Mauricio Teixeira Leite de Vasconcellos

Reference values of handgrip dynamometry of healthy adults: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Although maximal voluntary handgrip strength (HGS) is considered a reliable tool in nutritional assessment there are few reference data available. This paper presents reference values for handgrip strength of healthy adults (age > or = 20 years) from a household survey. METHODS Data were obtained from a representative sample of adults (1122 males and 1928 females) living in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. HGS was measured three times with a Jamar mechanical dynamometer in both hands and the highest value used in the analysis. The percentile distribution of HGS was calculated according to sex and age categories. RESULTS Mean values of right and left HGS were 42.8 and 40.9 kg for males, and 25.3 and 24.0 kg for females, respectively. HGS increased with age and significantly decreased after 40 and 50 year-olds for women and men, respectively. Body mass index (BMI) was associated with HGS in both sexes but only underweight male subjects had significantly lower HGS values. CONCLUSIONS The highest HGS values are observed at the 4th decade of life with significant declines thereafter. HGS is significantly associated with BMI. The reference values of HGS may be useful in assessing the nutritional status of similar adult urban population.

O Sistema de Informações Hospitalares e a assistência ao infarto agudo do miocárdio

OBJECTIVE To analyze the applicability of the Brazilian Unified Health Systems national hospital database to evaluate the quality of acute myocardial infarction hospital care. METHODS It was evaluated 1,936 hospital admission forms having acute myocardial infarction (AMI) as primary diagnosis in the municipal district of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1997. Data was collected from the national hospital database. A stratified random sampling of 391 medical records was also evaluated. AMI diagnosis agreement followed the literature criteria. Variable accuracy analysis was performed using kappa index agreement. RESULTS The quality of AMI diagnosis registered in hospital admission forms was satisfactory according to the gold standard of the literature. In general, the accuracy of the variables demographics (sex, age group), process (medical procedures and interventions), and outcome (hospital death) was satisfactory. The accuracy of demographics and outcome variables was higher than the one of process variables. Under registration of secondary diagnosis was high in the forms and it was the main limiting factor. CONCLUSIONS Given the study findings and the widespread availability of the national hospital database, it is pertinent its use as an instrument in the evaluation of the quality of AMI medical care.

HIV testing among pregnant women in Brazil: rates and predictors

OBJECTIVE To assess rates of offering and uptake of HIV testing and their predictors among women who attended prenatal care. METHODS A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among postpartum women (N=2,234) who attended at least one prenatal care visit in 12 cities. Independent and probabilistic samples were selected in the cities studied. Sociodemographic data, information about prenatal care and access to HIV prevention interventions during the current pregnancy were collected. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were carried out to assess independent effects of the covariates on offering and uptake of HIV testing. Data collection took place between November 1999 and April 2000. RESULTS Overall, 77.5% of the women reported undergoing HIV testing during the current pregnancy. Offering of HIV testing was positively associated with: previous knowledge about prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV; higher number of prenatal care visits; higher level of education and being white. HIV testing acceptance rate was 92.5%. CONCLUSIONS The study results indicate that dissemination of information about prevention of mother-to-child transmission among women may contribute to increasing HIV testing coverage during pregnancy. Non-white women with lower level of education should be prioritized. Strategies to increase attendance of vulnerable women to prenatal care and to raise awareness among health care workers are of utmost importance.OBJECTIVE: To assess rates of offering and uptake of HIV testing and their predictors among women who attended prenatal care. METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among postpartum women (N=2,234) who attended at least one prenatal care visit in 12 cities. Independent and probabilistic samples were selected in the cities studied. Sociodemographic data, information about prenatal care and access to HIV prevention interventions during the current pregnancy were collected. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were carried out to assess independent effects of the covariates on offering and uptake of HIV testing. Data collection took place between November 1999 and April 2000. RESULTS: Overall, 77.5% of the women reported undergoing HIV testing during the current pregnancy. Offering of HIV testing was positively associated with: previous knowledge about prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV; higher number of prenatal care visits; higher level of education and being white. HIV testing acceptance rate was 92.5%. CONCLUSIONS: The study results indicate that dissemination of information about prevention of mother-to-child transmission among women may contribute to increasing HIV testing coverage during pregnancy. Non-white women with lower level of education should be prioritized. Strategies to increase attendance of vulnerable women to prenatal care and to raise awareness among health care workers are of utmost importance.

Sampling design for the World Health Survey in Brazil

This paper describes the sample design used in the Brazilian application of the World Health Survey. The sample was selected in three stages. First, the census tracts were allocated in six strata defined by their urban/rural situation and population groups of the municipalities (counties). The tracts were selected using probabilities proportional to the respective number of households. In the second stage, households were selected with equiprobability using an inverse sample design to ensure 20 households interviewed per tract. In the last stage, one adult (18 years or older) per household was selected with equiprobability to answer the majority of the questionnaire. Sample weights were based on the inverse of the inclusion probabilities in the sample. To reduce bias in regional estimates, a household weighting calibration procedure was used to reduce sample bias in relation to income, sex, and age group.

Pesquisa sobre as Condições de Saúde Bucal da População Brasileira (SB Brasil 2003): seus dados não produzem estimativas populacionais, mas há possibilidade de correção

The Brazilian Oral Health Survey (SB Brazil 2003) was the most comprehensive study on oral health conditions ever conducted in Brazil. Probabilistic sampling methods were applied in order for the collected data to represent the population age groups selected in the 5 regions of the country. However, this was not possible because the sampling process was never concluded, which would require estimation of the sample weights and identification of the samples other structural variables (selection strata and primary sampling units). This paper describes the SB Brazil 2003 sample design, formulates the inclusion probabilities in the multiple selection stages, and proposes strategies for estimating the sample weights. The strategy to define the sample weights and identify the samples structural variables hinges on retrieving data that should have been recorded in the reports produced during the survey, and in their absence, in information available from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC), as valid proxies.

Desenho da amostra Nascer no Brasil: Pesquisa Nacional sobre Parto e Nascimento

Este artigo descreve a amostra da Pesquisa Nacional sobre Parto e Nascimento no Brasil. Os hospitais com 500 ou mais nascidos vivos em 2007 foram estratificados por macrorregiao, capital de estado ou nao, e tipo, e selecionados com probabilidade proporcional ao numero de nascidos-vivos em 2007. Amostragem inversa foi usada para selecionar tantos dias de pesquisa (minimo de 7) quantos fossem necessarios para alcancar 90 entrevistas realizadas com puerperas no hospital. As puerperas foram amostradas com igual probabilidade entre as elegiveis que entraram no hospital no dia. Os pesos amostrais basicos sao o inverso do produto das probabilidades de inclusao em cada estagio e foram calibrados para assegurar que estimativas dos totais de nascidos vivos dos estratos correspondessem aos totais de nascidos vivos obtidos no SINASC. Para os dois seguimentos telefonicos (6 e 12 meses depois), a probabilidade de resposta das puerperas foi modelada pelas variaveis disponiveis na pesquisa de base, a fim de corrigir, para a nao resposta, os pesos amostrais em cada onda de seguimento.This paper describes the sample design for the National Survey into Labor and Birth in Brazil. The hospitals with 500 or more live births in 2007 were stratified into: the five Brazilian regions; state capital or not; and type of governance. They were then selected with probability proportional to the number of live births in 2007. An inverse sampling method was used to select as many days (minimum of 7) as necessary to reach 90 interviews in the hospital. Postnatal women were sampled with equal probability from the set of eligible women, who had entered the hospital in the sampled days. Initial sample weights were computed as the reciprocals of the sample inclusion probabilities and were calibrated to ensure that total estimates of the number of live births from the survey matched the known figures obtained from the Brazilian System of Information on Live Births. For the two telephone follow-up waves (6 and 12 months later), the postnatal womans response probability was modelled using baseline covariate information in order to adjust the sample weights for nonresponse in each follow-up wave.

Nutritional status of the adult population in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: the Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Health Survey

A household survey was conducted to assess the nutritional status of the adult population in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the selected households, all adults (>or= 20 years) had their body mass and stature measured. Body mass index (BMI) was used to determine the nutritional status according to the World Health Organization classification. The population estimates showed low prevalence of underweight (BMI < 18.5kg/m(2)), while 45.8% of women and 49.6% of men were overweight/obese (BMI >or= 25kg/m(2)). Obesity prevalence varied from 5.6% to 19.3% in men and from 9.6% to 21.3% in women, according to age. The prevalence of overweight/obesity was not associated with income (in either men and women) or schooling (in men), but there was an inverse relationship between schooling and overweight/obesity in women. The prevalence of underweight decreased with increasing mean income in the census enumeration area. The authors conclude that overweight/obesity is the most prevalent nutritional disorder in both men and women in Niterói. This pattern resembles recent results for the adult population in Southeast Brazil as a whole, where Niterói is located.

Sampling design for the Study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents (ERICA)

O Estudo de Riscos Cardiovasculares em Adoles-centes (ERICA) objetiva estimar prevalencia de fatores de risco cardiovascular e da sindrome metabolica em adolescentes (12 a 17 anos) matriculados em escolas publicas e privadas dos 273 municipios com mais de 100 mil habitantes no Brasil. A populacao de pesquisa foi estratificada em 32 estratos geograficos (27 capitais e cinco conjuntos com os demais municipios de cada macrorregiao do pais) e uma amostra de 1.251 escolas foi selecionada com probabilidade proporcional ao tamanho. Em cada escola foram selecionadas tres combinacoes de turno (manha e da tarde) e ano (serie), e em cada uma destas combinacoes foi selecionada uma turma. Todos os alunos elegiveis das turmas selecionadas foram objeto de pesquisa. Os pesos amostrais do desenho foram calculados pelo produto dos inversos das probabilidades de inclusao em cada estagio da amostra e foram depois calibrados considerando as projecoes do numero de adolescentes matriculados em escolas localizadas nos estratos geograficos considerados por sexo e idade.The Study of Cardiovascular Risk in Adolescents (ERICA) aims to estimate the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and metabolic syndrome in adolescents (12-17 years) enrolled in public and private schools of the 273 municipalities with over 100,000 inhabitants in Brazil. The study population was stratified into 32 geographical strata (27 capitals and five sets with other municipalities in each macro-region of the country) and a sample of 1,251 schools was selected with probability proportional to size. In each school three combinations of shift (morning and afternoon) and grade were selected, and within each of these combinations, one class was selected. All eligible students in the selected classes were included in the study. The design sampling weights were calculated by the product of the reciprocals of the inclusion probabilities in each sampling stage, and were later calibrated considering the projections of the numbers of adolescents enrolled in schools located in the geographical strata by sex and age.

Estado nutricional e tempo de tela de escolares da Rede Pública de Ensino Fundamental de Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

The aim of this study was to assess nutritional status, sedentary behavior (TV, computer, and videogame time and screen time as the sum of these first three) and physical activity using a questionnaire with youth (10 to 18 years of age) enrolled in public schools in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Anthropometry (body mass and stature), sedentary behavior, and information on physical activity were obtained in a probability sample of 10 to 18 year-old students (n = 328; 108 boys) stratified by school and selected in two stages (classes and students). Low height for age did not appear as a problem, but 25.7% of the youth presented excess weight (18% overweight and 7.7% obese). Total screen time did not differ between the sexes, but boys spent more time playing videogames than girls, regardless of age, while girls watched more TV. Boys spent twice as much time as girls of all ages in physical activity (three times more in the ≥ 14 year-old group). Screen time was significantly associated with excess weight. In conclusion, public school youth in Niteroi show high prevalence rates of excess weight associated with inadequate lifestyle.

Use of clinical guidelines and the results in primary healthcare for hypertension

This study aimed to identify strategies to implement clinical guidelines for hypertension in a primary healthcare unit, focusing on the effects of the Family Health Program (FHP) and government Pharmaceutical Home Delivery Program (PHDP) on adherence to guidelines by health professionals and the results of care. The data were obtained from a registry of 5,499 hypertensive patients, stratified according to registration in the FHP and PHDP. The random selection procedure resulted in samples of 150 patient charts in three strata and one stratum (without the FHP or PHDP) with only 22 patient charts. Descriptive statistics and linear regression models were obtained, incorporating the structural information from the sample design (sample strata and weight). Based on information recorded on the patient charts, adherence to clinical guidelines was extremely low. A positive effect had been expected from the FHP and PHDP in terms of adherence to clinical guidelines and results of care. A trend towards a positive effect was observed for the PHDP and a slightly favorable performance for the FHP for adherence to clinical guidelines.