Trends in social and demographic inequalities in the prevalence of chronic diseases in Brazil. PNAD: 2003-2008.

The aims of this study are: to evaluate the prevalence of chronic diseases in the Brazilian population comparing data of 2008 with those of 2003; to estimate the impact of chronic conditions on the use of health services and on the restriction of daily activities and to measure the differentials in the prevalence of specific diseases according to educational strata and the affiliation to a private health plan. Data were obtained from PNAD 2008 and 2003. The analysis included estimations of crude and adjusted prevalence ratios, using svy commands from Stata 11 software. The prevalence of at least one disease was higher in: the elderly, women, low schooling level, black or indigenous people, urban residents, migrants and people living in the south region of Brazil. The most frequent diseases were: hypertension, back and spinal cord disorders, arthritis and depression. Between 2003 and 2008, an increase in the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, cancer and cirrhosis was observed, and there was a reduction in chronic kidney failure and tuberculosis. All the diseases analyzed, with the exception of cancer and tendinitis/tenossinovitis, revealed a higher prevalence in low educational level strata. The greatest social inequalities were in chronic kidney failure, cirrhosis, tuberculosis and arthritis/rheumatism.1693755376

Prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and risk factors in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2008-2009

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and related risk factors. METHODS:A population-based cross-sectional study with 1,441 individuals of both sexes aged 40 years or more was conducted in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, between 2008 and 2009. A two-stage (census tract, household) cluster random sampling stratified by sex and age was used and data was collected through home interviews. Multiple Poisson regression was used in the adjusted analysis. RESULTS: Of all respondents, 4.2% (95%CI: 3.1;5.4) reported chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. After adjustment the following factors were found independently associated with self-reported chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: number of cigarettes smoked in their lifetime (>1,500 vs. none) (PR=3.85; 95%CI: 1.87;7.94); easily fatigued (yes vs. no) (PR=2.61; 95%CI: 1.39;4.90); age (60;69 vs. 50;59) (PR 3.27; 95%CI: 1.01;11.24); age (70 and over vs. 50;59) (PR 4.29; 95%CI: 1.30;11.29); health conditions in the last 15 days (yes vs. no) (PR=1.31; 95%CI: 1.02;1.77); leisure-time physical activity (yes vs. no) (PR-0.57; 95%CI: 0.26;0.97). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is high in the population studied and is associated with smoking and age over 60. Frequent health conditions and low leisure-time physical activity are a consequence of the disease.45588789

Spatial distribution of elderly individuals in a medium-sized city in Sao Paulo State, Brazil, according to key socio-demographic and morbidity characteristics

Geographic Information Systems serve as important public health tools for analyzing population disease distribution and thus for identifying individuals with chronic non-communicable diseases. The current study performed a spatial analysis of the distribution of the population 60 years and older in the city of Botucatu, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, studying the socio-demographic profile and the presence of diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension. Data were analyzed from 468 elderly individuals from a population survey conducted in 2001-2002. Elders with the highest socioeconomic status live in the census tracts with the highest social strata, as proven statistically by spatial analysis techniques for income and schooling. No spatial distribution pattern was found for elderly individuals with hypertension and diabetes, who were located heterogeneously on the map. The study suggests the use of geoprocessing techniques for digital mapping of areas covered by primary health care units, aimed at better monitoring of the distribution of elderly individuals with chronic diseases and their care by health professionals.251778

Perfis epidemiologicos de saude bucal no Brasil e os modelos de vigilancia

Abstract published in English and Portuguese English title: Oral health epidemiology and surveillance models in BrazilNational surveys are important tools for public health surveillance and thus key elements in monitoring health conditions and system performance. In the field of oral health, such surveys began with the oral health survey in 1986 and later in 1996 and with the SBBrasil Project in 2003. The 2010 edition of SBBrasil is the principal oral health surveillance strategy for the production of primary data. In order to contribute to this discussion, this article proposes: (a) to present and discuss the Brazilian experience with nationwide oral health surveys and (b) to discuss the use of data in health surveillance models. One can conclude that oral health surveys in Brazil have great possibilities as a tool for health services and academia. Such surveys have shown evident potential for verifying trends in the oral health profile, as well as for producing valid indicators for use in health services. = Inquéritos nacionais são importantes ferramentas no campo da vigilância em saúde e elementos fundamentais no monitoramento das condições de saúde e do desempenho do sistema. Na saúde bucal, tais inquéritos surgem a partir do primeiro levantamento em saúde bucal de 1986 e, posteriormente, o de 1996 e o Projeto SBBrasil 2003. A edição 2010 do SBBrasil se coloca como a principal estratégia de vigilância em saúde bucal no que diz respeito à produção de dados primários. No sentido de contribuir com essa discussão, este artigo se propôs a: (a) apresentar e discutir a experiência brasileira em inquéritos nacionais de saúde bucal; (b) discutir a utilização dos dados em modelos de vigilância em saúde. Pode-se concluir que os inquéritos de saúde bucal no Brasil têm grandes possibilidades de se estabelecer como ferramenta para os serviços e para a academia. Ficou evidente sua potencialidade em verificar tendências no perfil de saúde bucal, bem como em produzir indicadores válidos para uso em serviços.Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, Maria Ilma de Souza Côrtes, Karen Glazer Pere