Mortalidade materna na cidade de São Paulo de 1993 a 1995

Os objetivos deste trabalho foram: determinar o coeficiente de mortalidade materna para o município de São Paulo, as patologias mais freqüentes que determinaram o óbito e a distribuição por faixas etárias. Foram revisados neste estudo retrospectivo 179.872 atestados de óbito de mulheres entre 10 e 49 anos de idade abrangendo no período de abril de 1993 a dezembro de 1995.Foram selecionados 761 atestados de óbito nos quais o estado gravídico era declarado ou presumido. A gravidez foi confirmada em 291 dos 761 casos e 53 destes estão ainda sob investigação. Os dados foram tabulados, agrupados e analisados considerando a idade e a causa da morte, de acordo com a 9ª Revisão do CID - Classificação Internacional de Doenças. Dos 291 casos positivos para associação com gravidez, 82 (28,17%) não apresentaram nenhuma referência a este fato no atestado de óbito (subnotificação). Dos 291 óbitos, 183 (62,9%) se deveram a causas diretas, sendo a hemorragia (47/183), a pré-eclâmpsia/eclâmpsia (46/183) e as complicações do aborto (43/183) as principais patologias. Em 79 casos a causa foi indireta, sendo a cardiopatia (33/79) a principal patologia determinante do óbito. A síndrome hipertensiva (pré-eclâmpsia/eclâmpsia e/ou hipertensão arterial crônica) foi responsável por 19,93% das mortes. Este estudo possibilitou calcular o Coeficiente de Mortalidade Materna para o município de São Paulo: 50,24 por 100.000 nascidos vivos.

Trends in drug use among students in Brazil: analysis of four surveys in 1987, 1989, 1993 and 1997

The consumption of psychotropic drugs among Brazilian secondary school students was examined by comparing data from four surveys using a questionnaire adapted from the WHO's Program on Research and Reporting on the Epidemiology of Drug Dependence. Students filled out the form in their classrooms without the presence of teachers. The target population consisted of 10-18-year-old students (on average, 15,000 students responded to each survey) in Brazil's ten largest state capitals: Belém, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and São Paulo. Among the legal drugs, lifetime use (use at least once during life) of tobacco was increased in seven cities (the exceptions were Brasília, Porto Alegre and Rio de Janeiro). There was also a significant increase in frequent use of alcohol (six times or more per month) in 6 of the cities, from an average of 9.2% in 1987 to 15.0% in 1997. With respect to illegal drugs, there was a significant increase in lifetime use of marijuana (a 3-fold increase from 2.8% in 1987 to 7.6% in 1997). Cocaine use increased 4-fold over the survey period (0.5% in 1987 to 2.0% in 1997). Lifetime use of cocaine significantly increased in eight capitals (except Recife and Rio de Janeiro). However, frequent cocaine use increased in only three capitals (Belém, Fortaleza and Porto Alegre), from an average of 1.0% in 1987 to 3.6% in 1997. Lifetime use of medications such as anxiolytics and amphetamines increased 2-fold on average over the survey period. Comparing the four studies, the main conclusion is that there were significant increases in the frequencies for lifetime use, frequent use and heavy use of many drugs.

Brazil: an economy caught in a financial trap (1993-2003)

In the early 1990s, Brazil entered a financialized economic dynamic in which short-term financial valorization generated by the issuing of guaranteed public debt overshadowed the entire economy. This article analyzes Brazilian economic processes between 1993 and 2003, in particular the bi-directional relationship with external vulnerability, erratic international financing behavior and how State actions to obtain and maintain these resources fostered financialization. As a result, the entire economy became enmeshed in a self-perpetuating trap in which financial activity was predominant over economic activity.