Clinical and epidemiological profiles of individuals with drug-resistant tuberculosis

Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is a growing global threat. Approximately 450,000 people developed multidrugresistant TB worldwide in 2012 and an estimated 170,000 people died from the disease. This paper describes the sociodemographic, clinical-epidemiological and bacteriological aspects of TB and correlates these features with the distribution of anti-TB drug resistance. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MT) cultures and drug susceptibility testing were performed according to the BACTEC MGIT 960 method. The results demonstrated that MT strains from individuals who received treatment for TB and people who were infected with human immunodeficiency virus were more resistant to TB drugs compared to other individuals (p < 0.05). Approximately half of the individuals received supervised treatment, but most drug-resistant cases were positive for pulmonary TB and exhibited positive acid-fast bacilli smears, which are complicating factors for TB control programs. Primary healthcare is the ideal level for early disease detection, but tertiary healthcare is the most common entry point for patients into the system. These factors require special attention from healthcare managers and professionals to effectively control and monitor the spread of TB drug-resistant cases.

Prevalence of and risk factors for bacterial vaginosis among women of reproductive age attending cervical screening in southeastern Brazil

To determine the prevalence of and risk factors for bacterial vaginosis. A cross-sectional study of women aged 14-54 years attending 18 primary healthcare units in Botucatu, Brazil, for cervical screening was undertaken between September 1, 2012, and January 31, 2013. Data on sociodemographics, sexual behavior, and medical history were obtained by interview. Vaginal swabs were taken to classify the vaginal flora according to the Nugent scoring system. Candida sp. hyphae and infection by Trichomonas vaginalis were also evaluated by microscopy and culture, respectively. Stepwise logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors independently associated with bacterial vaginosis. Among 1519 women included in analyses, 457 (30.1%) had bacterial vaginosis. Variables independently associated with bacterial vaginosis were a single marital status (OR 1.4; 95%CI 1.1-1.8), partner infidelity (OR 1.5; 95%CI 1.2-1.9), abnormal discharge in the previous year (OR 1.5; 95%CI 1.2-2.0), and concurrent trichomoniasis (OR 4.1; 95%CI 1.5-11.5). Current use of hormonal contraception (OR 0.7; 95%CI 0.5-0.9), luteal phase of menstrual cycle (OR 0.8; 95%CI 0.6-0.9), higher income (OR 0.8; 95%CI 0.6-0.9), and vaginal candidiasis (OR 0.5; 95%CI 0.3-0.9) all had protective effects. The prevalence of bacterial vaginosis in the study population is high. The epidemiological data provide evidence of the sexual transmissibility of bacterial vaginosis.

Nível de atividade física no lazer em usuários do Sistema Único de Saúde

Although leisure physical activity has been investigated in general population, there is absence of data in Brazilian Public Health System about this issue. Thus, the purpose of this study was to analyze in patients attended by Public Health System the prevalence of leisure physical activity, as well as, to identify its correlates and associated diseases. Sample was composed by 963 patients (707 female and 256 male) randomly selected at five basic healthcare units. Leisure physical activity was assessed by Baecke’s questionnaire and subjects with ≥180 and ≥240 minutes per week were classified as sufficiently active. General and central obesity were assessed by body mass index and waist circumference, respectively. Diseases of high occurrence were classified according CID-10. There was low rate of physically active subjects in leisure time (14.8%),but high rate of abdominal obesity (70.1%) and orthopedic diseases (72.1%). Physically active subjects in leisure time had lower occurrence of orthopedic diseases (OR= 0.60 [OR95%CI: 0.37 – 0.98]). The same pattern of association was observed for central obesity (OR= 0.35 [OR95%CI: 0.19 – 0.65]). It is low the rate of physically active in leisure time at Brazilian Public Health System, which is associated with orthopedic diseases.

Interdependência entre os níveis de atenção do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS): significado de integralidade apresentado por trabalhadores da Atenção Primária

Integrality constitutes an important principle of the SUS, achieved through the struggles of the Brazilian health movement. It represents an expansion of the concepts of health and illness, to include the social determinants of healthcare needs. Intending to investigate the meanings of integrality reported by primary care workers, a study was developed in a medium-sized municipality in the state of São Paulo, concerning distinct technological work organization models in primary healthcare units. Among the results, the dimension of system integrality appeared with greatest frequency, according to analysis on focus groups. The workers pointed out difficulties in integration and communication between the healthcare levels, determined by selective social policies and medium/high-technology services delegated to the private market. The theoretical-philosophical framework of this study was based on cultural-historical psychology, taking into consideration the categories of work/activity, consciousness, mediation and totality.

Análise dos atendimentos obstétricos realizados pelo SAMU de Botucatu, SP

Pós-graduação em Enfermagem (mestrado profissional) - FMB

O aprender e o orientar na atenção primária: relato de experiência de um semestre de atividades no PET-Saúde

O programa PET-Saúde atua promovendo a formação de grupos de aprendizagem tutorial em áreas estratégicas para o Sistema Único de Saúde. Este trabalho tem o objetivo de relatar a experimentação de um semestre de atividades vivenciadas por acadêmicos da UFPA que compõem uma equipe multiprofissional do PET-Saúde/Ananindeua. Este projeto está atuando como estimulador de diversas atividades que valorizam o aprendizado e a humanização. Dentre as atividades estimuladoras de aprendizado dos acadêmicos estão: palestras e formação complementar; discussão de artigos científicos; e acompanhamento de atividades na Unidade Básica de Saúde. A Atenção Primária representa interessante espaço de aprendizado para acadêmicos em saúde, e a inserção destes em seu âmbito representa grande ganho à comunidade, que passa a receber valiosas orientações em saúde.

Análise dos atendimentos obstétricos realizados pelo SAMU de Botucatu, SP

Pós-graduação em Enfermagem (mestrado profissional) - FMB

Prevalência e fatores associados à síndrome metabólica em usuários de unidades básicas de saúde em São Paulo - SP

OBJETIVO: Determinar a relação da síndrome metabólica (SM) com o nível socioeconômico, hábitos comportamentais, condições de saúde, antecedentes familiares de morbidades e áreas de residência. MÉTODOS: Trata-se de um estudo de corte transversal. A amostra aleatória foi constituída por usuários de duas Unidades Básicas de Saúde da cidade de São Paulo - Jardim Comercial (UBS1) e Jardim Germânia (UBS2) -, totalizando 452. Para o diagnóstico de SM utilizou-se o critério do Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (NCEP-ATP III). Na avaliação antropométrica foram aferidas medidas de peso, estatura, circunferências abdominal e do quadril. Foi utilizado questionário geral para obtenção de dados sociodemográficos, socioeconómicos, antecedentes familiares e pessoais de morbidades, hábitos comportamentais como tabagismo, etilismo e nível de atividade física. Foi estabelecida associação entre as variáveis explicativas de interesse e SM, empregando-se a regressão logística multivariada. RESULTADOS: Na UBS1, o percentual de SM foi de 56,1% e na UBS2, de 34,0%. Houve associação direta e significativa entre SM e idade, sexo feminino, cor, tabagismo, etilismo, nível de atividade física, estresse e antecedentes familiares de doença cardíaca e de diabetes mellitus. A escolaridade apresentou associação inversa: morar no bairro de menor nível socioeconómico aumentou a chance de SM. CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados sugerem que as morbidades que compõem a SM são um grave problema de saúde pública nessa população.

Atenção primária à saúde e a construção de sentidos para a saúde bucal: leitura construcionista social sobre discursos de idosos

Dentistry is nowadays open to new ideas about the constructions of meanings for oral health. This openness tallies with the social production of health and shows the need to contextualize the social, historical and sundry knowledge in the development of oral health for different communities. The scope of this research is to build meanings for oral health with a group of elderly people. With this in mind, we propose an approximation between the discourses of the elderly on oral health and the Social Constructionist discourse. Thus, we interviewed 14 elderly people registered with a Family Health Unit in Ribeirao Preto in the State of Sao Paulo in the first semester of 2010. This enabled us to identify two Interpretative Repertoires with the use of Discourse Analysis, which showed the relationship between: 1 Lack of dental information and assistance in childhood; and 2 - Primary Healthcare constructing meaning for oral health. We concluded that Social Constructionism assists epistemologically for the construction of meaning for oral health and that Primary Healthcare is essential for valuing healthcare for the construction of meaning for oral health on the part of the elderly by fostering conditions for self care and healthy attitudes.

The coordination of care for tuberculosis control

This descriptive epidemiological study analyzed the coordination of tuberculosis (TB) patient care in primary healthcare services according to 23 patients, 16 professionals, and 17 administrators from Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, using an instrument adapted to evaluate TB. According to the informants, the coordination of healthcare provided to patients under the treatment of the Tuberculosis Control Program team was considered satisfactory; however, when there is a need to refer the patient to other care units there are weak points in the coordination of healthcare, which include: interruption of communication flow; and patients' incipient participation in the care process, with a need to increase the sense of responsibility for patient care and encourage patients to become active agents in the process.

Epidemiological intelligence as a model of organization in health

The concept of epidemiological intelligence, as a construction of information societies, goes beyond monitoring a list of diseases and the ability to elicit rapid responses. The concept should consider the complexity of the definition of epidemiology in the identification of this object of study without being limited to a set of actions in a single government sector. The activities of epidemiological intelligence include risk assessment, strategies for prevention and protection, subsystems of information, crisis management rooms, geographical analysis, etc. This concept contributes to the understanding of policies in health, in multisectorial and geopolitical dimensions, as regards the organization of services around public health emergencies, primary healthcare, as well as disasters. The activities of epidemiological intelligence should not be restricted to scientific research, but the researchers must beware of threats to public health. Lalonde's model enabled consideration of epidemiological intelligence as a way to restructure policies and share resources by creating communities of intelligence, whose purpose is primarily to deal with public health emergencies and disasters.

Incidence and Predictors of Adverse Drug Reactions Caused by Drug-Drug Interactions in Elderly Outpatients: A Prospective Cohort Study

Purpose. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the incidence of drug-drug interactions (DDIs) related to adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in elderly outpatients who attended public primary healthcare units in a southeastern region of Brazil. The secondary objective was to investigate the possible predictors of DDI-related ADRs. Methods. A prospective cohort study was conducted between November 1, 2010, and November 31, 2011, in the primary public healthcare system in the Ourinhos micro-region in Brazil. Patients who were at least 60 years old, with at least one potential DDI, were eligible for inclusion in the study. Eligible patients were assessed by clinical pharmacists for DDI-related ADRs for 4 months. The causality of DDI-related ADRs was assessed independently by four clinicians using three decisional algorithms. The incidence of DDI-related ADRs during the study period was calculated. Logistic regression analysis was used to study DDI-related ADR predictors. Results. A total of 433 patients completed the study. The incidence of DDI-related ADRs was 6.5%. A multivariate analysis indicated that the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) rose from 0.91 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.75-1.12, p = 0.06) in patients aged 65-69 years to 4.40 (95% CI = 3.00-6.12, p < 0.01) in patients aged 80 years or older. Patients who presented two to three diagnosed diseases presented lower adjusted ORs (OR = 0.93 [95% CI = 0.68-1.18, p = 0.08]) than patients who presented six or more diseases (OR = 1.12 [95% CI = 1.02-2.01, p < 0.01]). Elderly patients who took five or more drugs had a significantly higher risk of DDI-related ADRs (OR = 2.72 [95% CI = 1.92-3.12, p < 0.01]) than patients who took three to four drugs (OR = 0.93 [95% CI = 0.74-1.11, p = 0.06]). No significant difference was found with regard to sex (OR = 1.08 [95% CI 0.48-2.02, p = 0.44]). Conclusion. The incidence of DDI-related ADRs in elderly outpatients was significant, and most of the events presented important clinical consequences. Because clinicians still have difficulty managing this problem, highlighting the factors that increase the risk of DDI-related ADRs is essential. Polypharmacy was found to be a significant predictor of DDI-related ADRs in our sample.

Desempenho dos municípios paulistas: uma avaliação de eficiência da atenção básica à saúde

Neste trabalho, teve-se por objetivo construir uma metodologia de avaliação de desempenho dos municípios paulistas quanto à eficiência técnica na aplicação de recursos públicos nas ações de atenção básica à saúde e analisar a influência de variáveis não controláveis no processo de produção em tal área. A eficiência técnica é um dos parâmetros de avaliação de desempenho dos gestores públicos, refletindo a capacidade de uma entidade obter máximos outputs com o menor consumo de inputs. O alcance de tal métrica pode ser prejudicado ou favorecido pelas variáveis ambientais ou não controláveis que, se não forem consideradas na avaliação de desempenho, podem gerar vieses. Nesse sentido, por meio da metodologia Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) em dois estágios, os escores de eficiência dos municípios foram estimados e depois ajustados com o uso da análise de regressão. Os resultados indicaram que seria possível aumentar, consideravelmente, a quantidade de serviços prestados à população sem a necessidade de novas dotações orçamentárias na maioria dos municípios. Além disso, verificou-se que a maior proporção de idosos em uma jurisdição torna a prestação de serviços mais cara; por sua vez, maiores densidade populacional, grau de urbanização e escala dos estabelecimentos de saúde favorecem o gasto público com eficiência. Os cinco municípios paulistas considerados mais eficientes foram Tuiuti, Nova Guataporanga, Sabino, Lins e Santos.

Para além das grades e punições: uma revisão sistemática sobre a saúde penitenciária

A systematic review of scientific production on Prison Health was conducted, seeking to verify how the subject matter has been dealt with, establishing which is the most exploited focus and identifying possible gaps. The search was carried out in the Virtual Health Library. 1160 articles were located: 1104 on MEDLINE, 19 on LILACS and 37 on SciELO, published from 1993 to 2010. As MEDLINE and LILACS do not show the entire articles, the places, dates and languages of the texts were charted. In-depth analysis was restricted to works which were shown in their entirety and free of charge hosted on SciELO. It revealed that scientific production is present all over the world with a predominantly quantitative approach. It focuses on identifying the socio-demographic profile and health conditions of prisoners, the incidence of tuberculosis, Human Immunodeficiency and Hepatitis C virus infections. There is a predominance of studies carried out with male prisoners, in comparison with the female sex. It is clear that prisoner health is a public health problem on the rise, which demands research that can orient health policies and strategies.

A atuação do nutricionista na Atenção Básica à Saúde em um grande centro urbano

O nutricionista é um profissional importante na implementação de ações de promoção, tratamento e reabilitação da saúde. Porém, sua participação na Atenção Básica (AB) é reduzida. A cidade de São Paulo vem passando por um processo desigual de urbanização, produzindo novas situações de insegurança alimentar e nutricional. Este trabalho analisará a atuação do nutricionista na AB em um grande centro urbano. Trata-se de estudo de abordagem quantitativa no qual foram utilizados dados populacionais da Secretaria Municipal de Saúde e um questionário semiestruturado aplicado em entrevistas individuais. Encontraram-se 123 nutricionistas atuando na rede Básica de Saúde e 51 em Núcleos de Apoio à Saúde da Família (NASF). Todas as regiões do município apresentaram-se com menor número de nutricionistas quando comparada à recomendação do Conselho Federal de Nutricionistas. Em 57,3% dos NASF do município identificou-se a presença deste profissional. Cada nutricionista de NASF acompanha, em média, 7,1 equipes de saúde da família. As faixas etárias que correspondem à infância são as atendidas com menor frequência pelos nutricionistas das UBS e dos NASF. Comparando-se as atividades desenvolvidas, observa-se a transição de um modelo de assistência primária centrado no atendimento individual para um que prioriza o atendimento em grupo.