Bruno Luciano Carneiro Alves de Oliveira

The association between skin color/race and health indicators in elderly Brazilians: a study based on the Brazilian National Household Sample Survey (2008)

This study analyzed racial inequalities in health in 18,684 elderly Brazilians 65 years or older, interviewed in the National Household Sample Survey in 2008 (PNAD 2008), and who reported their color/race as white, brown, or black. Associations were estimated between self-rated health status, functional incapacity, and number of chronic conditions according to crude and adjusted regression analyses (α = 0.01). The majority of the elderly were white (56.2%). In the adjusted analysis, brown color/races was associated with worse self-rated health status (OR = 1.11; 95%CI: 1.03-1.18) and black color/race was associated with more chronic diseases (PR = 1.07; 95%CI: 1.02-1.13). Brown color/race appeared as a protective factor against functional incapacity. When brown and black elderly were combined in one category (“black”), “black” elderly continued to show worse self-rated health status (OR = 1.09; 95%CI: 1.02-1.16) and lower odds of functional incapacity (OR = 0.83; 95%CI: 0.76-0.92). “Black” color/race lost the association with number of chronic diseases. Color/race explained part of the health inequalities in elderly Brazilians, but other socioeconomic variables had a more striking effect.

Associação da cor/raça aos indicadores de saúde para idosos no Brasil: um estudo baseado na Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios (2008)

This study analyzed racial inequalities in health in 18,684 elderly Brazilians 65 years or older, interviewed in the National Household Sample Survey in 2008 (PNAD 2008), and who reported their color/race as white, brown, or black. Associations were estimated between self-rated health status, functional incapacity, and number of chronic conditions according to crude and adjusted regression analyses (α = 0.01). The majority of the elderly were white (56.2%). In the adjusted analysis, brown color/races was associated with worse self-rated health status (OR = 1.11; 95%CI: 1.03-1.18) and black color/race was associated with more chronic diseases (PR = 1.07; 95%CI: 1.02-1.13). Brown color/race appeared as a protective factor against functional incapacity. When brown and black elderly were combined in one category (“black”), “black” elderly continued to show worse self-rated health status (OR = 1.09; 95%CI: 1.02-1.16) and lower odds of functional incapacity (OR = 0.83; 95%CI: 0.76-0.92). “Black” color/race lost the association with number of chronic diseases. Color/race explained part of the health inequalities in elderly Brazilians, but other socioeconomic variables had a more striking effect.

Racial inequalities in the socioeconomic, demographic and health conditions of elderly from Maranhão State, Legal Amazon, Brazil: a population-based study

Aging with quality of life does not occur equally among the racial groups of Brazilian elderly, and few studies have analyzed this issue in the states of the Brazilian Legal Amazon. The objective of this study was to investigate racial inequalities in the socioeconomic, demographic and health conditions of elderly residents of Maranhao state, Brazil. The present work is a cross-sectional study of 450 elders aged 60 years or older included in the 2008 National Household Sample Survey. The prevalence of socioeconomic, demographic, health and habit indicators and of risk factors were estimated in white, brown and black racial categories that were self-reported by the survey participants. The chi-square test was used for comparisons (a=5%). The majority of the elderly respondents identified themselves as brown (66.4%) or white (23.3%). There were significant socioeconomic, demographic, habit and lifestyle differences among the racial groups. Most of the black and brown elderly lived alone, reported lower educational levels and were in the lowest quintile for income. These respondents were also highly dependent on the Unified Health System (Sistema Unico de Saude - SUS), exhibited low rates of screening mammograms and lower physical activity levels and had a greater proportion of smokers. However, there was no difference in the prevalence of health indicators or in the proportion of elderly by gender, age, social role in the family or the urban-rural location of the household. These results indicate the presence of racial inequalities in the socioeconomic and demographic status and in the practice of healthy habits and lifestyles among elderly from Maranhao, but suggest equity in health status. The results also suggest the complexity and challenges of interlinking race with socioeconomic aspects, and the findings reinforce the need for the implementation of public policies for these population groups.

Mortality by skin color/race, urbanicity, and metropolitan region in Brazil

AimThis study investigated the mortality rate distribution in Brazilian cities based on skin color/race and according to level of urbanicity and aggregation into metropolitan region (MR) in 2010.Subjects and methodsThe age-adjusted all-cause mortality rate (AMR) was calculated according to skin color/race (white, brown, or black). Municipalities were used as analysis units and classified into six categories: Rural within MR; Rural outside MR; ‘Rurbano’ within MR; ‘Rurbano’ outside MR; Urban within MR and Urban outside MR.ResultsRacial inequality intensified in line with increasing urbanicity level, from rural to urban areas. However, these differences depended on how the city was aggregated to MR, thus suggesting that the mortality spatial structure was based on skin color or race in these locations. The black population presented the worst AMR risk, mainly in cities outside MR. In addition, it was found that there was an excess mortality in the black population as compared with white people.ConclusionMortality-related racial inequalities were associated with urbanicity and MR level. They were also dependent on a complex combination of risk factors in these areas. City categorization may serve as an intervention point to reduce racial inequalities in health among populations in Brazilian cities.

Asociación de raza/color con los indicadores de salud para ancianos en Brasil: un estudio basado en el Estudio Nacional por Muestra de Domicilios (2008)

This study analyzed racial inequalities in health in 18,684 elderly Brazilians 65 years or older, interviewed in the National Household Sample Survey in 2008 (PNAD 2008), and who reported their color/race as white, brown, or black. Associations were estimated between self-rated health status, functional incapacity, and number of chronic conditions according to crude and adjusted regression analyses (α = 0.01). The majority of the elderly were white (56.2%). In the adjusted analysis, brown color/races was associated with worse self-rated health status (OR = 1.11; 95%CI: 1.03-1.18) and black color/race was associated with more chronic diseases (PR = 1.07; 95%CI: 1.02-1.13). Brown color/race appeared as a protective factor against functional incapacity. When brown and black elderly were combined in one category (“black”), “black” elderly continued to show worse self-rated health status (OR = 1.09; 95%CI: 1.02-1.16) and lower odds of functional incapacity (OR = 0.83; 95%CI: 0.76-0.92). “Black” color/race lost the association with number of chronic diseases. Color/race explained part of the health inequalities in elderly Brazilians, but other socioeconomic variables had a more striking effect.

Avaliação das atividades instrumentais da vida diária em idosos da periferia de São Luis, Maranhão

Pesquisa qualitativa, exploratoria, descritiva com o objetivo de conhecer e descrever como o tratamento medicamentoso a hipertensao repercute na vida sexual do homem, utilizando-se como metodo de coleta de dados uma entrevista semi-estruturada com 14 hipertensos do sexo masculino cadastrados no HIPERDIA e acompanhados nas diversas Unidades Basicas de Saude na cidade(UBS) de Caxias-MA. A coleta de dados ocorreu entre os dias 30 de maio e 05 de junho de 2012. A pesquisa em questao demonstrou que os anti-hipertensivos empregados na terapeutica da hipertensao arterial trazem dificuldades e constrangimentos para a vida dos hipertensos, uma vez que os mesmo causam efeitos colaterais que prejudicam a vida sexual dos doentes.