Biomedical subjects

Edinilsa Ramos de Souza

Publications and source records attributed to Edinilsa Ramos de Souza.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

[Psychological distress among civilian police: A gender-based analysis].

This study aimed to investigate potential psychological distress among members of the civilian police force, based on gender differences. It analyzes data from previous research on work, health conditions, and quality of life in the civilian police using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The study included and tested data from the questionnaire applied to a statistically representative sample of 2,746 civilian police (80.8% males and 19.2% females) from the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, according to gender variables and position in the police force (administrative, technical, and operational law enforcement). The study presents an overview of social and economic characteristics, job conditions, health problems, and quality of life, highlighting the areas of information where gender appears as an important factor. The Self-Reported Questionnaire (SRQ-20) was used to investigate psychological distress comparing males and females. The results did not show gender differences in psychological distress, but did identify significant differences in some items in the scale. Female police, especially in technical positions, showed a higher proportion than males. The conclusions corroborate some previous research.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Methodological proposal for studying suicide as a complex phenomenon.

The authors present a methodological proposal for studying suicide and suicide attempts from a combined socio-anthropological, epidemiological, and psychosocial perspective. This interdisciplinary and complex research model simultaneously examined individual, socioeconomic, historical/cultural, and population data as few studies have succeeded to date. Considering that the present study was conducted in a specific social reality, the authors created a methodological approach to comprehend the effects of a crisis in an industrial restructuring process in a mining company town in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, that was associated with unusually high suicide rates. Since it referred to a small geographic area (with only 100,000 inhabitants), the research is considered an ideal case study. The authors created different strategies to trace the local epidemiological profile, adapted a psychosocial autopsy technique to elucidate suicide cases and a psychosocial harm assessment technique to comprehend suicide attempts, and conducted a local analysis of the socio-cultural context. The methods proposed here (with advantages and limitations) proved productive for elucidating the study hypothesis.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

The magnitude of intimate partner violence in Brazil: portraits from 15 capital cities and the Federal District.

This paper concerns the prevalence of intimate partner violence in 15 State capital cities and the Federal District of Brazil. A population-based multi-stage survey in 2002/2003 involved 6,760 15-69-year-old women (respondents). Using the Conflict Tactics Scales--Form R, the overall prevalence of psychological aggression and "minor" and severe physical abuse within couples was 78.3%, 21.5%, and 12.9%, respectively. Prevalence rates varied distinctively between cities. For instance, total physical abuse ranged from 13.2% to 34.8%. On the whole, prevalence was higher in the North and Northeast cities than in the Southeast, South, and Central West. Also, all types of intimate partner violence were more frequent in couples including women who were younger (< 25 years) and had less schooling (< 8 years). After stratifying by gender, although women tended to perpetrate at least one act of physical abuse more often, scores were consistently higher among male partners who were perpetrators. The results are compared to international findings. Regional, demographic, and gender differentials are discussed in light of the growing role of the Brazilian health sector in relation to intimate partner violence.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

[Spatial analysis of socioeconomic determinants of homicide in Brazil].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between homicide rates and socio-economic variables taking into account the spatial site of the indicators. METHODS: An ecological study was conducted. The dependent variable was the rate of homicides among the male population aged 15 to 49 years, residing in the districts of the State of Pernambuco from 1995 to 1998. The independent variables were an index of the living conditions, per capita family income, Theil inequality index, Gini index, average income of the head of the family, poverty index, rate of illiteracy, and demographic density. The following techniques were used in the analysis: a spatial autocorrelation test determined by the Moran index, multiple linear regression, a spatial regression model (CAR) and a generalized additive model for the detection of spatial trend (LOESS). RESULTS: The illiteracy and the poverty index explained 24.6% of the total variability of the homicide rates and there was an inverse relationship. Moran's I statistics indicated spatial autocorrelation between municipalities. The multiple linear regression model best fitted for the purposes of this study was the Conditional Auto Regressive (CAR) model. The latter confirmed the association between the poverty index, illiteracy and homicide rates. CONCLUSIONS: The inverse association observed between socio-economic indicators and homicides may be expressing a process that propitiates improvement in living conditions and that is linked predominantly to conditions that generate violence, such as drug traffic.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

[Violence clusters in Pernambuco, Brazil].

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the spatial distribution of homicide mortality rates among males 15 to 49 years old in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, for the periods of 1980 to 1984 and 1995 to 1998, and to identify violence clusters. METHODS: Mortality data were obtained from the Brazilian Ministry of Health's Mortality Information System. The mean homicide mortality rate was estimated for each municipality in the state for the two periods. The Moran coefficient was calculated to determine spatial autocorrelation. (The Moran coefficient ranges from -1 to +1, with a positive coefficient indicating a cluster of similar values, and a negative coefficient indicating adjacent dissimilar values.) To identify clusters of municipalities with either high or low homicide mortality rates, the local indicator of spatial association (LISA) was used. Finally, a Moran map was constructed to identify municipalities with statistically significant LISA values and to identify clusters of municipalities with either high or low homicide mortality rates. RESULTS: The Moran coefficient for 1980-1984 was 0.392, and for 1995-1998 it was 0.291 (P < 0.001). In the 1980-1984 period, one cluster of high homicide mortality rates was found in the Mata Sul region of the state, close to the metropolitan region of the state capital, Recife. In the 1995-1998 period, two violence clusters were identified: a predominantly urban one in the Recife metropolitan region, and the other in the state interior, in an area known as the "Marijuana Polygon" (Polígono da Maconha). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the violence clusters are not the result of the socioeconomic conditions per se, but rather the consequence of the interaction between poor economic conditions and drug trafficking.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

[Homicide progression per geographical area in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil, 1980-1998].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the magnitude and growth of homicides among male population according to the geopolitical areas. METHODS: An ecological study including a time series analysis was carried out among 15 to 49 year-old males living in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. Mortality data was collected from the Ministry of Health's Mortality Information System. Data on population was from the 1980 and 1991 censuses and the 1996 Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics' census. For inter-census years, the population size was estimated by interpolation, and for the period 1997-1998 it was estimated by projection, using the geometric method. Statistical analysis was performed using mobile mean and regression analysis techniques. RESULTS: In the 1980s, the greatest increase in homicide rates was in the state capital (390%). In the 1990s, the greatest increase occurred in the metropolitan region (68.5%) suggesting violence spread from the capital to other municipalities of greater Recife. Homicide rates tended to grow linearly in the interior, whilst there was an exponential growth in the capital and metropolitan region. A striking feature is the high rates of homicides with firearms in the three areas. CONCLUSIONS: The progression of homicides in the three areas of study shows a characteristic increase. It should be stressed that even though it is the same phenomenon - male homicides -, the generating dynamic of this process has geographical particularities between more urban and interior areas and they should be taken into account while developing local policies for supporting victims and preventing these events.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Suicide among young people in selected Brazilian State capitals.

This study analyzes suicide among young Brazilians (15-24 years old) in nine metropolitan areas. Mortality data for 1979-1998 were obtained from the Mortality Information System of the Ministry of Health. External causes are the main causes of death among youth, and suicide is the sixth most frequent of these causes. The distribution is heterogeneous, varying according to the social stratum, specific age group, sex, and means used to commit suicide. All cities analyzed showed increased suicide rates from 1979 to 1998 (from 3.5 to 5.0 per 100,000 inhabitants 15-24 years old). Salvador and Rio de Janeiro had the lowest suicide rates, while Porto Alegre and Curitiba had the highest. The principal means used by youth to commit suicide were hanging, strangling, and suffocation (Porto Alegre), followed by firearms and explosives (Belo Horizonte).

Adolescent↗