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

The Dilemma of Influenza Vaccine Recommendations when Applied to the Tropics: The Brazilian Case Examined Under Alternative Scenarios

Since 1999 the World Health Organization issues annually an additional influenza vaccine composition recommendation. This initiative aimed to extend to the Southern Hemisphere (SH) the benefits—previously enjoyed only by the Northern Hemisphere (NH)—of a vaccine recommendation issued as close as possible to the moment just before the onset of the influenza epidemic season. A short time between the issue of the recommendation and vaccine delivery is needed to maximize the chances of correct matching between putative circulating strains and one of the three strains present in the vaccine composition. Here we compare the effectiveness of the SH influenza vaccination adopted in Brazil with hypothetical alternative scenarios defined by different timings of vaccine delivery and/or composition. Scores were based on the temporal overlap between vaccine-induced protection and circulating strains. Viral data were obtained between 1999 and 2007 from constant surveillance and strain characterization in two Brazilian cities: Belém, located at the Equatorial region, and São Paulo, at the limit between the tropical and subtropical regions. Our results show that, among currently feasible options, the best strategy for Brazil would be to adopt the NH composition and timing, as in such case protection would increase from 30% to 65% (p<.01) if past data can be used as a prediction of the future. The influenza season starts in Brazil (and in the equator virtually ends) well before the SH winter, making the current delivery of the SH vaccination in April too late to be effective. Since Brazil encompasses a large area of the Southern Hemisphere, our results point to the possibility of these conclusions being similarly valid for other tropical regions

Mortalidade por doenças cardiorrespiratórias em idosos no estado de Mato Grosso, 1986 a 2006

OBJETIVO: Descrever a evolução temporal da mortalidade por doenças cardiorrespiratórias em idosos. MÉTODOS: Estudo epidemiológico descritivo com delineamento ecológico de séries temporais realizado no estado do Mato Grosso, de 1986 a 2006. Foram utilizados dados sobre doenças dos aparelhos respiratório e circulatório obtidos do Sistema de Informação sobre Mortalidade do Ministério da Saúde. Modelos de regressão linear simples foram ajustados para avaliar a tendência das taxas específicas de mortalidade por grupos específicos de idade (60 a 69, 70 a 79 e 80 ou mais anos) e sexo. RESULTADOS: Houve aumento na proporção de óbitos por doenças respiratórias e diminuição por doenças cardiovasculares. Na comparação de taxas entre os sexos, as mulheres apresentaram taxas 15% menores para as causas cardiovasculares e taxas similares ao sexo masculino para as causas respiratórias. Foi observada taxa elevada de mortalidade por doenças respiratórias e cardiovasculares, com importante tendência de incremento entre os grupos mais longevos. Em idosos com idade >; 80 anos o aumento anual médio na taxa de mortalidade por doenças respiratórias foi de 1,99 óbitos e de 3,43 por doenças do aparelho circulatório. CONCLUSÕES: O estado de Mato Grosso apresenta elevada taxa de mortalidade por doenças respiratórias e cardiovasculares em idosos, com importante tendência de incremento entre os grupos mais longevos.OBJETIVO: Describir la evolución temporal de la mortalidad por enfermedades cardiorrespiratorias en ancianos. MÉTODOS: Estudio epidemiológico descriptivo con delineamiento ecológico de series temporales realizado en el Estado de Mato Grosso, Centro-Oeste de Brasil, de 1986 a 2006. Se utilizaron datos sobre enfermedades de los aparatos respiratorio y circulatorio obtenidos del Sistema de Información sobre Mortalidad del Ministerio de la Salud. Modelos de regresión lineal simple fueron ajustados para evaluar la tendencia de las tasas específicas de mortalidad por grupos específicos de edad (60 a 69, 70 a 70 y 80 o más años) y sexo. RESULTADOS: Hubo aumento en la proporción de óbitos por enfermedades respiratorias y disminución por enfermedades cardiovasculares. En la comparación de tasas entre los sexos, las mujeres presentaron tasas 15% menores para las causas cardiovasculares y tasas similares al sexo masculino para las causas respiratorias Se observó tasa elevada de mortalidad por enfermedades respiratorias y cardiovasculares, con importante tendencia de incremento entre los grupos más longevos. En ancianos con edad ³80 años o aumento anual promedio en la tasa de mortalidad por enfermedades respiratorias fue de 1,99 óbitos y de 3,43 por enfermedades del aparato circulatorio. CONCLUSIONES: El Estado de Mato Grosso presenta elevada tasa de mortalidad por enfermedades respiratorias y cardiovasculares en ancianos, con importante tendencia de incremento entre los grupos más longevos.OBJECTIVE: To describe time trends of mortality due to cardiorespiratory diseases in elderly people. METHODS: Epidemiological descriptive study with an ecological time series approach conducted in the state of Mato Grosso, Central-West Brazil, between 1986 and 2006. Data were obtained from the Brazilian Ministry of Health Mortality Database. Linear regression models were adjusted to analyze trends in mortality rates by age groups (60 to 69; 70 to 79; and 80 or more) and gender. RESULTS: There was an increase in proportion of deaths due to respiratory diseases and a decrease in proportion of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases. As for gender, cardiovascular rates were 15% lower in women than men and respiratory rates were similar in both men and women. High mortality rates for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases were observed with increasing trends among the oldest-old groups. The annual average increase for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in those aged 80 years and older was 1.99 and 3.43 deaths, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The state of Mato Grosso shows high mortality rates due to cardiorespiratory disease among elderly people with increasing trends among the oldest-old groups