Reclassificação dos grupos de causas prováveis dos óbitos de causa mal definida, com base nas Autorizações de Internação Hospitalar no Sistema Único de Saúde, Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Este artigo descreve características sócio-demográficas e clínicas dos óbitos classificados como de causa mal definida, ocorridos no Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, em 1998, e faz a reclassificação dos grupos de causas prováveis desses óbitos, com base nas informações contidas nas Declarações de Óbito do Sistema de Informações de Mortalidade e do Sistema de Informações Hospitalares do Sistema Único de Saúde (SIH-SUS) de 1997 e 1998. Para isso, foi necessário relacionar uma amostra aleatória de óbitos de causas definidas com o SIH-SUS. Foi utilizada técnica de relacionamento probabilístico de registros. Comparando com os óbitos de causa definida, os óbitos de causa mal definida ocorreram mais em indivíduos de cor da pele não branca e com menor escolaridade; foram mais frequentes na região metropolitana e os indivíduos internaram menos no SUS e morreram mais em domicílios, e sem assistência médica. Foi possível reclassificar cerca de 20% dos óbitos de causa mal definida. A reclassificação apresentou pequeno impacto na mortalidade proporcional, por causa do tamanho deste grupo (10% dos óbitos). No entanto, se os resultados pudessem ser aplicados ao total de óbitos de causa mal definida, poderiam ocorrer alterações de maior impacto na mortalidade proporcional

Demographic and clinical characteristics of hypertensive patients in the internal medicine outpatient clinic of a university hospital in Rio de Janeiro

CONTEXT: Hypertension is one of the most important cardiovascular risk factors but its control is still a challenge for physicians all around the world. For blood pressure control to be improved, it is important to guarantee the quality of attendance provided for hypertensive patients, especially in teaching hospitals, where future physicians are being trained. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the profile of hypertensive patients attending the internal medicine outpatient clinic of a university hospital in Rio de Janeiro,describing their cardiovascular risk and identifying flaws in the treatment provided for severely hypertensive patients, in order to implement an arterial hypertension management program. TYPE OF STUDY: A descriptive cross-sectional population-based study. SETTING: Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. METHODS: The study was carried out over a period of four months, involving all the hypertensive patients under treatment in the outpatient unit. The attending physician obtained information relating to demographic features, cardiovascular risk factors, target organ damage, blood pressure levels, therapeutic regimens and compliance with treatment. Means and the respective standard deviations and proportions were used to describe the distribution of patient data. RESULTS: Of the total number of patients seen, 24.2% (1,699 patients) were hypertensive. Women accounted for 65.0% of the patients. The mean age was 63.9 years. Dyslipidemia (49.2%) and diabetes (29.8%) were the most frequently reported risk factors and heart disease was the most prevalent end-organ damage. Seventy percent of the patients were classified as high cardiovascular risk. In spite of the high intensity treatment provided for the most severe patients (19.4% on a regimen of 3 or more antihypertensive drugs), the rate of blood pressure control was low (27%). CONCLUSIONS: The patients with arterial hypertension under treatment at the university hospital had a profile of high cardiovascular risk and poor blood pressure control. Greater effort for improving hypertension control is needed, since this is the only way to reduce the morbidity and mortality rates of cardiovascular diseases

Infant mortality in a very low birth weight cohort from a public hospital in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

OBJECTIVES: to evaluate infant mortality in very low birth weight newborns from a public hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2002-2006). METHODS: a retrospective cohort study was performed using the probabilistic linkage method to identify infant mortality. Mortality proportions were calculated according to birth weight intervals and period of death. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate overall cumulative survival probability. The association between maternal schooling and survival of very low birth weight infants was evaluated by means of Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for: prenatal care, birth weight, and gestational age. RESULTS: the study included 782 very low birth weight newborns. Of these, (28.6%) died before one year of age. Neonatal mortality was 19.5%, and earlyneonatal mortality was 14.9%. Mortality was highest in the lowest weight group (71.6%). Newborns whose mothers had less than four years of schooling had 2.5 times higher risk of death than those whose mothers had eight years of schooling or more, even after adjusting for intermediate factors. CONCLUSIONS: the results showed higher mortality among very low birth weight infants. Low schooling was an independent predictor of infant death in this low-income population sample

Characteristics and circumstances of falls leading to severe fractures in elderly people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The circumstances associated with falls among elderly people have been well described in some developed countries, but little is known about such accidents in middle-income countries. The aim of this paper is to report the circumstances and characteristics associated with falls leading to severe fractures among elderly people living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Cases were obtained from two case-control studies on risk factors for severe fractures due to falls among individuals 60 years or older. Fallers were stratified according to clinical and socio-demographic variables and circumstances of the accident. Women comprised three-fourths of the sample. The femur was the most frequently fractured bone, more common among individuals over 70 years of age. Most falls occurred at home, between 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM, but the rooms where they occurred differed according to gender and age. Most individuals did not attribute their falls to tripping or slipping. This sample's data did not differ substantially from studies in developed countries