Análise custo-efetividade da terapia analgésica utilizada na dor pós-operatória

The study aimed to compare cost-effectiveness of analgesic schemes administered to 89 patients submitted to hemorrhoidectomy, on the 1st postoperative day. The descriptive and retrospective study was carried out in a General Hospital, Sao Paulo, Brazil. In order to carry out the cost-effectiveness analysis, the five most frequently used analgesic schemes were identified in practice. The main outcome was the absence of breakthrough pain episodes. While calculating the costs, analgesics and all devices related to the schemes were taken into consideration. Codeine 120mg+acetaminophen 2000mg was the most effective therapy with the lowest cost per patient with no breakthrough pain episodes ($65.23). Incremental analysis indicated that codeine 120mg+acetaminophen 2000mg+ketoprofen 200mg involved the additional cost of$238.31 in case an extra effectiveness benefit was needed. The analysis showed that the most suitable choice of analgesic therapy should consider the resources available at the institution along with economic and clinical aspects.El presente estudio utilizó el análisis de costo-efectividad para comparar los esquemas analgésicos administrados en 89 pacientes sometidos a hemorroidectomía, durante el 1º día del post-operatorio. Estudio descriptivo y retrospectivo realizado en el Hospital General de São Paulo. Para efectuar este análisis se identificaron los 5 esquemas analgésicos más utilizados por el servicio. El efecto principal fue la ausencia de dolor. Para calcular los costos fueron incluidos los analgésicos y los materiales utilizados para la administración. El esquema codeína 120mg + acetaminofen 2000mg fue más efectivo, siendo de menor costo para el paciente sin dolor ($65,23). Este incremento mostró que la mezcla codeína 120 mg+acetamenofen 2000mg+ cetoprofeno 200mg tuvo un costo adicional de$238,31 para poder obtener un beneficio extra de efectividad. A través del análisis, la selección del esquema analgésico requiere además de ser económico y clínico, la disponibilidad de recursos de la propia institución.No presente estudo realizou-se a analise custo-efetividade para comparar esquemas analgésicos administrados a 89 pacientes submetidos a hemorroidectomia, no 1º dia de pós-operatório. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo e retrospectivo realizado em Hospital Geral de São Paulo. Para realização da análise custo-efetividade identificou-se os 5 esquemas analgésicos mais utilizados na clinica. O principal desfecho foi ausência de escapes de dor. No cálculo dos custos foram considerados os analgésicos e dispositivos associados à administração. O esquema codeina 120mg + acetaminofeno 2000mg mostrou-se mais custo-efetivo, apresentando o menor custo por paciente sem escape de dor ($65,23). A análise incremental apontou que o padrão codeína 120 mg+acetamenofeno 2000mg+ cetoprofeno 200mg apresentou um custo adicional de$238,31 para se obter um benefício extra de efetividade. A análise mostrou que a escolha do esquema analgésico deve contemplar, além dos aspectos econômicos e clínicos das opções terapêuticas, a disponibilidade de recursos da instituição

Development of Elderly Quality of Life Index – Eqoli: Item Reduction and Distribution into Dimensions

OBJECTIVE: To describe item reduction and its distribution into dimensions in the construction process of a quality of life evaluation instrument for the elderly. METHODS: The sampling method was chosen by convenience through quotas, with selection of elderly subjects from four programs to achieve heterogeneity in the "health status", "functional capacity", "gender", and "age" variables. The Clinical Impact Method was used, consisting of the spontaneous and elicited selection by the respondents of relevant items to the construct Quality of Life in Old Age from a previously elaborated item pool. The respondents rated each item’s importance using a 5-point Likert scale. The product of the proportion of elderly selecting the item as relevant (frequency) and the mean importance score they attributed to it (importance) represented the overall impact of that item in their quality of life (impact). The items were ordered according to their impact scores and the top 46 scoring items were grouped in dimensions by three experts. A review of the negative items was performed. RESULTS: One hundred and ninety three people (122 women and 71 men) were interviewed. Experts distributed the 46 items into eight dimensions. Closely related items were grouped and dimensions not reaching the minimum expected number of items received additional items resulting in eight dimensions and 43 items. DISCUSSION: The sample was heterogeneous and similar to what was expected. The dimensions and items demonstrated the multidimensionality of the construct. The Clinical Impact Method was appropriate to construct the instrument, which was named Elderly Quality of Life Index - EQoLI. An accuracy process will be examined in the future

Doença de Chagas e alterações eletrocardiográficas entre trabalhadores industriais em São Paulo, Brasil

In this article, we evaluate electrocardiographic (ECG) alterations among urban workers from a mechanical-metallurgical industry in São Paulo, Brazil. In a cross-sectional survey carried out in 1980, we found 2.2% positive serological testing for Trypanosoma cruzi infection among 27,081 workers. A comparison between seropositive workers and a random sample of seronegative workers frequency-matched by age and occupation revealed that seropositive workers had a much lower educational level, and that a higher proportion of seropositive workers had ECG abnormalities (42.7%) when compared to those negative for T. cruzi infection (19.8%). The high frequency of ECG abnormalities suggests the need to provide medical assistance to these workers, without any kind of discrimination and to bring in a form of management that would decrease this dangerous risk to the workers and people around them.Neste artigo, analisamos a freqüência de alterações eletrocardiográficas (ECG) em trabalhadores de indústria mecânico-metalúrgica de São Paulo, Brasil. Num estudo transversal, conduzido em 1980, encontramos 2,2% de reações sorológicas positivas para infecção pelo Trypanosoma cruzi entre 27.081 trabalhadores. Uma comparação entre trabalhadores soropositivos e uma amostra aleatória de trabalhadores soronegativos pareados por freqüência em idade, e ocupação mostrou que os trabalhadores soropositivos apresentam menor nível de escolaridade e maior proporção de alterações ECG (42.7%) quando comparados aos soronegativos para infecção pelo T. cruzi (19.8%). A alta freqüência de alterações ECG sugere a necessidade de oferecer assistência médica para esses trabalhadores, destituída de qualquer tipo de discriminação, criando condições para diminuir os riscos para esses trabalhadores e os indivíduos próximos

Estudo sobre a qualidade de vida de pacientes hemiplégicos por acidente vascular cerebral e de seus cuidadores

Hemiplegia is a condition of paralysis of one side of the body usually resultant of stroke. In spite of the growing interest in the study of quality of life in several health conditions. The purpose of this work is to verify the impact of a stroke in the quality of life of patients and caregivers. Home interviews were conducted in three groups: patient, caregiver and control. The instrument used for the assessment of quality of life was the Short Form-36 questionnaire. A total of 200 subjects were interviewed: 91 control, 66 patients and 43 caregivers. It was possible to see that the mean age of the caregiver group is different from that of the control group but the mean age of the patient group is not different from that of the control group. The means obtained in the groups concerning the Body Pain domain, show that there is no statistical difference among the means of the patient, control and caregiver groups. The other seven domains showed similar outcomes, that is, no statistically significant differences were found between the patient and the caregiver groups. The control group showed higher and statistically significant, values a sign of the group's higher quality of life in the seven domains assessed. It's possible to conclude that almost all the Short Form-36 domains in this study were altered when control, patients and caregiver groups were compared, suggesting there is a decrease in the quality of life of stroke patients and their caregivers.A hemiplegia é a paralisia de um hemicorpo, em geral resultante de acidente vascular cerebral (AVC). Apesar do crescente interesse no estudo da qualidade de vida nas diversas condições de saúde, pouca atenção tem sido direcionada a sua avaliação sistemática nestes pacientes. O Objetivo deste estudo foi verificar o impacto do acidente vascular cerebral sobre a qualidade de vida de pacientes e seus cuidadores. A aplicação do questionário SF-36 permitiu completar um estudo transversal incluindo 66 indivíduos com hemiplegia, 43 cuidadores e 91 controles emparelhados pela idade, tipo de moradia e pela região habitada. Entre os cuidadores verificou-se idade menor em relação à dos pacientes e maior freqüência de indivíduos do sexo feminino. Os diversos domínios de qualidade de vida avaliados pelo SF-36 não apresentaram diferenças estatisticamente significantes entre os grupos de pacientes e cuidadores. Porém, o grupo controle apresentou resultados estatisticamente significantes e melhores, quando comparados aos grupos de pacientes e cuidadores, exceto em relação ao domínio Dor. Este estudo permitiu evidenciar o decréscimo da qualidade de vida de pessoas com seqüelas de AVC e seus cuidadores, quando comparados com outras pessoas de idade semelhante que moram nas mesmas condições

Development of Elderly Quality of Life Index - EqoLI: item reduction and distribution into dimensions

OBJECTIVE: To describe item reduction and its distribution into dimensions in the construction process of a quality of life evaluation instrument for the elderly. METHODS: The sampling method was chosen by convenience through quotas, with selection of elderly subjects from four programs to achieve heterogeneity in the "health status", "functional capacity", "gender", and "age" variables. The Clinical Impact Method was used, consisting of the spontaneous and elicited selection by the respondents of relevant items to the construct Quality of Life in Old Age from a previously elaborated item pool. The respondents rated each items importance using a 5-point Likert scale. The product of the proportion of elderly selecting the item as relevant (frequency) and the mean importance score they attributed to it (importance) represented the overall impact of that item in their quality of life (impact). The items were ordered according to their impact scores and the top 46 scoring items were grouped in dimensions by three experts. A review of the negative items was performed. RESULTS: One hundred and ninety three people (122 women and 71 men) were interviewed. Experts distributed the 46 items into eight dimensions. Closely related items were grouped and dimensions not reaching the minimum expected number of items received additional items resulting in eight dimensions and 43 items. DISCUSSION: The sample was heterogeneous and similar to what was expected. The dimensions and items demonstrated the multidimensionality of the construct. The Clinical Impact Method was appropriate to construct the instrument, which was named Elderly Quality of Life Index - EQoLI. An accuracy process will be examined in the future

Risk factors for atherosclerosis in an elderly out patient population in the City of São Paulo

OBJECTIVE: To analyze in out clinic elderly patients of both sexes for the prevalence of risk factors for atherosclerosis and study their association with the complications of atherosclerosis. METHODS: Five hundred and sixteen outpatients, 152 men and 364 women, 60 years or older, were studied. The prevalences of hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, cigarette smoking and obesity were determined in both sexes and compared using the chi-square test. The association between these factors and the presence of atherosclerotic complications was analyzed by logistic regression. RESULTS: The comparative analysis of the factors in both sexes showed that hypertension, total cholesterol > or = 240mg/dL, LDL-cholesterol > or = 160mg/dL, and body mass index >27.5 were more frequent among women, but HDL-cholesterol <35mg/dL and cigarette smoking were more frequent among men, and no difference occurred between sexes in relation to the frequency of triglycerides > or = 250mg/dL and diabetes mellitus. After adjustment of the variables in the regression model, we observed that in the total of elderly patients, risk factors for complications of atherosclerosis were: triglycerides > or = 250mg/dL, hypertension, and male sex. Among men, the risk factors were: LDL-cholesterol > or = 160mg/dL, diabetes mellitus, HDL-cholesterol <35mg/dL and hypertension. Among women, the risk factors were: tryglicerides > or = 250mg/dL and hypertension. CONCLUSION: The results showed that, in the elderly, the risk factors for atherosclerosis persist, but with different behaviors between men and women. The study suggests that the relative importance of the risk factors can change with the aging process