Public policy coverage and access to medicines in Brazil.

Objective: Describe consumption patterns for monetary and non-monetary acquisition of medicines according to age and income groups, highlighting pharmaceuticals associated with health programs with specific access guarantees.

Methods: Descriptive observational study using microdata from the 2017-2018 Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares (Household Budget Survey, POF/IBGE). We initially reviewed programs/policies with specific guarantees of access to medicines in the SUS.

[Family expenditures on healthcare plans in Brazil and household budget commitment: an analysis of the Brazilian Household Budgets Survey (2017/2018)].

According to studies using previous editions of the Household Budgets Survey (POF) in Brazil, paying for a healthcare plan increases the percentage of income spent on health and fails to reduce the probability of incurring excessive health expenditures. The study's objective was to describe relations between expenditures on healthcare plans, income, and age groups, highlighting the effect of having a plan on the probability of committing more than 40% of income on health-related expenditures. An analysis of the POF 2017/2018 determined the commitment of per capita household income for payers of plans by age group and type of plan and logistic regression for factors associated with committing more than 40% of income to health-related expenditures.

The effectiveness of temperature control of thermocyclers in PCR optimization.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of thermocycler temperature control, considering the influence of other determinant factors for the optimization of PCR. The reduction in the number of repeated PCR tests, applied in the diagnosis and prognosis of chronic myeloid leukemia at the National Cancer Institute in Brazil, was used as a measure of effectiveness. This indicator was evaluated using samples obtained before and after the temperature control in the wells of the thermocyclers.

An index of Brazilian frailty and its association with social factors.

Background: The Brazilian population is aging rapidly and it is necessary to establish tools to map the elderly population regarding its frailty, which is a common adverse condition during the aging process. The National Health Survey (PNS in Portuguese) data makes it possible.

Objective: This study aimed to construct a frailty index (FI) of the elderly Brazilian population using the PNS data, in order to compare it with the index of other population and to measure its association with social factors.

[Mapping stakeholders' preferences in prioritization criteria for horizon scanning in healthcare technologies].

Filtration and prioritization are two basics steps in horizon scanning systems. This article aimed to map stakeholders' preferences in the Brazilian Unified National Health System (SUS) regarding filtration and prioritization criteria. Two filtration criteria (time horizon and innovation) and eight prioritization criteria (relevance to epidemiology, health policies, and clinical practice; potential impact on SUS budget, healthcare providers' costs, and mortality; safety; and legal, ethical, and social aspects) were selected.

EUROSCAN INTERNATIONAL NETWORK MEMBER AGENCIES: THEIR STRUCTURE, PROCESSES, AND OUTPUTS.

Objectives: The EuroScan International Network is a global network of publicly funded early awareness and alert (EAA) systems for health technologies. We describe the EuroScan member agency systems and methods, and highlight the potential for increased collaboration.

Methods: EuroScan members completed postal questionnaires supplemented with telephone interviews in 2012 to elicit additional information and check equivalence of responses.

[Determinants of cellular atypia detection in the cervical screening program in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil].

Objective: To identify the main determinants of cellular atypia detection in the cervical screening program in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, using data from the Cervical Cancer Information System SISCOLO.

Methods: A random sample of 65 535 Pap smears performed in 2007 was obtained from SISCOLO. This sample was used to produce a logistic regression model to identify variables that impact the process of detecting cellular atypia.

Brazilian health technology assessment bulletin: editorial process, dissemination strategies, critical appraisal, and initial impact.

Objectives: This study reports on the Brazilian experience of developing a specialized bulletin, the Brazilian Health Technology Assessment Bulletin (BRATS), on health technology assessments (HTA).

Methods: The editorial process, format, and dissemination strategy of the publication are presented. A critical appraisal of the available issues was made using the checklist for HTA reports of the International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment.

A record linkage process of a cervical cancer screening database.

This paper aims at to present the integration of the files of the Brazilian Cervical Cancer Information System (SISCOLO) in order to identify all women in the system. SISCOLO has the exam as the unit of observation and the women are not uniquely identified. It has two main tables: histology and cytology, containing the histological and cytological examinations of women, respectively.

[An information system to integrate outpatient cancer care data in the Unified National Health System].

This study focuses on the development of a system to integrate monthly outpatient cancer care data in the Unified National Health System (SUS). The system was modeled to retrace the treatment evolution in each cancer case and services output, with the following advantage: the system focuses on the cancer case, does not require knowledge by the user in order to handle the database, and allows updating the base as new data emerge. The results of direct queries in the system were identical to those obtained from direct inspection of the original database and those from another integration approach.

The development of health technology assessment in Brazil.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the developing health technology assessment (HTA) activities in Brazil, both historically and in the present day.

Methods: This report is a descriptive analysis based on personal experiences of the authors and on selected literature.

Results: Interest in HTA in Brazil began in the mid-1980s.

[Simulation model for estimating the cancer care infrastructure required by the public health system].

Objective: To develop a simulation model using public data to estimate the cancer care infrastructure required by the public health system in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Method: Public data from the Unified Health System database regarding cancer surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, from January 2002-January 2004, were used to estimate the number of cancer cases in the state. The percentages recorded for each therapy in the Hospital Cancer Registry of Brazil were combined with the data collected from the database to estimate the need for services.

[Pap smear screening for the control of cervical cancer in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, 2002].

This article analyzes the implementation of Pap smears by the Cervical Cancer Control Program in 2002 in women 25-59 years of age residing in 850 municipalities (counties) in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Cluster analysis was performed to classify municipalities by: number of Pap smears performed; test findings; and adequacy of slides. The variable "satisfactory slide, but limited by" was the principal factor for classifying municipalities into 5 clusters.

Use of technology as an evaluation tool of clinical care in preterm newborns.

Objective: To assess the use of the Neonatal Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (NTISS) as a tool to quantify the use of technology in neonatal intensive care units, in order to detect discrepancies in the care provided to high-risk newborn infants.

Methods: Prospective, descriptive, observational study about the use of technology in two neonatal intensive care units (one public and one private). The NTISS was calculated on a daily basis up to the discharge or death of preterm newborns with gestational age equal to or less than 32 weeks.

[A comparative analysis of the ambulatory care production register in oncology in the Brazilian Unified Health System].

The response of healthcare services to new information systems depends upon, among other factors, their local organization. This study aimed at comparing the chemotherapy and radiotherapy production registers for the cities Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in the Ambulatory Information System of the Unified Brazilian Health System (in Portuguese, SUS) between November/1998 and February/2003. Both cities showed a pattern of increase for the chemotherapy production series, while the radiotherapy series showed such increase only for Rio de Janeiro.

The relation between anti-hepatitis A virus antibodies and residence water access in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to analyse the relation between residence water access (water taps) and hepatitis A virus (HAV) antibodies, associated with socio-economic, environmental and demographic factors.

Methods: A logistic regression model was used for estimating the relation between residential water access (presence of water taps inside the house) and HAV antibodies, related to confounding effects of selected variables. The odds ratios estimated by the model were used as incidence density ratios (IDR) for the analysis of the water access-antibody association.