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Copyright of Saúde e Sociedade is the property of Universidade de Sao Paulo, Faculdade de Saude Publica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Multimorbidity is a public health problem with high prevalence and important consequences. The aim of this paper was to verify the prevalence and distribution of multimorbidity in Brazilian older adults.Methods: A population-based survey was carried out in 2008 through face-to-face interviews with 1593 older adults (aged 60 or over) living in Bagé, a medium-sized city in Southern Brazil. Multimorbidity was evaluated by 17 morbidities and operationalized according to two cutoff points: 2 or more and 3 or more morbidities. Descriptive analysis examined the occurrence of multimorbidity by demographic, socioeconomic and health services variables. Observed and expected dyads and triads of diseases were calculated.Results: From total sample, 6 % did not have morbidities. Mean morbidity was 3.6. Morbidities showing higher prevalence were high blood pressure - HBP - (55.3 %) and spinal column disease (37.4 %). The percent of participants with multimorbidity was 81.3 % (95 % CI: 79.3; 83.3) for 2 or more morbidities and 64.0 % (95 % CI: 61.5; 66.4) for 3 or more morbidities. In both measures occurrence was higher among women, the more elderly, less socioeconomic status, the bedridden, those who did not have a health private plan, those who used health services and those living in Family Health Strategy catchment areas. We found 22 dyads of morbidities with prevalence 10 % or more and 35 triads with prevalence 5 % or more. The most prevalent observed pair and triplet of morbidities were HBP and spinal column disease (23.6 %) and HBP, rheumatism/arthritis/arthrosis and spinal column disease (10.6 %), respectively.Conclusions: Multimorbidity frequency was high in the sample studied, in keeping with percentage found in other countries. The social inequities identified increase the health system challenges for the management of multimorbidity, requiring a comprehensive and multidimensional care. The combinations of diseases can provide initial input to include multimorbidity in Brazilian clinical protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on depressive symptoms and suicide risk among patients receiving treatment at a Public Health Psychosocial Addiction Care Center (CAPS AD III) in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Methods: Questions from the Coronavirus Health Impact Survey (CRISIS) translated into Brazilian Portuguese were used to evaluate 70 patients' perceptions of and behaviors during the Covid-19 pandemic. Validated Brazilian versions of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) were used to evaluate the severity of depressive symptoms, suicide risk, and anxiety symptoms. A multiple logistic regression model was used to evaluate predictors of suicide risk in the sample. Results: Around 70% of patients reported moderate depressive symptoms and 30% reported severe depressive symptoms, 17% of patients reported having thoughts of suicide or death on more than half of days and 10% reported having them daily. The logistic regression model identified history of alcohol use as the main predictor of suicide risk in (OR 13.0, p = 0.03). Conclusions: Individuals with a history of alcohol consumption had significantly higher suicide risk scores at a psychosocial public health care center in Brazil during the Covid-19 pandemic. This result may be important for devising better strategies and interventions to support this specific population profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Influenza epidemics significantly weight on the Brazilian healthcare system and its society. Public health authorities have progressively expanded recommendations for vaccination against influenza, particularly to the pediatric population. However, the potential mismatch between the trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) strains and those circulating during the season remains an issue. Quadrivalent vaccines improves vaccines effectiveness by preventing any potential mismatch on influenza B lineages.Methods: We evaluate the public health and economic benefits of the switch from TIV to QIV for the pediatric influenza recommendation (6mo-5yo) by using a dynamic epidemiological model able to consider the indirect impact of vaccination. Results of the epidemiological model are then imputed in a health-economic model adapted to the Brazilian context. We perform deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analysis to account for both epidemiological and economical sources of uncertainty.Results: Our results show that switching from TIV to QIV in the Brazilian pediatric population would prevent 406,600 symptomatic cases, 11,300 hospitalizations and almost 400 deaths by influenza season. This strategy would save 3400 life-years yearly for an incremental direct cost of R$169 million per year, down to R$86 million from a societal perspective. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios for the switch would be R$49,700 per life-year saved and R$26,800 per quality-adjusted life-year gained from a public payer perspective, and even more cost-effective from a societal perspective. Our results are qualitatively similar in our sensitivity analysis.Conclusions: Our analysis shows that switching from TIV to QIV to protect children aged 6mo to 5yo in the Brazilian influenza epidemiological context could have a strong public health impact and represent a cost-effective strategy from a public payer perspective, and a highly cost-effective one from a societal perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health sector is considered extremely important by governments and multilateral international organisms, due to its implication to life, as well as material and human struggling involved. This study adopts a systematical approach in order to question if the mortality outcomes in medium Brazilian cities explain or may be explained by factors considered external to the public health service, expressed by health social determinants. Therefore, this study aims to investigate health conditions in public health management in medium Brazilian cities. The scenario adopted contains 192 cities with a population contingent between 100 000 and 500 000 inhabitants, between the years 2007 and 2011. The database produced, containing 30 indicators representing conceptual models referenced, allowed the elaboration of an operational model of health social determinants from a Bayesian network. As result, we elaborated a model of health system formed by six factors, showing associations that allow a better comprehension about relations among health social determinants and health conditions, producing contextualized information, able to subsidize the formulation of strategies by managers of Sistema Único de Saúde. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To compare the impact of three different approaches to primary care mental health on the prevalence of mental disorders. Background: Millions of people suffer from mental disorders. As entry point into the health service, primary healthcare plays an important role in providing mental health prevention and treatment. Methods: Random sample of households in three different areas of the city of Ribeirão Preto (state of São Paulo, Brazil) were selected, and 20 trained medical students conducted interviews using a mental health screening instrument, the Mini-Screening of Mental Disorders, and a socio-demographic datasheet. Primary care mental health was provided in each area through a specific approach. The influence of the area of residence and the socio-demographic variables on the prevalence of mental disorder was explored and analyzed by univariate binary logistic regression and then by a multiple logistic regression model. Findings: A total of 1545 subjects were interviewed. Comparison between the three areas showed a significantly higher number of people with mental disorders in the area covered by the primary care team that did not have physicians with specific primary care mental health training, even when this association was adjusted for the influence of age, education, and socio-economic status. Our results suggest that residing in areas with family physicians with mental health training is associated with a lower prevalence of mental disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Achieving UHC will require strong health systems to promote and deliver equitable and integrated healthcare services through primary healthcare (PHC). In Brazil, the Family Health Strategy (FHS) delivers PHC through the public health system. Created in 1994, the FHS covered almost 123 million individuals (63% of the Brazilian population) by 2015. The FHS has been associated with many health improvements, but gaps in coverage still remain. This article examines factors associated with the implementation and expansion of the FHS across 5419 Brazilian municipalities from 1998 to 2012. The proportion of the municipal population covered by the FHS over time was assessed using a longitudinal multilevel model for change that accounted for variables covering eight domains: economic development, healthcare supply, healthcare needs/access, availability of other sources of healthcare, political context, geographical isolation, regional characteristics and population size. Data were obtained from multiple publicly available sources. During the 15-year study period, national coverage of the FHS increased from 4.4% to 54%, with 58% of the municipalities having population coverage of 95% or more, and municipalities that had not adopted the programme decreased from 86.4% to 4.9%. The increase in FHS uptake and coverage was not homogenous across municipalities, and was positively associated with small population size, low population density, low coverage of private health insurance, low level of economic development, alignment of the political party of the Mayor and the state Governor, and availability of healthcare supply. Efforts to expand the FHS coverage will need to focus on increasing the availability of health personnel, devising financial incentives for municipalities to uptake/expand the FHS and devising new policies that encompass both private and public sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Only 20% of patients with systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) have blood pressure within recommended parameters. SAH has been the main risk factor for morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular diseases, which affects the burden of the Public Health System (PHS). Some studies have shown the effectiveness of Pharmaceutical Care (PC) in the care of hypertensive patients. Objective: To perform a cost-effectiveness analysis to compare SAH treatment with PC management and conventional treatment for hypertensive patients offered by the PHS. Methods: A cost-effectiveness study nested to a quasi-experimental study was conducted, in which 104 hypertensive patients were followed up in a PC program. Blood pressure control was considered as the outcome for the economic analysis and the costs were direct and non-direct medical costs. Results: PC was dominant for two years in the post-PC period compared with the pre-PC year. The mean cost effectiveness ratio (CER) for the CERPre-PC, CERPC, and CERPost-PC periods were: US$ 364.65, US$ 415.39, and US$ 231.14 respectively. The incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) analysis presented ICER of US$ 478.41 in the PC period and US$ 42.95 in the post PC period. Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis presented mean ICERPC and ICERPost-PC equal to US$ 605.09 and US$ 128.03, reaching US$ 1,725.00 and US$ 740.00 respectively. Conclusion: Even for the highest ICER, the values were below the cost effectiveness threshold, which means that PC was a cost effective strategy for the care of hypertensive patients in the PHS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study analyzed several political determinants of increased private-sector management in Brazilian health care. In Brazil, the poor depend almost exclusively on the public Unified Health System (the SUS), which remains severely underfunded. Given the overhead costs associated with privately contracted health services, increased private management is one driver of higher expenditures in the system. Although left parties campaign most vocally in support of greater public control of the SUS, the extent to which their stated positions translate into health care policy remains untested.Methods: Drawing on multiple publicly available data sources, we used linear regression to analyze how political party-in-power and existing private sector health care contracting affect the share of privately managed health care services and outsourcing in municipalities. Data from two election periods-2004 to 2008 and 2008 to 2012-were analyzed.Results: Our findings showed that although private sector contracting varies greatly across municipalities, this variation is not systematically associated with political party in power. This suggests that electoral politics plays a relatively minor role in municipal-level health care administration. Existing levels of private sector management appear to have a greater effect on the public-private makeup of the Brazilian healthcare system, suggesting a strong role of path dependence in the evolution of Brazilian health care delivery.Conclusion: Despite campaign rhetoric asserting distinct positions on privatization in the SUS, factors other than political party in power have a greater effect on private-sector health system management at the municipal-level in Brazil. Given the limited effect of elections on this issue, strengthening participatory bodies such as municipal health councils may better enfranchise citizens in the fundamental debate over public and private roles in the health care sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Gaucha de Enfermagem is the property of Revista Gaucha de Enfermagem and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Brazil created Health Councils to bring together civil society groups, heath professionals, and government officials in the discussion of health policies and health system resource allocation. However, several studies have concluded that Health Councils are not very influential on healthcare policy. This study probes this issue further by providing a descriptive account of some of the challenges civil society face within Brazil's Health Councils. Methods: Forty semi-structured interviews with Health Council Members at the municipal, state and national levels were conducted in June and July of 2013 and May of 2014. The geographical location of the interviewees covered all five regions of Brazil (North, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, South) for a total of 5 different municipal Health Councils, 8 different state Health Councils, and the national Health Council in Brasilia. Interview data was analyzed using a thematic approach. Results: Health Councils are limited by a lack of legal authority, which limits their ability to hold the government accountable for its health service performance, and thus hinders their ability to fulfill their mandate. Equally important, their membership guidelines create a limited level of inclusivity that seems to benefit only wellorganized civil society groups. There is a reported lack of support and recognition from the relevant government that negatively affects the degree to which Health Council deliberations are implemented. Other deficiencies include an insufficient amount of resources for Health Council operations, and a lack of training for Health Council members. Lastly, strong individual interests among Health Council members tend to influence how members participate in Health Council discussions. Conclusions: Brazil's Health Councils fall short in providing an effective forum through which civil society can actively participate in health policy and resource allocation decision-making processes. Restrictive membership guidelines, a lack of autonomy from the government, vulnerability to government manipulation, a lack of support and recognition from the government and insufficient training and operational budgets have made Health Council largely a forum for consultation. Our conclusions highlight, that among other issues, Health Councils need to have the legal authority to act independently to promote government accountability, membership guidelines need to be revised in order include members of marginalized groups, and better training of civil society representatives is required to help them make more informed decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The study explores associations between perceived neighbourhood characteristics, physical activity and diet quality, which in Latin America and Brazil have been scarcely studied and with inconsistent results.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 14,749 individuals who participated in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (Estudo Longitudinal de Saúde do Adulto, ELSA-Brasil) baseline. The study included current and retired civil servants, aged between 35 and 74 years, from universities and research institutes in six Brazilian states. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) long form was used to characterize physical activity during leisure time and commuting; additional questions assessed how often fruit and vegetables were consumed, as a proxy for diet quality. Neighbourhood characteristics were evaluated by the "Walking Environment" and "Availability of Healthy Foods" scales originally used in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Associations were examined using multinomial logistic regression.Results: Perceiving a more walkable neighbourhood was positively associated with engaging in leisure time physical activity and doing so for longer weekly. Compared with those who saw their neighbourhood as less walkable, those who perceived it as more walkable had 1.69 (95 % CI 1.57-1.83) and 1.39 (1.28-1.52) greater odds of engaging in leisure time physical activity for more than 150 min/week or up to 150 min/week (vs. none), respectively. Perceiving a more walkable neighbourhood was also positively associated with transport-related physical activity. The same pattern was observed for diet: compared with participants who perceived healthy foods as less available in their neighbourhood, those who saw them as more available had odds 1.48 greater (1.31-1.66) of eating fruits, and 1.47 greater (1.30-1.66) of eating vegetables, more than once per day.Conclusions: Perceived walkability and neighbourhood availability of healthy food were independently associated with the practice of physical activity and diet quality, respectively, underlining the importance of neighbourhood-level public policies to changing and maintaining health-related habits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rev Rene is the property of Rev Rene and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)