Clareci Silva Cardoso

Factors associated with low quality of life in schizophrenia

Interest in quality of life in mental health care has been stimulated by the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric patients as well as a parallel interest in understanding the scope of their daily lives. This study aims to investigate the socio-demographic and clinical variables related to low quality of life, using a cross-sectional design to evaluate quality of life by means of the QLS-BR scale. We interviewed a sample of 123 outpatients from a reference mental health center in Divinópolis, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, clinically diagnosed with schizophrenia. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were carried out. The results showed that low quality of life is associated with one or more of the following: male gender, single marital status, low income plus low schooling, use of three or more prescribed psychoactive drugs, psychomotor agitation during the interview, and current follow-up care. The study identifies plausible indicators for the attention and care needed to improve psychiatric patient treatment.

Cost-benefit of the telecardiology service in the state of Minas Gerais: Minas Telecardio Project

BACKGROUND Telecardiology is a tool that can aid in cardiovascular care, mainly in towns located in remote areas. However, economic assessments on this subject are scarce and have yielded controversial results. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the cost-benefit of implementing a Telecardiology service in remote, small towns in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. METHODS The study used the database from the Minas Telecardio (MTC) Project, developed from June 2006 to November 2008, in 82 towns in the countryside of the state. Each municipality received a microcomputer with a digital electrocardiograph, with the possibility of transmitting ECG tracings and communicating with the on-duty cardiologist at the University hospital. The cost-benefit analysis was carried out by comparing the cost of performing an ECG in the project versus the cost of performing it by patient referral to another city. RESULTS The average cost of an ECG in the MTC project was R

Ordinal logistic regression models: application in quality of life studies

28.92, decomposed into R

Qualidade de vida e dimensão ocupacional na esquizofrenia: uma comparação por sexo

8.08 for the cost of implementation and R

Precauções de contato em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva: fatores facilitadores e dificultadores para adesão dos profissionais

20.84 for maintenance. The cost simulation of the ECG with referral ranged from R

[Contact precautions in intensive care units: facilitating and inhibiting factors for professionals' adherence].

30.91 to R

Intensive care unit professionals' knowledge and behavior related to the adoption of contact precautions

54.58, with the cost-benefit ratio being always favorable to the MTC program, regardless of the type of calculation used for referral distance. The simulations considered the financial sponsors and societys points-of-view. The sensitivity analysis with variation of calibration parameters confirmed these results. CONCLUSION The implementation of a Telecardiology system as support to primary care in small Brazilian towns is feasible and economically beneficial, and can be used as a regular program within the Brazilian public health system.

Implementation of a telecardiology system in the state of Minas Gerais: the Minas Telecardio Project

Quality of life has been increasingly emphasized in public health research in recent years. Typically, the results of quality of life are measured by means of ordinal scales. In these situations, specific statistical methods are necessary because procedures such as either dichotomization or misinformation on the distribution of the outcome variable may complicate the inferential process. Ordinal logistic regression models are appropriate in many of these situations. This article presents a review of the proportional odds model, partial proportional odds model, continuation ratio model, and stereotype model. The fit, statistical inference, and comparisons between models are illustrated with data from a study on quality of life in 273 patients with schizophrenia. All tested models showed good fit, but the proportional odds or partial proportional odds models proved to be the best choice due to the nature of the data and ease of interpretation of the results. Ordinal logistic models perform differently depending on categorization of outcome, adequacy in relation to assumptions, goodness-of-fit, and parsimony.

Sickle Cell Disease: quality of life in patients with hemoglobin SS and SC disorders.

Schizophrenia has been associated with low quality of life in patients, and the impact can vary by gender. Knowing gender differences may help implement specific interventions. This study focuses on quality of life in male and female outpatients with schizophrenia, particularly examining the occupational domain. A cross-sectional study using the Quality of Life Scale (QLS-BR) was carried out. Comparisons of scores by gender used uni- and multivariate analyses by means of a classification tree through the CHAID algorithm and ordinal logistic regression. Women showed higher quality of life scores (p 5 years) was another significant factor for lower scores. Women had better quality of life scores than men, suggesting that they have more occupational activities due to their greater participation in domestic and social activities.

Depressão na esquizofrenia: prevalência e relação com a qualidade de vida

Objetivou-se identificar os fatores que facilitam ou dificultam a adesao as precaucoes de contato, por parte de profissionais de um Centro de Terapia Intensiva de hospital geral. Tratou-se de um estudo transversal, realizado de maio a outubro de 2007, utilizando-se um questionario semi-estruturado para coleta de dados. Participaram do estudo 102 profissionais: tecnico de enfermagem (54,9%), enfermeiro (12,7%), medico preceptor (10,8%), fisioterapeuta aprimorando (8,8%), fisioterapeuta preceptor (7,8%) e medico residente (4,9%). Os fatores dificultadores para a adesao a higienizacao das maos foram o esquecimento, falta de conhecimento, distância da pia, irritacao da pele e falta de materiais. O uso do capote apresentou maior dificuldade (45%) pela sua ausencia no box, acondicionamento inadequado, calor, e ao seu uso coletivo. O uso de luvas foi a conduta de maior facilidade na pratica cotidiana. Os resultados deste estudo apontam a necessidade de implementar medidas de precaucao a fim de minimizar a disseminacao de microrganismos resistentes.