Lilian Barbosa Ramos

Prática do aleitamento materno em comunidades rurais do semi-árido baiano

A Research project in the establishment and duration of total and exclusive breast-feeding in rural communities of Cansação, BA, Brazil, is presented. It included 226 children, from zero to two years old, of families of peasants living on small-holdings in one of the driest and poorest regions of the Brazilian Northeast. The data were collected through questionnaires answered by mothers or any adult responsible for the child during 1988 and 1989. It relates to all children from these families who were two years of age at the time of the study. The survival time was the statistical method used to calculate the median duration of breast-feeding; 91.6% of the 226 children started to be breast-fed. This finding shows that the establishment of the breast-feeding was high. The median duration of total breast-feeding was of 90.28 days and exclusive breast-feeding presented a median duration of 0.1 day. Through the establishment of breast-feeding can be considered high, the median duration of total breast-feeding is extremely short and that of exclusive breast-feeding insignificant.Com o objetivo de conhecer p estabelecimento e duracao do aleitamento materno total e exclusivo em comunidades rurais do Semi-Arido Baiano, Brasil, foram estudadas 226 criancas de O a 2 anos de idade, filhas de pequenos produtores rurais que vivem numa das regioes mais secas do nordeste brasileiro, de pobreza absoluta. Os dados referem-se a todas as criancas da familia que a data do estudo tinham ate 2 anos de idade. Os dados foram coletados por meio de formularios aplicados as maes ou responsaveis pelo menor, no periodo de 1988 a 1989. A tabua de vida foi o recurso estatistico utilizado para o calculo da duracao mediana do evento. Das 226 criancas que integraram o estudo, 91,6 iniciaram a amamentacao ao peito. A duracao mediana do aleitamento total foi de 90,28 dias e o aleitamento exclusivo apresentou duracao mediana de 0,1 dia. Ainda que o estabelecimento da amamentacao ao peito possa ser considerado alto, a duracao mediana do aleitamento total foi extrememente curta, e o aleitamento exclusivo foi desprezivel.

Hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype: association with metabolic disorders and visceral fat in adults

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association of Hypertriglyceridemic waist with metabolic disorders and visceral fat in adults. METHODS Cross-sectional study with 191 individuals of both sexes. Subjects were grouped according to Waist Circumference (WC) ratings (Men: > 90 cm; Women: > 80 cm) and triglycerides (TG) (> 150 mg/dl) in Group 1 (HTW Phenotype): elevated WC and TG; Group 2 (absence of HTW Phenotype): elevated WC and normal TG or normal WC and elevated TG or normal WC and TG. Metabolic alternations, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and visceral/subcutaneous fat index (VF/SF) measured by computed tomography were evaluated as cardiovascu - lar risk factors between the groups. RESULTS Individuals with HTW phenotype, 82% had three or more cardiovascular risk factors. The association between cardiovascular risk factors with HTW phenotype revealed that among men 73.7% had hypercholesterolemia, 94.9% elevated non-HDLc and 78.9% excess of VAT area (p = 0.001). Among women, 65% had elevated Sistolic Blood Plessure, 80% hypercholesterolemia and 90% elevated non-HDLc (p < 0.02). CONCLUSION The HTW phenotype associated with the metabolic alternations and VAT excess. Individuals with HTW had higher number of cardiovascular risk factors. The Hypertriglyceridemic waist can be used in clinical practice for investigating cardiovascular risk and visceral adipose tissue in individuals.

Escola: lugar de estudar e de comer

This study seeks to discuss the significance of school nutrition expressed by students in public schools from the state of Bahia, Brazil. The objective is to understand the symbolic aspects associated with school nutrition. The results of a survey into the significance of nutrition offered by the Brazilian School Nutrition Program (PNAE) expressed by students from six public schools in municipalities in the state of Bahia, Brazil, are presented. A qualitative approach to understand nutrition at school and notions about healthy food by analyzing oral and written narratives of adolescents is used. The reports point to opposing stances between food in the home and food outside the home. What is customary can appear strange depending on the time and place. In this sense, they do not make an association between healthy food and PNAE. The food culture requires students to eat food on two occasions: breakfast and lunch (or dinner). These are aspects that are distinct, however they must be combined in school, because for these social actors, studying and eating are necessities that complement each other.

Indicators of Adiposity Predictors of Metabolic Syndrome in the Elderly

Background: Adiposity indicators can be used as predictors of cardiovascular risk in the elderly. However, there are only a very few studies that deal with the accuracy of adiposity indicators as predictors of metabolic syndrome (MS) in the elderly. We evaluated the performance of adiposity indicators of MS prediction in the elderly. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 203 elderly people of both genders. Variables: MS defined by harmonized criteria, waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), conicity index (CI), lipid accumulation product (LAP), and visceral adiposity index (VAI). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity (sens) and specificity (spec). Results: The WC, WHtR, and LAP indicators showed the highest AUC, with values greater than 0.84. For the general population, WHtR and LAP had the highest Youden index values, identifying a point of approximately 0.55 (sens: 85.6%; spec: 80.4%) for WHtR and 32.3 (sens: 81.1%; spec: 75.0%) for LAP. When analyzed by gender, it was observed that the WC and WHtR had the highest Youden index values for prediction of MS in both genders. The CI and VAI showed the lowest discriminatory power for MS. Conclusion: Both the adiposity indicators, WC and WHtR, as well as LAP, had high accuracy in MS discrimination. Therefore, they are effective in MS assessment in the elderly and during follow-up for individual and collective clinical practice.

Nutritional assessment in surgical oncology patients: a comparative analysis between methods.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The malnutrition found in oncology patients is the main responsible for the increase in morbimortality and worsening of their quality of life. Currently, the assessment of malnutrition is performed by subjective and objective methods, or the combination of them. Although these methods are routinely applied and their association is very common in clinical practice, there are few studies on the agreement between them. Thereby, this study aims to compare different methods for nutritional status assessment in surgical oncology patients. METHODS 173 oncology patients, admitted for surgery, were submitted to an anthropometric evaluation and answered a SGA, PG-SGA and NRS-2002. Kappa test was used to evaluated the level of concordance between the methods. RESULTS Poor concordance were observed between BMI and NRS-2002 (K=0,286), SGA (K=0,372) and PGSGA (K=0,173). Among the subjective methods, the best results were found for SGA and PG-SGA (K=0,690), and the lowest between NRS-2002 and both others (SGA: K=0,345; PG-SGA: K=0,322). CONCLUSIONS The poor concordance found between objective and subjective methods reinforces the importance of associating indicators in the nutritional assessment of this population Despite of the poor concordance found between the nutritional status assessment methods investigated in this study, patients who had greater depletion of body stores were also diagnosed with a higher degree of malnutrition by subjective methods.

Factors Associated with Anemia in the Institutionalized Elderly.

As a common problem in long-term care facilities (LTCFs), anemia affects 25–63% of the elderly. The aim of the present study was to describe the prevalence and characteristics of anemia and its associated factors in the institutionalized elderly. The cross-sectional study was carried out with three hundred thirteen individuals aged ≥ 60 years, of both genders, living in long-term care facilities for the elderly in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Poisson regression (PR) with robust variance estimates was used to assess the factors related to anemia. The prevalence of anemia was 38%. Mild anemia was predominant in both genders (male: 26.8%; female: 21.1%), as normocytic and normochromic anemia, with no anisocytosis (69.75%). Anemia was associated with thinness (PR: 1.68; 95% CI: 1.04–2.72) and with moderate (PR: 1.98; 95% CI: 1.07–3.63) and total (PR: 2.61; 95% CI: 1.34–5.07) dependence in the final model. Severe dependence exhibited borderline significance (PR: 1.94; 95% CI: 1.00–3.77). The prevalence of anemia was high in the institutionalized elderly in both genders, with characteristics suggesting chronic diseases as the causal factor, and the frequency of occurrence was higher in thinness elderly with moderate to total dependence.

Nutritional status of institutionalized elderly Brazilians: a study with the Mini Nutritional Assessment.

OBJECTIVE To assess the nutritional status of elderly living in nursing homes in the city of Salvador, Brazil and associated factors. METHODS Cross-sectional study performed with 359 individuals of both sexes, ages equal or over 60 years old, located in Nursing Homes in the urban area of the city of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. RESULTS Regarding nutritional status according to Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), 66.3% of the evaluated elderly were malnourished and at risk of malnutrition. When comparing sexes, it has been observed that among men the prevalence of this condition (76.6%) was higher than in women (62.4%). It has been observed, as a result of the multivariate analysis, that only the variable functional capacity for Activities of Daily Living (ADL) was statistically significant. There was moderate correlation between MNA and Mini-Mental State Examination (r=0.454; p<0.0001), as well as between MNA and the ADL scale (r=0.569; p<0.0001). There was weak negative correlation between MNA total score and age (r=0.159; p=0.002). CONCLUSION Malnutrition and malnutrition risk were conditions of remarkable importance, with almost two-thirds of the elderly in this situation. ADL functional capacity must be monitored given their close relationship with the nutritional status of the elderly. An interdisciplinary approach in the context of institutionalization is needed due to the association between nutritional status and variables of different dimensions.

Factors associated with sarcopenia in institutionalized elderly

INTRODUCTION The sarcopenia is a negative aspect for the health of the elderly, increased the risk for disease and mortality. Additionally can contributes greatly to functional reducing capacity and quality of life. OBJECTIVE To identify the prevalence and factors associated with sarcopenia in institutionalized elderly. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study, conducted with 216 elderly people, aged ≥ 60 years, of both sexes, residents in long-term care facilities in Salvador-Bahia, Brazil. To identify sarcopenia was used the skeletal muscle Index. Covariates were considered: gender, age, time of institutionalization, type of institution, body mass index and functional capacity. The Association between sarcopenia and covariates was evaluated using the Poisson regression model with robust variance. RESULTS The prevalence of sarcopenia in the elderly was 72.2% and this condition was associated with male sex (PR = 1,33; CI 95% = 1,081,65), thinness (PR = 1,29; CI 95% = 1,16-1,43) and obesity (PR = 0,37; CI 95% = 0,23-0,61). CONCLUSION The prevalence of sarcopenia was high among the elderly living in long-term institutions, especially among men. Elderly with thinness showed greater impairment of muscle reserves, while the state of obesity was protective.

Micronutrient intake in elderly living in nursing homes

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the ingestion of micronutrients in elderly living in nursing homes. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study, conducted with 216 individuals of both sexes, age equal or greater than 60 years, living in nursing homes for elderly in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Direct weighing of the food was used to get food intake, and prevalence of inadequacy was obtained using the software Multiple Source Method (MSM) and evaluated by estimated average requirement (EAR). RESULTS A high prevalence of inadequate intake of micronutrients was observed, being over 90% for vitamins E, folate, pyridoxine and calcium, in both sexes and between 50 and 70% for selenium, retinol, riboflavin, cyanocobalamin and vitamin C. CONCLUSION The high prevalence of inadequate intake of micronutrients in elderly living on nursing homes observed in this study may be used for planning public health strategies aiming to improve the nutritional context of this population and their quality of life, reducing the costs of health care.

Predictors of Metabolic Syndrome in the Elderly: A Review

O artigo teve como objetivo analisar criticamente estudos que avaliaram a habilidade dos indicadores antropométricos e clínicos enquanto capazes de predizer a SM em idosos. Foi realizado uma pesquisa bibliográfica nas bases de dados Medline/PubMed, LILACS e SciELO, além das referências de artigos selecionados e contato com autores. Foram analisados 21 artigos envolvendo indicadores antropométricos e clínicos em idosos, através de diferentes critérios da SM. Catorze estudos reportam aos indicadores antropométricos, sendo a circunferência da cintura (CC) e a razão cintura-estatura (RCEst) descritos como os melhores preditores de SM, com área sob a curva ROC (AUC) superior a 0,70 (p < 0,05). A circunferência do pescoço também foi descrita como indicador alternativo, porém com menor poder discriminatório. Para os indicadores clínicos, o lipid product accumulation (LAP) foi o parâmetro com melhor desempenho em identificar a SM em idosos, com AUC superior 0,85 e eficiência superior a 70%. Os indicadores CC, RCEst e LAP foram os mais sensiveis na predicação da SM. Desta forma, o emprego desses parâmetros podem facilitar a identificação precoce da SM através de métodos diagnósticos de fácil aplicação, boa precisão e baixo custo. Além disso, é importante a determinação de pontos de corte específicos para idosos, uma ver que a obesidade por si só, parece não ser forte preditor de SM em idosos.O artigo teve como objetivo analisar criticamente estudos que avaliaram a habilidade dos indicadores antropometricos e clinicos enquanto capazes de predizer a SM em idosos. Foi realizado uma pesquisa bibliografica nas bases de dados Medline/PubMed, LILACS e SciELO, alem das referencias de artigos selecionados e contato com autores. Foram analisados 21 artigos envolvendo indicadores antropometricos e clinicos em idosos, atraves de diferentes criterios da SM. Catorze estudos reportam aos indicadores antropometricos, sendo a circunferencia da cintura (CC) e a razao cintura-estatura (RCEst) descritos como os melhores preditores de SM, com area sob a curva ROC (AUC) superior a 0,70 (p < 0,05). A circunferencia do pescoco tambem foi descrita como indicador alternativo, porem com menor poder discriminatorio. Para os indicadores clinicos, o lipid product accumulation (LAP) foi o parâmetro com melhor desempenho em identificar a SM em idosos, com AUC superior 0,85 e eficiencia superior a 70%. Os indicadores CC, RCEst e LAP foram os mais sensiveis na predicacao da SM. Desta forma, o emprego desses parâmetros podem facilitar a identificacao precoce da SM atraves de metodos diagnosticos de facil aplicacao, boa precisao e baixo custo. Alem disso, e importante a determinacao de pontos de corte especificos para idosos, uma ver que a obesidade por si so, parece nao ser forte preditor de SM em idosos.