Avoidant personality disorder and social phobia: Does mindreading make the difference?

OBJECTIVE: Avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) is closely related to and partially overlaps with social phobia (SP). There is an ongoing debate as to whether AvPD and SP can be classified as separate and distinct disorders or whether these diagnoses rather reflect different degrees of severity of social anxiety. The hypothesis of this study is that in patients with AvPD and in those with AvPD and comorbid SP both interpersonal functioning and metacognitive abilities (the ability to understand mental states) are more severely impaired than they are in patients with SP only. We also hypothesise that the interpersonal and metacognitive functioning of these patients (both AvPD and AvPD+SP) is comparable to that of patients with other PD diagnoses. METHODS: To test this hypothesis, we compared four groups (22 patients with SP, 32 patients with AvPD, 43 patients with both AvPD and SP and 50 patients with other personality disorders without SP and AvPD criteria) on metacognitive abilities, interpersonal functioning and global symptomatic distress. RESULTS: Metacognitive ability showed significant variation among the four groups, with the lowest score observed in the AvPD group. As far as the interpersonal functioning is concerned, the lack of sociability was more severe in the AvPD group compared with the SP group. These differences were maintained even after controlling for global symptomatic distress. CONCLUSION: Results are in line with the alternative model of PD, proposed in the DSM-5, as dysfunction of the self and relationships. They suggest that specific impairments in critical areas of self domains and interpersonal domains of personality functioning may serve as markers distinguishing AvPD from SP.

Mindreading Dysfunction in Avoidant Personality Disorder Compared With Other Personality Disorders.

The ability to reflect on one's own states of mind and those of others (metacognition or mindreading) is strongly implicated in personality disorders (PDs). Metacognition involves different abilities, and there is evidence that specific abilities can be selectively impaired in different PDs. The purposes of this study were to compare metacognitive competence in avoidant PD (AvPD) with that in other PDs and to investigate whether there is a specific profile for AvPD. Sixty-three patients with AvPD and 224 patients with other PDs were assessed using the Metacognitive Assessment Interview. AvPD patients showed difficulties with two metacognitive functions: monitoring and decentration, even when the severity of psychopathology was controlled for. These results support the hypothesis of specific profiles of metacognitive dysfunction in different PDs and highlight a close link between impaired monitoring and decentration functions and the inhibited and withdrawn personality style typical of AvPD.

Personality Disorders and Mindreading: Specific Impairments in Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder Compared to Other PDs.

The capacity of understanding mental states is a complex function which involves several components. Single components can be selectively impaired in specific clinical populations. It has been suggested that impairments in mindreading are central for borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, empirical findings are inconsistent, and it is debatable whether BPD presents a specific profile of mindreading impairments. The aim of this study is to compare BPD and other PDs in mindreading. Seventy-two patients with BPD and 125 patients with other PD diagnoses were assessed using the Metacognition Assessment Interview. BPD showed difficulties in two mindreading functions, differentiation and integration, even when the severity of psychopathology was controlled. These results suggest a specific mindreading impairment in BPD and a strong relationship between these impairments and the severity of psychopathology.

Hippocampal slow EEG frequencies during NREM sleep are involved in spatial memory consolidation in humans.

The hypothesis that sleep is instrumental in the process of memory consolidation is currently largely accepted. Hippocampal formation is involved in the acquisition of declarative memories and particularly of spatial memories. Nevertheless, although largely investigated in rodents, the relations between spatial memory and hippocampal EEG activity have been scarcely studied in humans. Aimed to evaluate the effects of spatial learning on human hippocampal sleep EEG activity, we recorded hippocampal Stereo-EEG (SEEG) in a group of refractory epilepsy patients undergoing presurgical clinical evaluation, after a training on a spatial navigation task. We observed that hippocampal high-delta (2-4 Hz range) activity increases during the first NREM episode after learning compared to the baseline night. Moreover, the amount of hippocampal NREM high-delta power was correlated with task performance at retest. The effect involved only the hippocampal EEG frequencies inasmuch no differences were observed at the neocortical electrodes and in the traditional polysomnographic measures. The present findings support the crucial role of hippocampal slow EEG frequencies during sleep in the memory consolidation processes. More generally, together with previous results, they suggest that slow frequency rhythms are a fundamental characteristic of human hippocampal EEG during both sleep and wakefulness, and are related to the consolidation of different types of memories.

Validity of the Italian version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).

The aim of this study is to validate the Italian version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), comparing five different groups of individuals (healthy young and elderly, sleep apnoea syndrome patients, depressed patients, individuals with dementia) by both questionnaire scores and polysomnographic measures. Fifty individuals (10 for each group) participated in the study. Each of them filled in the PSQI and slept for two consecutive nights in the sleep laboratory. The PSQI showed an overall reliability coefficient (Cronbach's α) of 0.835, indicating a high degree of internal consistency. The mean PSQI global score showed significant differences between groups, with an impaired overall quality of sleep in patients' groups with respect to both the healthy groups. Results also indicated that the best cut-off score (differentiating "good" from "bad" sleepers) is 5. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index is a useful, valid and reliable tool for the assessment of sleep quality, with an overall efficiency comparable to the mother language version and differentiate "good" from "bad" sleepers. The Italian version of the questionnaire provides a good and reliable differentiation between normal and pathological groups, with higher scores reported by people characterized by impaired objectively evaluated sleep quality.

Recalling and forgetting dreams: theta and alpha oscillations during sleep predict subsequent dream recall.

Under the assumption that dream recall is a peculiar form of declarative memory, we have hypothesized that (1) the encoding of dream contents during sleep should share some electrophysiological mechanisms with the encoding of episodic memories of the awake brain and (2) recalling a dream(s) after awakening from non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep should be associated with different brain oscillations. Here, we report that cortical brain oscillations of human sleep are predictive of successful dream recall. In particular, after morning awakening from REM sleep, a higher frontal 5-7 Hz (theta) activity was associated with successful dream recall. This finding mirrors the increase in frontal theta activity during successful encoding of episodic memories in wakefulness. Moreover, in keeping with the different EEG background, a different predictive relationship was found after awakening from stage 2 NREM sleep. Specifically, a lower 8-12 Hz (alpha) oscillatory activity of the right temporal area was associated with a successful dream recall. These findings provide the first evidence of univocal cortical electroencephalographic correlates of dream recall, suggesting that the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the encoding and recall of episodic memories may remain the same across different states of consciousness.

Slow EEG rhythms and inter-hemispheric synchronization across sleep and wakefulness in the human hippocampus.

Converging data that attribute a central role to sleep in memory consolidation have increased the interest to understand the characteristics of the hippocampal sleep and their relations with the processing of new information. Neural synchronization between different brain regions is thought to be implicated in long-term memory consolidation by facilitating neural communication and by promoting neural plasticity. However, the majority of studies have focused their interest on intra-hippocampal, rhinal-hippocampal or cortico-hippocampal synchronization, while inter-hemispheric synchronization has been so far neglected. To clarify the features of spontaneous human hippocampal activity and to investigate inter-hemispheric hippocampal synchronization across vigilance states, pre-sleep wakefulness and nighttime sleep were recorded from right and left homologous hippocampal loci using stereo-EEG techniques. Hence, quantitative and inter-hemispheric coherence analyses of hippocampal activity across sleep and waking states were carried out. The results showed the presence of delta activity in human hippocampal spontaneous EEG also during wakefulness. The activity in the delta range exhibited a peculiar bimodal distribution, namely a low frequency non-oscillatory activity (up to 2 Hz) synchronized between hemispheres mainly during wake and REM sleep, and a faster oscillatory rhythm (2-4 Hz). The latter was less synchronized between the hippocampi and seemed reminiscent of animal RSA (rhythmic slow activity). Notably, the low-delta activity showed high inter-hemispheric hippocampal coherence during REM sleep and, to a lesser extent, during wakefulness, paralleled by a (unexpected) decrease of coherence during NREM sleep. Therefore, low-delta hippocampal state-dependent synchronization starkly contrasts with neocortical behavior in the same frequency range. Further studies might shed light on the role of these low frequency rhythms in the encoding processes during wakefulness and in the consolidation processes during subsequent sleep.

Dissociated wake-like and sleep-like electro-cortical activity during sleep.

Sleep is traditionally considered a global process involving the whole brain. However, recent studies have shown that sleep depth is not evenly distributed within the brain. Sleep disorders, such as sleepwalking, also suggest that EEG features of sleep and wakefulness might be simultaneously present in different cerebral regions. In order to probe the coexistence of dissociated (wake-like and sleep-like) electrophysiological behaviors within the sleeping brain, we analyzed intracerebral electroencephalographic activity drawn from sleep recordings of five patients with pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy without sleep disturbances, who underwent pre-surgical intracerebral electroencephalographic investigation. We applied spectral and wavelet transform analysis techniques to electroencephalographic data recorded from scalp and intracerebral electrodes localized within the Motor cortex (Mc) and the dorso-lateral Prefrontal cortex (dlPFc). The Mc showed frequent Local Activations (lasting from 5 to more than 60s) characterized by an abrupt interruption of the sleep electroencephalographic slow waves pattern and by the appearance of a wake-like electroencephalographic high frequency pattern (alpha and/or beta rhythm). Local activations in the Mc were paralleled by a deepening of sleep in other regions, as expressed by the concomitant increase of slow waves in the dlPFc and scalp electroencephalographic recordings. These results suggest that human sleep can be characterized by the coexistence of wake-like and sleep-like electroencephalographic patterns in different cortical areas, supporting the hypothesis that unusual phenomena, such as NREM parasomnias, could result from an imbalance of these two states.

The distinctive sleep pattern of the human calcarine cortex: a stereo-electroencephalographic study.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the spontaneous electroencephalographic (EEG) features of sleep in the human calcarine cortex, comparing them with the well-established pattern of the parietal cortex. METHODS: We analyzed presurgical intracerebral EEG activity in calcarine and parietal cortices during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in seven patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy. The time course of the EEG spectral power and NREM vs REM differences was assessed. Sleep spindles were automatically detected. To assess homeostatic dynamics, we considered the first vs second half of the night ratio in the delta frequency range (0.5-4 Hz) and the rise rate of delta activity during the first sleep cycle. RESULTS: While the parietal area showed the classically described NREM and REM sleep hallmarks, the calcarine cortex exhibited a distinctive pattern characterized by: (1) the absence of sleep spindles; (2) a large similarity between EEG power spectra of NREM and REM; and (3) reduced signs of homeostatic dynamics, with a decreased delta ratio between the first and the second half of the night, a reduced rise rate of delta activity during the first NREM sleep cycle, and lack of correlation between these measures. CONCLUSIONS: Besides describing for the first time the peculiar sleep EEG pattern in the human calcarine cortex, our findings provide evidence that different cortical areas may exhibit specific sleep EEG pattern, supporting the view of sleep as a local process and promoting the idea that the functional role of sleep EEG features should be considered at a regional level.

Heritability of intracortical inhibition and facilitation.

The present twin study investigates heritability of motor cortex excitability, measured by the paired pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation technique. Specifically, intracortical facilitation (ICF) and inhibition (ICI) and corticospinal excitability were tested in monozygotic (MZ), dizygotic (DZ), and unrelated pairs (UP). Robust ICF and ICI effects were found, with a higher similarity of MZ than DZ and UP pairs. Heritability estimates (h(2)) were 0.80 for ICI and 0.92 for ICF. However, corticospinal excitability did not show significant differences between MZ and DZ pairs, whereas both significantly differed from UP. Hence, the study provides--for the first time--a clear evidence of heritable individual differences in motor cortex excitability.

The electroencephalographic fingerprint of sleep is genetically determined: a twin study.

Humans have an individual profile of the electroencephalographic power spectra at the 8 to 16 Hz frequency during non-rapid eye movement sleep that is stable over time and resistant to experimental perturbations. We tested the hypothesis that this electroencephalographic "fingerprint" is genetically determined, by recording 40 monozygotic and dizygotic twins during baseline and recovery sleep after prolonged wakefulness. We show a largely greater similarity within monozygotic than dizygotic pairs, resulting in a heritability estimate of 96%, not influenced by sleep need and intensity. If replicated, these results will establish the electroencephalographic profile during sleep as one of the most heritable traits of humans.

The Spatiotemporal Pattern of the Human Electroencephalogram at Sleep Onset After a Period of Prolonged Wakefulness.

During the sleep onset (SO) process, the human electroencephalogram (EEG) is characterized by an orchestrated pattern of spatiotemporal changes. Sleep deprivation (SD) strongly affects both wake and sleep EEG, but a description of the topographical EEG power spectra and oscillatory activity during the wake-sleep transition after a period of prolonged wakefulness is still missing. The increased homeostatic sleep pressure should induce an earlier onset of sleep-related EEG oscillations. The aim of the present study was to assess the spatiotemporal EEG pattern at SO following SD. A dataset of a previous study was analyzed. We assessed the spatiotemporal EEG changes (19 cortical derivations) during the SO (5 min before vs. 5 min after the first epoch of Stage 2) of a recovery night after 40 h of SD in 39 healthy subjects, analyzing the EEG power spectra (fast Fourier transform) and the oscillatory activity [better oscillation (BOSC) detection method]. The spatiotemporal pattern of the EEG power spectra mostly confirmed the changes previously observed during the wake-sleep transition at baseline. The comparison between baseline and recovery showed a wide increase of the post- vs. pre-SO ratio during the recovery night in the frequency bins ≤10 Hz. We found a predominant alpha oscillatory rhythm in the pre-SO period, while after SO the theta oscillatory activity was prevalent. The oscillatory peaks showed a generalized increase in all frequency bands from delta to sigma with different predominance, while beta activity increased only in the fronto-central midline derivations. Overall, the analysis of the EEG power replicated the topographical pattern observed during a baseline night of sleep but with a stronger intensity of the SO-induced changes in the frequencies ≤10 Hz, and the detection of the rhythmic activity showed the rise of several oscillations at SO after SD that was not observed during the wake-sleep transition at baseline (e.g., alpha and frontal theta in correspondence of their frequency peaks). Beyond confirming the local nature of the EEG pattern at SO, our results show that SD has an impact on the spatiotemporal modulation of cortical activity during the falling-asleep process, inducing the earlier emergence of sleep-related EEG oscillations.

Procedural learning and sleep hippocampal low frequencies in humans.

Recent evidence suggests that slow EEG rhythms are involved in post-learning plasticity. However, the relationships between memory consolidation and hippocampal EEG features remain unclear. Here, we assessed the effects of both procedural and declarative learning on qualitative and quantitative measures of sleep by recording stereo-EEG (SEEG) directly from the hippocampus and the neocortex in a group of epileptic patients undergoing pre-surgical evaluations. Following a baseline night, sleep was recorded after administration of a declarative (paired-associate word list learning task) and a procedural (sequential finger tapping) task. Patients were tested before going to bed (test) and after sleep in the following morning (retest). At retest, we found that patients recalled correctly more word pairs compared to the pre-sleep test (declarative task), and they were slightly faster in performing the motor task (procedural task). Standard polysomnography showed an increase in the amount of slow-wave sleep (SWS) only after procedural learning, paralleled by an increase of hippocampal SEEG power in the very low frequency range (VLF, 0.5-1 Hz) during the first NREM sleep cycle. Moreover, procedural performance enhancement and SEEG power increase in the hippocampal VLF were significantly correlated, indicating a link between procedural memory consolidation and slow hippocampal SEEG rhythms. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis of synaptic homeostasis occurring during sleep, suggesting that hippocampal slow oscillations are associated with local processes of post-learning synaptic downscaling.

Sleep to find your way: the role of sleep in the consolidation of memory for navigation in humans.

Although a large body of evidence indicates that sleep plays an important role in learning and memory processes, the actual existence of a sleep-dependent spatial memory consolidation has been not firmly established. Here, by using a computerized 3D virtual navigation tool, we were able to show that topographical orientation in humans largely benefits from sleep after learning, while 10 h of wakefulness during the daytime do not exert similar beneficial effects. In particular, navigation performance enhancement needs sleep in the first post-training night, and no further improvements were seen after a second night of sleep. On the other hand, sleep deprivation hinders any performance enhancement and exerts a proactive disruption of spatial memory consolidation, since recovery sleep do not revert its effects. Spatial memory performance does not benefit from the simple passage of time, and a period of wakefulness between learning and sleep does not seem to have the role of stabilizing memory traces. In conclusion, our results indicate that spatial performance improvement is observed only when learning is followed by a period of sleep, regardless of the retention interval length.

Symptom severity and mindreading in narcissistic personality disorder.

BACKGROUND: Grandiose narcissism has been associated with poor ability to understand one's own mental states and the mental states of others. In particular, two manifestations of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) can be explained by poor mindreading abilities: absence of symptomatic subjective distress and lack of empathy. METHODS: We conducted two studies to investigate the relationships between mindreading capacity, symptomatic subjective distress and narcissistic personality. In the first study (N = 246), we compared mindreading capacities and symptomatic distress in three outpatient samples: narcissistic patients (NPD); patients with other Personality Disorders (PD); patients without PD. In the second study (N = 1357), we explored the relationships between symptomatic distress, mindreading and specific NPD criteria. RESULTS: In the first study, the NPD patients showed poorer mindreading than the patients without PD and comparable to patients with other PDs. Symptomatic subjective distress in the narcissistic group was less severe than in the other PDs group and comparable to the group without PDs. However, no relationship emerged between mindreading and symptomatic subjective distress. In the second study, taking the clinical sample as a whole, symptomatic distress appeared negatively linked to grandiosity traits, while mindreading scores were negatively linked to empathy. CONCLUSIONS: NPD showed specific mindreading impairments. However, mindreading capacity did not appear to be directly connected with subjective distress, but did appear to be connected with specific aspects of narcissistic pathology.

Slow eye movements and subjective estimates of sleepiness predict EEG power changes during sleep deprivation.

RATIONALE: The aim of the present study was to assess, intraindividually, the relationship among slow eye movements, electroencephalogram (EEG) power, and subjective measures of sleepiness during a 40-hour sleep deprivation comparing 2 experimental conditions: eyes-open and eyes-closed. METHODS: Nineteen normal subjects participated in a sleep-deprivation protocol with recordings of the waking Cz-A1-2 EEG in 36 sessions at 1-hour intervals starting at 10:00 AM. Each session consisted of a 2-minute eyes-closed period, followed by a 4-minute eyes-open period. Electrooculogram, self-ratings (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale and Visual Analog Scale for Global Vigor), and tympanic temperature were also recorded. RESULTS: Changes in sleepiness and alertness are paralleled by increases in slow eye movements and theta and delta EEG power. The beginning of the rise of delta, theta, and slow eye movement activity corresponded to the nadir of temperature, peaking at 7:00AM. Cross-correlational analyses showed that changes in slow eye movements were strictly phase locked to those in slow-frequency EEG bands and in subjective measures. The comparison of time intervals that were equivalent with respect to circadian phase confirms the effects of the increased sleepiness on slow eye movement activity and on the other measures. The temporal concordance of the different physiologic and subjective measures is also reflected in the individual time courses. Individual and group analyses converged in indicating that slow eye movements can be considered reliable indexes of sleepiness but only in the eyes-closed condition. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that subjective and EEG changes associated with higher sleepiness are paralleled by an increase in slow eye movement activity, but this relationship exists almost exclusively with the eyes closed. Hence, its use in practical and operational contexts seems limited.

Levels of Social Sharing and Clinical Implications for Severe Social Withdrawal in Patients with Personality Disorders.

Social sharing capacities have attracted attention from a number of fields of social cognition and have been variously defined and analyzed in numerous studies. Social sharing consists in the subjective awareness that aspects of the self's experience are held in common with other individuals. The definition of social sharing must take a variety of elements into consideration: the motivational element, the contents of the social sharing experience, the emotional responses it evokes, the behavioral outcomes, and finally, the circumstances and the skills which enable social sharing. The primary objective of this study is to explore some of the diverse forms of human social sharing and to classify them according to levels of complexity. We identify four different types of social sharing, categorized according to the nature of the content being shared and the complexity of the mindreading skills required. The second objective of this study is to consider possible applications of this graded model of social sharing experience in clinical settings. Specifically, this model may support the development of graded, focused clinical interventions for patients with personality disorders characterized by severe social withdrawal.

The electroencephalographic substratum of the awakening.

The aim of the present study was to characterize the regional electroencephalographic substratum of the awakening process by means of a Hz-by-Hz EEG spectral power analysis. For this purpose, we recorded a group of 25 female subjects who slept for at least two consecutive nights in the laboratory. The post-sleep waking EEG was compared to the one recorded during the presleep wakefulness from four midline derivations (Fz-A1, Cz-A1, Pz-A1, Oz-A1). Results indicated that the first 10 min after awakening are characterized by an increase of EEG power in the low-frequency range (1-9 Hz) compared to the corresponding presleep waking period, and by a significant decrease of EEG power in the beta range (18-24 Hz). As regards topographic differences, the increase of EEG power upon awakening in the delta-theta range showed a parieto-occipital prevalence. Moreover, the occipital derivation showed a larger decrease of power in the beta range as compared to the other derivations. In conclusion, the EEG substratum of the sleep offset period is characterized by a pattern of increased EEG power in the delta-theta and low-alpha bands, and of decreased power in the beta range. This pattern could be considered as the spectral EEG signature of the sleep inertia phenomenon. The state of post-sleep EEG hypo-arousal does not subside in the first 10-min period after awakening considered in the present analysis. Finally, according to our results, the more posterior scalp locations show stronger EEG signs of sleep inertia, and could be the last ones to properly wake up.

Modulation of corticospinal excitability by paired associative stimulation: reproducibility of effects and intraindividual reliability.

OBJECTIVE: Electrical stimulation of the median nerve followed by a magnetic pulse on the primary motor cortex (M1) is effective to cause an increase in the amplitude of motor evoked potential (MEP) registered in the target muscle with the interstimulus interval (ISI) at 25ms (paired associative stimulation, PAS). The aim of this study is to evaluate the reproducibility of PAS with ISI 25 (PAS25), assessed in two separate sessions. Intraindividual reliability of TMS measures was also evaluated. METHODS: Motor threshold of abductor pollicis brevis (APB), assessed at rest, and MEP amplitude of APB and abductor digiti minimi (ADM) were assessed before and after PAS25 in 18 healthy volunteers (nine males and nine females). RESULTS: Data showed a significant increase of MEP amplitude in the target muscle (APB) after PAS25 and a reproducibility of group effect in the two sessions, as assessed by ANOVA, but a lack of intraindividual reliability, as assessed by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). CONCLUSIONS: The results underline the reproducibility of mean effects and the need to be careful when comparing the same subject on different days. SIGNIFICANCE: Electrical stimulation of the median nerve followed by a magnetic pulse delivered on M1 after 25ms causes a reproducible increase in MEP amplitude, without showing an acceptable intraindividual reliability.

Occurrence of head lice in children and adolescents seen at a hospital in Uberlândia, central Brazil / Aparición de piojos en niños y adolescentes atendidos en un hospital de Uberlândia, centro de Brasil / Ocorrência de piolhos em crianças e adolescentes atendidos em um hospital de Uberlândia, região central do Brasil

The purpose of this study was to verify the occurrence of head lice in children at a public hospital in Uberlândia, MG and factors associated with pediculosis such as sex, age, hair characteristics and socioeconomic conditions, as well as obtaining information from their parents/guardians regarding the epidemiology, its transmission, prevention and control. To obtain the data, direct hair inspection and a characterization sheet and questionnaire were utilized. An occurrence rate of 6.1 % was found in 230 children examined in a public hospital, 111 females and 119 males with the highest rates observed in female children aged 4-8 with medium to long hair. Income, level of education, hair washing, hair type, color and thickness did not seem to influence the distribution of pediculosis in the children seen in the hospital in Uberlândia. The questionnaire answered by parents/guardians indicated that the children had had at least one infestation in their lifetime. The use of fine comb and pesticides were the most usual control methods adopted. The most frequent symptom was severe itching on the scalp. Although the occurrence of head pediculosis is declining, it is still a prevalent public health problem in the child population of Uberlândia, MG. Pediculosis may be associated with sex, age and hair characteristics. Variations in the degree of these influencing factors depend on the profile of the population studied. Additional studies are required in population groups over time, particularly in those that are inadequately assisted or lack state education and health assistance.

El propósito de este estudio fue verificar la ocurrencia de piojos en niños de un hospital público de Uberlândia, MG y factores asociados a la pediculosis como sexo, edad, características del cabello y condiciones socioeconómicas, así como obtener información de sus padres / tutores. en cuanto a la epidemiología, su transmisión, prevención y control. Para la obtención de los datos se utilizó inspección capilar directa y hoja de caracterización y cuestionario. Se encontró una tasa de ocurrencia del 6.1% en 230 niños examinados en un hospital público, 111 mujeres y 119 hombres, con las tasas más altas observadas en niñas de 4 a 8 años con cabello medio a largo. Los ingresos, el nivel de educación, el lavado del cabello, el tipo de cabello, el color y el grosor no parecen influir en la distribución de la pediculosis en los niños atendidos en el hospital de Uberlândia. El cuestionario respondido por los padres / tutores indicó que los niños habían tenido al menos una infestación en su vida. El uso de peine fino y pesticidas fueron los métodos de control más habituales adoptados. El síntoma más frecuente fue la picazón intensa en el cuero cabelludo. Aunque la incidencia de pediculosis de la cabeza está disminuyendo, sigue siendo un problema de salud pública prevalente en la población infantil de Uberlândia, MG. La pediculosis puede estar asociada con el sexo, la edad y las características del cabello. Las variaciones en el grado de estos factores de influencia dependen del perfil de la población estudiada. Se requieren estudios adicionales en grupos de población a lo largo del tiempo, particularmente en aquellos que reciben asistencia inadecuada o carecen de educación y asistencia sanitaria estatal.

O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a ocorrência de piolhos de cabeça em crianças de um hospital público de Uberlândia, MG e fatores associados à pediculose como sexo, idade, características do cabelo e condições socioeconômicas, além de obter informações dos pais / responsáveis. quanto à epidemiologia, sua transmissão, prevenção e controle. Para a obtenção dos dados foram utilizados inspeção direta dos cabelos e ficha de caracterização e questionário. Uma taxa de ocorrência de 6,1% foi encontrada em 230 crianças examinadas em um hospital público, 111 mulheres e 119 homens com as taxas mais altas observadas em crianças do sexo feminino de 4 a 8 anos com cabelo médio a longo. Renda, escolaridade, lavagem dos cabelos, tipo, cor e espessura do cabelo não parecem influenciar na distribuição da pediculose nas crianças atendidas no hospital de Uberlândia. O questionário respondido pelos pais / responsáveis ​​indicou que as crianças tiveram pelo menos uma infestação na vida. O uso de pente fino e pesticidas foram os métodos de controle mais comumente adotados. O sintoma mais frequente foi coceira intensa no couro cabeludo. Embora a ocorrência de pediculose cefálica esteja em declínio, ainda é um problema de saúde pública prevalente na população infantil de Uberlândia, MG. A pediculose pode estar associada ao sexo, idade e características do cabelo. As variações no grau desses fatores influenciadores dependem do perfil da população estudada. Estudos adicionais são necessários em grupos populacionais ao longo do tempo, principalmente naqueles que são inadequadamente assistidos ou carecem de educação e assistência à saúde do Estado.