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© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)., Background: COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection and has reached pandemic proportions. Since then, several clinical characteristics have been associated with poor outcomes. This study aimed to describe the morbidity profile of COVID-19 deaths in Portugal. Methods: A study was performed including deaths certificated in Portugal with "COVID-19" (ICD-10: U07.1 or U07.2) coded as the underlying cause of death from the National e-Death Certificates Information System between 16 March and 31 December 2020. Comorbidities were derived from ICD-10 codes using the Charlson and Elixhauser indexes. The resident Portuguese population estimates for 2020 were used. Results: The study included 6701 deaths (death rate: 65.1 deaths/100,000 inhabitants), predominantly males (72.1). The male-to-female mortality ratio was 1.1. The male-to-female mortality rate ratio was 1.2; however, within age groups, it varied 5.0-11.4-fold. COVID-19 deaths in Portugal during 2020 occurred mainly in individuals aged 80 years or older, predominantly in public healthcare institutions. Uncomplicated hypertension, uncomplicated diabetes mellitus, congestive heart failure, renal failure, cardiac arrhythmias, dementia, and cerebrovascular disease were observed among COVID-19 deceased patients, with prevalences higher than 10%. A high prevalence of zero morbidities was registered using both the Elixhauser and Charlson comorbidities lists (above 40.2%). Nevertheless, high multimorbidity was also identified at the time of COVID-19 death (about 36.5%). Higher multimorbidity levels were observed in men, increasing with age up to 80 years old. Zero-morbidity prevalence and high multimorbidity prevalences varied throughout the year 2020, seemingly more elevated in the mortality waves' peaks, suggesting variation according to the degree of disease incidence at a given period. Conclusions: This study provides detailed sociodemographic and clinical information on all certificated deaths from COVID-19 in Portugal during 2020, showing complex and extreme levels of morbidity (zero-morbidity vs. high multimorbidity) dynamics during the first year of the pandemic in Portugal., This publication was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under the references UIDB/04295/2020 and UIDP/04295/2020.

© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved., Background: COVID-19 rapidly spread around the world, putting health systems under unprecedented pressure and continuous adaptations. Well-established health information systems (HIS) are crucial in providing data to allow evidence-based policymaking and public health interventions in the pandemic response. This study aimed to compare morbidity information between two databases for COVID-19 management in Portugal and identify potential complementarities. Methods: This is an observational study using records from both COVID-19 cases surveillance (National Epidemiological Surveillance System; SINAVE) and related deaths (National e-Death Certificates Information System; SICO) systems, which were matched on sex, age, municipality of residence and date of death. After the linkage, morbidity reported in SINAVE and identified in SICO, through the application of Charlson and Elixhauser comorbidity indexes algorithms, were compared to evaluate agreement level. Results: Overall, 2285 matched cases were analyzed, including 53.9% males with a median age of 84 years. According to the method of data reporting assessment, the presence of any morbidity ranged between 26.3% and 62.5%. The reporting of ten morbidities could be compared between the information reported in SINAVE and SICO databases. The proportion of simultaneous reporting in both databases ranged between 5.7% for diabetes and 0.0% for human immunodeficiency virus infection or coagulopathy. Minimal or no agreement was found when assessing the similarity of the morbidity reporting in both databases, with neoplasms showing the highest level of agreement (0.352, 95% IC: 0.277-0.428; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Different information about reported morbidity could be found in two HIS used to monitor COVID-19 cases and related deaths, as data are independently collected. These results show that the interoperability of SICO and SINAVE databases would potentially improve available HIS and improve available information to decision-making and address COVID-19 pandemic management.

© Copyright: Federación Española de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educación Física (FEADEF), Every population subgroup should know the physical activity (PA) recommendations to benefit their health. The present study sought to examine the knowledge and explore the perceptions of PA recommendations for adults among Portuguese college students, by gender and fields of study. A total of 255 bachelor students (55.3% women; Mage = 21.0±2.2 years) from sport sciences, health sciences and other fields, from four colleges in Portugal, answered to an online questionnaire. College students’ answers about knowledge of PA recommendations were submitted to an inductive thematic analysis. The chi-square test was used to assess if knowledge of PA recommendations was independent of gender and fields of study. The majority of students (51.0%) assumed not knowing the PA recommendations. From those that assumed to know the PA recommendations, only 9.8% got them right, 42% overestimated, 10.7% underestimated and 37.5% did not know them for other reasons, with no differences found by gender and field of study. Overall, these students fail to identify the minutes per week and the intensity of PA dimensions of the PA recommendations. Portuguese students do not know the PA recommendations for health, including the sports and health sciences students. Implications for the development of national PA recommendations and public health campaigns to improve knowledge of college students are discussed., Cada subgrupo de población debe conocer las recomendaciones de actividad física (AF) para beneficiar su salud. El presente estudio buscó examinar el conocimiento y explorar las percepciones de las recomendaciones de AF para adultos entre los estudiantes universitarios portugueses, por género y áreas de estudio. Un total de 255 estudiantes de licenciatura (55.3% mujeres; Medad = 21.0 ± 2.2 años) de ciencias del deporte, ciencias de la salud y otras áreas, de cuatro universidades en Portugal, respondieron a un cuestionario online. Las respuestas de los estudiantes universitarios sobre el conocimiento de las recomendaciones de AF fueron sometidas a un análisis temático inductivo. La prueba de qui-cuadrado se usó para evaluar si el conocimiento de las recomendaciones de AF era independiente del género y de las áreas de estudio. La mayoría de los estudiantes (51.0%) asumieron no conocer las recomendaciones de AF. De aquellos que supuestamente conocían las recomendaciones de AF, solo el 9.8% las acertó, el 42% se sobreestimó, el 10.7% se subestimó y el 37.5% no las conoció por otras razones, sin diferencias por género y área de estudio. En general, estos estudiantes no identifican los minutos por semana y la intensidad de las dimensiones de las recomendaciones de AF. Los estudiantes portugueses no conocen las recomendaciones de AF para la salud, incluidos los estudiantes de deportes y ciencias de la salud. Se discuten las implicaciones para el desarrollo de recomendaciones nacionales de AF y campañas de salud pública para mejorar el conocimiento de los estudiantes universitarios.

Introdução: A síndrome da deiscência do canal semi-circular superior (SDCSS) é uma entidade clínica recentemente reconhecida, inicialmente descrita por Minor et al. em 1998. O mecanismo fisiopatológico subjacente relaciona-se com a existência de uma deiscência óssea do canal semi-circular superior ao nível da fossa média criando uma “terceira janela” que produz uma via de menor resistência, favorecendo a dissipação da energia acústica através do labirinto vestibular e alterando a dinâmica da endolinfa no canal semi-circular superior. As manifestações clínicas podem ser muito variadas. Os sintomas mais frequentes são: vertigem ou oscilópsia induzidas por sons intensos (fenómeno de Tullio) ou variações de pressão, desequilíbrio, hipoacúsia, autofonia ou acufeno. O sinal mais típico caracteriza-se por um nistagmo verticotorsional induzido por sons intensos ou variações de pressão. Material e métodos: Os autores apresentam um caso clínico de deiscência bilateral do canal semi-circular superior, manifestada por desequilíbrio e acufeno pulsátil e demonstram a utilidade da pesquisa do Potencial miogénico vestibular evocado (PMVE) no diagnóstico desta entidade frequentemente sub-diagnosticada. Resultados: O diagnóstico é essencialmente clínico e corroborado pelos exames audiométricos e vestibulares (surdez de condução ou mista com diminuição do limiar de condução óssea nas frequências graves e reflexos estapédicos presentes). O teste vestibular mais específico para o diagnóstico do SDCSS consiste na pesquisa do PMVE cujos limiares se encontram tipicamente diminuídos e com amplitude aumentada. A confirmação diagnóstica é feita por com Tomografia computorizada de alta resolução. Na maioria dos casos a terapêutica é conservadora com evicção dos estímulos desencadeantes. A terapêutica cirúrgica tem indicação nos doentes com sintomas graves e incapacitantes. Conclusões: A SDCSS é uma entidade relativamente rara e possivelmente sub-diagnosticada. Nem todos os doentes apresentam um quadro clínico típico, sendo necessário um elevado grau de suspeição assim como observação clínica e avaliação audiométrica rigorosas. A pesquisa do Potencial miogénico vestibular evocado é um teste recentemente descrito e que se tem revelado muito útil no diagnóstico destes doentes., Revista Portuguesa de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia de Cabeça e Pescoço, v. 50 n. 4 (2012): Dezembro