Luiz Fernando Costa Nascimento

Estudo de prevalência de defeitos congênitos no Vale do Paraíba Paulista

OBJETIVO: Estimar a prevalencia de anomalias congenitas no Vale do Paraiba Paulista em 2002 e 2003. METODOS: Estudo transversal com base em dados constantes na Declaracao de Nascido Vivo (DNV), cujas informacoes estavam no portal da Secretaria da Saude do Estado de Sao Paulo. As malformacoes foram descritas de acordo com o capitulo XVII do Codigo Internacional de Doencas (CID) 10, referente a variaveis maternas e do recem-nascido. A variavel desfecho (dependente) foi a presenca de anomalia congenita; as demais informacoes das maes e do recem-nascido constantes na DNV (variaveis independentes) foram analisadas para estimar as associacoes entre elas e a variavel desfecho. Utilizou-se o programa Epi-Info 6.04d para analise estatistica e o teste do qui-quadrado, do qui-quadrado de tendencia linear e o teste t de Student. RESULTADOS: Foram analisados 41.838 dados com informacoes constantes nas DNVs, sendo identificados 618 (1,5%) sem preenchimento do campo correspondente a anomalia congenita e 317 (0,76%) nascidos com anomalia congenita. Houve associacao positiva de anomalias congenitas com menor duracao da gestacao, maior numero de filhos mortos, tipo de parto, baixo peso ao nascer e menor escore de Apgar. Os sistemas mais afetados foram o osteomuscular e o nervoso. CONCLUSOES: A prevalencia de malformacoes foi menor que a encontrada em outros estudos, possivelmente por sub-registro de informacao.

Atmospheric pollutants and hospital admissions due to pneumonia in children

Objective: To analyze the relationship between exposure to air pollutants and hospitalizations due to pneumonia in children of Sorocaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil. M...OBJECTIVE: To analyze the relationship between exposure to air pollutants and hospitalizations due to pneumonia in children of Sorocaba, São Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: Time series ecological study, from 2007 to 2008. Daily data were obtained from the State Environmental Agency for Pollution Control for particulate matter, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, besides air temperature and relative humidity. The data concerning pneumonia admissions were collected in the public health system of Sorocaba. Correlations between the variables of interest using Pearson cofficient were calculated. Models with lags from zero to five days after exposure to pollutants were performed to analyze the association between the exposure to environmental pollutants and hospital admissions. The analysis used the generalized linear model of Poisson regression, being significant p<0.05. RESULTS: There were 1,825 admissions for pneumonia, with a daily mean of 2.5±2.1. There was a strong correlation between pollutants and hospital admissions, except for ozone. Regarding the Poisson regression analysis with the multi-pollutant model, only nitrogen dioxide was statistically significant in the same day (relative risk - RR=1.016), as well as particulate matter with a lag of four days (RR=1.009) after exposure to pollutants. CONCLUSIONS: There was an acute effect of exposure to nitrogen dioxide and a later effect of exposure to particulate matter on children hospitalizations for pneumonia in Sorocaba.

Fatores de risco para óbito em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva Neonatal

OBJECTIVE:To estimate the risk factors for mortality during hospitalization in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) using a hierarchical logistic model. METHODS:This longitudinal, observational and analytical study enrolled newborns admitted to the NICU from January/2001 to December/2003. The outcome analyzed was in-hospital death and the independent variables were prenatal, perinatal and postnatal factors. A hierarchical model with three levels was built. The variables with p<0.20 by bivariated analysis were included in the model and, after adjustment at the same level, variables with p<0.05 were maintained in the logistic model. Statistic analysis was performed by SPSS.10, software that estimated the accuracy of the model, adopting significance as p<0.05. RESULTS: Among 367 newborns included, 69 (18.8%) died during hospital stay. The following risk factors comprised the hierarchical model of logistic regression and were significantly associated with death among the studied neonates: previous stillbirth, being first or second child, Apgar at five minutes below 7, preterm newborn and use of mechanical ventilation. This model had 86.9% of accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: The model obtained in this study has variables of the three hierarchical levels and might be used in Neonatal Intensive Care Units that share the same characteristic of the unit herein studied.

Fine particulate matter estimated by mathematical model and hospitalizations for pneumonia and asthma in children

Abstract Objective: To estimate the association between exposure to fine particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5 microns (PM2.5) and hospitalizations for pneumonia and asthma in children. Methods: An ecological study of time series was performed, with daily indicators of hospitalization for pneumonia and asthma in children up to 10 years of age, living in Taubaté (SP) and estimated concentrations of PM2.5, between August 2011 and July 2012. A generalized additive model of Poisson regression was used to estimate the relative risk, with lag zero up to five days after exposure; the single pollutant model was adjusted by the apparent temperature, as defined from the temperature and relative air humidity, seasonality and weekday. Results: The values of the relative risks for hospitalization for pneumonia and asthma were significant for lag 0 (RR=1.051, 95%CI; 1.016 to 1.088); lag 2 (RR=1.066, 95%CI: 1.023 to 1.113); lag 3 (RR=1.053, 95%CI: 1.015 to 1.092); lag 4 (RR=1.043, 95%CI: 1.004 to 1.088) and lag 5 (RR=1.061, 95%CI: 1.018 to 1.106). The increase of 5mcg/m3 in PM2.5 contributes to increase the relative risk for hospitalization from 20.3 to 38.4 percentage points; however, the reduction of 5µg/m3 in PM2.5 concentration results in 38 fewer hospital admissions. Conclusions: Exposure to PM2.5 was associated with hospitalizations for pneumonia and asthma in children younger than 10 years of age, showing the role of fine particulate matter in child health and providing subsidies for the implementation of preventive measures to decrease these outcomes.

Exposure to fine particulate matter and hospital admissions due to pneumonia: Effects on the number of hospital admissions and its costs.

OBJECTIVE Given that respiratory diseases are a major cause of hospitalization in children, the objectives of this study are to estimate the role of exposure to fine particulate matter in hospitalizations due to pneumonia and a possible reduction in the number of these hospitalizations and costs. METHOD An ecological time-series study was developed with data on hospitalization for pneumonia among children under 10 years of age living in São José do Rio Preto, state of São Paulo, using PM2.5 concentrations estimated using a mathematical model. We used Poisson regression with a dependent variable (hospitalization) associated with PM2.5 concentrations and adjusted for effective temperature, seasonality and day of the week, with estimates of reductions in the number of hospitalizations and costs. RESULTS 1,161 children were admitted to hospital between October 1st, 2011, and September 30th, 2013; the average concentration of PM2.5 was 18.7 µg/m3 (≈32 µg/m3 of PM10) and exposure to this pollutant was associated with hospitalization four and five days after exposure. CONCLUSION A 10 µg/m3 decrease in concentration would imply 256 less hospital admissions and savings of approximately R

Prevalência de defeitos de fechamento de tubo neural no Vale do Paraíba, São Paulo

220,000 in a medium-sized city.

Prevalence of Cognitive Impairment Without Dementia and Dementia in Tremembé, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of neural tube defects in Vale do Paraiba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and to identify possible maternal and neonatal variables associated with these defects. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used secondary records of the Health Department of Sao Paulo State related live births during 2004 in Vale do Paraiba, Sao Paulo, Brazil. This region has 35 cities and 2 million inhabitants. Anencephaly, encephalocele and spina bifida (myelocele and myelomeningocele) were considered as neural tube defects. The following maternal variables were analyzed: age, educational level, race, number of born alive and stillborn infants and prenatal visits. Neonatal variables were: birth weight, gestational age and Apgar score. Numerical variables were compared by Student t test, and Odds Ratio values were obtained with the 95% confidence interval. RESULTS: The analysis was performed based on 33,653 records of born alive infants. Twenty-three infants with spina bifida were identified, with an estimated prevalence of 1.13 cases for each 1,000 live births. The presence of neural tube defects was associated to low birth weight, prematurity and low Apgar score. CONCLUSIONS: The estimated prevalence of neural tube defects in this region of Sao Paulo was lower than others reported in previous Brazilian studies. These defects were associated with low birth weight, prematurity and respiratory depression at birth.

Association between NOx exposure and deaths caused by respiratory diseases in a medium-sized Brazilian city

Background:The prevalence of cognitive impairment is insufficiently determined in developing countries. The aim of this study was to ascertain the prevalence of cognitive impairment without dementia and dementia in community-dwelling elderly in Brazil. Methods:This was a single-phase cross-sectional survey of the elderly (aged 60 years and above) living in the municipality of Tremembé, Brazil. Twenty percent of the households with elderly persons were randomly selected from urban and rural areas, to obtain a homogenous representation of all socioeconomic and cultural levels. Results:We assessed 630 individuals [mean age, 71.3 y (±7.99); mean years of education, 4.9 (±4.54)] and found prevalence rates of 17.5% (95% confidence interval, 14.6-20.6) for dementia and 19.5% (95% confidence interval, 16.6-22.8) for cognitive impairment without dementia. These prevalence rates were influenced by age (P<0.001) and by educational level (P<0.001). There was no significant sex difference among diagnostic groups (P=0.166). The prevalence of dementia was higher in relatively younger individuals (below 70 y) when compared with other studies. Besides, dementia was associated with low socioeconomic status, stroke, previous psychiatric disorder, alcoholism, and epilepsy. Conclusions:The prevalence of dementia in this study was higher than in other studies, particularly among younger elderly.

Hálux valgo e pés planos: as forças plantares são iguais?

Exposure to nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted by burning fossil fuels has been associated with respiratory diseases. We aimed to estimate the effects of NOx exposure on mortality owing to respiratory diseases in residents of Taubaté, São Paulo, Brazil, of all ages and both sexes. This time-series ecological study from August 1, 2011 to July 31, 2012 used information on deaths caused by respiratory diseases obtained from the Health Department of Taubaté. Estimated daily levels of pollutants (NOx, particulate matter, ozone, carbon monoxide) were obtained from the Centro de Previsão de Tempo e Estudos Climáticos Coupled Aerosol and Tracer Transport model to the Brazilian developments on the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System. These environmental variables were used to adjust the multipollutant model for apparent temperature. To estimate association between hospitalizations owing to asthma and air pollutants, generalized additive Poisson regression models were developed, with lags as much as 5 days. There were 385 deaths with a daily mean (±SD) of 1.05±1.03 (range: 0-5). Exposure to NOx was significantly associated with mortality owing to respiratory diseases: relative risk (RR)=1.035 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.008-1.063) for lag 2, RR=1.064 (95%CI: 1.017-1.112) lag 3, RR=1.055 (95%CI: 1.025-1.085) lag 4, and RR=1.042 (95%CI: 1.010-1.076) lag 5. A 3 µg/m3 reduction in NOx concentration resulted in a decrease of 10-18 percentage points in risk of death caused by respiratory diseases. Even at NOx concentrations below the acceptable standard, there is association with deaths caused by respiratory diseases.

Spatial distribution of low birthweight infants in Taubaté, São Paulo, Brazil

OBJECTIVE: to measure the plantar forces above the toes of women with hallux valgus and/or flat feet. METHODS: This study involved women with hallux valgus and/or flat feet confirmed by X-ray images. The plantar forces were measured utilizing force plates. Force was measured three times, which were taken with the women on barefoot and at upright position, recording the average for the three measurements. Data were acquired from Spider 8 system (HBM) and analyzed by using a Catman® software. The measurements for both feets toes force were reported and the averages were compared by the Students t-test according to the presence of hallux valgus and flat feet; the association between these deformities was estimated by using the two-tailed Fischers exact test, the statistical significance adopted was a = 5%. RESULTS: For this study, 20 women with or without hallux valgus were included. The mean force values found showed to be higher on the fifth toe compared to first toe of both feet (p < 0.05) in both situations. CONCLUSION: in this study, we found strong forces on the fifth toe than on the first toe, contradicting some studies in literature.