[Prevalence of physical activity in relation to variable socio-demographic conditions and life style in Cordoban students]. / Prevalencia de actividad física y su relación con variables sociodemográficas y ciertos estilos de vida en escolares Cordobeses.

BACKGROUND: Regular physical exercise is not a widespread habit among the population. Early childhood in a crucial stage for acquiring this habit. The objective of this study was that of ascertaining the behavior of school-age children with regard to the degree of physical activity they do and to examine the factors involved. METHODS: An observational study was conducted by means of a survey based on a questionnaire which 6th and 8th grade students in a Basic Health Care District of Cordoba (N-585) filled out on their own. Questions were asked regarding the frequency of exercise, preferences and prospects for practicing sports, the children's physical shape and school physical education classes, in addition to other behavior comprising their lifestyles. A dual-variable (p .05) and a multiple-variable analysis was conducted employing logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 548 students filled out the survey (response rate = 97.8%). 79.3% (IC95% 75.7-82.6) were involved in extracurricular physical activities, 21.0% (IC95% 17.1-24.7%) being involved in intense physical exercise. 50.5% (IC95% 46.3-54.8) did not think that they were in good physical shape. The age, sex, type of residence, the involvement in sports on the part of their parents or a close friend and what they considered their degree of healthiness to be comprised the variables quite strongly linked to doing exercise (p .001). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of physical exercise is high, although it progressively decreased with age, especially for girls. A major number of students considered themselves to be in unsatisfactory physical condition.

[Social resources of persons over 60 years of age. Its relationship with sociodemographic and health factors (ANCO project)]. / Recursos sociales en mayores de 60 años. Su relación con factores sociodemográficos y de salud (proyecto ANCO).

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the social situation of the over-60s and its relationship with several social, demographic and health variables. DESIGN: A descriptive, crossover study. SETTING: City of Córdoba. PARTICIPANTS: Systematic random sampling of the non-institutionalised population over 60 obtained 1,103 subjects (N = 49,674). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The multidimensional OARS-MFAQ-VE questionnaire was filled in during face-to-face home interviews. The part of the questionnaire evaluating social resources (SR) was analysed, extracting information on the quantitative, emotional and material support factors. The subjects were classified into three groups by their social situation. 14.1% (CI = 12.7-16.4) lived alone and 7.2% (CI = 5.8-8.9) thought that they would not have help available in case of illness or incapacity. CONCLUSIONS: The present study described the social situation of our elderly people and found a considerable number suffering serious to absolute deterioration. The role of the spouse, the children or some friend or trusted person is vital for good social support.

[Health status and morbidity perceived by a group of school children]. / Nivel de salud y morbilidad percibida por una población escolar.

OBJECTIVES: To find what self-perception of their health (SPH) and of their morbidity by school-children; and to analyse possible differences, in function of their social and demographic characteristics and life-styles. DESIGN: An observational crossover study, using a health questionnaire. SETTING: Community. PARTICIPANTS: 548 6th and 8th grade (EGB) children in the Occidente Health Area, Córdoba. INTERVENTIONS: Self-filled health questionnaire. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: 43.7% of students felt very healthy. Bad SPH was independently associated with being a girl, poor state of physical fitness and feeling unhappy. Tiredness and nervousness were the most frequent disorders suffered by school-children. CONCLUSIONS: Although the SPH of the school-children was acceptable, we found high perceived morbidity and prevalence of accidents, along with a striking consumption of medication.

[Tobacco consumption among the student population. Related factors]. / Consumo de tabaco entre la población escolar. Factores relacionados.

OBJECTIVE: To know smoking prevalence among schoolchildren and factors related with this habit. METHODS: A cross-sectional study. 548 school-children in their 6th and 8th years of primary studies at schools from an area of Córdoba (Spain) were interviewed. INTERVENTIONS: Autoadministered questionnaire. RESULTS: Tobacco was tried in 22% (CI 95%: 18.7-25.8) school-children. The average age for starting with this habit was 11.6 (SD)(CI 95%: 11.4-11.8). 12.1% smoked regularly and 1.3% smokers every day. The tobacco consumption in children was related with age (OR = 2.96; CI 95%: 1.12-7.82), cough medicines consumption (OR = 3.15; CI 95%: 1.32-7.48), to have a smokers sister (OR = 2.53; CI 95%: 1.06-6.00) and best friend (OR = 4.42; CI 95%: 1.85-10.60) and drinking beer (OR = 3.68; CI 95%: 1.15-11.7). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of smoking in our school-children is very close to that reported by others. Among the factors accounted with the tobacco consumption in schoolchildren, highlight the presence of this habit in the eldest sister and the best friend.

[Functional capacity in those over 60 and related social health factors (the ANCO Project for the Aged of Cordoba)]. / Capacidad funcional en mayores de 60 años y factores sociosanitarios asociados (proyecto ANCO).

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the functional status (FS) of the over-60 population in our city, relating it to various social, demographic and health factors. DESIGN: A descriptive, crossover study. SETTING: City of Córdoba. PARTICIPANTS: A sample of 1,103 subjects was obtained by systematic sampling of the non-institutionalised population over 60 years old (N = 49,674), using the latest update of the 1991 census. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Application of the OARS-MFAQ-VE multidimensional questionnaire using a face-to-face home interview. We analysed 14 items from the part of the questionnaire assessing FS. Subjects were classified into three groups. 7.6% (25.0-30.3) needed help to perform at least one AS and 15.9% (13.8-18.2) were unable to perform at least one. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a description of the functional status of the elderly, which for the most part is excellent. Various social and health factors linked to functional incapacity were identified.

[Health status of the over 60 years of age population and its relationship with sociodemographic factors (ANCO Project)]. / Estado de salud de la población mayor de 60 años y su relación con factores sociodemográficos (proyecto ANCO).

OBJECTIVE: To describe the health status of a population over 60 years and to study their relationship with several socio-demographic variables. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study, population based. SETTINGS: A community. PARTICIPANTS: A randomized sample of 1,103 non institutionalized people over 60 years living in the city of Cordoba (Spain). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: By mean of a personal interview at home we used the OARS-MFAQ-VE questionnaire. Low self-rated health was associated with the age, to be female sex, a low cultural background, and a low income. Only 5.2% of the study people do not suffered any illness and 56% state that their health problems are major problems for doing their current activities. 4.9% declared to have some degree of physical incapacity. 3.7% of elderly population has an important cognitive deficit. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of elderly people has good health. Age is related with a poor health. Women have more health problems than men.

[Functional evaluation of persons over 60 years of age living in an urban community. ANCO project]. / Valoración funcional de personas mayores de 60 años que viven en una comunidad urbana. Proyecto ANCO.

OBJECTIVE: To establish the grade of functional deterioration in older people and analyse associated factors. DESIGN: Cross sectional study. SETTING: City of Córdoba. PARTICIPANTS: The population over 60 years old on the Córdoba municipal roll (49,674) and living at home, from which a sample of 1,103 subjects was taken. INTERVENTIONS: The multidimensional OARS-MFAQ questionnaire was filled in. Calculation of the functional deterioration scores enabled five areas to be evaluated: physical health (PH), mental health (MH), economic resources (ER), social resources (SR) and capacity to perform daily activities (DA) autonomously. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Reply rate was 86.8%. The prevalence of serious/absolute deterioration in each of the areas was: 9.3% in SR, 8.5% in DA, 8.4% in ER, 6.9% in MH and 5.8% in PH. CONCLUSIONS: Both the prevalence of functional deterioration in the population group under study and the demand for institutional care are similar to other studies performed in our country, but higher than in Anglosaxon countries.

[Factors associated with cognitive deterioration in an urban population. ANCO project]. / Factores asociados a la alteración cognitiva en una población urbana. Proyecto ANCO.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the prevalence of cognitive deterioration (CD) in the over-60s of the city of Córdoba not in institutions and to evaluate its relationship with social, demographic and health variables. DESIGN: A crossover study of prevalence. SETTING: The city of Córdoba. PARTICIPANTS: Population over 60 years old living at home (N = 49,674), from which a sample of 1,103 people was extracted. INTERVENTIONS: The Spanish-language version of the multidimensional OARS-MFAQ questionnaire was filled in. This included the Pfeiffer cognitive evaluation test. RESULTS: Reply rate was 86.8%. 3.7% had possible moderate-severe CD. People with CD also used more services (basically to help with DA) and had a perception of needing more services which they were not receiving at present. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of possible cognitive deterioration in the population under analysis is similar to that found in other studies in our country. They confirm that age and lack of schooling are the factors most closely linked to this deterioration.

[Clinical situation, knowledge and risky behavior of patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection attending a health center]. / Situación clínica, conocimientos y conductas de riesgo en pacientes infectados por el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana atendidos en un centro de salud.

OBJECTIVE: To establish what information patients diagnosed in our health centre as infected by HIV have about their infection, to evaluate possible changes in their hazardous behaviour and to establish the monitoring level and stage of the condition. DESIGN: An observational study of a crossover nature. Demographic data and data on patients' understanding of HIV infection, their hazardous behaviour and clinical situation were collected by means of a semistructured survey. SETTING: Occidente Health Centre, Córdoba. PATIENTS AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS: 35 people with HIV positive serology. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: 92.6% were or had been users of parenteral drugs. 40.7% believed they had no health problem; 33.4% thought that the fact of having HIV antibodies was reversible; and 22.2% did not think they transmitted the infection. Their understanding of how infection occurred seemed sufficient, but in spite of this 39.1% continued to share syringes and 52.2% did not use condoms habitually. 56% had received what information they had from health staff; and 56.5% of these thought the information was insufficient. 28% did not regularly attend for medical check-ups. CONCLUSIONS: Knowing you are an HIV carrier and having adequate information on ways of infection appeared to modify hazardous behaviour in our sample, although to a still insufficient extent. The establishment of strategies which not only inform, but also educate, would be of vital importance in slowing down the transmission of the infection.

[The approach to the etiological diagnosis of hyperlipemias in primary care]. / Aproximación al diagnóstico etiológico de las hiperlipemias en atención primaria.

OBJECTIVE: To perform etiological diagnosis of hyperlipidemia (HL) brought to light in family medical (general practice) consultations. DESIGN: Retrospective descriptive study. SITE. A basic health zone (ZBS). PATIENTS: 231 patients diagnosed as having HL by their doctors. MAIN MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Lipidic levels (average figures): total cholesterol (CT): 280; C-LDL: 201; C-HDL: 49 and triglycerides (TGL): 198. Distribution by phenotypes: IIa: 178 patients, IIb: 42, IV:5, with 6 doubtful cases. Distribution according to etiological diagnosis: 79% primary HL (83% polygenic and 17% family) 15% secondary HL, with 6% having both types in association. CONCLUSIONS: Diagnosis of HL in the visits to the family doctor reveals probability-predictable patterns based, above all, on the the overall assessment made by the doctor of his/her patient. The survey and the family study are very limited in our circles. The predominating type of HL is primary polygenic where prescribing of special diets will be sufficient in most cases.