Socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors and burden of morbidity associated with self-reported hearing and vision impairments in older British community-dwelling men: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Hearing and vision problems are common in older adults. We investigated the association of self-reported sensory impairment with lifestyle factors, chronic conditions, physical functioning, quality of life and social interaction. METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional study of participants of the British Regional Heart Study aged 63-85 years. RESULTS: A total of 3981 men (82% response rate) provided data. Twenty-seven per cent (n = 1074) reported hearing impairment including being able to hear with aid (n = 482), being unable to hear (no aid) (n = 424) and being unable to hear despite aid (n = 168). Three per cent (n = 124) reported vision impairment. Not being able to hear, irrespective of use of hearing aid, was associated with poor quality of life, poor social interaction and poor physical functioning. Men who could not hear despite hearing aid were more likely to report coronary heart disease (CHD) [age-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) 1.89 (95% confidence interval 1.36-2.63)]. Vision impairment was associated with symptoms of CHD including breathlessness [OR 2.06 (1.38-3.06)] and chest pain [OR 1.58 (1.07-2.35)]. Vision impairment was also associated with poor quality of life, poor social interaction and poor physical functioning. CONCLUSIONS: Sensory impairment is associated with poor physical functioning, poor health and poor social interaction in older men. Further research is warranted on pathways underlying these associations.

Desenvolvimento de um instrumento computadorizado para medida do poder refrativo da córnea (videoceratógrafo) / Development of a computerized instrument (videokeratograph)for the measurement of the corneal refractive power

Objetivo: Resumir o desenvolvimento de um Videoceratógrafo (ou menos precisamente, Topógrafo de Córnea) projetado e fabricado no Brasil. Métodos: Discos de Plácido pintados num anteparo em forma de cone säo refletidos pela córnea. As imagens passam por um sistema óptico de aumento e säo focalizadas num CCD ('' Charge Coupled Device ''; nada mais do que uma abreviaçäo para câmeras fabricadas com a tecnologia de semicondutores) atrás do cone. O sinal do CCD é enviado para uma placa de captura de imagens ('' frame grabber '')intalada em um PC-IBM compatível. Por meio de algoritmos de processamento de imagens, extraem-se das imagens digitalizadas distâncias de borda dos Discos de Plácido. Estes valores säo inseridos em algoritmos com modelos matemáticos de curvatura da córnea, resultando no cálculo da dioptria de aproximadamente 5.760 pontos. Resultados: Assim como em outros aparelhos importados, imprime-se na tela do computador um mapa colorido plano com código de cores relativo aos valores de dioptria. Para um conjunto de 9 esferas de raios: 5.50; 5.75; 6.00; 6.25; 6.75; 7.00; 7.25; 7.50; 7.75 mm obteve-se um desvio médio de 0.1 para dioptria e 0.02 mm para o raio. Foram analizados computacionalmente 5.760 pontos para cada esfera. Em uma amostra de 20 córneas obteve-se desvio médio de 0.2 dioptrias com relaçäo ao topógrafo EyeSys. Conclusöes: Podemos afirmar que o instrumento contruído obtém resultados equivalentes àqueles do intrumento importado.

Chromosome abnormalities in selected newborn infants with malformations in Brazil.

Between 1982 and 1985, 109 infants were referred for cytogenetic examination out of a population of 73,192 liveborn infants from eight maternity hospitals surveyed by the ECLAMC/MONITOR program. Thirty-one of the children had a chromosome abnormality different from trisomy 21. Considering the total population surveyed, trisomy 18 was detected in 1:6,099; trisomy 13 was seen in 1:24,397 and unbalanced rearrangements were found in 1:7,319 infants. Those rates were not significantly different from the expected ones, as compared to previous cytogenetic surveys of consecutive births. We concluded that most chromosome abnormalities associated with congenital malformations can be detected at low cost, provided there is a high accuracy of clinical examination and referral criteria, as well as close cooperation between pediatricians and geneticists.