Frequency of fiber-rich food intake and associated factors in a Southern Brazilian population.

The objective of this study was to verify the frequency of fiber-rich food intake and evaluate its association with socioeconomic, demographic and behavioral characteristics. A city representative sample was selected and 3,993 subjects (> or =10 years) were interviewed. The study used the Block Screening Questionnaire.

Health service use in a population covered by the Estratégia de Saúde da Família (Family Health Strategy).

Objective: To analyze health service use patterns in communities covered by the Estratégia de Saúde da Família (Family Health Strategy).

Methods: Population-based cross-sectional study with a sample of 2,988 individuals, of all ages, living in areas covered by the Estratégia de Saúde da Família, in the city of Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil, between July and September 2003. Pre-coded questionnaires about demographic, socioeconomic and health information were applied to all residents of selected households.

A descriptive review of the methodologies used in household surveys on medicine utilization.

Background: Studies carried out in the community enable researchers to understand access to medicines, affordability, and barriers to use from the consumer's point of view, and may stimulate the development of adequate medicines policies. The aim of the present article was to describe methodological and analytical aspects of quantitative studies on medicine utilization carried out at the household level.

Methods: Systematic review of original papers with data collected in studies in which the household was a sampling unit, published between 1995 and 2008.

Mothers and their pregnancies: a comparison of three population-based cohorts in Southern Brazil.

Mothers from the 1982, 1993 and 2004 Pelotas birth cohorts were compared across biological, socioeconomic, demographic and reproductive characteristics. Women in the 2004 cohort had higher levels of education, gained more weight during pregnancy, and were heavier at the beginning and end of their pregnancy than mothers who gave birth in 1993 and 1982. There was an important increase in obesity rates (body mass index > 30kg/m(2)) over the 22 years of the study.

Medicine access and utilization in a population covered by primary health care in Brazil.

Objectives: To describe medicine utilization and access in a population covered by the Family Health Program (PSF) in Brazil.

Methods: Cross-sectional study with a random sample of 2988 individuals living in areas covered by 45 PSF clinics. Medicine utilization in the 15 days prior to the interview was assessed, as well as lack of access to medicines (proportion of people with medicines needed but not used), and lack of free access through the PSF (proportion of medicines used which had to be purchased).

[Antimicrobial prescription in family health units in Southern Brazil].

This paper describes antimicrobial prescription, clinical indications, and seasonal characteristics in primary health care. We performed a cross-sectional study in family health units in Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, in July 2005 and January 2006. All medical prescriptions (n = 2,877) were analyzed, and the prevalence rates for antimicrobial prescription in winter and summer were 30.

Out-of-pocket health expenditure in a population covered by the Family Health Program in Brazil.

Background: The Brazilian public health system, free and universal, should limit out-of-pocket health expenses. However, Brazil was reported as one of the countries with the highest proportion of families experiencing catastrophic expenditure. This study was designed to assess occurrence of high health spending in a low-income population, as well as the pattern of out-of-pocket health payments.

Can mothers rely on the Brazilian health system for their deliveries? An assessment of use of the public system and out-of-pocket expenditure in the 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort Study, Brazil.

Background: In a country where comprehensive free health care is provided via a public health system (SUS), an unexpected high frequency of catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditure has been described. We studied how deliveries were financed among mothers of a birth cohort and whether they were an important source of household out-of-pocket expenditure.

Methods: All deliveries occurring in the city of Pelotas, Brazil, during 2004, were recruited for a birth cohort study.

Determination of the newtonian gravitational constant using atom interferometry.

We present a new measurement of the Newtonian gravitational constant G based on cold-atom interferometry. Freely falling samples of laser-cooled rubidium atoms are used in a gravity gradiometer to probe the field generated by nearby source masses. In addition to its potential sensitivity, this method is intriguing as gravity is explored by a quantum system.

[Access to continuous-use medication among adults and the elderly in South and Northeast Brazil].

This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of access to continuous-use medicines for treatment of systemic arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and/or mental health problems, and the associated factors. A cross-sectional study was developed under the Project for the Expansion and Consolidation of the Family Health Program in 41 cities in South and Northeast Brazil. The sample included 4,060 adults and 4,003 elderly living in the coverage areas for primary health care clinics.

Source mass and positioning system for an accurate measurement of G.

We report on a system of well-characterized source masses and their precision positioning system for a measurement of the Newtonian gravitational constant G using atoms as probes. The masses are 24 cylinders of 50 mm nominal radius, 150.2 mm nominal height, and mass of about 21.

Physical activity and medicine use: evidence from a population-based study.

Background: Few studies have investigated the association between physical activity practice and medicine use; data from these studies are inconsistent. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between level of physical activity and medicine use in adults aged 20 years or more.

Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was carried out in the first semester of 2002 in the urban area of Pelotas; a medium-sized Southern Brazilian city.

[The 2004 Pelotas birth cohort: methods and description].

Objective: To describe a birth cohort which started in 2004, aiming to assess pre and perinatal conditions of the newborns, infant morbimortality, early life characteristics and outcomes, and access, use and financing of health care.

Methods: All children born in the urban area of Pelotas and Capão do Leão municipalities (Southern Brazil) in 2004 were identified and their mothers invited to join the study. In the first year of the study the children were seen at birth, at three and 12 months of age.

[Prevalence of sedentary lifestyle and associated factors in adolescents 10 to 12 years of age].

Physical activity in adolescence is associated with several health benefits, including a direct influence on adolescent morbidity and an indirect effect on adult health mediated by physical activity levels in adulthood. This study assessed the prevalence of sedentary lifestyle and associated variables in 4,452 adolescents aged 10-12 years, belonging to the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort Study, representing 87.5% of the original cohort.

[Prevalence of overweight in adolescents: a population-based study in a southern Brazilian city].

The prevalence of overweight and its association with demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral, and biological variables were evaluated. The sample included 810 adolescents (10-19 years of age) living in the urban area of Pelotas, a southern Brazilian city. Overweight was defined as a body mass index > or = the 85th percentile, according to sex and age, and compared to the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, following the WHO recommendation for adolescents.

Generic drugs in Brazil: known by many, used by few.

This study evaluated knowledge and use of generic drugs in a population-based sample of adults from a southern Brazilian city. The outcomes were: the proportion of generics in total medicines used; theoretical and practical knowledge about generics; and strategies used to buy medicines on medical prescriptions. The recall period for drug utilization was 15 days.

Thrombophilic abnormalities and recurrence of venous thromboembolism in patients treated with standardized anticoagulant treatment.

Introduction: Whether patients with hereditary or acquired thrombophilia have an increased risk for recurrence of venous thromboembolism (deep vein thrombosis and/or pulmonary embolism) is still controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of recurrence of venous thromboembolism in patients with and without thrombophilic abnormalities treated with standardized anticoagulant treatment.

Material And Methods: Database was from a prospective multicenter randomized study aimed at evaluating the long-term clinical benefit of extending to 1 year the 3-month oral anticoagulant treatment after a first episode of idiopathic proximal deep vein thrombosis.

A shift in the epidemiology of low body mass index in Brazilian adults.

Objective: To study the prevalence and current predictors of low body mass index (BMI) in a population undergoing a rapid nutritional transition.

Design: Population-based cross-sectional study.

Settings: Individuals living in the urban area of Pelotas, a medium-sized southern Brazilian city, were interviewed at home.

Physical activity in adults from two Brazilian areas: similarities and differences.

Lack of comparability has been a major limitation in studies on physical activity, due to the utilization of different methodological instruments and inconsistent cut-off points. This study aims to compare the levels of physical activity in adults from two Brazilian areas: (a) São Paulo, the richest State in the country; (b) Pelotas, a medium-sized southern Brazilian city. Both sites used cross-sectional population-based designs, with multiple-stage sampling strategies.

[Use of drugs to treat respiratory tract infections in the community].

Objective: This study describes the utilization of drugs to treat respiratory tract infections in a community setting. The description of antimicrobial and non-antimicrobial drugs use is important to design interventions aimed at improving treatment strategies for these common illnesses.

Methods: In a population-based cross-sectional study, 6145 individuals living in an urban area in southern Brazil were inquired about the use of drugs for the treatment of respiratory tract infections in the 30 days previous to the interview.

Prospective evaluation of the learning curve of laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy in a university hospital.

Study Objective: To prospectively analyze the learning curve of laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH) in a surgical team and evaluate if length of surgery can be reduced safely.

Design: Prospective observational study (Canadian Task Force classification II-2).

Setting: Department of obstetrics and gynecology in a university-affiliated hospital.

[Use of antimicrobial drugs in an urban population].

Objective: The emergence of multiresistant microorganisms has been a concerning matter worldwide in the last decades. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics has been associated to this phenomenon. The present study was designed to determine the pattern of antimicrobial drug use in an urban community.

[Drug utilization in adults: prevalence and individuals determinants].

Objective: To study epidemiological patterns of drug utilization and its individual determinants and to classify drugs used into pharmacological groups.

Methods: In a population-based cross-sectional study, 3,182 subjects aged 20 years or more were selected from an urban area in Southern Brazil using a multi-stage sampling design. Data were collected through home interviews using a structured questionnaire.

[Sexually transmitted diseases symptoms in adults: prevalence and risk factors].

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of sexually transmitted disease (STD) symptoms and associated risk factors in an adult population.

Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among residents of the metropolitan area of Pelotas, Brazil. Subjects were 20 years old or more.

Incidence of cancer after a first episode of idiopathic venous thromboembolism treated with 3 months or 1 year of oral anticoagulation.

Background: A prolonged treatment with oral anticoagulants has been claimed to reduce the incidence of newly diagnosed cancer in the long-term follow-up of patients with venous thromboembolism.

Objectives: In a multicenter prospective study we assessed the incidence of newly diagnosed clinically overt cancer in patients with a first episode of idiopathic venous thromboembolism (VTE) treated with oral anticoagulants for 3 months or 1 year.

Patients And Methods: Consecutive patients with an idiopathic venous thromboembolism who had completed 3 months of oral anticoagulant therapy without having a recurrence, bleeding or newly diagnosed cancer were randomized to discontinue oral anticoagulant therapy or to continue it for nine additional months.