide greater system reliability, always considering possible limiting factors.