Healthcare Stakeholders' Perspectives on Challenges in the Provision of Quality Primary Healthcare for People with Disabilities in Three Regions of Guatemala: A Qualitative Study.

It is estimated that 3.75 billion people worldwide lack access to healthcare services. Marginalized populations, such as people with disabilities, are at greater risk of exclusion.

How do people with disabilities in three regions of Guatemala make healthcare decisions? A qualitative study focusing on use of primary healthcare services.

Research has demonstrated that persons with disabilities, despite their greater need for healthcare services, often experience greater barriers to accessing healthcare including primary healthcare. Data and interventions on access to primary healthcare for persons with disabilities to date appear to concentrate more on access and quality issues once the person with a disability has initiated the healthcare seeking process, with less emphasis on how healthcare decisions are made at the personal or household level when one identifies a healthcare need. The aim of this study was to investigate how healthcare decisions are made by people with disabilities when they first identify a healthcare need.

The progression of 102 Brazilian patients with bipolar disorder: outcome of first 12 months of prospective follow-up.

Introduction: Prospective studies have shown that the course of bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by the persistence of symptoms, predominantly depression, along most of the time. However, to our knowledge, no studies in Latin America have investigated it.

Objectives: To replicate international studies using a Brazilian sample to prospectively analyze treatment outcomes in the first year and to determine potential chronicity factors.