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Objective: To describe depressive symptoms among people undergoing tuberculosis treatment in basic health units. Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted between August 2019 and March 2020 in metropolitan municipalities in the state of Espírito Santo. Socioeconomic, behavioral and clinical data were collected in an interview, and depressive symptoms were tracked using the patient's health questionnaire. Results: From the sample of 92 patients, male (67%), black / brown (85%), average age 41.5 years, (50%) were single, without completing elementary school (43%), unemployed (63%), from socioeconomic classes C, D and E (89%), abandoned by the cash transfer program (86%). 48% (44) of the sample were screened with depressive symptoms, 81% (74) with mild to severe severity, predominance of the fatigue symptom (84%), presence of depressed mood and anhedonia in 58% (53). Conclusion: Depressive symptoms in the studied population showed a relevant and potential frequency to harm the personal, social and health status of people undergoing tuberculosis treatment. Thus, in the perspective of the National Plan for the End of Tuberculosis, the screening of depression and its manifestations can expand the care and prevention actions focused on the patient with tuberculosis and reduce the combined effects of tuberculosis and depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To identify nursing practices aimed at women's health care within the scope of Primary Health Care (PHC), characterizing them by the way they occur and the place they occupy in the nurses' work process. Methods: This is a descriptive, exploratory and qualitative study. The material consists of 27 interviews with nurses carried out between November 2020 and March 2021. Results: Nursing actions aimed at women's health occupy a representative space in the nurses' routine. The main actions identified are aimed at maternal and child health. Family planning was also identified as a recurrent educational action. Assistance to violence and climacteric were not mentioned. The nurses' autonomy in the area of expertise in focus in this study was highlighted as positive in the work process. Conclusion: The practice of nurses in PHC privileges health in the reproductive cycle of women, especially in the prenatal period. However, referrals are observed in the search for an integral practice, through the inclusion of more humanized actions in the services. There is still a need to expand the focus of women's health care in PHC, and for that it is necessary to strengthen the discussions and studies on these neglected themes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over the last decade tuberculosis (TB) incidence and mortality in Brazil have been steadily declining. However, this downward trend has not been observed among HIV-infected patients. We describe the epidemiological and clinical profile of TB patients by HIV status using the Brazilian National Surveillance System. Methods: All TB diagnoses with HIV status information between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2011 were categorized as either HIV or non-HIV at time of TB diagnosis. Co-infected patients (TB-HIV) were compared to TB patients with no HIV-infection using a hierarchical logistic regression model using Stata 13.0. Results: The prevalence of TB-HIV co-infection was 19% among adults ≥ 15 years of age. We analyzed data from 243,676 individuals, of whom 46,466 were TB-HIV and 197,210 were only TB cases. The following factors increased risk of co-infection: male sex (OR: 1.06, 95% CI 1.03-1.10), 20 to 39 years of age (OR = 4.82, 95% CI 4.34-5.36), black (OR = 1.08, 95% CI 1.04-1.13), 4–7 years of education (OR = 1.13, 95% CI 1.19-1.28), diagnosed following default (OR = 2.65, 95% CI 1.13-6.25), presenting with pulmonary and extra-pulmonary forms of TB simultaneously (OR = 2.80, 95% CI 1.56-5.02), presenting with histopathologic examination suggestive of TB (OR = 2.15, 95% CI 1.13-4.07). Co-infected patients were less likely to live in rural areas (OR = 0.45, 95% CI 0.42-0.48), have diabetes (OR = 0.45, 95% CI 0.40-0.50) and be smear positive (OR = 0.55, 95% CI 0.32-0.95), and co-infected patients had higher risk of default (OR = 2.96, 95% CI 2.36-3.71) and death from TB (OR = 5.16, 95% CI 43.04-5.77). Conclusions: The prevalence of co-infection with HIV among TB patients is 19% in Brazil. By identifying predictors of co-infection targeted interventions can be developed to prevent both TB and HIV, and to diagnose each disease earlier and ultimately decrease poor treatment outcomes and death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: tuberculosis (TB) is a public health problem. Brazil is among the group of 22 countries responsible for 90% of the world’s TB cases. High proportions of abandonment of treatment may contribute to this epidemiological scenario that is difficult to control. Objective: to analyze the factors associated with abandonment of tuberculosis treatment (ATT). Methods: this is a cross-sectional study of individuals diagnosed with tuberculosis in Brazil between 2014 and 2019 whose cases had been reported to the Notifiable Diseases Information System. Poisson regression of robust variance was used according to hierarchical levels. Results: a total of 508,787 cases were reported, and 59,871 patients (16.4%) abandoned treatment. The prevalence of abandonment was higher in homeless individuals (PR 2.75; 95%CI 2.10-3.61), black race/skin color (PR 1.79; 95%CI 1.46-2.20), HIV/AIDS (PR 1.59; 95%CI 1.30-1.93), alcoholics (PR 1.38; 95%CI 1.14-1.68), illicit drug use (PR 1.85; 95%CI 1.49-2.28), and in individuals who resumed treatment after abandonment (PR 1.91; 95%CI 1.54-2.37). Conclusion: social vulnerability is associated with the abandonment of tuberculosis treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: studies that seek to identify and outline the vulnerability profile contribute to directing necessary interventions to be carried out in people with tuberculosis (TB) and HIV (acronym in English for human immunodeficiency virus) co-infection, to achieve the end of TB. Objective: to describe the profile of people with tuberculosis and HIV co-infection, from 2016 to 2018, in Espírito Santo, Brazil. Methods: this is a cross-sectional descriptive study, using secondary data from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) for TB and HIV, through a methodological process of database preparation and descriptive data analysis, the information was encoded and stored anonymously in a database in Excel for Windows®; Afterwards, the STATA statistical package, version 16 (Stata Corp LP, College Station, TX, USA) was used to carry out descriptive analyses with identification of relative and absolute values, and tables were generated for data analysis. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Health Sciences Center of the Federal University of Espírito Santo (CEP/CCS/UFES) under opinion number 4022892 on 05/12/2020. Results: of a total of 4,428 cases, 325 cases were TB-HIV coinfection, 322 cases were located in the SINAN-TB database and three cases were located after linking with the SINAN-HIV database that presented a record of negative results for the diagnostic test of HIV in the SINAN-TB database. There was a profile with a predominance of men (71%), young people (20 to 39 years old) (52%), mixed race (59%), up to 8 years of schooling (25%), of which 29% reported alcohol consumption, 26% used illicit drugs, and 37% were smokers, who had the pulmonary form of the disease (66%), they reported adherence to antiretroviral therapy (65%) and only 44% had a cure outcome at closure and 20% stopped treatment; the majority of cases (61%) did not undergo directly observed treatment and only 6.9% of cases reported receiving assistance from the government’s income transfer program. Conclusion: in order to ensure greater coverage of tuberculosis control in PLHIV patients, it is necessary to expand the dialogue between health and social support policies; enable access to health services such as antiretroviral treatment for all people diagnosed with HIV, and timely directly observed treatment (DOT) for people who present this vulnerability profile. Carrying out new studies is essential to contribute to technological advancement and planning in health service actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the number of hospitalizations and is responsible for increasing the workload of nursing professionals with a deficiency in human resources and personal protective equipment. Objective: to analyze aspects related to the working conditions of Nursing professionals in the context of COVID-19. Methods: documentary research recorded under narratives in the databases of the Federal Nursing Council, the Regional Nursing Councils of Espírito Santo and Pernambuco, the Federal Public University and Social Media. Results: are presented and analyzed according to the categories: a) nursing work conditions, threatening the worker's health and life; b) the autonomy of nurses in the full exercise of their profession and the cultural aspect of the dominant ideology; c) the Federal Nursing Council and the Regional Nursing Councils of Espírito Santo and Pernambuco as disciplining, normalizing, managing and controlling bodies for the professional practice of nursing. Conclusion: the narratives found in this study demonstrate the precarious working conditions, exacerbated by the pandemic, and the role of nursing in coping with COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: to characterize school-aged children, adolescents, and young people's profile and their associations with positive COVID-19 test results. Methods: an observational and descriptive study of secondary data from the COVID-19 Panel in Espírito Santo State in February to August 2020. People suspected of COVID-19, in the 0-19-years old age group, were included in order to assess clinical data and demographic and epidemiological factors associated with the disease. Results: in the study period, 27,351 COVID-19 notification were registered in children, adolescents, and young people. The highest COVID-19 test confirmation was found in Caucasians and were 5-14 years age group. It was also observed that headache was the symptom with the highest test confirmation. Infection in people with disabilities was more frequent in the confirmed cases. The confirmation of cases occurred in approximately 80% of the notified registrations and 0.3% of the confirmed cases, died. Conclusion: children with confirmed diagnosis for COVID-19 have lower mortality rates, even though many were asymptomatic. To control the chain of transmission and reduce morbidity and mortality rates, it was necessaryto conduct more comprehensive research and promote extensive testing in the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The provision of care and monitoring of health are essential for indigenous Venezuelans from the Warao ethnic group, who are at risk of decimation. Objective: Analyze a Local Action Plan (LAP) to promote access to the health system of indigenous Venezuelans from the Warao ethnic group (IVWEG) in Manaus, Brazil. Method: A mixed-methods study was performed. Quantitative data were collected to assess the provision of care and monitoring of health conditions in IVWEG through a survey that was self-completed by healthcare providers. Qualitative narrative data were collected to gain insight into IVWEG that seek care. We applied descriptive statistics, grouping analysis (GA) by hierarchical levels, and multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). Content analysis was applied to qualitative data. Results: 106 healthcare providers participated in the study, with the following characteristics: 94 (88.7%) females, 67 (63.2%) pardo race/color, 40 (37.7%) working in primary healthcare, and 49 (46.2%) nurses. In addition, 43 (40.6%) of the healthcare providers reported providing care to IVWEG. Among the providers, 89 (84%) had received training for assisting IVWEG. Additionally, 30 IVWEG were enrolled for interviews in the qualitative phase. The barriers to seeking care were language, distance to health units, and lack of money for transportation. The LAP proved to facilitate access to the health system by indigenous Venezuelans from the Warao ethnic group in Manaus. The study contributed to knowledge on a LAP addressed to IVWEG and helped improved their access to the health system, providing appropriate training for healthcare providers and other relevant actors by implementing a coherent and consistent public health policy at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a threat for the global TB epidemic control. Despite existing evidence that individualized treatment of MDR-TB is superior to standardized regimens, the latter are recommended in Brazil, mainly because drug-susceptibility tests (DST) are often restricted to first-line drugs in public laboratories. We compared treatment outcomes of MDR-TB patients using standardized versus individualized regimens in Brazil, a high TB-burden, low resistance setting.Methods: The 2007-2013 cohort of the national electronic database (SITE-TB), which records all special treatments including drug-resistance, was analysed. Patients classified as MDR-TB in SITE-TB were eligible. Treatment outcomes were classified as successful (cure/treatment completed) or unsuccessful (failure/relapse/death/loss to follow-up). The odds for successful treatment according to type of regimen were controlled for demographic and clinical variables.Results: Out of 4029 registered patients, we included 1972 recorded from 2010 to 2012, who had more complete outcome data. The overall success proportion was 60%. Success was more likely in non-HIV patients, sputum-negative at baseline, with unilateral disease and without prior DR-TB. Adjusted for these variables, those receiving standardized regimens had 2.7-fold odds of success compared to those receiving individualized treatments when failure/relapse were considered, and 1.4-fold odds of success when death was included as an unsuccessful outcome. When loss to follow-up was added, no difference between types of treatment was observed. Patients who used levofloxacin instead of ofloxacin had 1.5-fold odds of success.Conclusion: In this large cohort of MDR-TB patients with a low proportion of successful outcomes, standardized regimens had superior efficacy than individualized regimens, when adjusted for relevant variables. In addition to the limitations of any retrospective observational study, database quality hampered the analyses. Also, decision on the use of standard or individualized regimens was possibly not random, and may have introduced bias. Efforts were made to reduce classification bias and confounding. Until higher-quality evidence is produced, and DST becomes widely available in the country, our findings support the Brazilian recommendation for the use of standardized instead of individualized regimens for MDR-TB, preferably containing levofloxacin. Better quality surveillance data and DST availability across the country are necessary to improve MDR-TB control in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]