Prevalence of high frequency hearing loss consistent with noise exposure among people working with sound systems and general population in Brazil: A cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Music is ever present in our daily lives, establishing a link between humans and the arts through the senses and pleasure. Sound technicians are the link between musicians and audiences or consumers. Recently, general concern has arisen regarding occurrences of hearing loss induced by noise from excessively amplified sound-producing activities within leisure and professional environments. Sound technicians' activities expose them to the risk of hearing loss, and consequently put at risk their quality of life, the quality of the musical product and consumers' hearing. The aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of high frequency hearing loss consistent with noise exposure among sound technicians in Brazil and compare this with a control group without occupational noise exposure.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a cross-sectional study comparing 177 participants in two groups: 82 sound technicians and 95 controls (non-sound technicians). A questionnaire on music listening habits and associated complaints was applied, and data were gathered regarding the professionals' numbers of working hours per day and both groups' hearing complaint and presence of tinnitus. The participants' ear canals were visually inspected using an otoscope. Hearing assessments were performed (tonal and speech audiometry) using a portable digital AD 229 E audiometer funded by FAPESP.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was no statistically significant difference between the sound technicians and controls regarding age and gender. Thus, the study sample was homogenous and would be unlikely to lead to bias in the results. A statistically significant difference in hearing loss was observed between the groups: 50% among the sound technicians and 10.5% among the controls. The difference could be addressed to high sound levels.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The sound technicians presented a higher prevalence of high frequency hearing loss consistent with noise exposure than did the general population, although the possibility of residual confounding due to unmeasured factors such as socioeconomic status cannot be ruled out.</p

HIV prevalence among female sex workers, drug users and men who have sex with men in Brazil: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Brazilian response towards AIDS epidemic is well known, but the absence of a systematic review of vulnerable populations ─ men who have sex with men (MSM), female sex workers (FSW), and drug users (DU) remains a main gap in the available literature. Our goal was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies assessing HIV prevalence among MSM, FSW and DU, calculating a combined pooled prevalence and summarizing factors associated the pooled prevalence for each group.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Nine electronic databases (MEDLINE via PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL, AIDSLINE, AMED, CINAHL, TOXNET, SciELO, and ISI-Web of Science) were searched for peer-reviewed papers published in English, French, Spanish or Portuguese, from 1999 to 2009. To be included in the review, studies had to measure HIV prevalence and/or incidence as the primary outcome among at least one specific population under analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The studies targeting the three populations analyzed mostly young participants aged 30 years or less. Among FSW, eight studies were selected (3,625 participants), consistently identifying higher condom use with sexual clients than with occasional and stable partners. The combined HIV prevalence for FSW was 6.2 (95% CI: 4.4-8.3). Ten studies targeting MSM were identified (6,475 participants). Unprotected anal intercourse was commonly reported on those studies, but with great variability according to the nature of the relationship - stable vs. occasional sex partners - and sexual practice - receptive vs. insertive anal sex. Pooled HIV prevalence for MSM was 13.6 (95% CI: 8.2-20.2). Twenty nine studies targeting DU were identified (13,063 participants). Those studies consistently identified injection drug use and syringe/needle sharing as key predictors of HIV-infection, as well as engagement in sex work and male-to-male sex. The combined HIV prevalence across studies targeting DU was 23.1 (95% CI: 16.7-30.2).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>FSW, MSM and DU from Brazil have a much risk of acquiring HIV infection compared to the general population, among which HIV prevalence has been relatively low (~0.6%). Those vulnerable populations should be targeted by focused prevention strategies that provide accurate information, counseling and testing, as well as concrete means to foster behavior change (e.g. access to condoms, drug abuse treatment, and clean syringes in the case of active injecting drug users), tailored to gender and culture-specific needs. Programs that provide these services need to be implemented on public health services throughout the country, in order to decrease the vulnerability of those populations to HIV infection.</p

Frequência fundamental de crianças da cidade de Niterói Fundamental frequency for children in the municipality of Niterói

OBJETIVO: medir a frequência fundamental de 122 crianças de seis a oito anos de idade, meninos e meninas, sem alterações vocais, avaliadas por meio da escala Rasat. MÉTODOS: a análise perceptivo-auditiva foi realizada através da escala RASAT e para a análise acústica computadorizada foi utilizado o programa de software Vox Metria, analisando-se a média da frequência fundamental de amostras da vogal [&#949;] sustentada. Participaram deste estudo 122 crianças, 58 meninos e 64 meninas com idade variando de seis a oito anos e 11 meses de idade do ensino fundamental, da Rede Municipal de Niterói-RJ, nascidos e residentes na cidade, pré-selecionadas através de um protocolo de triagem. RESULTADOS: os resultados obtidos neste estudo foram: frequência fundamental média de 239,60 Hz para as meninas e 237,17 Hz para os meninos, obtendo-se uma média geral de 238,44 Hz. CONCLUSÃO: conclui-se que os achados permitiram a comparação com resultados de pesquisas realizadas anteriormente, contribuindo com novos dados para a padronização da frequência fundamental das vozes infantis brasileiras.<br>PURPOSE: to quantify the fundamental frequency in a group of 122 children - boys and girls, whose age varied from six to eight-year-old, who do not have vocal alterations. METHODS: an auditory-perceptive analysis took place by means of the RASAT scale; the computerized acoustic analysis was performed by using a software referred to as Vox Metria, where samples regarding the mean value for the fundamental frequency of the sustained vowel [&#949;] were analyzed. For this study, in which 122 children took part, 58 boys and 64 girls, with ages ranging from 6 to 8-year and 11 months. They were students from the Elementary Schools of the Municipal Education System of Niteroi-RJ. They were born and reside in this municipality and were pre-selected by means of a choice protocol. RESULTS: the results obtained in this study were 239.60 Hz for the girls and 237.17 Hz for the boys, with an overall mean value of 238.44 Hz. Due to the small difference; we obtained 237.57 Hz for the girls and 233.31 Hz for the boys. CONCLUSION: the findings enabled the comparison with previously carried out research and contributed providing the literature with new data for the standardization of the fundamental frequency of Brazilian Children's Voices, opening a new channel for further research