Maria Celeste Morita

Formação de profissionais de saúde no Brasil: uma análise no período de 1991 a 2008

Estudo conduzido com o objetivo de contribuir para o planejamento e implementacao de politicas de qualificacao profissional no campo da saude. Foram analisados 14 cursos de graduacao da area da saude: biomedicina, ciencias biologicas, educacao fisica, enfermagem, farmacia, fisioterapia, fonoaudiologia, medicina, medicina veterinaria, nutricao, odontologia, psicologia, servico social e terapia ocupacional, no periodo de 1991 a 2008. Dados sobre numero de ingressantes, taxa de ocupacao de vagas, distribuicao de concluintes por habitante, genero e renda familiar foram coletados a partir dos bancos do Ministerio da Educacao. Para o curso de medicina, a relacao foi de 40 candidatos por vaga nas instituicoes publicas contra 10 nas privadas. A maioria dos ingressantes era composta por mulheres. A regiao Sudeste concentrou 57% dos concluintes, corroborando o desequilibrio de distribuicao regional das oportunidades de formacao de profissionais de saude e indicando a necessidade de politicas de incentivo a reducao dessas desigualdades.Study conducted to support the planning and implementation of public policies on human health resources. Fourteen undergraduate health courses were analyzed: biomedicine, biological sciences, physical education, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, speech and language therapy, medicine, veterinary medicine, nutrition, dentistry, psychology, social work and occupational therapy between 1991 and 2008. Data on number of students admitted, college admission rates, rates of graduating student by inhabitant, gender, geographic area and family income were collected from the Brazilian Ministry of Education database. For medicine undergraduate programs there were 40 applicants per place at public institutions and 10 at private ones. Most students admitted were females. The Southeast region concentrated 57% of graduating students. The study revealed trends that indicates opportunity inequalities in the regional distribution of health professional education, thus supporting the need for policies aimed at reducing such inequalities.

Allelic variants of XRCC1 and XRCC3 repair genes and susceptibility of oral cancer in Brazilian patients.

BACKGROUND The capacity for DNA repair is essential in maintaining cellular functions and homeostasis; however, this capacity can be altered based on DNA sequence variations in DNA repair genes, which may contribute to the onset of cancer. Many single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in repair genes have been found to be associated with oral cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the presence of allelic variants Arg194Trp (rs:1799782) and Arg399Gln (rs: 25487) of XRCC1 gene and Thr241Met (rs: 861539) of XRCC3 gene and susceptibility to oral cancer. We also attempted to correlate the frequencies obtained for each of the SNPs to histopathological parameters. METHODS A case-control study was conducted with genomic DNA from 150 patients with oral squamous cell carcinomas and 150 controls. SNPs were genotyped by RFLP-PCR. RESULTS The presence of the polymorphic variants of the XRCC1 gene within codon 194 (OR 0.82, 95% CI: 0.44-1.51) and codon 399 (OR 0.94, 95% CI: 0.59-1.50) and within the XRCC3 gene (OR 0.72; 95% CI: 0.45-1.16) were not associated with an increased risk of oral cancer. A combinational analysis of SNPs in both genes indicated no association. The presence of the allelic variants of these two genes had no statistically significant effect on tumor differentiation, lymph node invasion or tumor size. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that allelic variants of XRCC1 and XRCC3 are not suitable markers for susceptibility to carcinomas of the oral cavity and are also not related to the later stages of such tumors.

Prevalence of dental caries in 3- and 5-year-old children living in a small Brazilian City

Despite the reduction in the prevalence of dental caries, very little is known about the prevalence of the disease, especially in deciduous teeth, in small Brazilian cities (<20,000 inhabitants). The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of dental caries in children aged 3 and 5 years of age in the city of Cambira - State of Parana. All children that participated in the national vaccination campaign against poliomyelitis in 2002 at the two basic health units of the city were examined. The campaign covered 99.5% of the population aged 1 to 5 years. Two previously trained and calibrated dentists performed the clinical examinations after the children brushed their teeth and recorded their caries experience by means of the dmf index. The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of the disease between the male and female genders and between the rural and urban zones. At the age of 3, 68.50% of the children were caries-free, compared to 31.10% at the age of 5. In the total population, 11.19% of the children accounted for 50.86% of the teeth affected by dental caries. The dmf index at 3 and 5 years in the study population was 2.10 and 3.51, respectively. These data showed that the city has not yet reached the goals proposed by the WHO for the year 2000, what indicates the need for greater investment in programs aimed to prevention and control of the disease.

Prevenção de cárie dentária por bochechos com flúor em município com água fluoretada

OBJETIVO: Comparar a prevalencia de carie dentaria em escolares que participaram de um programa semanal de bochecho com fluoreto de sodio a 0,2% com a prevalencia de carie em escolares que nao participaram do programa. METODOS: Estudo transversal na Cidade de Londrina, Estado do Parana, Brasil, cuja populacao consome agua fluoretada. Foram examinados 367 escolares de 12 anos: 190 participantes (51,8%) e 177 nao participantes (48,2%) do programa semanal de bochecho. Os indices utilizados foram o de dentes cariados, perdidos e obturados e o de superficies cariadas, perdidas e obturadas. Os exames foram conduzidos por tres examinadores e a concordância no diagnostico de carie foi quase perfeita (K = 0,90). A carie dentaria foi considerada variavel dependente. As variaveis independentes foram: a participacao ou nao no programa, estudar em escola publica ou privada, escovacao dentaria, quantidade de dentifricio utilizada, ingestao de doces e consulta ao dentista. RESULTADOS: O indice de dentes cariados, perdidos e obturados aos 12 anos foi 0,85 ± 0,059 (0,70 ±0,060 para nao participantes e 1,0 ±0,058 para participantes). O indice de superficies cariadas, perdidas e obturadas foi 1,16 ±0,017, variando de 0,34 a 1,66. Na analise bivariada, estiveram estatisticamente associados (P <0,05) com a presenca de carie: estudar em escola publica, participar no programa de bochecho e ingerir doces entre as refeicoes mais de uma vez por dia. Na analise de regressao logistica multivariada, mantiveram-se associados com a presenca de carie estudar em escola publica (P = 0,0004) e ingerir doces (P = 0,0010). CONCLUSOES: O programa de bochecho com fluor nao esteve associado a menor prevalencia de carie, seja em escolas publicas ou privadas. Entretanto, outros estudos sao necessarios para analise de custo-efetividade do programa em populacoes com maior prevalencia da doenca. No nivel de prevalencia de carie observado, o recurso destinado ao programa de bochecho com fluor poderia financiar outras acoes de promocao de saude.

Undergraduate programs for health professionals in Brazil: an analysis from 1991 to 2008.

Estudo conduzido com o objetivo de contribuir para o planejamento e implementacao de politicas de qualificacao profissional no campo da saude. Foram analisados 14 cursos de graduacao da area da saude: biomedicina, ciencias biologicas, educacao fisica, enfermagem, farmacia, fisioterapia, fonoaudiologia, medicina, medicina veterinaria, nutricao, odontologia, psicologia, servico social e terapia ocupacional, no periodo de 1991 a 2008. Dados sobre numero de ingressantes, taxa de ocupacao de vagas, distribuicao de concluintes por habitante, genero e renda familiar foram coletados a partir dos bancos do Ministerio da Educacao. Para o curso de medicina, a relacao foi de 40 candidatos por vaga nas instituicoes publicas contra 10 nas privadas. A maioria dos ingressantes era composta por mulheres. A regiao Sudeste concentrou 57% dos concluintes, corroborando o desequilibrio de distribuicao regional das oportunidades de formacao de profissionais de saude e indicando a necessidade de politicas de incentivo a reducao dessas desigualdades.Study conducted to support the planning and implementation of public policies on human health resources. Fourteen undergraduate health courses were analyzed: biomedicine, biological sciences, physical education, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, speech and language therapy, medicine, veterinary medicine, nutrition, dentistry, psychology, social work and occupational therapy between 1991 and 2008. Data on number of students admitted, college admission rates, rates of graduating student by inhabitant, gender, geographic area and family income were collected from the Brazilian Ministry of Education database. For medicine undergraduate programs there were 40 applicants per place at public institutions and 10 at private ones. Most students admitted were females. The Southeast region concentrated 57% of graduating students. The study revealed trends that indicates opportunity inequalities in the regional distribution of health professional education, thus supporting the need for policies aimed at reducing such inequalities.

Formación de profesionales de salud en Brasil: un análisis en el período de 1991 a 2008

Estudo conduzido com o objetivo de contribuir para o planejamento e implementacao de politicas de qualificacao profissional no campo da saude. Foram analisados 14 cursos de graduacao da area da saude: biomedicina, ciencias biologicas, educacao fisica, enfermagem, farmacia, fisioterapia, fonoaudiologia, medicina, medicina veterinaria, nutricao, odontologia, psicologia, servico social e terapia ocupacional, no periodo de 1991 a 2008. Dados sobre numero de ingressantes, taxa de ocupacao de vagas, distribuicao de concluintes por habitante, genero e renda familiar foram coletados a partir dos bancos do Ministerio da Educacao. Para o curso de medicina, a relacao foi de 40 candidatos por vaga nas instituicoes publicas contra 10 nas privadas. A maioria dos ingressantes era composta por mulheres. A regiao Sudeste concentrou 57% dos concluintes, corroborando o desequilibrio de distribuicao regional das oportunidades de formacao de profissionais de saude e indicando a necessidade de politicas de incentivo a reducao dessas desigualdades.Study conducted to support the planning and implementation of public policies on human health resources. Fourteen undergraduate health courses were analyzed: biomedicine, biological sciences, physical education, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, speech and language therapy, medicine, veterinary medicine, nutrition, dentistry, psychology, social work and occupational therapy between 1991 and 2008. Data on number of students admitted, college admission rates, rates of graduating student by inhabitant, gender, geographic area and family income were collected from the Brazilian Ministry of Education database. For medicine undergraduate programs there were 40 applicants per place at public institutions and 10 at private ones. Most students admitted were females. The Southeast region concentrated 57% of graduating students. The study revealed trends that indicates opportunity inequalities in the regional distribution of health professional education, thus supporting the need for policies aimed at reducing such inequalities.