Implementation of a Telecardiology Service in a Health Unit in the City of Porto Alegre, Brazil: A Pilot Study

Abstract Background: The implementation of Telecardiology in primary care in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, is a viable and promising strategy. It would decrease the distance between patient and specialized professional services by reducing unnecessary referrals and improving the quality of primary care and satisfaction of patients and health professionals. Objective: To implement a Telecardiology service and assess user satisfaction using the CARDIOSATIS scale. Methods: This was a pilot study developed by a partnership between the Institute of Cardiology and the Telehealth Center of Rio Grande do Sul. The study was carried out at Eri Flores-Vila Vargas health center in the city of Porto Alegre, from May to October 2019, and included 21 patients attending the health center. The descriptive analysis of data was performed using the SPSS program (Statistical Package for the Sciences) version 23. Data normality was checked using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Statistical significance was set at 10%. Results: Mean age of participants was 43.8 ± 16.1 years. The most common risk factors in the sample were physical inactivity (81%) and smoking (43%). Most patients had normal electrocardiogram (ECG) readings. The time elapsed from the performance of the ECG test, transmission of the ECG traces to Telehealth, and return of the final ECG report to the health center was 0-7 days. The CARDIOSATIS scale revealed a high prevalence of "very satisfied" users for the general satisfaction domain, and only 14.3% of patients were dissatisfied with their health. Conclusions: Telecardiology reduced the distance between patient and the specialized professional, with a high level of patient and health professional satisfaction. Our study can serve as a basis for the implementation of a telecardiology network in the city of Porto Alegre in the future.

A essencialidade das academias de ginástica para a saúde diante da pandemia da COVID-19 no Brasil / The essentiality of gyms for health in the face of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil

Em maio de 2020, por decreto presidencial, as academias foram incluídas no rol de atividades essenciais. Embora o decreto presidencial não tenha sido adotado por muitos estados e municípios, pressões e posicionamentos em favor da reabertura do setor têm ocorrido. Este ensaio discutiu a essencialidade destes serviços e propôs elementos para pautar esta decisão, tomando como base uma sucinta análise de benefícios e riscos sob a ótica individual e coletiva por meio de pesquisa exploratória. Os diversos efeitos positivos da atividade física sobre a saúde permitiriam pressupor a importância da reabertura de academias de ginástica, contudo há distinções entre benefícios e riscos a curto e longo prazos relacionados às doenças crônicas e ao COVID-19 que permitem afirmar que as atividades físicas em âmbito domiciliar são mais adequadas neste momento da pandemia. Assim, não é momento de reabertura de academias de ginástica no país, sobretudo, por não as considerarmos como atividades essenciais

In May 2020, by presidential decree, gym centers were included in the list of essential activities. Although many states and municipalities did not adopt the presidential decree, it provided pressures in favor of the reopening. In the present study, we discuss the essentiality of these services and propose elements to guide this decision, based on a succinct analysis of benefits and risks from an individual and collective perspective through exploratory methods. The evidence on the various positive effects of physical activity on health is robust, which would allow us to assume the importance of reopening fitness centers. However, there are distinctions between short and long term benefits and risks related to chronic diseases and COVID-19 that allow us to affirm that physical activities at home are more appropriate for this moment of the pandemic in which there is an increasing number of infected and deaths

Distribuição espacial de Tenuipalpus heveae Baker (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) na cultura da seringueira / Spatial distribution of Tenuipalpus heveae Baker (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) on rubber tree plantations

The objective of this work was to study the spatial distribution of Tenuipalpus heveae Baker in rubber tree plantations. The experimental area was located in Marinópolis, State of São Paulo, and corresponded to a total of 1,000 plants (clone RRIM 600) divided in 100 plots of ten plants each. A total of 16 samplings were conducted, approximately once every 10 days, between December 2007 and June 2008. On each date, samples were taken from two plants per plot, each sample corresponding to the top 30 cm of a branch randomly taken from the median region of the canopy of each plant. The number of T. heveae was evaluated on three leaflets randomly taken from each sample, using a 20x power pocket magnifying glass. The number of mites was evaluated in two areas of 1 cm² delimited on the lower surface of each leaflet, being one along the midrib and the other along a lateral vein. The calculated dispersion indexes were: variance/mean relationship (I), index of Morisita (I´), coefficient of Green (Cx) and k exponent of negative binomial distribution. Tenuipalpus heveae showed aggregate distribution. The negative binomial distribution model was the most appropriate to represent the spatial distribution of the mite in the rubber tree plantation.