scholarly journals Soil Contamination by a Lead Smelter in Brazil in the View of the Local Residents

Author(s):  
Fernando Carvalho ◽  
Tania Tavares ◽  
Liliane Lins

A primary lead smelter operated in Santo Amaro City in Brazil from 1960 to 1993, leaving approximately 500,000 tons of industrial dross containing 2–3% of lead and other toxic elements that contaminated the industry grounds and the urban environment. This study aimed to present the local residents’ perception towards soil contamination by the smelter. In a cross-sectional study, 208 residents from randomly selected households were interviewed about dross hazards and proposals for its management. A city map depicts the distribution and concentration of lead, cadmium, arsenic, zinc, nickel, and antimony, measured in the soil of the 39 households with visible smelter dross. Only one site complies with the soil quality reference values; 27 (69.2%) call for preventive measures, and 11 (28.2%) require intervention. The smelter dross continues widely spread over the city. Thirty (76.9%) out of the 39 residents were able to recognize the smelter dross on household surroundings. However, this ability was not associated with the concentrations of toxic elements in the soil of their residences and surroundings. The smelter and the local Prefecture were most frequently held liable for taking soil cleanup actions. The most frequently (38.0%) cited solution for managing the dross found in the households was “to provide the residents with information about health risks related to the dross”.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 1144-1150
Author(s):  
Muralidharan V A ◽  
Gheena S

Covid -19 is an infectious disease caused by the newly discovered strain of coronavirus. As there is no vaccine discovered, the only way to prevent the spread is through following the practice of social isolation. But prolonged isolation may also lead to psychological stress and problems. The objective of the survey was to assess the knowledge and awareness of preventive measures against Covid 19 amongst small shop owners. A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted amongst the small shop owners.  A structured questionnaire comprising 15-17 questions had been put forth to assess the Covid 19 related knowledge and perception. The shopkeepers were contacted telephonically and responses recorded. The data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS statistics. Although the majority of the population had a positive perception about the preventive measures against the Covid spread, 36% of the shopkeepers were not aware of the preventive measures against the Covid spread. This study found optimal knowledge and perception of the preventive measures against Covid spread among the shopkeepers but misinformation and misunderstanding still prevailing. The shopkeepers are crucial in the prevention of the spread of Covid 19 and educating them might aid us in the fight against Covid- 19. 


2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabiana de Souza Orlandi ◽  
Neide de Souza Praça

This descriptive cross-sectional study had the objective to evaluate the level of hope in women aged 50 or older suffering from HIV/AIDS, utilizing the Herth Hope Scale. The study involved 200 HIV- positive women, within the age bracket of interest, enrolled in three STI/AIDS specialized healthcare services in the city of São Paulo. The rules of the 196/96 Resolution were met and the study was approved by the Research and Ethics Committee. Data were collected in 2010 using two instruments: subjects' characterization and the Herth Hope Scale. Results demonstrated an average score of 36.75 (±4.52) on the Herth Hope Scale, with an interval of 12 to 48. This score is below the score obtained with the same scale for various pathologies, indicating a reduced perception of hope by the sample. Nurses should provide interventions to improve hope for these people, establishing realistic goals and strengthening social support.


2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 24934
Author(s):  
Cristiane Olinda Coradi ◽  
Jussara Dos Santos Cardoso ◽  
Ronara Camila de Souza Groia ◽  
Karina Cristina Lima Silva ◽  
Maria das Graças Braga Ceccato ◽  
...  

Aims: To evaluate the understanding of drug prescriptions by patients, comparing the user self-report with the researcher assessment.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2013 to February 2014 at a Basic Health Unit in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Users 18 years of age or older who sought medicines in the unit's pharmacy, for themselves or for minors under their care, were interviewed. The selection of the sample was non-probabilistic, for convenience. During the interview, the users informed if they had understood the following data of the prescriptions: drug name, dose and frequency of administration. Participants then repeated the data for researchers, being allowed to check the prescriptions at the same time. After the interviews, the answers to the questions were interpreted by the researchers, who evaluated the agreement between the information provided by the users and the actual instructions of the recipes, using the Kappa test.Results: Data were collected from 69 users of the unit's pharmacy (corresponding to 69 delivered prescriptions). Fifty-nine (85.5%) users reported having understood all the prescriptions data (self-report), while according to the measurement of the researchers, 23 (33.3%) were the respondents who simultaneously understood all data, relating to the name of the drug, number of daily doses and schedule. Kappa test indicated a degree of agreement between self-report and measurement of researchers of 0.138 (slight) considering all items of the prescription, and specifically on the number of doses the agreement was -0.055 (poor).Conclusions: Self-reported rate of patient's understanding of drug prescriptions was higher than the assessed by the researchers. This result suggests that self-report of patients with respect to the understanding of prescriptions has limitations and should be interpreted with caution both in research and in clinical practice. It is recommended to enhance the means of providing information to patients, in order to contribute to the proper understanding of drug prescriptions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 28114
Author(s):  
Karenn Haubricht Lemos ◽  
Thays Caroline Patek ◽  
Thais Regina Mezzomo

***Determination of glycemic index and glycemic load of hospital diets served for diabetics***   AIMS: To determine the glycemic index and the glycemic load of diets usually offered by hospitals to patients with diabetes mellitus.   METHODS: A cross-sectional study evaluated menus served to diabetic inpatients of hospitals in the city of Curitiba, Parana, Brazil. Analyzing the menus, we determined the energy content, macronutrients, glycemic index and glycemic load of the meals offered to the patients.    RESULTS: Five general hospitals of the city participated in the study and 10 menus for diabetes were evaluated. The structure of the menus was different mainly in the quantitative supply of fruits and milk. Diets ranged from 1317.6 to 2013.2 kcal, with 18.9 to 27.6% of proteins, 21.9 to 29.4% of lipids, 48.2 to 53.3% of carbohydrates and 24.7 to 33.6 g of fibers. Daily glycemic index ranged from 47 to 57% and daily glycemic load from 81 to 109%.   CONCLUSIONS: All offered diets were hyperproteic, normolipid and normoglicidic. However, inadequate levels of glycemic load were observed in all the evaluated menus, although with adequate levels of glycemic index. It is necessary to review the diet plans elaborated for diabetics, aiming at the best dietary treatment for this population.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. e32810111226
Author(s):  
Gabriela Bohrer Bolsson ◽  
Jessica Klöckner Knorst ◽  
Marília Cunha Maroneze ◽  
Maísa Casarin ◽  
Patrícia Pasquali Dotto ◽  
...  

Objective: To assess factors associated with the average number of dental caries in pregnant women. Method: Basic research design: This cross-sectional study was performed between January 2017 and December 2018 in Santa Maria, Brazil. Clinical setting and participants: Multistage random sampling resulted in the recruitment of 256 pregnant women from public health centers across the city. Clinical exams and semi-structured questionnaires including demographic, socioeconomic and behavioral questions were performed by trained interviewers. Main outcome measure: The experience of dental caries was evaluated through the mean value of the Decay, Missing, and Filled Surface Index (DMFS) by 4 trained and calibrated examiners. Multilevel Poisson regression models were used to evaluate the influence of different variables on the average number of dental caries. Rate ratio (RR) and respective 95% confidence intervals were calculated (CI 95%). Results: The prevalence of untreated dental caries was 62.7% in the sample, while the mean DMFS index was 10.27 (± 10.92). Women who smoked during pregnancy had a higher mean DMFS (RR 1.41; 95% CI 1.25-1.57). Furthermore, pregnant women who had poor self-ratings of oral health had a higher average DMFS (RR 1.21; 95% CI 1.10-1.32). Conclusions: The results showed that older age, ethnicity, fewer years in education and the presence of dental plaque resulted in higher means of DMFS.


Author(s):  
Dandara Almeida Reis da Almeida Reis da Silva ◽  
Ludmila Santana de Almeida ◽  
Livia Lugarinho Correa ◽  
Rodrigo Fernandes Weyll Pimentel ◽  
Antonio Marcos Tosoli Gomes ◽  
...  

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is associated with a greater risk of morbimortality. Ob-jective: To estimate the prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome (MS) and associated factors in patients of a Psychosocial Care Center (CAPS) in the city of Salvador, state of Bahia, Brazil. Method: Cross-sectional study set at CAPS in the city of Salvador-Bahia, between August 2019 and February 2020. MS was evaluated according to the National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel III. In addition to descriptive statistics, gross and adjusted prevalence ratios were described. Results: MS was found in 100 (35.2%) individuals, 116 (40.9%) were obese and 165 (58.1%) had increased waist circumference. Polypharmacy was identified in 63 (22.3%) patients and 243 (85.9%) used antipsychotics. In the gross evaluation, the female (PR = 1.88; 95% CI: 1.35-2.63) and the use of antidepressants (PR = 1.41; 95%CI: 1.05-1.88) were associated with MS. After logistic re-gression, depression (PR = 1.86; 95%CI: 1.38-2.51), acanthosis (PR = 1.50; 95%CI: 1.18 - 1.90), use of antipsychotics (PR = 1.88; 95%CI: 1.13 - 2.75) and the hypertriglyceremic waist (PR = 3.33; 95%CI: 2.48- 4.46) were associated with MS. Conclusion: The prevalence of MS alerts to multimorbidity among individuals with mental disorders and the need for clinical screening.


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