The Epidemiological Profile of Sexual Violence Notifications in the Capitals of the Northeast of Brazil: An Ecologic Time Series

This study aimed at outlining the epidemiological profile of the notifications of sexual violence in the capitals of the Northeast of Brazil. It is a descriptive, analytical, and ecological study, made with the information about sexual violence recorded at SINAN (the Information System of Health Problem Notifications). The nine capital cities of the Northeast of the country were selected, and data from them was analyzed from 2012 to 2014. The depending variables were notifications of sexual violence and rape. Independent variables included sex, age group, educational level, and race. For a statistical analysis, the Chi-squared and Fisher\u27s exact tests were used when the expected frequencies were below 5. The statistical treatment of variables was done using the R software. Regarding the results, 6811 sexual violence cases were notified in the capitals. Most of them took place in Recife (31.2%), Teresina (16.5%), and Aracaju (13.3%). In most cases, the victims were females, children or adolescents, and brown. Most victims had less than eight years of study. The city with the most notifications of rape was Recife. The results show the association between socioeconomic factors and sexual violence, outlining a profile of the victims of this type of violence in the capitals of the Brazilian Northeast. A high prevalence of sexual violence was found in the investigated cities

Prevention and control of mosquito-borne arboviral diseases: lessons learned from a school-based intervention in Brazil (Zikamob)

© 2022 The Authors. Published by BMC. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-12554-wBackground: Since the 1980s, when dengue was reintroduced in Brazil, outbreaks and epidemics caused by different arbovirus strains transmitted by vector mosquitoes such as Aedes aegypti have been an annual occurrence. The aim of this study was to evaluate the behavioural change of high school students and teachers who participated in an educational intervention for the prevention and vector control of arboviral diseases. Methods: In this school-based intervention, a self-reported questionnaire was used in a pre-post intervention methodology to assess environmental risk factors, sociodemographic variables and to measure attitudes and behaviours. In all, 883 high school students and teachers from the city of Campina Grande, in the state of Paraíba, northeastern Brazil, participated. The e-health intervention consisted of a competition between schools to comply with preventive actions via content production for social networks, and the monitoring was performed over a period of three months through the ZikaMob software developed by the researchers. Results: Out of the 883 survey participants, 690 were students ranging in age from 14 to 41 years, with an average of 17 ± 2 years; and 193 were teachers from 22 to 64 years old, averaging 38 ± 9 years. The analysis of the data shows that significant differences in most of the target behaviours were apparent after the intervention, with an increase of about 10% in the performance of inspection actions; a 7% greater separation of recyclables and a 40% increase in the screening of windows among students. Students showed lower fear of, and a lower self-perception of the risk of, acquiring arboviruses than teachers on average. Conclusions: ZikaMob is an innovative strategy with the potential to be replicated in any location that has an internet network and can involve an unlimited number of participants.This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) (Finance Code 001), Universidade Estadual da Paraíba (UEPB), Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Estado da Paraíba (FAPESQ) (Grant 02/2017), British Council Newton Fund Institutional Links (Grant 274560199).Accepted versio

Working conditions and their influence on the health of military police.

Esta pesquisa busca proporcionar um conhecimento mais amplo e suscitar o debate entre acadêmicos e profissionais de saúde e ao próprio policial militar no que concerne aos males advindos do desempenho da profissão PM. Para tanto, tivemos como objetivo geral compreender as condições de trabalho e suas influências na saúde dos policiais militares de modo ai identificarmos a percepção dos profissionais policiais quanto à situação de saúde em que eles se encontram. Assim, este estudo teve um caráter exploratório-descritivo, com uma abordagem qualitativa. A pesquisa foi realizada com policiais militares que trabalham na 3ª Companhia do Sexto Batalhão de Polícia Militar, na cidade de Cajazeiras, na Paraíba. Para a realização da coleta dos dados, utilizamos a entrevista semiestruturada, baseada num roteiro preliminar constituído por perguntas abertas. Os dados foram agrupados em categorias ou núcleos de análise os quais nos levaram a constatar que a atividade policial militar tem uma forte influência na saúde desses profissionais, onde de acordo com o estudo foi constatado o desenvolvimento de algumas patologias relacionadas a suas atividades laborais tais como: hipertensão arterial, úlcera gastroduodenal, obesidade, câncer, psoríase, estresse, entre outras. Palavras-Chaves: Saúde Ocupacional; Polícia Militar; Desempenho Profissional.This research seeks to provide a broader knowledge and encourage debate between academics and health professionals and the military policeman itself with regard to the evils arising from the PM profession performance. Therefore, we had as main objective to understand the working conditions and their influence on the health of military policemen to we identify the perception of police professionals regarding the health situation in which they find themselves. Thus, this study was an exploratory-descriptive, with a qualitative approach. The survey was conducted with military policemen working in the 3rd Company of the Sixth Military Police Battalion in the city of Cajazeiras, Paraíba. To perform the data collection, we used semi-structured interview based on a preliminary script consisted of open questions. The data were grouped into categories or analysis of cores which led us to realize that the military police activity has a strong influence on the health of these professionals, which according with the study it was found the development of some diseases related to their work activities such as Arterial hypertension, gastroduodenal ulcer, obesity, cancer, psoriasis, stress, and others