Women's health and well-being in five birth cohorts from low- and middle-income countries: Domains and their associations with early-life conditions.

Background: Women's health and well-being (WHW) have been receiving growing attention, but limited progress has been made on how to measure its different domains in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We used data from five long-term birth cohorts in Brazil, Guatemala, the Philippines and South Africa to explore different domains of adult WHW, and how these domains relate to early life exposures.

Methods: Based upon an a priori conceptualisation of eight postulated WHW outcomes available in the data, we grouped them as follows: human capital (intelligence quotient, schooling, height, and teenage childbearing), metabolic health (body mass index and metabolic syndrome score), and psychological (happiness and Self-Reported Questionnaire (SRQ) scores).

Premorbid intelligence quotient and school failure as risk markers for bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder.

Mood disorders significantly impact global health, with MDD ranking as the second leading cause of disability in the United States and BD ranking 18th. Despite their prevalence and impact, the relationship between premorbid intelligence and the subsequent development of BD and MDD remains inconclusive. This study investigates the potential of premorbid Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and school failure frequency as risk factors for Bipolar Disorder (BD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in a birth cohort setting.

Trajectories of Spirometric Patterns, Obstructive and PRISm, in a Population-Based Cohort in Latin America.

Background: Preserved ratio impaired spirometry (PRISm) has been associated with adverse outcomes and increased transition to other spirometric categories over time. We aimed to examine its prevalence, trajectories over time, and outcomes in a population-based sample from Latin America.

Methods: Data were obtained from two population-based surveys of adults from three cities in Latin America (PLATINO study), conducted on the same individuals 5-9 years after their baseline examination.

Life history trade-offs associated with exposure to low maternal capital are different in sons compared to daughters: Evidence from a prospective Brazilian birth cohort.

Background: Environmental exposures in early life explain variability in many physiological and behavioural traits in adulthood. Recently, we showed that exposure to a composite marker of low maternal capital explained the clustering of adverse behavioural and physical traits in adult daughters in a Brazilian birth cohort. These associations were strongly mediated by whether or not the daughter had reproduced by the age of 18 years.

Effects of early-life poverty on health and human capital in children and adolescents: analyses of national surveys and birth cohort studies in LMICs.

The survival and nutrition of children and, to a lesser extent, adolescents have improved substantially in the past two decades. Improvements have been linked to the delivery of effective biomedical, behavioural, and environmental interventions; however, large disparities exist between and within countries. Using data from 95 national surveys in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), we analyse how strongly the health, nutrition, and cognitive development of children and adolescents are related to early-life poverty.

Respiratory symptoms (COPD Assessment Test and modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scores) and GOLD-ABCD COPD classification: the LASSYC study.

Objective: To assess the frequency and severity of 24-hour respiratory symptoms according to COPD GOLD-ABCD classification (2017-version), the distribution of the patients with COPD into GOLD categories using mMRC (≥2) or CAT (≥10) scores, and agreement between these cut-off points.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study (LASSYC study), 24-hour day respiratory symptoms were assessed by the Evaluating Respiratory Symptoms in COPD (E-RS) questionnaire, Nighttime Symptoms of COPD Instrument (NiSCI), Early Morning Symptoms of COPD Instrument (EMSCI), CAT and mMRC scores.

Results: Among the 734 patients with COPD, 61% were male, age 69.

Missed childhood immunizations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil: Analyses of routine statistics and of a national household survey.

Introduction: There is widespread concern that disruption to health services during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to declines in immunization coverage among young children, but there is limited information on the magnitude of such impact. High immunization coverage is essential for reducing the risk of vaccine preventable diseases.

Methods: We used data from two nationwide sources covering the whole of Brazil.

Association between maternal prepregnancy body mass index with offspring cardiometabolic risk factors: analysis of three Brazilian birth cohorts.

Evidence suggests that maternal prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) is associated with offspring cardiometabolic risk factors. This study was aimed at assessing the association of maternal prepregnancy BMI with offspring cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescence and adulthood. We also evaluated whether offspring BMI was a mediator in this association.

2 + 2 (+ 2) = 4: A new approach for appendicular muscle mass assessment by ultrasound.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop new appendicular lean mass (ALM) prediction models based on ultrasound and anthropometric measurements.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional assessment of a subsample from a population-based study (COMO VAI?), conducted with community-dwelling individuals ≥60 y of age living in a southern Brazilian city. ALM was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Influence of maternal pre-pregnancy nutritional status on offspring anthropometric measurements and body composition in three Brazilian Birth Cohorts.

Objective: We aimed at evaluating the association of maternal pre-pregnancy nutritional status with offspring anthropometry and body composition. We also evaluated whether these associations were modified by gender, diet and physical activity and mediated by birth weight.

Design: Birth cohort study.

Short and long sleep duration and associated factors in pre-adolescence and early adulthood: evidence from the 1993 Pelotas birth cohort study.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate the associated factors with short and long sleep duration at ages 11 (pre-adolescence) and 22 years old (early adulthood).

Methods: Participants of the 1993 Pelotas birth cohort with self-reported sleep records at 11 (n = 4442) and 22 (n = 3800) years were included. The total sleep time duration was categorised as short (<9 h for 11 years and <7 h for 22 years), long (>11 for 11 years and >9 for 22 years) and recommended according to the National Sleep Foundation criteria.

Uric acid is independent and inversely associated to glomerular filtration rate in young adult Brazilian individuals.

Background And Aims: Uric acid, the end-product of human purine metabolism, is associated with hypertension, diabetes and obesity. It has also been independently associated with the onset of chronic kidney disease in several populations. In this study, the association between serum uric acid (SUA) level and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was investigated in healthy individuals belonging to two Brazilian birth cohorts.

Childhood Behavioural Problems and Adverse Outcomes in Early Adulthood: a Comparison of Brazilian and British Birth Cohorts.

Purpose: Examine associations between childhood behavioural problems with criminal behaviour, emotional disorders, substance use and unemployment in early adulthood in two birth cohorts from a middle- and high-income country.

Methods: Data were utilised from large, prospective birth cohorts in Brazil (1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort;  = 3939) and the UK (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children; ALSPAC;  = 5079). Behavioural problems were reported on by parents at age 11 years (including disobeys, temper, lies, fights, steals).

Sleep parameters measured by accelerometry: descriptive analyses from the 22-year follow-up of the Pelotas 1993 birth cohort.

Objective: To describe the sleep time window (STW), total sleep time (TST), and sleep percent [SP = (TST/STW) × 100] by accelerometry in a population-based young adult cohort in Brazil.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis with a 22-year sample (N = 2462). Sleep variables were measured using an accelerometer.

Parent-Related Normative Perceptions of Adolescents and Later Weight Control Behavior: Longitudinal Analysis of Cohort Data From Brazil.

Purpose: Body image-related norms can be imposed by parents and can shape adolescents' body satisfaction in consequential ways, yet evidence on long-term effects is scarce. Longitudinal data from a country with strong body image focus provided a unique opportunity to investigate long-term influences of normative parent-related perceptions.

Methods: Multinomial logistic regression was used on data from a 1993 birth cohort in Brazil to investigate the association of normal-body mass index (BMI) adolescents' perception of their parent's opinion of their weight at age 11 years with their weight control attempts at 18 years, testing a mediating role for body dissatisfaction at age 15 years.

The Intersectionality of Gender and Wealth in Adolescent Health and Behavioral Outcomes in Brazil: The 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort.

Purpose: Brazilian society is characterized by deep socioeconomic inequalities. Using data from a population-based birth cohort, we explored how the intersectionality of family income and gender may affect adolescent health and behavioral outcomes.

Methods: Children born in 1993 in the Brazilian city of Pelotas have been followed up prospectively at the age of 15 years when the follow-up rate was 85.

Think Globally, Act Locally: The Importance of Population-Specific Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Prediction Equations for Muscle Mass Assessment.

Background: Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a convenient muscle assessment method, but its accuracy highly depends on population-specific aspects of the adopted equation. We aimed to develop appendicular lean mass (ALM) prediction models for older South Americans and to compare their performances to those of reference equations in the same sample.

Methods: Cross-sectional evaluation of 192 community-dwelling Brazilian subjects ≥60 years old from the COMO VAI?

Study: Using measurements from single-frequency and multifrequency devices (BIASF and BIAMF, respectively), new ALM prediction equations were developed (reference method: dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry [DXA]).

The emergence of vaccine hesitancy among upper-class Brazilians: Results from four birth cohorts, 1982-2015.

Vaccine hesitancy has been increasingly reported in Brazil. We describe secular trends and socioeconomic disparities from 1982 to 2015, using data from four population-based birth cohorts carried out in the city of Pelotas. Full immunization coverage (FIC) was defined as having received four basic vaccines (one dose of BCG and measles, and three doses of polio and DTP) scheduled for the first year of life.

Low Maternal Capital Predicts Life History Trade-Offs in Daughters: Why Adverse Outcomes Cluster in Individuals.

Some individuals appear prone to multiple adverse outcomes, including poor health, school dropout, risky behavior and early reproduction. This clustering remains poorly understood. Drawing on evolutionary life history theory, we hypothesized that maternal investment in early life would predict the developmental trajectory and adult phenotype of female offspring.

Fetal, neonatal, and post-neonatal mortality in the 2015 Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort and associated factors.

This study aimed to describe fetal, neonatal, and post-neonatal mortality and associated factors in participants of the 2015 Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort. The child mortality sub-study followed up all deaths in the first year of life. Data were collected on intrauterine fetal deaths (weight ≥ 500g and/or gestational age ≥ 20 weeks), neonatal deaths (< 28 days of life), and post-neonatal deaths (from 28 days to the end of the first year of life).

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Latin America.

The PLATINO and PREPOCOL population-based studies documented the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in several Latin American (Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Montevideo, Santiago and Caracas) and Colombian (Medellin, Bogota, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga and Cali) cities. COPD ranged between 6.2 and 19.

Outcomes for symptomatic non-obstructed individuals and individuals with mild (GOLD stage 1) COPD in a population based cohort.

Background: We aimed to study the adverse outcomes of symptomatic and asymptomatic non-obstructed individuals and those with mild COPD longitudinally in participants from three Latin-American cities.

Methods: Two population-based surveys of adults with spirometry were conducted for these same individuals with a 5- to 9-year interval. We evaluated the impact of respiratory symptoms (cough, phlegm, wheezing or dyspnea) in non-obstructed individuals, and among those classified as Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stage 1, COPD on exacerbation frequency, mortality and FEV decline, compared with asymptomatic individuals without airflow obstruction or restriction.