Oral Provocation Test on the Diagnosis of Cow's Milk Protein Allergy in Children: Integrative Review

Introduction: The cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) is considered the most prevalent food allergy in children, developing, usually, during the first three years of life and can cause gastrointestinal, respiratory and skin changes. Among the diagnostic methods used, there is the oral food challenge test. However, little used in clinical practice.Objective: Identifying the importance of Oral Provocation Test (OPT) in the diagnostic confirmation of CMPA in children.Method: An integrative review of studies of the last ten years, with six relevant articles related to the theme and used and described the OPT in children with suspected CMPA.Results: The OPT is important to confirm the diagnosis, avoiding prolonged exclusion diets, nutritional risks and unnecessary expenses. The oral test with milk can be adopted as the gold standard and used as a basis for comparative studies that aims to advance the molecular diagnosis, determining the specificities and sensitivities of such tests. It can also be used with other foods. In innovative studies to determine the tolerance of dairy foods, allowing include them in the feeding of these patients during the elimination diet.Conclusion: It is important that the OPT is performed early in the onset of symptoms suggestive of CMPA, in order to avoid prolonged exclusion diets, nutritional risks and unnecessary expenses

Factors related to depressive complaints on climacteric: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: Climacterium is a period of a woman's life, between 35 and 65 years old, marked by hormonal and biopsychosocial changes that can lead to the onset of depressive symptoms. The aim was to identify the prevalence of and factors associated with depressive symptoms in climacteric women.Method: An exploratory study, of cross-sectional type research, was carried out in Cajazeiras, Paraíba, Brazil, from January 2013 to March 2014. The sample included 411 women aged 40 to 60. Data collection was done by interviews using a structured script. Mean and standard deviation of age variables and per capita income were identified. For correlation between the variables, we used odds ratios (CI 95%), the X² and Fisher's Exact Test, with a significance level of 5%.Results: The average age of women was 49.73 (± 5.799) years. Depressive complaints prevailed in 68.1%, associated with advanced age (p = 0.009; OR: 1693 [CI 1113–2577]), low education (p = 0.022; OR: 1568 [CI 1032–2382]), lower per capita income (p = 0.043; OR: 1553 [CI 1012–2384]), unpaid labor activity (p = 0.013; OR: 1641 [CI 1079–2495]), menopausal/postmenopausal (p = 0.011; OR: 1667 [CI 1092–2545]), sexual activity with complaint (p < 0.001 [OR: 2.777; [CI 1628–4737]) and the presence of at least one disease (p < 0.001; OR: 2230 [CI 1445–3440]).Conclusion: Understanding and addressing the factors related to depressive complaints during climacterium supports the importance of conducting disease prevention programmes, thus delaying the onset of morbidity and improving quality of life