Biomedical subjects

Elisabeth França

Publications and source records attributed to Elisabeth França.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

[Perinatal deaths and childbirth healthcare evaluation in maternity hospitals of the Brazilian Unified Health System in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 1999].

This paper analyzes the association between perinatal mortality and factors related to hospital care during labor, considering that healthcare assessment is needed in order to reduce perinatal mortality. A population-based case-control study was conducted with 118 perinatal deaths (cases) and 492 births (controls) that took place in maternity hospitals of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Male sex, prematurity, diseases during pregnancy, low birth weight, newborn diseases, lack of prenatal care, lack of partograph use during labor, and less than one fetus assessment per hour during labor were significantly associated with perinatal deaths. In the multiple regression analysis, lack of partograph use during labor and type of hospital were associated with perinatal deaths. These results indicate inadequate quality of care in maternity hospitals and show that health services structure and health care process are related to perinatal mortality due to preventable causes.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

[Socioeconomic inequalities and premature mortality due to cardiovascular diseases in Brazil].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between some indicators of socioeconomic status and adult mortality due to cardiovascular diseases in Brazil. METHODS: Adult deaths (aged between 35 and 64 years) due to cardiovascular diseases and subgroups of ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular-hypertensive diseases were assessed during the period from 1999 to 2001. Data was obtained from the National Mortality Information System. Ninety-eight Brazilian municipalities with the best quality of information were included in the study. Simple and multiple linear regression methods were used to assess the association between socioeconomic indicators and mortality due to cardiovascular diseases. RESULTS: Univariate analysis revealed a negative association between mortality due to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular-hypertensive diseases and income and education and a direct association with poverty rates and poor housing conditions. In regard to ischemic heart disease, there was an inverse association with poverty rates and education indicators and a direct association with poor housing conditions. After adjusting to other variables, education still remained associated to mortality due to cardiovascular disease and its subgroups. For each percent point increase in adults with high level of education, there was a decrease of 3.25 per 100,000 inhabitants in the mortality rate due to cardiovascular diseases. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of mortality in those municipalities has shown there is an inverse association between cardiovascular diseases and social and economic factors, especially education. Is it likely that better education can improve life conditions and thus have a positive impact on premature mortality.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

[Aedes aegypti infestation and occurrence of dengue in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between the proportion of buildings positive for Aedes aegypti larvae measured by means of building infestation rate and dengue incidence rate. METHODS: Autochthonous dengue cases were selected and building infestation rates assessed in the coverage areas of health districts in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, from October 1997 to May 2001. After grouping building infestation rates according to their distribution in quartiles, mean dengue incidence rates (for the month following the building infestation assessment) were compared using ANOVA. RESULTS: A weak though statistically significant correlation was observed between monthly dengue incidence and building infestation rates for the health districts (r=0.21; p=0.02) and coverage areas (r=0.14; p=0.00) in the study period. After grouping building infestation rates in quartiles, coverage areas of building infestation between 0.46% and 1.32% (second quartile) showed a mean monthly dengue incidence rate twice as high as areas of building infestation lower or equal to 0.45% (first quartile). Areas of building infestation between 1.33% and 2.76% (third quartile) and equal to or higher than 2.77% had a mean monthly dengue incidence rate five and seven times, respectively, higher than those areas showing 0.45% or less. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the well-known limitations of building infestation rates for estimating vector infestation and prediction of dengue epidemics, the study results indicate that higher building infestation rates were associated to a higher risk of disease transmission in the health districts and coverage areas of Belo Horizonte.

Aedes↗

PubMed2005

[Trends in avoidable causes of infant mortality in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 1984 to 1998].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the infant mortality trend in a metropolitan area, from 1984 to 1998. The main focus was on avoidable causes of neonatal and post-neonatal mortality. METHODS: Sources of data were the Sistema de Informacoes em Mortalidade do Ministerio da Saude (SIM-MS) [Mortality Information System of the Ministry of Health] and Fundacao Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE) [Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics Foundation] (official live birth and death records) for the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, in the State of Minas Gerais. A simple linear regression model was used to evaluate time-trends of mortality rates. Statistical significance of the inclination of the regression curves was considered for the p<0.05 level. RESULTS: During the 15 year period in question, the infant mortality rate declined from 48.5 to 22.1/1,000 live births. However, the most accentuated decrease was observed during the last four years of the study period. The post-neonatal group was greatly responsible for this decline both in the capital and in the other districts within the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte. CONCLUSIONS: Although a significant decrease in the infant mortality rate has been observed, particularly in the post-neonatal mortality, it is still larger than the rates found in developed countries. Deaths due to perinatal morbidities as well as the group of causes represented by diarrhea-pneumonia-malnutrition still present an important potential for reduction. The authors discuss the role of the health services in improving the rates of these avoidable causes of infant mortality.

Brazil↗

PubMed2004

[Dengue epidemics and press coverage].

The occurrence of successive dengue epidemics in Brazil highlights the importance of information dissemination by the media. As a sphere for mediation in contemporary societies, the news media produce, expand, and circulate information and meanings that affect people's decisions. In order to contribute to the discussion, this study analyzes coverage by the main daily newspaper in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, on dengue epidemics in that State capital from 1996 to 2000, assessing the priority ascribed to the epidemics as news and the various approaches to the disease. Some 446 news stories were selected, classified according to the themes approached in the titles and in the body of the articles. There was a close relationship between the number of news stories and the number of reported dengue cases, with "peaks" in coverage coinciding with outbreaks. According to this study, the news priority for epidemics and the limited space reserved for prevention highlight the need for epidemiological surveillance services to consider strategies to disseminate information through the mass media, aimed at fostering more participatory interventions that would thus be more efficient in the prevention of epidemics.

Bibliometrics↗