Biomedical subjects

Glaura César Pedroso

Publications and source records attributed to Glaura César Pedroso.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Development of a tool for early referral of children and adolescents with signs and symptoms suggestive of chronic arthropathy to pediatric rheumatology centers.

OBJECTIVE: To develop an easy, time-efficient tool to identify children and adolescents with signs and symptoms suggestive of chronic arthropathies, and to evaluate its interobserver reproducibility and reliability. METHODS: The instrument used standardized techniques as required for the development of health-related instruments, targeting parents of apparently healthy children and adolescents ages 1-16 years. A multidisciplinary team was involved in the design of the instrument. RESULTS: Each health professional generated 10-15 questions addressing musculoskeletal complaints that they considered to be the most relevant. A total of 60 questions were listed. During the reduction step, each health professional scored questions from 1 to 4 according to the question's relevance. The tool comprised 12 questions and was administered to the parents of 3 groups: patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA; n = 48), children with diffuse musculoskeletal pain (n = 39), and a healthy control group (n = 42). The JIA group achieved the highest scores, followed by the diffuse musculoskeletal pain group and the control group. Nine (18.7%) of 48 patients with JIA and 2 (5.1%) of 39 children with musculoskeletal pain had a score of 5. The interobserver reproducibility was confirmed. All 12 questions were included in the final version of the instrument. We determined that children and adolescents with a score > or =5 should be referred for a rheumatologic evaluation (cluster analysis and logistic regression). CONCLUSION: Our questionnaire seems to be a useful tool for the early detection of musculoskeletal problems in children that may need a referral for a rheumatologic evaluation.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

[Safe community].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effectiveness of prevention programs for intentional and unintentional injuries, based on safe community principles, in children and adolescents. SOURCES OF DATA: An electronic search was performed in the MEDLINE and LILACS database, corresponding to the period from 2000 to 2005. For prevention of unintentional injuries, we used the following keywords: injury and prevention and community or population and intervention. For prevention of intentional injuries, we used the following keywords: violence and prevention and community or population and intervention; the age range from zero to 18 years was used as a threshold. The inclusion criteria were: original articles which evaluated the effectiveness of interventions using more than one strategy, involving a whole community or group, published in Portuguese, English or Spanish. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS: 152 studies were obtained as a result. Considering the inclusion criteria, five articles were found on unintentional injury prevention, one about intentional injury prevention and one paper addressing these two issues. All studies analyzed demonstrate benefits to children and adolescents, but in different proportions. CONCLUSIONS: A restricted number of programs using the safe community concept were found. The investigations analyzed in this study presented positive results. Increased efforts to further develop this evidence are still needed, respecting local characteristics, and developing evaluation indicators that allow for a better comparison between different studies.

Accident Prevention↗

PubMed2003

[Prevalence of malnutrition among children in Embu, São Paulo State, Brazil, 1996-1997].

This paper focused on the nutritional profile of children in the municipality of Embu, São Paulo State, Brazil, in 1996-1997, to identify vulnerable population segments that require specific action by health services. The sample consisted of 320 children < or = 5 years of age distributed into four socioeconomic strata. The indices were expressed as z-scores: weight/age (W/A), height/age (H/A), and weight/height (W/H) to analyze the nutritional status, and the reference for normality was the NCHS curve. In all population strata and age groups, the height/age index was the most frequently affected, while the weight/height index had the fewest deficits. No statistically significant differences were observed in children's nutritional status between the four population strata or between the different age groups. Children with low birth weight showed the highest prevalence of deficits in all indices. In the municipality, the frequency of deficits were: H/A< 2z: 7.1%, W/H< 2z: 0.2%, and W/A< 2z: 2.9%. Height deficit can be used as an early warning, considering that loss observed over the course of years has future consequences.

Anthropometry↗

PubMed2003

[Prenatal and childbirth care equity in an area in Greater Metropolitan São Paulo, 1996].

A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate prenatal and childbirth care interviewing mothers of infants in the municipality of Embu (Greater Metropolitan São Paulo) in 1996, according to four socioeconomic strata. A door-to-door survey included a probabilistic sample consisting of 483 infants. In all strata more than 90% of the mothers had received prenatal care, but with late access in stratum 4 (residents of favelas, or slums). Breast examination during prenatal care, reported by only 60.8% of the mothers, was the worst single indicator of quality of prenatal care in the municipality. The outcome indicator - first prenatal consultation after the first trimester and total number of consultations less than six - was associated with maternal age (less than 20 years), low per capita family income (less than one minimum wage), and lack of private health plan. As for deliveries, 97.7% occurred in hospital, of which 32.5% by cesarean section, with the latter more frequent in private health care facilities (63.2%). No population segments were identified as being excluded from the health care system, but some indicators suggest greater deficiencies in socioeconomic stratum 4. These results have supported local health system managers in redefining health measures for the municipality.

Adult↗