Modelagem de equações estruturais na análise de dados de serviços em comunicações móveis

In recent decades, changes have been occurring in the telecommunications industry, allied to competition driven by the policies of privatization and concessions, have fomented the world market irrefutably causing the emergence of a new reality. The reflections in Brazil have become evident due to the appearance of significant growth rates, getting in 2012 to provide a net operating income of 128 billion dollars, placing the country among the five major powers in the world in mobile communications. In this context, an issue of increasing importance to the financial health of companies is their ability to retain their customers, as well as turn them into loyal customers. The appearance of infidelity from customer operators has been generating monthly rates shutdowns about two to four percent per month accounting for business management one of its biggest challenges, since capturing a new customer has meant an expenditure greater than five times to retention. For this purpose, models have been developed by means of structural equation modeling to identify the relationships between the various determinants of customer loyalty in the context of services. The original contribution of this thesis is to develop a model for loyalty from the identification of relationships between determinants of satisfaction (latent variables) and the inclusion of attributes that determine the perceptions of service quality for the mobile communications industry, such as quality, satisfaction, value, trust, expectation and loyalty. It is a qualitative research which will be conducted with customers of operators through simple random sampling technique, using structured questionnaires. As a result, the proposed model and statistical evaluations should enable operators to conclude that customer loyalty is directly influenced by technical and operational quality of the services offered, as well as provide a satisfaction index for the mobile communication segment

Apoio social e síndrome da fragilidade em idosos residentes na comunidade

Introduction: The frailty in the elderly is the result of a complex interplay between many social and clinical factors involved in its genesis. Although there is an understanding of its association with increased risk of adverse clinical outcomes, still it is unclear whether this syndrome can be aggravated due to lack of social support. So, the objective of this study was to analyze the association between social support and frailty syndrome in elderly community residents. Materials and methods: Observational analytical cross-sectional study, with a sample of 300 elderly living in the city of Natal-RN. Were collected informations about socialdemographic, economics and physical health data. The Social support was assessed by the status of cohabitation; marital status; contact frequency and diversity rate; received and given attendance frequency rate; and Map Minimum Relations of the Elderly. The frailty was assessed using the following criteria: unintentional weight loss, weakness, low physical activity, exhaustion and Slowness. To observe any possible associations, we performed the Pearson chi-square test, the Student t test and multivariate analysis using binary logistic regression, adopting a significance level of 5%. Results: It was observed that there were no associations of frailty with the social support variables, except for housekeeping mode (p = 0.046) of the MMRI. For the sociodemographic, economic, physical health and social support data, only age (p <0.001), sedentary lifestyle (p = 0.002) and poor perceived health (p = 0.001) were the ones that remained in the logistic regression model, with strong association for the presence of frailty. Conclusion: Among the variables related to social support, only to help with housekeeping was significantly associated with frailty. However, more studies need to be developed to characterize the social vulnerability, as well as health services need to recognize the importance of social support as an integral part of care for the elderly

Estágio menopausal e níveis hormonais no desenvolvimento muscular e funcional em mulheres de meia idade: um estudo transversal

Introduction: Hypoestrogenism is the main characteristic of female aging. It promotes significant changes in body composition, both in fat mass as in lean body mass, leading to a decrease in muscle strength and physical performance. Objective: The aim of this study was to test whether menopausal status and hormone levels are associated with muscular strength and physical performance in middle-aged women. Methods: In a cross-sectional study it was collected sociodemographic data, gynecological history, anthropometric and biochemical measures in women aged 40 to 65 years in Parnamirim-RN. The menopause status (pre, peri and post menopause) was determined by menstrual history. All women underwent three dimensions of physical performance assessment: handgrip dynamometry, gait speed and chair stands test - Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Categorical data were presented as absolute and relative frequencies. Quantitative data were showed as mean and standard deviation and the normality of distribution was verified with Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test. Biochemical measures of estradiol and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) were transformed to log10. ANOVA with Tukey post-test for comparison of variables between the groups pre, peri and post-menopausal was performed and then multiple linear regression analyzes. Results: Two hundred and seventy eight women aged 50.2 (±5.58) years composed this study, being 50 women in premenopausal status (18%), 122 in perimenopausal (43.9%), and 106 postmenopausal stage (38.1%). The groups were different in age (p=0.001), marital relationship duration (p <0.001), number of pregnancies (p=0.001) and parity (p=0.001). Differences in biochemical measures were observed among the groups: estradiol (p<0.001), FSH (p<0.001), total cholesterol (p=0.001). There were no differences in gait velocity between menopausal status. Values in mean of grip strength decreased by postmenopausal women to perimenopausal and premenopausal ones (24.5 ± 5.1, 25.6 ± 5.4, 26.9 ± 4.9 for post-stage, pre and peri menopausas, respectively, p = 0.02) and the performance of chair stands test was better in premenopausal women compared with that in peri and postmenopausal status (p = 0.02). In multiple linear regression for muscle strength, the variables that remained were: age, estradiol and somatic symptoms measured by Menopause Rating Scale-MRS (R2=0.15). While for the xiv chair-stands test the predictors were number of births and FSH values (R2=0.04). Conclusion: There is a relationship between the stages of menopause and muscle performance in measures of grip strength and sit-up test and these are influenced by the fall of estrogens levels. Data suggest that the decrease in muscle strength and physical performance already appear in the transition to menopause stage, pointing to the need for more research in this area and appropriate preventive interventions

Percepção dos idosos sobre saúde bucal

The assessment of oral health status in elderly patients is essential for the development of specific health policies. The prevalence of oral diseases is high in this population. The self-perception of oral health conditions influences the demand for oral care and quality of life for seniors. The aim of this study was to assess self-perception of oral health status in 100 elderly of both sexes, aged 60 years or older and functionally independent the Basic Health Unit of Felipe Camarão II, Natal, Brazil. For comparison of self-perception data was collected in Bom Pastor, Natal / RN. In this research data were collected a questionnaire grouped into two parts. The first part with the socio-demographic data, subjective and objective condition of oral health and access to the service, the second part GOHAI Index. This index consists of 12 items that make it possible to obtain information involving aspects of chewing, speech, phonation, and self-assessed oral health. The results were subjected to statistical tests of Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis test (α = 0.05), to identify possible predictors of self-evaluation. As a result, 69% were female, ages ranged from 60 to 86 years, with a median of 65 years. In relation to marital status 48% were married. For the years of study, the sample had an average of 3 years. For the last visit to the dentist, only 27% of seniors had visited the Dentist for less than a year. Regarding the questions about the presence of gingival and dental problems were answered by 46% and 21% respectively. The data on the perception of your teeth and gums, 44%. The index showed GOHAI value for self-perception of 30 points to Felipe Camarão and 28 points for the Bom Pastor, both considered a low perception. We identified predictors of self-rated number of people in the room, participate in any associational activity, there is problems with your teeth and your gums. Concluded a negative self-perception of oral health condition by Gone in both areas, influenced by socioeconomic and cultural issues, although they realize the importance given to oral health, but by the misfortunes of other prominent favored little valuing of oral health

O bem-estar subjetivo e os valores humanos em músicos e advogados da cidade de João Pessoa

Are there values that predict health? Moreover, would the absence of health motivate deterioration in the subjective well-being? This research has attempted to find answers to these questions by verifying in which proportion human values explain the subjective well-being experienced by people in different contexts of value reference. Both musicians and lawyers have been studied. In a preliminary study, composed of two researches, it was attempted to overcome the lack of bibliography in order to make known the current context of these professions in João Pessoa, Paraíba, through newspaper articles from the Correio da Paraíba and interviews with privileged informers. The technique of content analysis was then used identifying the main dilemmas of the professions as well as their socio-occupational contexts. In the second and main study, the aim was to verify the existing relations among the variables of subjective well-being and the human values for these professionals adopting the socioeconomical panorama of the occupations to support the analysis. 387 professionals took part in this study: 148 musicians (31.8% instrumentalists) and 239 lawyers (36.8% civil), with ages varying from 18 up to 77 years old (M=35.9; SD=12.35), and from 22 up to 79 years (M =38.6; SD=12.31), respectively, answered the Basic Human Values (BHV); Positive and Negative Affect Scale; Vitality Scale; General Health Questionnaire GHQ-12; Satisfaction with Life Scale and the socio-demographic questions. The SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used and it could be observed that, for the musicians, the importance of the type of existence/bio-social value stands out just as an indicator of vitality. The type of value Accomplishment/Power, showed itself important for the positive affection and for vitality, while the types Accomplishment/Self-direction and Normative haven t had any influence in the subjective well-being. Only the relation between the Existence/Bio- Social type and vitality was mediated by the sex and marital status variables. As for the lawyers, the type of predictor value of the subjective well-being was the normative [F(1,219) = 11,8, p ≤ 0,001; Rmultiple = 0,23, R2adjusted = 0,05]. On the other hand, the type Existence/Bio social presented a direct relation with vitality but inverse with depression. It was then concluded that the congruency of personal values with those promoted in the social context of reference may be an indicator of subjective well-being, given the existence of a social value context well demarcated

Masculinidade a prova: um estudo de inspiração fenomenologico - hermeneutico sobre a infertilidade masculina

Culturally, childbearing is understood as a situation that subjects will experience at some point in their lives, especially people who are married or have a similar affectionate relationship. Thus, to realize the inability to meet such a fate seems to be a natural cultural trigger of suffering, frustration and feelings of inadequacy and helplessness. Specifically for men, infertility is closely related to loss of masculinity, virility. He fails in his role as a male. This study sought to understand the impact that infertility have on the existence of a man who receives such a diagnosis, both in self-image as in their marital, sexual and professional roles. This study sets up as a hermeneutic phenomenological research based on the ideas of the philosopher Martin Heidegger. Participants were seven heterosexual, married and infertile men. Two interviews were conducted. The analysis of the material included both the material of the narratives, as the affectation of the researcher when interacting with the participants and their narratives, through phenomenological-hermeneutic interpretation. The results corroborate the literature that states the difficulty of the men, immersed in a context that defines them as virile, powerful and invulnerable to worry about issues related to health and disease. The possibility of any condition that impairs the reproductive capacity exceeds the acceptable limits of daily life for these men, not being recognized as a model of masculinity present in the condition in which they recognize. This leads to questions about their masculinity, role in the marital relationship and their existence. Thus, to recognize themselves as infertile surpass a medical diagnosis and is associated with the construction of meaning for their existence from the approximation with the infertility condition, which helps in redirecting their choices, restoring the project to be self and allowing further recognition as men. In the marital relationship, doing what they can to ensure, theirs happiness. Through these actions, they remain playing the role of family provider, showing that they are able to protect their wives and taking in assisted reproduction or adoption of children viable alternatives to fulfill the desire to leave a legacy and give a child to their wives and to society. Another result observed, refers to the ontological condition of care that characterizes the human being. The ways in which men are treated socially demonstrates a type of care that focuses on the development of characteristics such as strength, virility and determination but does not allow them to cope with the suffering of emotionally difficult situations, such as the diagnosis of infertility. At the end, the study gives rise to reflections on the need to provide a 12 space for men and their expressions of suffering, as well as to recognize their ability to overcome the painful and difficult situations

Elaboração e avaliação de indicadores comportamentais de aderência ao tratamento hemodialítico

Introduction: This work intents to characterize behavioral indicators of tack to the hemodialysis treatment in a sample of carrying patients of chronic kidney failure (CKF) in the great Natal/RN. The therapeutical adherence represents the agreement degree between the patient behavior and the health team lapsings. The CKF is the gradual and irreversible loss of the renal function, being the hemodialysis treatment an important alternative to assist or to substitute the kidneys. Method: The sample consisted in 80 chronic kidney patients in hemodialysis treatment in two located clinical centers in the region of the great Natal, RN. It was used as instruments (a) a protocol of clinical data collection, (b) the Millon Index of Personality Styles (MIPS) and (c) a script of halfstructuralized interview. Results: The results show a balance between the genders (51% of female and 48.8% of the male sex), average age and equal average time of dialysis respectively to the 43,4 years (±13,25 years) and 22,04 years (±4,24 years). The marital status of half of the sample is married, predominating basic education (43.6%) and a familiar income until a minimum wage (43.8%). It had been defined six physicianlaboratorial indicators to evaluate the therapeutical adherence, further the use of the evaluation of the health team and the patient themselves. Thus, there was an average adherence around 55.97% of the sample ±18.37%). However only between selfassessment of the patients about the adherence and the assessment made by blood pressure post-dialysis indicated a significant association (p=0,029, qui-square test). On the other hand, there was a significant association (p <0.05, chi-square test) among the criteria for treatment adherence and issues investigated in the interview - the perception on the quality of the health services provided to patients, the difficulties following the prescribed diet, the characterization of the days between dialysis sessions and the perception of patients about the dialysis sessions. It was also noted a significant association (p <0.05, Levene test) between adherence to therapy and scales that constitute the MIPS. The health team characterized the patients more adherent behavior as an attitude of acceptance of the treatment, looking actively for their implementation, for more information and knowledge, and establishing a positive communication with the team and with other patients. Similar results were confirmed by the MIPS evaluation. According to that assessment the more compliant patients adopt a more optimistic attitude, trying to act or adapt themselves to their environment, processing cognitively both concrete and objective information, such as more speculative and symbolic information. In addition they establish a gregarious, cooperative, submissive and flexibly pattern of interpersonal relationships to social demands. These characteristics managed to explain 55.7% of the adherence variation according the health team and 23.3% of the variation according the CaxP laboratory indicator. Conclusions: The MIPS shown to be able to identify the most and least adherent to therapy patients. The use of different adherence indicators is important for an evaluation covering the different facets of this process. The adhesion levels are observed within registered by the relevant literature. There is need for further studies with a larger sample to deepen the data findings in this work

Doadores de sangue: qualidade de vida e atendimento em hemocentro de Natal / RN

The context of blood donation in Brazil faces problems since the start of its operations in the 1940, in the beginning the biggest obstacle was obtain safe and qualified blood, and then, established criteria for donations, the barrier is the low number of suitable candidates for donation. This suitability is associated with the good health of those who goes to the services of blood banks and the return of the donor is often conditioned by the way care is given and perceived by the user. The quality of life, defined as a perception that a person has of her/his position in the world, can influence the health and emerges as a way to focus on the subjectivity in a context dominated by objective and practical exams; listen to the views about the received services increases the focus on the user and provides feedback to the institution, guiding and planning its future actions. The purpose of this study was to verify the quality of life in blood donors and their perceptions of care in a blood center in Natal/RN. This is a descriptive cross sectional study conducted with blood donors from Dalton Cunha Barbosa blood center. The used protocols were: a structures questionnaire with questions on sociodemographic and services perception data, and SF-36 quality of life instrument. The sociodemographic and SF-36 data ware analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, using the statistical package PASW 18.0; those related to treatment were submitted to thematic content analysis. The results revealed a sample mainly composed by men, married people, who attended high school and had already made previous donations, with the first two groups returning more often for donations. The scores of the SF-36 confirm the certificated of good health of the screens, beind high in all areas and featuring a healthy population; statistically significant differences were denoted between sexes, levels of education and marital status. The speeches about the service were mostly positive and had as main focus acess, agility, technical aspects and subjective feelings. The data regarding the Rio Grande do Norte blood donors profile confirmed some characteristics of the Brazilian ones, those data of the SF-36 were similar to those found in studies with healthy groups and the impressions about the care received show similarities with national and international studies about the attendance at blood banks

Evidências de validade do Millon Behavioral Medicine Diagnostic (MBMD) na avaliação psicológica de candidatos à cirurgia bariátrica

the Millon Behavioral Medicine Diagnostic is an instrument, developed from a consensus among health professionals, to identify psychological factors that may compromise the conducting of medical treatment in order to allow a better adhesion. As it has been one of the most used tools to assess bariatric surgery, the objective of this research is to verify the evidence validity of Millon Behavioral Medicine Diagnostic (MBMD) for psychological assessment of candidates for bariatric surgery. Method: males and females volunteers, aged 18 to 70, grouped in 150 patients admitted for surgical procedures or suffering from chronic diseases (control group) and 426 patients candidates for bariatric surgery, contacted in person or by the internet. For the study in the face group were also administered Millon Index of Personality Styles (MIPS), the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) and the General Health Questionnaire of Goldberg, just in bariatric surgery patients. Results: there are indicators of semantic adaptation of the instrument, with 27 factors in five areas of the instrument, all with satisfactory levels of validity. The reliabitity indicators were satisfactory in 18 of the 32 scales that comprise the MBMD, while relations with the other three instruments showed significant variations compared to the original indicators. The MBMD was sensitive to differences between groups about gender, age, education, marital status, body mass index, comorbidities and chronic disease patients and with or without obesity. The use of this instrument in the assessment of candidates for bariatric surgery presents indicators of validity in view the limitations as to the realiability of certain scales

Sofrimento solitário, mal-estar compartilhado :um estudo sobre a doença dos nervos

Nerves has been perceived as generalized suffering with multiple complaints, such as pain and other physical sensations, usually followed by symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. Even after medications have been prescribed, mainly psychotropic drugs to reduce these symptoms, exams aiming to discover the causes of the disorders, and a significant referral to health services, the problem tends to get progressively worse. The objective of this study is to characterize the diseases of clients who complain of nerves at the Unidade Mista de Felipe Camarão, Natal/RN, through in depth interviews, allowing for the clarification of ideas, beliefs and the meanings attributed to nerves by that person; to identify the symptoms and to know how they interfere in daily activities; to investigate the causes attributed to the problem and their relation to the biographical and psychosocial context of the patient. Thirteen women, health service clients, aged 30 to 59 years old, participated in the research. It was observed that they perceive, feel and act in unique ways with relation to symptoms, as well as to the attributed explanations and treatments given, showing the influence of life conditions, family context and their own subjectivity. Daily concerns and overwhelming responsibilities in the domestic environment, which usually stem from their precarious survival conditions, as well as marital conflicts motivated by the inequity of gender relations, contribute to trigger this type of suffering. The methodology of the research itself proved to be crucial to the comprehension and understanding of the meanings attributed to the complaints as well as to the argumenting process and the redefinition of the illness experience. Therefore, the importance of interdisciplinary intervention must be emphasize and specially the role of listening as relevant intervention resource

Prevalência e fatores associados ao risco e a desnutrição em idosos institucionalizados

One of the most important problems in the elderly is a nutritional deficiency. Several physiological changes and the use of multiple drugs interfere with appetite, food intake and absorption of nutrients, which can lead to the risk and malnutrition in the elderly, especially among institutionalized. The present study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of malnutrition and risk for malnutrition and its associated factors in institutionalized elderly. The same can be characterized by the type individual, observational and cross-sectional. Obtaining the sample was through the records of individuals of long-stay institutions for the elderly in the city of Natal, RN. The elderly were evaluated through the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and triceps skinfold (TSF) and each senior or caregiver answered a questionnaire about information like type and dietary restrictions, accessibility to food, use of alcohol and tobacco, practice physical activity and appetite. Variables such as age, gender, education, marital status, time that the elderly living in the institution, the reason for the institutionalization and comorbidities were taken from the records of each senior. The frequency of food consumption of various food groups was assessed from the questionnaire frequency of feeding study Health, Wellbeing and Aging (HWA). Data were presented as means and standard deviations, absolute and relative frequencies. To analyze the frequency of consumption, there was a factor analysis with extraction of factors from the principal components analysis with varimax rotation. A bivariate analysis was performed using the chi-square and the magnitude of the effect observed by prevalence ratio (95% CI). The Poisson regression assessed the net effect of independent variables on the two outcomes, considering a significance level of 5%. We studied twelve Homes for the Aged totaling 381 seniors eligible for the study. The prevalence of risk of malnutrition was 46.1% (45.9 to 46.2) and malnutrition was 31.4% (31.2 to 31.5). The risk of malnutrition was significantly associated with the presence of urinary incontinence (RP = 1.444, 1.113 to 1.874) was associated with malnutrition and lack of appetite (RP = 1.757, 1.246 to 2.476), the fact that the individuals do not have access to food outside the institution (RP = 0.565, 0.337 to 0.946), low water consumption (RP = 1.646, 1.101 to 2.459) and dementia (PR = 1.537, 1.072 to 2.204). The high prevalence of malnutrition and risk of malnutrition in the study suggests that we should pay attention to information related to eating habits and the presence of comorbidities, as these can influence the nutritional status of this population

Mulher como sujeito da criminalidade: um estudo sobre a realidade de presidiárias do complexo Penal Dr. João Chaves Natal/ RN

This work presents itself as a result of the research: Women as the subject of crime: a study on the complex reality of the criminal inmates Dr. John Keys - Natal / RN, done with women incarcerated in the Women's Pavilion Complex Criminal Dr. John Keys. Aimed to investigate the key determinants that lead women to enter the institution to be subject of crime. To better understand the object of our study, we start to understand and analyze the social reality, economic and cultural these women, as well as seizure of their family relationships and emotional, within a gender perspective and consider the analysis of major crimes committed and their determinations. In our study, it appears from successive approximations and procedures theoretical and methodological quality and quantity, we were privileged to documentary research, observation and semi-structured, beyond the theoretical foundation on the subject - that the question of increase in recent years, women in the criminal occurs as a result of socioeconomic reality experienced by those. At the same time, the study has also believe that poverty and crime are not phenomena of cause and effect, however, it is undeniable that the large number of prisoners (as) are poor and live situation of denial of rights. The main focus of the research points to the socio-emotional relationships, both marital and family as the main determinant for inclusion of women in crime, breaking with the myth that the woman is "fragile sex." And, more, points out that the woman in the process of emancipation and achievement of public spaces to commit a crime seek equal to the male. Moreover, the research also denounced in a prison system collapsed, and totally abandoned by the public. That denies all rights provided to prisoners (as), both inside and outside the "walls". It is a system that criminalizes and no one wants to fulfill its role, which is the functional rehabilitation and resocialization of (the) inmates (those). It is hoped that this work could contribute to the unveiling of the reality of women in the criminal - no pretension of exhausting it - and can also contribute to further studies on the subject

(In)visibilidade da violência doméstica no atendimento do Sistema Público de Saúde: nos bairros das Quintas e de Felipe Camarão

It analyses the approach given by health professionals (social workers, nurses and doctors) against woman violence at the Medical Unities of Felipe Camarão and Quintas of the City of Natal and searches to identify if the domestic violence is (in)visible at the Public Health Assistance System attendance. and It refers to the grandiosity of this violence and its consequences to the women health, recognizing it as a public health problem. To the comprehension of the relationship between violent acts against women and their health serious damages, exposes the battle history of the feminist movements and the brazilian women, demonstrating the visibility acquired by theses conquests of the questions related to the women and how the gender study becomes the central category to (re) think the social relations involving women and men, specially, the violent relationships between them. It analyses, mainly, those practiced by the husbands, partners, boyfriends or lovers. It refers, at the end, about the public politics of violence combat adopted at police stations at health centers, showing the difficulties to establish the legislation that exists to combat the violence suffered by the women that look for assistance at the health unities. It intends, with this way, to give more visibility to the domestic questions at the marital relations and ask attention from the public power and health professionals between them, the social worker to the (in) visibility of this problems at the attendances practiced

Vivenciando a sobrecarga ao vir-a-ser um cuidador familiar de pessoa com acidente vascular cerebral (AVC): análise do conhecimento

Trata-se de trabalho do tipo bibliográfico com a finalidade de fazer uma análise temática da produção do conhecimento em periódicos, acerca da sobrecarga em cuidadores familiares de pessoas com Acidente Vascular Cerebral (AVC). O corpus de análise reuniu artigos localizados nas décadas de 80 e 90, a partir das bases de dados Medline, Lilacs e Cinahl. A análise de conteúdo foi o referencial metodológico que permitiu organizar todo o conhecimento, em um corpo de categorias e subcategorias, denominadas: Categoria 1 - As seqüelas do AVC gerando sobrecarga; Categoria 2 - Aspectos gerando sobrecarga, congregando as subcategorias: o isolamento social, as mudanças e as insatisfações conjugais, as dificuldades financeiras e os déficits na saúde física e no autocuidado do cuidador; Categoria 3 - Outras análises relacionadas à sobrecarga em cuidadores familiares.

Caracterização epidemiológica e demográfica de homens com câncer de próstata

O estudo pretende identificar características demográficas e epidemiológicas em homens com câncer de próstata, atendidos no Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu/UNESP, entre 01/01/2000 e 31/01/2003. Foram colhidos dados em 78 de 94 prontuários, observando-se escolaridade, uso de tabaco, estado civil, idade, diagnóstico e sintomatologia. Utilizou-se metodologia quantitativa associada à estatística descritiva. Foram encontrados 50% com 1º grau incompleto, 27,39% não tabagistas, 87% casados, 43% entre 64 e 73 anos. Observou-se que 27,58% foram diagnosticados em 2000, sendo 63,20% aposentados e 20,70% com sintoma de jato urinário fraco. Apenas 20% tinham realizado exames preventivos e, desses, 77,90% possuíam 1º grau incompleto. O estudo foi feito nesse hospital por ser considerado de referência terciária da Direção Regional de Saúde de Botucatu -DIR XI¹. da amostra, 80% procuraram o serviço apresentando sintomas, o que leva a crer que ainda haja falta de orientação da população quanto ao câncer de próstata, principalmente quanto à incidência e prevalência relacionadas à idade, como fator de risco. O estudo evidencia subsídios para um melhor direcionamento da assistência a esses pacientes, permitindo um diagnóstico precoce e conseqüente possibilidade de cura, além da melhora na qualidade de vida.