Manejo clínico da doença de Chagas na atenção primária à saúde em área endêmica do estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil

Objective: To describe the clinical management of Chagas disease (CD) by Primary Health Care physicians in an endemic region. Methodology: A cross-sectional websurvey study with physicians working in PHC in 23 endemic municipalities in Minas Gerais. The collection included Demographic issues, Academic Training, Characteristics of APS in Action, Practices Relating to CD and Knowledge Relating to CD. Descriptive and bivariate analyzes were carried out according to the time of graduation. Results: 136 physicians participated in this study. Most mentioned having seen more than 10 cases of chronic CD in the last year, did not prescribe the antitrypanosomal drug (Benzonidazole), reported difficulty in referring patients with CD to a specialized service, said they knew the Clinical Protocol and Therapeutic Guideline for CD, but if feel insecure in the management of patients with chronic CD. Conclusion: Important obstacles still persist in the care and follow-up by the medical professional to the patient with CD in PHC.  Objetivo: Descrever o manejo clínico da Doença de Chagas (DC) por profissionais médicos da Atenção Primária à Saúde (APS) de região endêmica. Metodologia: Estudo transversal entre médicos da APS de 23 municípios. A coleta contemplou questões Demográficas, Formação Acadêmica, Características da APS de Atuação, Práticas e Conhecimento Relativos à DC.  Conduziram-se análises descritivas de todas as variáveis e bivariadas para os blocos de práticas e conhecimento relativos à DC considerando o tempo de conclusão da graduação. Resultados: Foram incluídos 136 médicos. A maioria mencionou conhecer o Protocolo Clínico e Diretriz Terapêutica da DC, mas não prescreveu o benzonidazol e se sente insegura no manejo do paciente. Na análise bivariada, a variável conhecimento sobre a DC adquirido na graduação mostrou-se associada estatisticamente ao tempo de graduação. Conclusão: Importantes obstáculos ainda persistem no manejo médico ao paciente com DC na APS. A partir desse achado espera-se incentivar a qualificação.

Challenges in the care of patients with Chagas disease in the Brazilian public health system: A qualitative study with primary health care doctors.

BackgroundCare to patients with Chagas disease (CD) is still a challenge for health systems in endemic and non-endemic countries. In the Brazilian public health system, the expansion of Primary Health Care (PHC) services to remote and disadvantaged areas has facilitated the access of patients with CD to medical care, however this is in a context where care gaps remain, with insufficient public funding and inadequate distribution of services. Considering the need for studies on care to patients with CD in different settings, this study explored the challenges of family doctors to provide care to patients with CD in an endemic region in Brazil with high coverage of public PHC services.Methods and findingsThis is a qualitative study. A focus group with 15 family doctors was conducted in a municipality participating in a multicenter cohort that monitors almost two thousand patients with CD in an endemic region in Brazil. The data were analyzed using a thematic content analysis technique. The family doctors pointed out the following challenges for care to patients with CD: unsatisfactory medical training (academic education not suitable for the clinical management of the disease, and lack of training on CD in PHC); uncertainties regarding antiparasitic treatment in the chronic phase of the disease; difficulty in patients' access to specialized care when necessary, especially to the cardiologist; and trivialization of the disease by patients as a barrier to seeking care.ConclusionThe access of CD patients to adequate medical care, even in regions with high coverage of public PHC services, still represents an important challenge for health systems. The results of this study may contribute to the development of strategies to improve the clinical management of CD in PHC

AVALIAÇÃO DO CONHECIMENTO ACERCA DO MANEJO CLÍNICO DE PORTADORES DA DOENÇA DE CHAGAS EM REGIÃO ENDÊMICA NO BRASIL

RESUMOObjetivo: Conhecer o manejo de pacientes com Doença de Chagas (DC) por médicos da Atenção Primária Saúde (APS) de regiões endêmicas. Método: Estudo transversal realizado com 104 médicos da APS, de 39 municípios das regiões norte de Minas Gerais e Vale do Jequitinhonha. Foram abordados perfil sociodemográfico, formação acadêmica e prática clínica através de questionário autoaplicado. Resultados: Os médicos apresentaram idade média de 33(±9,88) anos, 4(±7,26) anos de atuação na APS, 49% relataram que a graduação não ofereceu formação suficiente em DC. Embora quase 90% tinham experiência com atendimento de pacientes com DC crônica e 57% com DC aguda, apenas 9% relataram sentir-se totalmente seguros para esses atendimentos e 33% relataram não conhecer o Benzonidazol, único antitripanossômico disponível. Contribuindo para esse quadro, após a graduação somente 13,3% receberam alguma informação ou treinamento relativo à DC e quase metade recebeu esse treinamento há mais de 4 anos. Há insegurança, desconhecimento e carência de capacitações sobre DC entre profissionais médicos da APS de localidades endêmicas

Impact of the social context on the prognosis of Chagas disease patients: Multilevel analysis of a Brazilian cohort.

The present study aims to investigate how the social context contributes to the prognosis of Chagas disease (CD). This is a multilevel study that considered individual and contextual data. Individual data came from a Brazilian cohort study that followed 1,637 patients who lived in 21 municipalities to which CD is endemic, over two years. Contextual data were collected from official Brazilian government databases. The dependent variable was the occurrence of cardiovascular events in CD during the two-year follow-up, defined from the grouping of three possible combined events: death, development of atrial fibrillation, or pacemaker implantation. Analysis was performed using multilevel binary logistic regression. Among the individuals evaluated, 205 (12.5%) manifested cardiovascular events in CD during two years of follow-up. Individuals living in municipalities with a larger rural population had protection for these events (OR = 0.5; 95% CI = 0.4-0.7), while those residing in municipalities with fewer physicians per thousand inhabitants (OR = 1.6; 95% CI = 1.2-2.5) and those living in municipalities with lower Primary Health Care (PHC) coverage (OR = 1.4; 95% CI = 1.1-2.1) had higher chances of experiencing cardiovascular events. Among the individual variables, the probability of experiencing cardiovascular events was higher for individuals aged over 60 years (OR = 1.4; 95% CI = 1.01-2.2), with no stable relationship (OR = 1.4; 95% CI = 0.98-2.1), without previous treatment with Benznidazole (OR = 1.5; 95% CI = 0.98-2.9), with functional class limitation (OR = 2.0; 95% CI = 1.4-2.9), with a QRS complex duration longer than 120 ms (OR = 1.5; 95% CI = 1.1-2.3), and in individuals with high NT-proBNP levels (OR = 6.4; 95% CI = 4.3-9.6). CONCLUSION: The present study showed that the occurrence of cardiovascular events in individuals with CD is determined by individual conditions that express the severity of cardiovascular involvement. However, these individual characteristics are not isolated protagonists of this outcome, and the context in which individuals live, are also determining factors for a worse clinical prognosis