Social support in the healthcare of women submitted to breast cancer treatment.

This study aimed to verify the prevalence of low social support (LSS) and associated factors in women submitted to breast cancer (BC) treatment. A cross-sectional study was carried out with 101 female residents of the municipality of Natal (Northeast Brazil), diagnosed with BC and submitted to oncological treatment. Data collection took place between July/2015 and May/2016 from medical records and individuals' interviews, and from the Medical Outcome Study-Social Support Survey. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate statistics were carried out through Poisson's regression with robust variance and significance level 0.05. Prevalence of LSS in women with BC was 22.8% with confidence interval 14.6-39.94. Type of access to public services (p < .03), prevalence ratio (PR) 1.84 and negative self-rated health (p < .001), PR 4.47 were associated with LSS. These results were obtained after adjustments by the variables age and presence of chronic diseases. The associations established herein could have been mostly related to fragilities of the Brazilian health system, and can contribute to the planning of actions directed to the studied population.

Análise das Estratégias Empregadas em um Programa de Intervenção Fonológica para Crianças com Deficiência Auditiva1, / Analysis of Strategies Employed in a Phonological Intervention Program for Hard of Hearing Children1

RESUMO: Programas de intervenção fonológica para crianças com deficiência auditiva têm sido estudados mundialmente, dados os seus comprovados benefícios para o desenvolvimento da leitura. No entanto, no Brasil, não há referência à avaliação desses programas para crianças com deficiência auditiva inseridas em serviços de (re)habilitação auditiva. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi analisar as estratégias empregadas em um programa de intervenção fonológica para crianças com deficiência auditiva. Trata-se de estudo do tipo exploratório, de fonte documental, longitudinal com abordagem qualitativa, realizado a partir da intervenção com 11 crianças com deficiência auditiva e três pedagogas que acompanharam a intervenção em grupo. Foram analisados os 80 planos das sessões e as 80 fichas de observação das pedagogas, além da descrição dos resultados do grupo focal realizado com as pedagogas ao término da intervenção. Observou-se a necessidade de adaptações quanto às instruções, às estratégias e aos materiais utilizados, nessa ordem de frequência, assim como a utilização de estratégias de comunicação e técnicas específicas para otimizar a compreensão e a execução das atividades pelas crianças. Concluiu-se que o programa de intervenção fonológica para crianças com deficiência auditiva necessitou de adaptações e destaca-se a importância da capacitação dos profissionais nos serviços de terapia especializada para essa atuação.

ABSTRACT: Phonological intervention programs for hard of hearing children has been studied worldwide, given their proven benefits for literacy development. However, in Brazil, there is no reference to the evaluation of these programs for hearing impaired children inserted in auditory (re)habilitation services. The objective of this research was to analyze the strategies employed in a phonological intervention program for hard of hearing children. This is an exploratory study, from a documentary, longitudinal source with a qualitative approach, carried out from the intervention with 11 hearing impaired children and three educators who followed the group intervention. Eighty session plans and 80 observation sheets of the educators were analyzed, as well as the description of the results of the focus group carried out with the educators at the end of the intervention. It was observed the need for adaptations regarding the instructions, strategies and materials used, in this order of frequency, as well as the use of communication strategies and specific techniques to optimize children's understanding and execution of the activities. It was concluded that the phonological intervention program for children with hearing impairment needed adaptations and the importance of training professionals in specialized therapy services for this performance is highlighted.

Body Image of Women Submitted to Breast Cancer Treatment

Background: The study of body image includes the perception of women regarding the physical appearance of their own body. The objective of the present study was to verify the prevalence of body image dissatisfaction and its associated factors in women submitted to breast cancer treatment. Methods: A cross-sectional study carried out with 103 female residents of the municipality of Natal (Northeast Brazil), diagnosed with breast cancer who had undergone cancer treatment for at least 12 months prior to the study, and remained under clinical monitoring. The variable body image was measured through the validated Body Image Scale (BIS). Socioeconomic variables and clinical history were also collected through an individual interview with each participant. The Pearson's chi-squared test (Fisher's Exact) was utilized for bivariate analysis, calculating the prevalence ratio with 95% confidence interval. Poisson regression with robust variance was utilized for multivariate analysis. The statistical significance considered was 0.05. Results: The prevalence of body image dissatisfaction was 74.8% CI (65%-82%). Statistically significant associations were observed between body image and multi-professional follow-up (p=0.009) and return to employment after treatment (p=0.022). Conclusion: It was concluded that women who reported employment after cancer treatment presented more alterations in self-perception concerning their appearance. Patients who did not receive multi-professional follow-up reported negative body image, evidencing the need for strategies that increase and improve healthcare, aiming to meet the demands of this population.

Functional Disability in Women Submitted to Breast Cancer Treatment

The objective of the study presented herein was to verify the prevalence of functional disability and its associated factors in women submitted to breast cancer treatment. A cross-sectional study was carried out, in 101 women diagnosed with malignant breast cancer neoplasm, who underwent cancer treatment at least 12 months before the study, and remained under clinical monitoring. Functional disability was measured by the DASH instrument. Data collection included variables related to socioeconomic characteristics, life habits, health conditions, clinical tumor characteristics and therapeutic approach. Bivariate analysis was carried out by Pearson's chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, calculating the prevalence ratio with a 95% confidence interval. Multivariate analysis utilized Poisson's Regression with robust variance. A statistical significance of 0.05 was considered. Prevalence of functional disability in the studied sample was 22.8% (CI95% 13.9-31.6). Functional disability was statistically significantly associated with age (p = 0.035) and access to health services (p = 0.028). It was concluded that younger patients suffered higher impact of breast cancer treatment on disability. Regarding access to health services, women that received public clinical monitoring reported higher occurrences of functional disability. This pointed towards the necessity of more organized, less bureaucratic, and effective health services in the assistance network, directed to the minimization of the impacts of cancer treatment on health and life conditions of breast cancer survivors.