Análise da distribuição espacial da gravidez adolescente no Município de Belo Horizonte - MG / Analysis of the spatial distribution of adolescent pregnancy in the city of Belo Horizonte

O georreferenciamento dos eventos de saúde ganha relevância na análise e avaliação de riscos à saúde coletiva, na medida em que incorpora variáveis relacionadas com o meio ambiente e com o perfil socioeconômico da população. Partindo da premissa de que a maternidade precoce não acontece de forma aleatória no interior da sociedade, buscou-se identificar a dependência espacial da gravidez na adolescência com aspectos socioeconômicos e de vulnerabilidade social. Assumindo a existência de uma dependência espacial entre esses fatores, foram utilizadas ferramentas do Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis, isto é, técnicas para descrever e visualizar distribuições espaciais, identificar situações atípicas, descobrir padrões de associação espacial, agrupamento de valores semelhantes (clusters) e sugerir regimes espaciais ou outras formas de heterogeneidade espacial. Destaca-se a correlação, estatisticamente significativa, entre vulnerabilidade social e taxa de nascidos vivos para mulheres com idade entre 12 e 19 anos e entre 20 e 29 anos. Constatou-se a presença de conglomerados com altas proporções de mães adolescentes em associação com as piores condições socioeconômicas e uma menor proporção de mães adolescentes em setores de melhores condições. Tal estudo poderá subsidiar a organização e o planejamento das ações e estratégias na área da saúde sexual e reprodutiva para o público jovem e adolescente, sobretudo em regiões de elevada vulnerabilidade econômica e social.

The organization of health services and visceral leishmaniasis: an integrated intervention to improve diagnosis and treatment / Contribuição à organização de serviços de saúde com atenção à leishmaniose visceral: um trabalho integrado para o diagnóstico e tratamento da doença

The objective of this study, carried out in municipalities located in a metropolitan region of Brazil, was to promote the early diagnosis and prompttreatment of visceral leishmaniasis. In the intervention model a health professional underwent training that covered all procedures involved in assisting patients with suspected visceral leishmaniasis. The professionals then returned to their municipalities where they implemented a workplan with the following aims: (a) at least onephysician able to diagnose and treat patients; (b) training of professionals for the laboratorial diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis; (c) delivery of information on visceral leishmaniasis to the health workers. The implementation process was evaluated by follow-up meetings. Attendance of health professionals at the meetings, implementation of the workplan, and the visceral leishmaniasis case fatality rate before (1998-1999) and after (2001-2002) implementation of the model were used in the analysis. Among the 36 municipalities in the region, 22 were enrolled. Eight (36.3%) guaranteed at least 50% attendance in the meetings, and 14 (63.6%) had less than 50% attendance with no activities implemented. The fatality rate decreasedin the municipalities that implementedthe activities.

Estudo com o objetivo de diagnosticar precocemente e tratar de forma adequada a leishmaniose visceral foidesenvolvido em municípios de uma região metropolitana no Brasil. O modelo de intervenção previa a capacitação de um profissional de saúde que, após participar de um treinamento sobre diferentes aspectos da leishmaniose visceral, estaria apto a articular no seu município a implantação de um plano de ação que contemplaria três atividades: (a) ter pelo menos um médico para o diagnóstico e tratamento dos casos, (b) treinar profissionais para o diagnóstico laboratorial, (c) divulgar a informação sobre a leishmaniose visceral para profissionais de saúde. A implantação das atividades foi acompanhada por meio de reuniões durante três anos. Para as análises foram utilizados como indicadores: a presença dos profissionais às reuniões, a implantação das atividades e a redução da letalidade, antes (1998-1999) e após (2001-2002) a implantação. Entre os 36 municípios da região, 22 participaram. Oito (36,3%) tiveram 50% ou mais de presença às reuniões e 14 (63,6%) tiveram menos que 50% e nenhuma atividade implantada. Houve decréscimo da letalidade entre os municípios que implementaram as atividades.

Avaliação estratégica de educação em grupo e individual no programa educativo em diabetes / Evaluation of group and individual strategies in a diabetes education program

OBJETIVO: Comparar a efetividade de estratégias, em grupo e individual, de programa educativo em diabetes. MÉTODOS: Cento e quatro pacientes com diabetes tipo 2, atendidos no ambulatório e com seguimento em programa educativo de hospital de Belo Horizonte (MG), foram aleatoriamente recrutados e alocados em dois grupos: educação em grupo (n=54) e individual (n=50). A educação em grupo consistia de três encontros mensais, nos quais eram desenvolvidas dinâmicas lúdicas e interativas. Simultaneamente, o outro grupo era acompanhado individualmente. O acompanhamento ocorreu por seis meses durante o ano de 2006, sendo avaliados por questionários específicos: conhecimentos em diabetes, atitudes psicológicas, mudança de comportamento, qualidade de vida. Foi realizada avaliação clínica no tempo inicial, depois de três e seis meses da intervenção. RESULTADOS: A média de idade dos pacientes era de 60,6 anos. Os resultados da educação em grupo e individual foram semelhantes no teste de atitudes, mudança de comportamento e qualidade de vida. Observou-se redução nos níveis de HbA1c nos dois grupos, entretanto apenas no de educação em grupo a diferença apresentou significância estatística (p= 0,012). CONCLUSÕES: As duas estratégias do programa educativo em diabetes foram efetivas, porém a educação em grupo apresentou melhores resultados de controle glicêmico do que a individual.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of individual and group strategies in a diabetes education program. METHODS: A total of 104 type-2 diabetes outpatients enrolled in an education program of a teaching hospital in Belo Horizonte, Southeastern Brazil, were randomly selected and assigned to two different education strategies: group education (54 subjects) and individual education (50 subjects). Group education comprised three monthly sessions, which involved play and interactive dynamics. In parallel, a second group received individual education. Subjects were follow up for six months during 2006 and they were evaluated using specific questionnaires: knowledge of diabetes, psychological attitudes, change in behavior, quality of life. Clinical evaluation was performed at baseline, three and six months of intervention. RESULTS: Mean age was 60.6 years. The results of group and individual education were similar in the assessment tests of attitude, change of behavior and quality of life. A reduction in HbA1c levels was seen in both groups, but a statistically significant difference (p=0.012) was found only in the group education. CONCLUSIONS: Both strategies of diabetes education were effective, however, group education was more effective than individual education for blood glucose control.

OBJETIVO: Comparar la efectividad de estrategias, en grupo e individual, de programa educativo en diabetes. MÉTODOS: Ciento y cuatro pacientes con diabetes tipo 2, atendidos en el ambulatorio y con seguimiento en programa educativo de hospital de Belo Horizonte (Sureste de Brasil), fueron reclutados al azar y distribuidos en dos grupos: educación en grupo (n=54) e individual (n=50). La educación en grupo consistía de tres encuentros mensuales, en los cuales se desarrollaban dinámicas lúdicas e interactivas. Simultáneamente, el otro grupo era acompañado individualmente. El acompañamiento ocurrió por seis meses durante el año de 2006, siendo evaluados por cuestionarios específicos: conocimientos en diabetes, actitudes psicológicas, cambio de comportamiento, calidad de vida. Fue realizada evaluación clínica en el tiempo inicial, después de tres y seis meses de intervención. RESULTADOS: El promedio de edad de los pacientes era de 60,6 años. Los resultados de la educación en grupo e individual fueron semejantes en la prueba de actitudes, cambio de comportamiento y calidad de vida. Se observó reducción en los niveles de HbA1c en los dos grupos, mientras que en el de educación en grupo la diferencia presentó significancia estadística (p=0,012). CONCLUSIONES: Las dos estrategias del programa educativo en diabetes fueron efectivas, sin embargo, la educación en grupo presentó mejores resultados de control glicérico en comparación con la individual.

Intergenerational representations of schistosomiasis in endemic area, Jaboticatubas, Minas Gerais

The analysis of the intergenerational process of disease/health representations constitutes a requisite for the construction of projects and health education interventions. The objective of this work is to describe the meaning attributed to schistosomiasis in the family context. Twenty-one residents of an endemic area were interviewed. The interviews were submitted to content analysis. The results demonstrated different representations of the disease by the children, parents and grandparents. This paper discusses the differences in these representations and its impact in schistosomiasis control programs.

Factors associated with schistosomiasis mansoni in a population from the municipality of Jaboticatubas, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Jaboticatubas is a municipality in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte which has been a target of a wide media release as "the capital of schistosomiasis" since the 1960's. In order to give support to a work based on an integrated control, we sought to identify the disease determinants at the site. A transversal study was carried out aimed at identifying prevalence rates of the disease and factors associated with the infection in the district of São José de Almeida, and two close localities, Cipó Velho and São José da Serra, all of them located in the municipality of Jaboticatubas. A parasitological survey was performed, applying the Kato-Katz method with two slides per sample in 1186 schoolchildren which represents 77 percent of all registered pupils in four public schools in 2001. Among these schoolchildren a number of 101 (8.6 percent) prooved positive for Schistosoma mansoni eggs in their stool samples. A total of 64 families, whose schoolchildren had shown to be positive for schistosomiasis, also undertook examinations. As negative control, a random sample was collected from the 206 families, whose children had proven negative for schistosomiasis. The prevalence among 270 families (1304 people) was 12 percent. To assess those who continued to have contact with possibly contaminated water, 1061 (81.4 percent) people of the 270 families were interviewed. A multivariate analysis identified the following factors associated with the infection: time of residence in the area (short period), garbage disposal (use of deserted areas), gender (male), age (from 10 to 29 years), and water contact (daily and weekly). Further analysis of these factors revealed a close correlation between water contact and the disease, with a positive significant frequency concerning almost all those items. Depending on gender and age significant variations of water contact patterns associated with leisure and professional activities were found. A malacological survey on water collections in the area identified snails of the species Biomphalaria straminea and B. glabrata. The latter showed 17 (0.6 percent) specimens positive for S. mansoni. Qualitative studies have complemented such evidences, which allowed us to design a reference picture and specific indicators of the disease for the local population. Those data provided the essential information to continue the development of an already ongoing educative process, as well as projects on environmental improvements.

Science education and popularization of science in the biomedical area: its role for the future of science and of society

This paper presents the main subjects discussed in the round-table: "Educational Base for Biomedical Research", during the International Symposium on Biomedical Research in the 21st century; two main aspects will be focused: (1) the importance of popularizing science in order to stimulate comprehension of the scientific process and progress, their critical thinking, citizenship and social commitment, mainly in the biomedical area, considering the new advances of knowledge and the resulting technology; (2) the importance to stimulate genuine scientific vocation among young people, by giving them opportunity to early experience scientific environment, through the hands of well prepared master in a humanistic atmosphere

Health education for children in the control of Schistosomasis

Health education for children is an important measure in the control of schistosomiasis especially considering the characteristics of the disease during childhood, such as high prevalence, high percent of treatment resistance, high rates of egg elimination and high level of reinfection, as reported in studies conducted in endemic areas. All of these facts indicate that children play a role in the maintenance and transmission of schistosomiasis. Historically in Brazil, Health Education concerning the major Brazilian endemies consists of a kind of vertical, interventionist and temporary action. An alternative would be to create a permanent health education process by assigning health education teachers to elementary schools. This would require expansion and improvement of teacher training and the development of programs taking into account: 1) the cognitive aspects of the child, the child's perception of reality and of the health/illness process; 2) the adaptation of instruction means and materials to the age group; 3) a "pedagogy of liberation" approach emphasizing the possibility of transforming life conditions since schistosomiasis is related to the lack of public services such as basic sanitation and clean domestic water supply.