Planning Matters: A Document Analysis of 24 Portuguese Health Programmes.

Background: Health planning is essential for effective public health interventions and optimal resource utilisation. The Portuguese Directorate-General of Health has a long history of developing health plans and programmes, for communicable and noncommunicable diseases, and their determinants. This study aimed to review the current 24 programmes and assess the adequacy of their structure and content.

Accessory Extraocular Muscle: A Rare Cause of Strabismus.

Accessory extraocular muscles are rare intraorbital congenital structures that can cause diplopia and restrictive strabismus.

Continuous Teriparatide Treatment in Chronic Hypoparathyroidism: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND Hypoparathyroidism remains the only hormone deficiency-related disorder with a standard treatment that is not based on replacing a missing hormone. Growing evidence supports the use of recombinant human parathyroid hormone (PTH), mostly with subcutaneous injections. More recently, some clinicians have administered teriparatide, a pharmaceutical form of PTH, through continuous delivery systems.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Psychotic Disorder.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a disease that usually emerges during adolescence, is characterized by hormonal imbalance and ovarian dysfunction. The prevalence can vary between 5.6 to 21.

Psychological morbidity is the main predictor of quality of life among caregivers of individuals in first-episode psychosis: data from a year-long longitudinal study in Brazil.

Objective: To investigate quality of life (QoL) and QoL predictors among caregivers of individuals in first-episode psychosis (FEP).

Methods: This longitudinal study investigated predictors of QoL in caregivers of 80 individuals in FEP over a 1-year follow-up period, measured using a single component extracted from the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36).

Results: Mediation analysis demonstrated that, at 1 year, high scores in the Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ-20) were associated with high scores on the negative sub-scale of the Experience of Caregiving Inventory (ECI), which was also associated with low scores in the Essential Quality of Life (Essential QoL) component extracted from the SEF-36.

Clinical characteristics and influence of childhood trauma on the prodrome of bipolar disorder.

Objectives: To describe the onset pattern, frequency, and severity of the signs and symptoms of the prodrome of the first hypomanic/manic episode and first depressive episode of bipolar disorder (BD) and to investigate the influence of a history of childhood maltreatment on the expression of prodromal symptoms.

Methods: Using a semi-structured interview, the Bipolar Prodrome Symptom Scale-Retrospective (BPSS-R), information regarding prodromal symptoms was assessed from patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of BD. History of childhood maltreatment was evaluated using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ).

Brazilian donkeys (Equus asinus) have a low exposure to Neospora spp.

Donkeys (Equus asinus) are closely related to horses and are known to be infected by several equine pathogens. Neospora caninum and Neospora hughesi are protozoan parasites that infect horses, but they were not confirmed in donkeys up to this date. The aim of this study was to evaluate the exposure of donkeys (Equus asinus) to Neospora spp.

[Social representations of adolescents on sexual relations and the use of condoms].

The objective of this investigation was to identify how adolescents structure the social representations of sexual intercourse and use of condoms. Exploratory and descriptive research was conducted with a convenience sample consisting of 234 students of a public secondary school in Fortaleza-CE, Brazil, between July 2009 and April 2010. Data were collected using a questionnaire with variables on socioeconomic status and sexual behaviour, and Free Association test with three terms: 'sex', 'unprotected sex' and 'sex with a condom'.

Metronomic oral cyclophosphamide plus prednisone in docetaxel-pretreated patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of metronomic oral cyclophosphamide (CTX) and prednisone in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients. We analyzed retrospectively patients with mCRPC previously treated with docetaxel, and who received metronomic CTX (from 50 mg PO daily to 150 mg PO, 14 days/7 days off) and prednisone 10 mg PO daily between September 2009 and April 2014 were analyzed. The primary endpoint was prostate-specific antigen (PSA) decrease ≥50 %.

[Knowledge and attitudes of a public school's adolescents on sexual transmission of HIV].

The research objectives were to describe the knowledge about the transmission of HIV/AIDS, analyze the sexual behavior and attitudes towards condom use among adolescents. Exploratory survey conducted in 2009 with 234 students of a school in Fortaleza, Brazil. We used semi - structured questionnaire and Likert Scale.

First manic episode in a patient with breast cancer.

Mental disorders occur in as much as 50% of patients with cancer, impairing the oncologic prognosis and quality of life. The diagnostic investigation and treatment planning of this comorbidity impose a clinical challenge once complications related to the neoplasm, such as brain metastasis and paraneoplastic syndromes, must be excluded. In addition, psychotropic medications may interfere with oncologic treatment.

The compliance to prescribed drug treatment and referral in a psychiatric emergency service: a follow-up study.

Objectives: To evaluate the compliance to the prescribed drug treatment and referral of patients discharged from a psychiatric emergency service (PES).

Method: From a total of 330 patients enrolled in the study, 175 (53%) agreed to a telephone inquiry 60 days after the PES visit regarding the status of the prescribed medication use and the outpatient referral. RESULTS 227 patients (68.

The Experience of Caregiving Inventory for first-episode psychosis caregivers: validation of the Brazilian version.

Family members of first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients are regarded as key components of the patient's evaluation, recovery and treatment. This paper aimed to investigate 75 FEP caregivers' appraisal, psychological morbidity and quality of life in the initial phase of treatment in a specialized FEP outpatient program in São Paulo, Brazil, and evaluate the validation of the Brazilian version of the Experience of Caregiving Inventory (ECI). Caregivers were also scored through Self Report Questionnaire-20 and Short Form-36.

Experience of recovery from a first-episode psychosis.

Aim: To understand the subjective factors involved in the recovery process following a first-episode psychosis.

Method: Sixteen individuals from a First Episode Program in São Paulo, Brazil were evaluated by a semistructured interview designed to elicit an in-depth narrative of participants' subjective experience of recovery after a first-episode psychosis. Eligibility was established by using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders.

Predictive factors for vesicoureteral reflux and prenatally diagnosed renal pelvic dilatation.

Purpose: We sought to identify predictive factors for primary vesicoureteral reflux among infants with prenatally detected renal pelvic dilatation.

Materials And Methods: A total of 250 neonates were diagnosed with isolated renal pelvic dilatation between 1999 and 2008, and followed prospectively. The main event of interest was presence of moderate to severe reflux (grade III to V).

Multi-family group intervention in a programme for patients with first-episode psychosis: a Brazilian experience.

Background: Patients' relatives are considered crucial for treatment and recovery in psychosis but family intervention studies have shown contradictory results in first-episode psychosis. The aims of this study were to survey caregivers' satisfaction with the multi-family intervention delivered by our programme and to verify if knowledge acquisition about illness and treatment provided by the family intervention was considered enough and understandable.

Methods: Sixty five family members of 46 first-episode patients were invited to answer a satisfaction questionnaire about the intervention.

Acute splenic sequestration in a cohort of children with sickle cell anemia.

Objective: To analyze acute splenic sequestration (ASS) in children with sickle cell anemia diagnosed through a newborn screening program in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and followed up at the hematology center in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Methods: Retrospective cohort of 255 children with sickle cell anemia (Hb SS/Sbeta(0)) born between January 01, 2000, and December 31, 2004, and followed up until December 31, 2006. Data were abstracted from the patients' medical records.

Aripiprazole for patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder: an open-label, randomized, study versus haloperidol.

Introduction: Aripiprazole, a dopamine D2 receptor partial agonist, has also partial agonist activity at serotonin (5-HT)1A receptors and antagonist activity at 5-HT2A receptors.

Methods: In this 8-week, multicenter, randomized, parallel-group, open-label, flexible-dose study, patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were randomized to aripiprazole 15-30 mg/day or haloperidol 10-15 mg/day.

Results: Patients treated with both aripiprazole and haloperidol improved from baseline in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale total, positive, and negative scores as well as in Clinical Global Impressions scores (all P<.

Weight gain, dyslipidemia and altered parameters for metabolic syndrome on first episode psychotic patients after six-month follow-up.

Objectives: Obesity and metabolic abnormalities are frequent in psychotic patients, including first-episode psychosis. We evaluated weight and metabolic parameters in first-episode psychotic outpatients from the First Episode Psychosis Program, Universidade Federal de São Paulo.

Method: Weight, height, waist and hip circumferences, glucose and lipid levels were measured at baseline and after a six-month period.

Fertility and fecundity of an outpatient sample with schizophrenia.

Objective: To determine reproductive rates among patients with schizophrenia who attended the outpatient clinic at the Universidade Federal de São Paulo.

Method: All patients with schizophrenia completed a semi-standardized questionnaire, and data from the Brazilian census was used for comparing population rates.

Results: 167 patients completed the questionnaires and of these 33 (19.

One-year stability of diagnosis in first-episode nonaffective psychosis: influence of sex.

Objective: To determine whether sex influences the frequency and direction of diagnostic change 1 year after a first episode of nonaffective psychosis.

Method: The subjects (n = 228) were individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and other psychoses according to DSM-IV criteria at baseline and at 1 year.

Results: When diagnostic shifts occurred, men mainly shifted toward schizophrenia (84.

Sex selection bias in schizophrenia antipsychotic trials.

The sex prevalence of schizophrenia is approximately equal, and yet clinical trials of new therapeutic drugs have been conducted, for the most part, with male participants. The authors reviewed the percentage of women in schizophrenia clinical trials of the new "atypical" antipsychotic medications. MEDLINE and Cochrane databases were searched for English-language randomized controlled trials involving risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, ziprasidone, and aripiprazole.