Determinants of quality of life decrease in family caregivers of care-dependent patients: a longitudinal study.

Purpose: Family caregivers of care-dependent patients experience a decline in their Quality of Life (QoL). However, the determinants contributing to this decrease in QoL are still not fully understood. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate prospectively the determinants contributing to decreased QoL among family caregivers of care-dependent patients.

Temporal and spatial distribution trends of polio vaccine coverage in less than one-year old children in Brazil, 2011-2021.

Background: Low polio vaccine coverage can result in the spread of Poliovirus to areas free from viral circulation. This study analyzed the temporal trends and spatial distribution of polio vaccine coverage in one year-old children in Brazil, between 2011 and 2021.

Methods: This was an ecological, time-series study (2011 to 2021) with annual vaccine coverages against poliomyelitis, extracted from the Information System of the National Immunization Program from the 26 States and the Distrito Federal (DF).

Covid-19 pandemic impacts on follow-up of child growth and development.

Objective: To analyze the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the use of primary health care services to follow-up the child growth and development in Brazil.

Method: A total of 7.9 million consultations of children (0-2 years old) across Brazil between March 2017 and May 2020 were studied.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Human Papillomavirus Vaccination in Brazil.

To analyze the number of applied HPV vaccine doses before (from April 2019 to March 2020) and after (from April 2020 to September 2020) social distancing measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in states and regions of Brazil. Ecological time-series study, using data from the Brazilian National Immunization Program (PNI). Using the Mann-Whitney test, we evaluated the difference between the median number of applied doses during the periods April 2019 to March 2020 and from April 2020 to September 2020.

Number of doses of Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine applied in Brazil before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Due to the social isolation measures adopted in an attempt to mitigate the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, there has been a reduction in vaccination coverage of children and adolescents in several countries and regions of the world.

Objective: Analyze the number of doses of vaccine against Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) applied before and after the beginning of mitigation measures due to COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.

Methods: The data collected refer to the number of doses of the MMR vaccine applied monthly to the target population residing in Brazil: cahildren, aged 12 months (first dose) and children, aged 9 years (second dose), from April 2019 to December 2020.

Motivation and difficulties to reduce or quit smoking.

Objective: To understand what factors motivate people to reduce or stop tobacco use and what difficulties they face in this process.

Method: Qualitative, empirical and interpretative research that used a focal group technique for data collection and Discourse Analysis as a theoretical reference for analysis.

Results: The responses centered on the following aspects: motivation for reduction or cessation of smoking, family and community support received during treatment, benefits from cessation of tobacco, difficulties encountered and strategies for overcoming triggers.

[Estimated prevalence of hypertension and associated factors in Krenak indigenous adults in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil].

This cross-sectional study in 2016 aimed to describe the estimated prevalence of systemic arterial hypertension and associated factors in Krenak adults and elderly in an indigenous community located along the Rio Doce in eastern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. We measured weight, height, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and capillary blood glucose. Sociodemographic and lifestyle information was obtained from a face-to-face questionnaire.

Relationship Between Level of Care Dependency and Quality of Life of Family Caregivers of Care-Dependent Patients.

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 139 family caregivers in two community health center areas in the city of Belo Horizonte, located in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The purpose of the study was to analyze the relationship between level of care dependency and quality of life (QOL) of family caregivers. A socio-demographic questionnaire, the Barthel Index for assessing patients' care dependency level, and the World Health Organization's Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) for evaluating family caregivers' QOL were used.

Anthropometric changes and their effects on cardiometabolic risk factors in rural populations in Brazil.

This article aims to evaluate associations between anthropometric changes in five years with lipid and blood pressure levels in Brazilian rural population. This longitudinal study evaluated 387 individuals aged 18 to 75 residents of two rural communities. Demographic, lifestyle, anthropometric, biochemical and hemodynamic characteristics were assessed in 2004 and repeated in 2009.

Special attention to women experiencing high-risk pregnancy: Delivery, care assistance and neonatal outcomes in two Brazilian maternity wards.

Background: To compare two care models of high-risk pregnant women--a House for Pregnant Women, staffed by nurse-midwives, versus a traditional care model in a hospital maternity ward.

Design: This was across-sectional study conducted in two reference maternity hospitals for high-risk pregnancies, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The sample consisted of 312 high-risk pregnant women consecutively admitted from January 1st to December 31, 2010, either to the House for Pregnant Women (n=247), or the hospital maternity ward (n=65).

Direct Method for Determination of Al, Cd, Cu, and Pb in Beers In Situ Digested by GF AAS Using Permanent Modifiers.

The object of the present study was to development of safe, reliable fast, and efficient methodologies for the direct determination of Al, Pb, Cu, and Cd in non-digested beer samples of widely consumed brand name beers sold in Brazil, using graphite furnace absorption spectrometry (GF AAS). Pyrolysis and atomization temperature curves of selected chemical modifiers (iridium, rhodium, ruthenium, zirconium, and non-modifier use) were used to stabilize each metal and sensitivity in a beer sample was diluted to 1:1 with 0.2 % v/v nitric acid after degasification.

ET AAS evaluation of the stability and pH-sensitivity of, pH-sensitive stealth liposomes containing cisplatin in mouse plasma.

In this work, stability and the pH-sensitivity of pH-sensitive stealth liposomes containing cisplatin exposed to plasma medium and their subsequent responses to pH modifications were evaluated. A method to determine platin in mouse plasma by electrothermal atomic absorption spectroscopy (ET AAS) was developed and validated. At first, a comparative study of sample preparation treatments with basic, acidic, and acidic added with Triton X-100 as a modifier was done.

Multivariate approach in the optimization procedures for the direct determination of manganese in serum samples by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry.

A method for direct determination of manganese (Mn) in human serum by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) was proposed in this work. The samples were only diluted 1:4 with nitric acid 1% (v/v) and Triton(®) X-100 0.1% (v/v).

Iron-fortified rice is as efficacious as supplemental iron drops in infants and young children.

How to improve iron status among infants and young children is of continued concern in low- to middle-income countries, including Brazil. In a double blind, 5-mo, home-based, randomized trial in Brazil, we gave one group of mildly anemic 6- to 24-mo-old children (n = 175) rice fortified with micronized ferric pyrophosphate using the Ultra Rice technology and a placebo solution (URG) and another group identical nonfortified rice and iron drops. We instructed parents on the correct dosage of iron drops and to feed their children rice as they normally would.

Effect of iron-fortified drinking water of daycare facilities on the hemoglobin status of young children.

Background: Anemia is the most prevalent nutrition problem in young children. One possible strategy to prevent anemia is affordable fortification of drinking water.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of iron-fortified drinking water of daycare facilities on the hemoglobin and anthropometric status of pre-school children.

Recent experience with fortification of foods and beverages with iron for the control of iron-deficiency anemia in Brazilian children.

Iron-deficiency-anemia affects 30% of the world population. Women of reproductive age and children are the most affected. Iron supplementation in the form of tablets and syrups has not been successful in developing countries, and iron deficiency is still the most important deficiency related to malnutrition.