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Biomedical subjects

Cesar G Victora

Publications and source records attributed to Cesar G Victora.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

Mosquito nets and the poor: can social marketing redress inequities in access?

Treated mosquito nets are a practical malaria control tool. However, implementation of efficient delivery mechanisms remains a challenge. We investigated whether social marketing of treated mosquito nets results in decreased equity in rural Tanzania, through household surveys before the start of a social marketing programme and 3 years later. About 12,000 household heads were asked about ownership of nets and other assets including a tin roof, radio, or bicycle. A socio-economic status score was developed for each household. Net ownership was calculated for households in each quintile of this score, from poorest to least poor. In 1997, about 20% of the poorest households and over 60% of the least poor households owned a mosquito net. Three years later, more than half of the poorest households owned a net, as did over 90% of the least poor: the ratio of net ownership among the poorest to least poor increased from 0.3 in 1997 to 0.6 in 2000. Social marketing in the presence of an active private sector for nets was associated with increased equity.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

The WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study: planning, study design, and methodology.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS) is a community-based, multicountry project to develop new growth references for infants and young children. The design combines a longitudinal study from birth to 24 months with a cross-sectional study of children aged 18 to 71 months. The pooled sample from the six participating countries (Brazil, Ghana, India, Norway, Oman, and the United States) consists of about 8,500 children. The study subpopulations had socioeconomic conditions favorable to growth, and low mobility, with at least 20% of mothers following feeding recommendations and having access to breastfeeding support. The individual inclusion criteria were absence of health or environmental constraints on growth, adherence to MGRS feeding recommendations, absence of maternal smoking, single term birth, and absence of significant morbidity. In the longitudinal study, mothers and newborns were screened and enrolled at birth and visited at home 21 times: at weeks 1, 2, 4, and 6; monthly from 2 to 12 months; and every 2 months in their second year. In addition to the data collected on anthropometry and motor development, information was gathered on socioeconomic, demographic, and environmental characteristics, perinatal factors, morbidity, and feeding practices. The prescriptive approach taken is expected to provide a single international reference that represents the best description of physiological growth for all children under five years of age and to establish the breastfed infant as the normative model for growth and development.

Anthropometry↗
PubMed2004

Implementation of the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study in Brazil.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS) South American site was Pelotas, Brazil. The sample for the longitudinal component was drawn from three hospitals that account for approximately 90% of the city's deliveries. The cross-sectional sample was drawn from a community survey based on households that participated in the longitudinal sample. One of the criteria for site selection was the availability of a large, community based sample of children whose growth was unconstrained by socioeconomic conditions. Local work done in 1993 demonstrated that children of families with incomes at least six times the minimum wage had a stunting rate of 2.5%. Special public relations and implementation activities were designed to promote the acceptance of the study by the community and its successful completion. Among the major challenges of the site were serving as the MGRS pilot site, low baseline breastfeeding initiation and maintenance rates, and reluctance among pediatricians to acknowledge the relevance of current infant feeding recommendations to higher socioeconomic groups.

Brazil↗
PubMed2004

Risk factors for childbearing during adolescence in a population-based birth cohort in southern Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: To use a case-control study to analyze risk factors associated with teenage childbearing among adolescents who were in a birth cohort study that began in 1982 in the city of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. METHODS: Adolescent mothers in Pelotas who gave birth between January 1995 and March 2001 and who had been born in 1982 were identified through the local birth information system. These subjects from the 1982 birth cohort were compared to adolescents from the same cohort who had not given birth before March 2001. Standardized interviews were used in 2001 to obtain information about socioeconomic, maternal reproductive, demographic, and lifestyle characteristics. This information was combined with data obtained in earlier phases of this 1982 birth cohort study. Unconditional logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors associated with childbearing during adolescence. RESULTS: A total of 420 parous adolescents from the 1982 birth cohort were identified and then compared with 408 cohort adolescents who had not given birth by March 2001. Higher family income in 1982 and more parental schooling in 1982 were inversely related to childbearing among the birth cohort adolescents. Cohort girls whose mothers were under age 20 when they gave birth in 1982 had a higher risk of becoming pregnant while still an adolescent. Cohort girls who, during childhood, lived with siblings from different fathers were twice as likely to become an adolescent mother. Compared to cohort adolescents who had not failed during the first four years of school, those girls who had done so had twice the risk of giving birth during adolescence. Among the cohort girls a positive association was found between younger age at first intercourse and childbearing in adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that the educational level of the adolescent mothers must be considered in planning policies that attempt to disrupt successive cycles of socioeconomic deprivation. Early interventions to improve sex education and to increase the motivation of young girls to achieve higher levels of education are needed. The interventions should aim for a reduction in the risk of long-term poverty and poorer educational achievements of teenage mothers and their children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Evidence-based public health: moving beyond randomized trials.

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are essential for evaluating the efficacy of clinical interventions, where the causal chain between the agent and the outcome is relatively short and simple and where results may be safely extrapolated to other settings. However, causal chains in public health interventions are complex, making RCT results subject to effect modification in different populations. Both the internal and external validity of RCT findings can be greatly enhanced by observational studies using adequacy or plausibility designs. For evaluating large-scale interventions, studies with plausibility designs are often the only feasible option and may provide valid evidence of impact. There is an urgent need to develop evaluation standards and protocols for use in circumstances where RCTs are not appropriate.

Causality↗
PubMed2004

The multi-country evaluation of the integrated management of childhood illness strategy: lessons for the evaluation of public health interventions.

The Multi-Country Evaluation of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) includes studies of the effectiveness, cost, and impact of the IMCI strategy in Bangladesh, Brazil, Peru, Tanzania, and Uganda. Seven questions were addressed when the evaluation was designed: who would be in charge, through what mechanisms IMCI could affect child health, whether the focus would be efficacy or effectiveness, what indicators would be measured, what types of inference would be made, how costs would be incorporated, and what elements would constitute the plan of analysis. We describe how these questions were answered, the challenges encountered in implementing the evaluation, and the 5 study designs. The methodological insights gained can improve future evaluations of public health programs.

Bangladesh↗
PubMed2003

The Pelotas birth cohort study, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 1982-2001.

Given the growing recognition of the importance of the life course approach for the determination of chronic diseases, birth cohort studies are becoming increasingly important. This paper describes the methods used in the 1982 Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort study, one of the largest and longest studies of this type in developing countries. All 5,914 hospital births occurring in Pelotas in 1982 (over 99% of all deliveries) were studied prospectively. The main stages of the study took place in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1995, 1997, 2000, and 2001. More than two thousand variables are available for each subject who participated in all stages of the study. Recent phases of the study included the examination of 2,250 males when presenting for the army recruitment exam in 2000, the study of a 27% sample of men and women in 2001 through household visits, and the study of over 400 children born to the cohort women. Follow-up rates in the recent stages of the cohort were 78.9% for the army examination and 69.0% for the household visits. Ethnographic and oral health studies were conducted in sub-samples. Some recent results on blood pressure, adolescent pregnancy, and asthma are presented as examples of utilization of the data. Suggestions on lessons learned for other cohort studies are proposed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Anthropometry and body composition of 18 year old men according to duration of breast feeding: birth cohort study from Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between duration of breast feeding and measures of adiposity in adolescence. DESIGN: Population based birth cohort study. SETTING: Pelotas, a city of 320 000 inhabitants in a relatively developed area in southern Brazil. PARTICIPANTS: All newborn infants in the city's hospitals were enrolled in 1982; 78.8% (2250) of all male participants were located at age 18 years when enrolling in the national army. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Weight, height, sitting height, subscapular and triceps skinfolds, and body composition (body fat, lean mass). RESULTS: Neither the duration of total breast feeding nor that of predominant breast feeding (breast milk plus non-nutritive fluids) showed consistent associations with anthropometric or body composition indices. After adjustment for confounding factors, the only significant associations were a greater than 50% reduction in obesity among participants breast fed for three to five months compared with all other breastfeeding categories (P = 0.007) and a linear decreasing trend in obesity with increasing duration of predominant breast feeding (P = 0.03). Similar significant effects were not observed for other measures of adiposity. Borderline direct associations also occurred between total duration of breast feeding and adult height (P = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: The significant reduction in obesity among children breast fed for three to five months is difficult to interpret, as no a priori hypothesis existed regarding a protective effect of intermediate duration of breast feeding. The findings indicate that, in this population, breast feeding has no marked protective effect against adolescent adiposity.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed2003

[Risk factors associated with hospitalization for bronchiolitis in the post-neonatal period].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between socioeconomic factors, maternal characteristics, breastfeeding, and hospitalization for bronchiolitis in the post-neonatal period. METHODS: A nested case-control study with a cohort of 5,304 children born in the city of Pelotas, Brazil, was conducted. The cohort study consisted of four sub-studies with their own methods and logistics. Mothers were interviewed using a standard questionnaire during in-hospital and home visits. Cases were defined as any child aged 28 to 364 days who had been hospitalized for bronchiolitis. RESULTS: Among 5,304 cohort children, 113 (2.1%) were hospitalized for bronchiolitis. The hierarchical multivariate analysis performed using logistic regression showed the following results: family income and gestational age were inversely associated with the risk of hospitalization for bronchiolitis. Breastfeeding showed to have a protective effect; children who were breastfed for less than one month had 7 times less risk for being hospitalized for acute bronchiolitis in the first three months of life. The risk for hospitalization for bronchiolitis is 57% higher in those exposed to maternal smoking than in those non-exposed. CONCLUSIONS: Hospitalization for acute bronchiolitis is inversely associated with family income, gestational age and duration of breastfeeding and positively associated with maternal smoking. There was not an association with either parity or maternal history of asthma.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2003

[Trends in the nutritional profile of children born in 1993 in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil: longitudinal analyses].

Trends in nutritional status were studied in children born in 1993 in the city of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. During that year, all infants born in the city were identified, and a sub-sample of 1,273 children was visited twice at home for anthropometric examinations at an average age of 12 and 54 months, respectively. Approximately 10% of all children were lost to follow up from birth to 4 years. The prevalence of nutritional deficit decreased, while that of overweight increased between ages 1 and 4 years. The prevalence of nutritional deficit showed an inverse association with birth weight, while overweight showed a direct relationship. About 50% of the children with height/age deficit at 12 months remained in this same condition at 4 years old, while a third of overweight children remained in this condition during the same period. On the other hand, some 10% of non-overweight children became overweight between 1 and 4 years of age. The nutritional transition observed in Pelotas requires a paradigm shift in health services, which are still concentrated on detecting and treating malnutrition rather than obesity.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed2003

Applying an equity lens to child health and mortality: more of the same is not enough.

Gaps in child mortality between rich and poor countries are unacceptably wide and in some areas are becoming wider, as are the gaps between wealthy and poor children within most countries. Poor children are more likely than their better-off peers to be exposed to health risks, and they have less resistance to disease because of undernutrition and other hazards typical in poor communities. These inequities are compounded by reduced access to preventive and curative interventions. Even public subsidies for health frequently benefit rich people more than poor people. Experience and evidence about how to reach poor populations are growing, albeit largely through small-scale case studies. Successful approaches include those that improve geographic access to health interventions in poor communities, subsidized health care and health inputs, and social marketing. Targeting of health interventions to poor people and ensuring universal coverage are promising approaches for improvement of equity, but both have limitations that necessitate planning for child survival and effective delivery at national level and below. Regular monitoring of inequities and use of the resulting information for education, advocacy, and increased accountability among the general public and decision makers is urgently needed, but will not be sufficient. Equity must be a priority in the design of child survival interventions and delivery strategies, and mechanisms to ensure accountability at national and international levels must be developed.

Child↗
PubMed2003

Inequities among the very poor: health care for children in rural southern Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have been done to assess socioeconomic inequities in health in African countries. We sought evidence of inequities in health care by sex and socioeconomic status for young children living in a poor rural area of southern Tanzania. METHODS: In a baseline household survey in Tanzania early in the implementation phase of integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI), we included cluster samples of 2006 children younger than 5 years in four rural districts. Questions focused on the extent to which carers' knowledge of illness, care-seeking outside the home, and care in health facilities were consistent with IMCI guidelines and messages. We used principal components analysis to develop a relative index of household socioeconomic status, with weighted scores of information on income sources, education of the household head, and household assets. FINDINGS: 1026 (52%) of 1968 children reported having been ill in the 2 weeks before the survey. Carers of 415 (41%) of 1014 of these children had sought care first from an appropriate provider. 71 (26%) carers from families in the wealthiest quintile knew > or =2 danger signs compared with 48 (20%) of those from the poorest (p=0.03 for linear trend across quintiles) and wealthier families were more likely to bring their sick children to a health facility (p=0.02). Their children were more likely than poorer children to have received antimalarials, and antibiotics for pneumonia (p=0.0001 and 0.0048, respectively). INTERPRETATION: Care-seeking behaviour is worse in poorer than in relatively rich families, even within a rural society that might easily be assumed to be uniformly poor.

Child Health Services↗
PubMed2003

High prevalence of asthma in preschool children in Southern Brazil: a population-based study.

The prevalence of asthma is increasing in many countries. To measure asthma's prevalence, a sample of 981 children aged 4 years old belonging to a birth cohort from 1993 was studied in Pelotas, a city in southern Brazil. A standardized questionnaire on asthma was given to the children's mothers. Information was also collected on socioeconomic level, housing conditions, genetic factors, nutritional factors, and previous infectious diseases. Current asthma (asthma diagnosed by a doctor during previous 12 months) and current wheeze (presence of wheezing during previous 12 months) were the main outcomes. The prevalence of current asthma was 18.4%, and current wheeze was 21.1%. The data were analyzed by multiple Poisson regression, and the risk factors that remained significant for both "current asthma and current wheeze" were, respectively, nonwhite color (RR = 1.41 and RR = 1.36), low maternal schooling (RR = 1.75 and RR = 1.68 for 0-4 years), history of asthma or allergy in the family (RR = 1.66 and RR = 1.85), and history of rhinitis and eczema in the child (RR = 2.11 and RR = 1.72). Male sex (RR = 1.36) and bronchiolitis (RR = 1.46) were major risk factors only for "current asthma," while smoking in pregnancy (RR = 1.30) and low birth weight (RR = 1.45) were risk factors only for "current wheeze." These results highlight the importance of asthma as a public health problem due to its high prevalence, and support the need of intervention programs against preventable risk factors.

Asthma↗
PubMed2003

Lactation counseling increases breast-feeding duration but not breast milk intake as measured by isotopic methods.

The importance of exclusive breast-feeding in the first 6 mo of life is widely recognized, but most mothers still do not reach this goal. Several studies have shown that face-to-face lactation counseling is effective in increasing not only exclusive breast-feeding rates but also the total duration of breast-feeding. However, it is unclear whether counseling could increase breast milk intake. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of lactation counseling on breast milk intake, assessed through the deuterium dilution method. This was a blind, randomized intervention trial of lactation counseling in a sample of 188 babies born in Pelotas, selected with the same criteria used for the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study (MGRS). The main outcomes were breast-feeding pattern and duration for all infants as well as breast milk intake for a subsample of 68 infants at the age of 4 mo. Mothers in the control group were almost twice as likely to stop breast-feeding by 4 mo as those in the intervention group (prevalence ratio 1.85; P = 0.04). Cox regression confirmed that the velocity of weaning was twice as high in the control group. Breast milk and total water intakes did not differ between the groups. The deuterium dilution technique proved to be a practical means of assessing breast milk intake. Lactation counseling reduced early weaning, but breast milk intake at 4 mo was not affected.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

[Impact of face-to-face counseling on duration of exclusive breast-feeding: a review].

OBJECTIVE: To review the scientific literature on and evaluate studies of face-to-face counseling for the promotion of exclusive breast-feeding. SOURCES OF DATA: Three databases were reviewed for the 1990-2001 period: MEDLINE, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences ("LILACS"), and the Cochrane Library. We selected studies describing face-to-face counseling with mothers during only the postnatal period or both the pre- and postnatal periods. Studies describing interventions only during pregnancy were not considered. We classified the selected studies using a modification of the criteria of Downs and Black for assessing the methodological quality of studies of health care interventions. RESULTS: Nineteen studies were included. The duration of follow-up, type of intervention performed, and ethnic, socioeconomic, and reproductive characteristics of the groups studied varied widely. In terms of limitations, the most frequent ones were an inadequate description of confounding factors and of the characteristics of the sample, poorly documented methodology, and no adjustment for confounding factors. Seventeen studies reported a beneficial effect of the intervention, although the magnitude of this effect differed widely across the various studies. Two studies reported a dose-response effect, with the impact being directly proportional to the number of counseling sessions. Only one study reported no effect of the intervention on exclusive breast-feeding, at 3 and 5 months postpartum; of the 19 studies assessed, this one had the smallest number of counseling sessions, just one or two. CONCLUSIONS: Face-to-face counseling, given during different time periods, led to significant changes in the rate of exclusive breast-feeding. Our analysis suggests that the support to the mothers must continue after hospital discharge and must include guidance on breast-feeding techniques and ways to resolve problems that occur.

Breast Feeding↗
PubMed2003

Do risk factors for childhood infections and malnutrition protect against asthma? A study of Brazilian male adolescents.

OBJECTIVES: We studied the association between early life conditions and asthma in adolescence. METHODS: We conducted a population-based birth cohort study involving 2250 male 18-year-olds residing in Brazil. RESULTS: Approximately 18% of the adolescents reported having asthma. Several childhood factors were found to be significantly associated with increased asthma risk: being of high socioeconomic status, living in an uncrowded household, and children being breastfed for 9 months or longer. CONCLUSIONS: The present results are consistent with the "hygiene hypothesis," according to which early exposure to infections provides protection against asthma. The policy implications of our findings are unclear given that risk factors for asthma protect against serious childhood diseases in developing countries.

Adolescent↗