Human Heat stress risk prediction in the Brazilian semiarid Region based on the Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature.

OBJECTIVE: the aim of this study is to map thermal stress risks for human health at the São Francisco River Basin (SFRB) in the Semiarid region, for climatic scenarios RCP 4.5 and 8.5. METHODS: The heat stress conditions were defined by the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) indicator and by the average number of annual days in which the WBGT values exceeded the 90th percentile of the reference period. The WBGT was estimated for the climate scenarios RCP 4.5 (intermediate) and 8.5 (pessimistic) for the period 2011-2090 comparing to the period of reference (1961-2005). RESULTS: The projections show that for the pessimistic scenario practically all municipalities of the SFRB region can reach values of WBGT that indicate a high risk for heat stress in the period 2071-2099. For this same scenario and period, the municipalities of the Lower and Under-average regions may present values of WBGT above the 90th percentile of the reference period in more than 90% of the days/year. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that, if the emission of greenhouse gases continues in the present proportions, some municipalities of the SFRB region may present a high risk for heat stress affecting the work capacity and the practice of physical exercises.

Direct and indirect exposure to violence and psychological distress among civil servants in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Important social and economic changes accompanying the recent fast rate of urbanization have been considered a major factor in triggering and sustaining urban violence in Brazil. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of exposure to direct, indirect, and contextual violence on the risk of psychological distress. METHODS: Prospective longitudinal study carried out among 3,058 civil servants working at university campuses in Rio de Janeiro. Psychological distress was measured using the General Health Questionnaire, and exposure to individual violence was assessed as direct (DV), indirect (IV), and both direct and indirect (DIV). Contextual violence was assessed through the geocoding of residential addresses of study participants and the rates of homicides in 2005 at the corresponding weighting area. Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate individual and contextual correlates of psychological distress. RESULTS: Exposure to DIV increased more than six times (95% CI 2.7-16.0) the odds of psychological distress occurrence at the six-year follow-up. Regarding persistence of psychological distress, the association with violence exposure was 1.6 (95% CI 1.0-2.4) for DV and 2.7 (95% CI 1.3-5.3) for IV. Contextual violence was not associated with psychological distress, and no interaction effect was found between exposure to individual and contextual violence in the occurrence/persistence of psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study highlight the importance of assessing multiple forms of violence in research on the social determinants of mental disorders and support the view that individual exposure to different forms of violence increases the risk of psychological distress.