Antônio Carlos Araújo de Souza

Stroke-Independent Association Between Metabolic Syndrome and Functional Dependence, Depression, and Low Quality of Life in Elderly Community-Dwelling Brazilian People

OBJECTIVES: Metabolic syndrome (Met.S) is a risk factor for stroke, dementia, and ischemic heart disease (IHD). It is unclear whether Met.S is an independent risk factor for functional dependence, depression, cognitive impairment, and low health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) in a population free of clinical stroke.

Adesão à prescrição médica em idosos de Porto Alegre, RS

Polipharmacy and medication non-adherence are problems faced frequently in the treatment of elderly patients. An exploratory cross-sectional study and quantitative approach were conducted to assess the frequency of treatment-adherence in elderly and how polipharmacy can affect adherence. Four hundred and sixty six elderly answered a questionnaire in Porto Alegre, RS in individual interviews. The adherence frequency found was 173 (37.1%) and was higher among those, who use less medication. These results indicate the need for implementing educational programs for the elderly in order to help them to follow their drug therapy.

Característica de Euler-Poincaré aplicada para identificar baixa densidade óssea a partir de imagens tomográficas de vértebras

The bone mineral density (BMD) is the gold standard test for the diagnosis of osteoporosis. Nevertheless, it is known that only this measurement is not sufficient to completely identify bone fragility and the consequent risk of fracture, becoming necessary the investigation of the bone structure. OBJECTIVES: Evaluate if the Euler-Poincare characteristic (EPC) for the analysis of the connectivity of the trabecular bone could supply an additional support in identifying the deterioration of the bone structure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A group of images forming dissectors were analyzed, obtained from the computerized tomography of the lumbar vertebrae, from which the Euler-Poincare characteristic (EPC) was estimated. To deal with the processing of images of the dissectors, a computer program was developed using the GTK+ for MS-Windows. The results were compared to the BMD. RESULTS: It was verified that the measurement of the EPC is correlated with the results obtained by means of the BMD for the lumbar vertebrae. It was also demonstrated that the area of connectivity of the trabecular that is propagated over the dissectors corroborates to ensure that the results of the EPC are consistent with the BMD measurement. CONCLUSIONS: The application of ECP in the analysis of the vertebral tomographies could constitute a method to evaluate the trabecular bone structure, and its correlation with the mechanical resistance of the bone, however being necessary more studies to confirm this data.

Profile of drug utilization in the elderly living in Porto Alegre, Brazil

The elderly population is one of the most rapidly increasing populations in the world. Physiological alterations induced by the aging process make these individuals more susceptible to chronic diseases and, consequently, to increased drug utilization. Objective To describe the profile of drug utilization in the elderly living in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Methods An observational and cross-sectional population-based study to investigate the characteristics of the population, sources of information and types of drugs used by the elderly was performed. Four hundred and eighty patients were recruited from data supplied by the City Hall of Porto Alegre. The elderly were interviewed individually during the period from January to May 2006 by trained interviewers. A validated pharmacotherapy questionnaire was used for data collection and data were tabulated and analyzed by the SPSS 11.5 computer program. Results Of the 480 patients interviewed, 13.8% did not use any medication. Cardiovascular system drugs represented the pharmacological class most used by the elderly (64.0%). When ill, 71.9% of these individuals visited the doctor, while 36.9% self-medicated. For the majority (50.2%), drugs were identified by their labels. Only 41.2% of the elderly understood medical prescriptions and 68.3% of the patients studied obtained the necessary information for the appropriate use of therapy from their doctors. Conclusions The present study suggests that a pharmaceutical care program for the treatment, prevention, and use of medications may provide a higher efficiency to elderly drug therapy.

Densitometria clínica: posições oficiais 2006

We describe the official positions of the Brazilian Society for Clinical Densitometry (SBDens) for the performance and report of the bone mineral density testing. These positions were obtained by consensus in a meeting at Sao Paulo in 2006. SBDens positions were supported by other scientific societies described in the text.

Situação vacinal e associação com a qualidade de vida, a funcionalidade e a motivação para o autocuidado em idosos

O estudo tem por objetivo identificar a situacao vacinal de idosos quanto as vacinas antinfluenza, a dupla tipo adulto, constituida dos toxicoides tetânico e difterico, e a antipneumococica polissacarridea 23 valente, relacionando-a com aspectos demograficos, com a qualidade de vida, o indice de funcionalidade e a motivacao para o autocuidado. O estudo e do tipo transversal, com uma amostra de 509 idosos. A media de idade foi de 70,30 anos e predominou o genero feminino. A situacao vacinal foi: antinfluenza - 76,4%; dupla adulto - 73,9%; e antipneumococica polissacarridea 23 valente - 6,7 %. Nao se constatou uma diferenca significativa na relacao da prevalencia das vacinas com o genero, mas houve uma diferenca consideravel entre os grupos que fizeram ou nao a vacina dupla adulto e alguns dominios de Qualidade de Vida. Os resultados tambem evidenciaram uma diferenca significativa na independencia funcional entre o grupo que recebeu e o grupo que nao recebeu a vacina antipneumococica polissacarridea 23 valente.

AGE, SOCIAL STRATUM, AND OBESITY IN LATIN AMERICA: SIMILARITIES IN THE INEQUALITIES FOR OLDER PEOPLE

neuropathy or nephropathy. Several mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy, including vascular dysfunction, polyol pathway, and advanced glycation end-product accumulations. A common mechanism may be involved in DM-related central nervous system dysfunction and peripheral neuropathy. The current analysis demonstrates that the specific factors associated with decline were different in two different tests, suggesting that multiple factors may cause diabetes-related cognitive decline.