[Combining the national health survey with GES notifications to improve the depression prevalence estimation in Chile].

Background: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a public health problem of increasing severity in Chile. However, prevalence studies of MDD yield discordant results. Reconciling these discordances, at least in part, requires improving the estimate of MDD prevalence in Chile.

Effects of the 1997-1998 El Niño episode on community rates of diarrhea.

Objectives: To improve our understanding of climate variability and diarrheal disease at the community level and inform predictions for future climate change scenarios, we examined whether the El Niño climate pattern is associated with increased rates of diarrhea among Peruvian children.

Methods: We analyzed daily surveillance data for 367 children aged 0 to 12 years from 2 cohorts in a peri-urban shantytown in Lima, Peru, 1995 through 1998. We stratified diarrheal incidence by 6-month age categories, season, and El Niño, and modeled between-subject heterogeneity with random effects Poisson models.

Pediatricians' training and identification and management of psychosocial problems.

This study evaluated the association of pediatrician training on the identification and management of current and ongoing emotional or behavioral problems among children ages 4-8 years in 19 practices in south-central Connecticut. Pediatricians with advanced training in psychosocial issues were more likely to identify children's psychosocial problems and use multiple management strategies compared with pediatricians with no specialized training. Although pediatricians with moderate training in psychosocial issues were more likely to identify psychosocial problems compared with pediatricians with no training, there was no relationship between moderate training and management of psychosocial problems.

Effect of water and sanitation on childhood health in a poor Peruvian peri-urban community.

Background: Inadequate water and sanitation adversely affect the health of children in developing countries. We aimed to assess the effects of water and sanitation on childhood health in a birth cohort of Peruvian children.

Methods: We followed up children once a day for diarrhoea and once a month for anthropometry, and obtained data for household water and sanitation at baseline.

Effects of acute diarrhea on linear growth in Peruvian children.

Linear growth retardation during childhood is a determinant of short stature and impaired capacities in adults of developing countries. To study the effect of diarrhea on height during childhood, the authors followed a birth cohort of 224 Peruvian children for 35 months with records of daily diarrhea and monthly anthropometry. This study was conducted from April 1995 to December 1998.