[Profile of clinical trials enrolling Brazilian children].

This study aimed to characterize the clinical trials with medicines enrolling Brazilian children and adolescents, registered in the databases of Clinical Trials and the Brazilian Clinical Trials Network (ReBEC) from 1994 to 2014. Only 462 clinical trials enrolled Brazilian children and adolescents. There was an increase in registrations beginning in 2003, with an important drop in 2011.

[Use of medicines before and during pregnancy: prevalence and associated factors].

This cross-sectional prospective nested cohort study aimed to assess the prevalence of use of medication before and during pregnancy and associated factors in women in a municipality in the countryside of Bahia State, Brazil. Data were collected with a structured questionnaire applied to pregnant women at their prenatal visits at health units. Prevalence rates for use of medication before and during pregnancy were 52.

Clinical and serological evolution in chronic Chagas disease patients in a 4-year pharmacotherapy follow-up: a preliminary study.

Introduction: The role of trypanocidal therapy in the chronic phase of Chagas disease remains controversial.

Methods: A total of 13 patients with chronic Chagas disease were treated with benznidazole (5mg/kg/day/60 days) and surveyed via antibody measurement and conventional electrocardiogram over the course of 4 years.

Results: The antibody titers were significantly reduced after 4 years (p<0.

A critical comparison between the World Health Organization list of essential medicines for children and the Brazilian list of essential medicines (Rename).

Objective: To perform a critical comparison between the Brazilian national essential medicines list (Rename, 2012) with the list of essential medicines for children (LEMC, 2011) of the World Health Organization (WHO), regarding the differences among drugs and formulations listed for children.

Methods: The LEMC drugs were classified into four categories: 1) absent in Rename; 2) included in Rename but without any formulation suitable for children; 3) listed in Rename only in some formulations; 4) present in Rename in all formulations. The missing formulations were analyzed by therapeutic group.

Use of prescribed and non-prescribed medications among children living in poor areas in the city of Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil.

A cross-sectional study of children living in poor areas in the city of Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil, was carried out in 2006 to investigate the prevalence of use of prescribed and non-prescribed medication. This population-based study included 1,382 children aged 4-11 years. The use prescribed and non-prescribed medication during the 15 day period preceding the interview was adopted as the dependent variable.

Pattern of asthma medication use among children from a large urban center in Brazil.

Purpose: Despite the advances in asthma therapeutics, there are few data on the use and determinants of anti-asthmatic drugs in the general population of children. This study describes the use of asthma medications among children in the general population and in children with current asthma, living in a large urban center in Brazil.

Methods: A population-based cross-sectional survey, aimed at analyzing asthma determinants, was conducted with 1,382 children aged 4-11 years, between February and May 2006, in Salvador, Brazil.

[Adverse reactions in Chagas disease patients treated with benznidazole, in the State of Ceará].

Introduction: Chagas disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi and treated with benznidazole (BNZ). This drug has the troublesome features of presenting partial effectiveness and high toxicity ranging from hypersensitivity reactions to medullary aplasia. The objective here was to describe and evaluate the occurrence of adverse reactions in Chagas disease patients treated with benznidazole in Fortaleza, Ceará.

[Evaluation of the teratogenic risks in gestations exposed to misoprostol].

Purpose: failed attempted abortions with the use of misoprostol (Cytotec(R)) without medical indication have been associated with the occurrence of congenital malformations. The objective of the present study was to identify, in newborns with malformations and in normal controls, the frequency of exposure to misoprostol and the spectrum of associated malformations.

Methods: this was a case-control study involving a daily survey at four public maternities in Fortaleza (CE) for the identification of newborns with malformations and paired controls (1:1) during the period from July to November 2005.

Drug use and associated factors in children living in poor areas.

Objective: To describe drug use profile in children living in poor areas and associated factors.

Methods: Population-based, cross-sectional study, including 1,382 children aged between four and 11 years. These children were selected by random sampling of 24 micro-areas, representative of the poorest segments of the population living in the city of Salvador, Northeastern Brazil, in 2006.

Lack of drug preparations for use in children in Brazil.

Objective: To identify drugs which are not suited for pediatric use in Brazil.

Methods: A descriptive study involving the development of a national list of unlicensed and off-label medications for pediatric use (problem drugs in pediatrics, PDP) through a literature review, a comparison among sources of the Brazilian pharmaceutical industry, and a survey with pediatricians. Drugs coded at the Anatomic Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification System were analyzed regarding licensing status in Brazil and recommendations/indications in pediatrics, based on the following reference sources: the list of licensed drugs of the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (2005), the Brazilian Dictionary of Pharmaceutical Specialties (2005-2007) and the website www.

Off-label and unlicensed drug utilization in hospitalized children in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Objectives: To investigate the use of drugs, the extent and pattern of unlicensed and off-label use, and the potential relationship between off-label drug use and adverse drug reactions in northeastern Brazil.

Methods: A follow-up study of drug utilization in a general ward of a pediatric reference hospital, involving patients hospitalized for more than 24 h. Prescriptions and medical records were reviewed daily from August to December 2001.

[Drug prescription and dispensing from the patient's perspective: a community-based study in Fortaleza, Ceará State, Brazil].

The objective of this study was to analyze aspects of the physician-patient and pharmacist-patient relationship, based on patients' opinions. It consists of community-based research performed in Fortaleza, Ceará State, Brazil, where 957 persons were interviewed; 904 answered questions about the last visit to the physician and 831 about the last visit to the pharmacy. The data reflect several aspects of medical and pharmaceutical practice and patients' attitudes towards the questions posed and information provided to guide rational use of drugs.

[Prevalence and determinants of medicines consumption in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil].

The objective of this work was to investigate the prevalence and determinants of medicines consumption in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. A population-based cross-sectional study was carried out in a representative sample of 331 households. A total of 1,370 persons living in Fortaleza were interviewed from October 2002 to January 2003, and 1,366 were selected for this study.

Adverse drug reactions in hospitalized children in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Purpose: To investigate the occurrence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and associated risk factors in a pediatric hospital in northeast Brazil, from August to December 2001.

Subjects/setting: Two hundred seventy two patients hospitalized for more than 24 hours.

Methods: Prospective cohort study.

[Allergic drug reactions].

Objective: This review addresses the most recent published literature regarding drug allergy, in order to provide physicians with a background for a better understanding of this problem of great relevance for public health.

Sources Of Data: The sources of data for obtaining the original and review articles published in the last 10 years were MEDLINE, Pubmed and Lilacs. The articles chosen for this review relate drug allergy to immunological mechanisms, epidemiology, clinical and laboratory evaluation, skin lesions, clinical management, and re-exposure to the drug.