Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the literature highlighted an increased risk of child abuse and the use of negative parenting practices. Furthermore, pregnancy during this time may have been challenging and generated different feelings regarding the pandemic and motherhood. Many pregnant women had other young children, underscoring the need to understand this scenario better.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive public health issue that affects millions of women worldwide. Women living below the poverty line experience higher rates of violence and fewer resources to escape or cope with the abuse, and the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted women's economic well-being worldwide. We conducted a cross-sectional study in Ceará, Brazil, on women in families with children living below the poverty line at the peak of the second wave of COVID to assess the prevalence of IPV and its association with common mental disorders(CMD).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMaternal educational attainment has been identified as relevant to several child health and development outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the association of sociodemographic and maternal education factors with child development in families living below the poverty line. A cross-sectional study was conducted through telephone contact from May to July 2021 in Ceará, a state in Northeastern Brazil.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To assess the prevalence of food insecurity (FI) among families with infants born during the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated factors in Fortaleza, the fifth largest city in Brazil.
Methods: Data from two survey rounds of the Iracema-COVID cohort study collected at 12 (n = 325) and 18 months (n = 331) after birth. FI was measured using the Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Scale.
Background: In March 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), generating stark economic and social repercussions that directly or indirectly affected families' wellbeing and health status.
Aims: This review aims at mapping the existing evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal mental health, early childhood development, and parental practices, worldwide, to identify evidence gaps and better inform future delivery of care and health policy measures.
Methods: Following the protocol defined by PRISMA-ScR, this scoping review has searched for relevant studies published between January 2020 and June 2021, selecting evidence sources based on pre-established criteria.
Glob Health Promot
March 2023
Objective: To evaluate the association of conditional cash transfer policies to mitigate the food insecurity (FI) among families living in poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ceará, Brazil.
Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out through telephone contact during the period of May-July 2021, during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ceará. Families in a situation of high social and economic vulnerability participated in this study (monthly per capita income of less than US$16.
Background: Physical distancing associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to suboptimal maternal mental health, social support after birth, and infant feeding practices.
Research Aims: To compare breastfeeding prevalence in participants who were pregnant at a time when strict physical distancing measures were imposed in Fortaleza, the capital of Ceará state, Brazil, with the pre-pandemic breastfeeding levels, and to assess the association of breastfeeding prevalence with maternal common mental disorders, and sociodemographic and health predictors.
Method: A cross-sectional prospective two-group comparison design using two population-based surveys was carried out in Fortaleza before and after the pandemic.
BMJ Open
June 2022
Purpose: Maternal and child health and parenting practices during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ceará (Iracema-COVID) is a longitudinal, prospective population-based birth cohort designed to understand the effects of the pandemic and social withdrawal in maternal mental health, child development and parenting practices of mothers and families.
Participants: A sample of mothers who gave birth in July and August 2020 (n=351) was enrolled in the study in January 2021. Interviews were conducted by telephone.
Objective: To assess the perceptions of pregnant women about COVID-19 and the prevalence of common mental disorders during the implemented social distancing period.
Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional study using digital media, of pregnant women exposed to social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in Fortaleza, Ceará, Northeastern Brazil. Common mental disorders were estimated using the modified Self-Report Questionnaire-20 (SRQ-20) scale, and the feelings towards COVID-19 were assessed using the Fear of COVID-19 scale through telephone calls made in May 2020.
The postural control is improved by implicit somatosensory information from lightly touching a rigid bar or explicit visual information about the postural sway. Whether these two additional sources provided at the same time further reduce the postural sway is still unknown. Participants stood on a force plate as quiet as possible lightly touching the bar while received or not visual feedback of the center of pressure position on a monitor screen.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this study was to evaluate the wound-healing activity of a semisolid formulation of avocado oil, SSFAO 50%, or avocado oil in natura, on incisional and excisional cutaneous wound models in Wistar rats. An additional objective was to quantify the fatty acids present in avocado oil. On the 14th day, a significant increase was observed in percentage wound contraction and reepithelialization in the groups treated with 50% SSFAO or avocado oil compared to the petroleum jelly control.
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